Upward Falling

by Kevin Ortegel

Forced out of his career, a NASA whistleblower learns to rely on God to support his family and seek God’s will for his life instead of his own. Read this compelling memoir of a man who abandons the worldly sources of his false securities to find real purpose, joy, and contentment by living for God.

85 pages, Paperback

Published May 9, 2017

About the author

Since growing up in Mokena, Illinois, I went into the US Army right after high school because I needed more time to think about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After four years of service that included stops at Fort Lewis, and South Korea, I got a degree in writing and film editing from Columbia College Chicago in 1997.

I found my options getting into my desired field after graduation limited so I went to graduate school at Illinois State University to study something more suitable to my military intelligence background but almost as worthless - political science. It wasn't a complete loss though because it was there that I would meet the love of my life and marry her. We did something completely crazy right out of the gate - we got married and moved to northern Virginia the same week that I finished my thesis and graduated. I had a career to start after being selected as a Presidential Management Intern for NASA in June 2000.

I got to work at one of the greatest places on Earth with some amazingly intelligent and dedicated people for fifteen years. That all came to an abrupt end when I revealed a problem with a collection of employee survey data that was supposed to be private and anonymous. As I fought to restore my name and livelihood, God would lead our family to trust Him and reveal His daily work in our lives.

I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior on 06/11/2001 after taking a Christianity 101 class at McLean Bible Church. At the time I had been working at a NASA satellite office supporting joint Department of Defense projects. I was transferred back to NASA around the time that I accepted Jesus and three months later terrorists flew a plane into the exact part of the Pentagon that I used to visit while working at that satellite office. Of course, God always knew I would accept His Son but I took that as a reminder that God will always look after His children.

Reviews

[Lora · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s so whiny

Basically reads like a disgruntled employee who didn’t get coddled enough, so he is snowflaking. Kinda sad really. Save your money.