From Being Fatherless to Being Loved: A Look in Jim Howell’s Life

The political spotlight shines Jim Howell. He always shines the light to someone important which is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.  He always has a mentality of mentorship. Jim Howell is a charming political leader who everyone adores. Today, He challenges teens to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. His Childhood crafted the person he is today. He went from being alone and unworthy to being loved. His childhood is the leading motivator of who is today.

At age 12, His father, a traveling salesman addicted to Alcohol, divorced his mother. This left a gaping hole inside their Son, Jim Howell. After this nasty divorce, his brother just took off. 

“This just left mother and me to fend for ourselves.” Jim Howell sorrowfully noted.

Due to the fact of the divorce, Jim Howell went from a dark path to redemptive path. They barely had enough food to survive. Since Jim Howell came from a broken family, He had had severe depression and not feeling loved by anyone.

“I felt unworthy, unloved. It wasn’t until I met my wife that I actually felt loved.” Jim Howell quickly questionable quipped.

After not finding anything to quench his empty spot in his heart, He decided to join a local church that his friend invited him to. He joined that church at age 20 and accepted Jesus as His Personal Lord and Savior. Three years later, he decided to join the Airforce at age twenty-three. During his second year as a USAF Government Issued (GI) in England, he had the rank as Airman Basic (AB).

“I worked my way up from rank zero.” Jim Howell quickly spoke.

Since he had no rank in the Air Force and had the mantra “never missing an opportunity”, He competed for the Below the Zone Promotion.

“Most people never compete for below the zone,” Jim Howell noted.

Since some people never competed for the Below the Zone, Jim Howell decided to take a shot at the promotion. He did win the competition.

Jim Howell intriguing reasoned,  “Since I excelled in current affairs, which are current political events happening in the world at the present time, and could name them right on the spot, I think that was driving factor of why I stood out from the rest of my peers and the reason why I was selected for the Below the Zone promotion.”

This competition perked his interest in political topics and allowed him to jump two ranks in the military. He was Airman Basic, now he is a Senior Airman. This competition also helped prepare him for senior airman of the year competition.

In 1990 (a year later from the Below the Zone promotion and six weeks after he married the love of his life), The young GI Howell was stationed in England, when he got a USAF call in the dead of the night. By Keeping the interest of the family, he was inherently worried about leaving his wife in England with no driver license. Despite his worry and anxiety about the deployment, he fought with the help of God through the unwillingness to be deployed. After much deliberation, He decided to heed the USAF call to go overseas.

“When the Military calls, you never know where you will wind up going to.” Jim Howell quickly questionable quipped in the interview.  

He wound up going to Taif Royal Airbase located in Saudi Arabia. He saw that every fighter bomber the United States had was located on this airbase. The Bomb Shelters weren’t ready for GI Howell. Instead of the comfortable Hardened Aircraft Shelter, he had to sleep in an abandoned hotel that was probably very scary for Jim Howell.

 “Some people slept on pool tables, abandoned pool tables,” Jim justifiably jousted into the interview. 

The abandoned hotel had no electricity, no running water. He spent the night on a hard, uncomfortable cot instead of the abandoned pool tables, that may have been uncomfortable for him.

“It was not very good place.” Jim Howell honestly inserted in the interview.

After about two weeks in the horrible hotel, Jim Howell built a tent city that he stayed at for the duration of two months.  While he was there, He worked on F-111 fighter bombers.

After that, he moved a hardened aircraft shelter where he stayed for the rest of his deployment in Saudi Arabia. After getting a Permanent Change of Station (PDS), He flew back to England. Due to this, he left before Desert Storm. When he got there, he saw that Leah was back in the states by seeing that the house and car was sold.

“I was back home in time for Christmas. I was home in time for Christmas.” Jim Howell proudly proclaimed in the interview. 

Jim Howell had the impression that he was very happy to be back home in time for Christmas.

            After he was interested in politics and moving back Derby, Kansas in 1998 (8 years after serving the Air Force), He followed the news topics and was disappointed in the media meddling with current events. He felt that if our nation was on a redemptive path with Christian leaders. He felt like we could make our nation great again.

“I was really frustrated with what our political leaders were doing at the State Level. While watching James D. Kennedy Statesman’s award on TV, James D. Kennedy was on the TV, looked directly at me, and proclaimed that the reason why our country is in shambles is because our country is a sinful country. Christian men are not stepping up to the plate to lead.  Since Christians should step up for righteousness and be willing to get involved, I felt personally challenged to step up to the plate and lead in the political realm.” Jim Howell quipped in the interview.  

He also has a heart to help the fatherless children.

“Since I came from a kind of fatherless family, I have a real soft heart towards fatherless children.” Jim Howell justifiably jousted into the interview.

Therefore, these were two of the driving motivations that got him started in the political arena. First, He wanted to fix the government by standing up for what is right. Second, he wanted to help create laws that would mentor fatherless children. Since he came from a broken family and served in the Air Force, he developed a value. This value is mentorship. He has a heart to mentor kids that come from a broken, fatherless family. Just like Jim Howell stepped up to the plate to lead in the community and in the political world, Christians should step up to the plate to lead in our communities and do the uncomfortable. 

After serving in the Air Force and developing a soft heart towards the fatherless children, he decided to get involved in political arena. After much pray and consideration, they decided to start by running for State Legislature.

As Jim Howell put it, “The rest is History”

            In Summary, He went from a broken, fatherless family to being loved by his wife and by the Derby community. Since he came from a broken childhood and served in the Air Force, he developed a value. This value is mentorship. He has a heart to mentor kids that come from a broken, fatherless family. By conducting the interview and learning about his life, Jim Howell should be looked up as a role model.