Rudy Gonzales – He Put Me Here for a Reason, Don’t You Think?

Rudy Gonzalez honors God with his work in the Frio Canyon, maintaining roads, leading construction teams, and raising his family in small town America. Learn more at http://TheHighCalling.org or click “Show more” to see the transcript.

[Meditative background music]

RUDY VOICEOVER: God wants me to keep taking care of His place, the ground that he made me walk on. Don’t you think? I mean I do. I grew up in Leakey, about four miles right outside the city limits. It’s a small town; the population is about 389. There’s about 200 and maybe 225 kids who go to our school. It’s like a small family that lives in different houses.

RUDY: “There he is.”

RUDY VOICEOVER: We’re not a ghost town yet. The Frio River still a little bit of water. I just love living here; I would never move. I would never move to a bigger city. I work at the H. E. Butt Foundation Camp. My job title is Construction Coordinator/Project Coordinator. Some days I’m working on roads; other days I’m working with contractors. I never get bored, because I don’t just sit behind a desk and push a pencil. When I do go and talk to contractors, I check with them and find out how they’re doing on their work, whether it’s an electrician or a landscaper…

RUDY: Not much, how are you?

CONSTRUCTION WORKER: Oh, not much.

RUDY VOICEOVER: …about how well the project is going or what they need.

RUDY: Hey Tom, how are you?

TOM: Alright!

RUDY: Are you doing okay?

[RUDY speaks to another worker in Spanish.]

RUDY VOICEOVER: Yeah, I work there at the camp; it’s a good thing for me. Having pride in what I do. When I do something that I’m told to do, I enjoy doing it. If you do something that you’re working on, for instance this animal . . . If I was to be mad, angry, because I had to do it, it would probably come out not looking right.

RUDY VOICEOVER: So doing things with pride, a good attitude, so when the job is done you can look back and pat yourself on the back and say, “Man, I did a good job.”

[Light, playful background music]

No day is the same; it’s the best office that I’ve had for the last 26 years. It’s 2,000 acres. Every day is a different challenge.

[On the radio]: “Did you get a bunch of black stuff out?”

RUDY VOICEOVER: It think it’s mostly about God; doing it for him. Keeping the place manicured so whenever He looks down and says, “Wow, man, that’s a nice place down there. I wonder who takes care of it.” You know what I mean? I guess that’s why he put me here, you know. I mean I think that the reason He made me was he knew that, I guess, I was going to be working up there, and he thought, “Well, he’s going to do a good job of having the place look nice and not run down to the ground.” You know what I mean?