Well not really a week Sun-Wed.  I like it here, surprisingly.  I was prepared for the worst.  But its not all that bad.  To be honest the SDA thing really scared me.  I am hear to study architecture, not be recruited.  And before I came here I watched this Report on the National Geographic Chanel about all these cults leaders that were former SDA pastors.  I want to stress FORMER. I don't believe SDA to be a cult by any means.  So far my experience has just been about God/Christ.  Its all growing in Christ and growing Academically and how the two can benefit each other.  I have no problem with this, as I am a christian myself.  Its actually quite refreshing.  Having gone to public schools where you can't even mention God in the pledge, its nice to be at a place that welcomes God with open arms.  Someplace where your religion isn't a bad thing.  I am hopeful for the next semester, and hopefully the next couple years.  I still don't know if I will stay here until I finish my masters or not.  But for now its working out.

However I miss everyone at home like crazy!  I miss Stephen and my Family.  Its weird not to see a familiar face everyday.  To wake up and know the only people you will see today are strangers.  Plus they are all about social interaction here.  I don't really like being Forced to make friends.  I will do it on my own time, in my own way.  You don't need to do it for me.. thanks.

Ok, lets see.  My dorm room is SOOOOOOO freaking small.  And my closet at home is bigger than the bathroom I share with 3 other people.  Its sad.

On another note.... I got my classes figured out, and bought my $716 worth of books.

Construction @ 11:30 MW

Design Studio @ 13:30 MWR

Civilizations and Ideas@ 9:30 MWF

Calculus @ 8:30 MTWR

Personal Fitness @ 7:30 (ick) MW

Hello to John and Cryssy! Ha, that's what you get for RSS'ing me.

What else,  I think that's it for now.  Oh if you want to see pics of Andrews go to my web page.  www.allisonmayer.com.  Click on Photography.  Durr (with two r's... cough...)

Later Y'all

Aliy

The Quotes, as per usual, were mostly compiled by Sister and Brother. Interspersed between the quotes will be some pictures for your edification, enjoyment, and basically to make the post longer.

So, without further ado, The Quotes.

Stephen, after coming from the latrine (aka the bathroom)- "I was using the cistern."
Dad - "Uuuhhhhmmmm...."
Stephen - "I guess there's a difference?"
Dad - "One you draw from, and one you put stuff into."

Cistern: draw fresh water from
Latrine: put "stuff" into
(Just in case you needed help figuring it out)

Dad, after eating a very tasty meal that Mom had made - "Boy, I'm good!"

Me, on pulling in to the Cloquet Wal-mart to grab last minute supplies and finding they had upgraded to a Supercenter - "Woah! This thing must be taking B-vitamins or something! It's huge!"

The Kid, after hearing disgruntled noises coming from my tent -  "What are you doing in your tent Jenna?"
Me - "I don't know...I can't remember"

Stephen, to me as we're all swimming - "Is it hard to find a one piece suit that big?"
Lots of awkward gasps and laughter.
Stephen - "Uhm yeah, I meant an ADULT one piece suit."

Stephen, as we're all swimming in the lake - "There's lots of sharp things so watch out when you go back on the shore"
Dad shows his water shoes to us
Brother/Andrew -  "Dad's wearing shoes like he's smart!"
Pause
Stephen - "Dad's not actually smart, he's just wearing shoes LIKE he's smart!"
Dad - "Andrew....YOU'RE OUT OF THE WILL!"

Dad, thinking of the presentation of the countries for the Boundary Waters Olympics opening ceremonies - "What can we carry in that would make noise?"
The Kid - "I could carry Jenna in"

Said by Mom and Pops numerous times - "Well, Gail usually..."

Followed by - "Homer would always..."

Stephen - "How do you kill a fish? Do you just let it drown?"

Dad - "Ashley, where's your cup?"
Mom - "I don't think she's drunk yet"

Stephen - "Is this all we have to eat?"  (He was always starving.)

Dad - "Left! Left"
Me - "We ARE going left."

For Calvin, Nathan, and I, our first morning in Santo Domingo began early. The family we were staying with, the Guerrero family, owns a small restaurant in the middle of Santo Domingo. Señora Nelly oversees the operations at the restaurant. Every morning, she and Señor Francis go to a nearby market, where they buy fresh meat, vegetables, and fruit for their restaurant.

It was a great experience to go to the market and experience everyday Dominican life. From the street, all you could see was a row of shops with people selling things like pots and pans, rice and beans. The city blocks in the older parts of Santo Domingo are much deeper than ours in the U.S; therefore, as you walked through these shops, you came to other shops and vendors. Here were the meat markets, the vegetable stands, and the fruit vendors, all under little, interconnecting roofs of sheet metal and tarpaulin. Back in the market there was also a large pen with live birds for sale--- guinea fowl, chickens, ducks, pigeons, geese, and turkeys. On our first morning to the market, Señor [caption id="attachment_428" align="alignright" width="198" caption="Pots and Pans"][/caption]Francis bought us tea from a lady who was selling the herbs and spices that she was also boiling in a small kettle. The tea was spicy, aromatic, and very sweet. As Señora Nelly made her purchases, Señor Francis and their youngest son, Jean Carlos, showed us around. Everywhere we went, we asked the names of all of the tropical fruits and vegetable. Over the next couple of days, we also got to eat many of these fruits. When Señora Nelly was done making her purchases, we walked back through the market, picking up the bags of produce she had bought.

Everywhere we went, Francis introduced us to friends and acquaintances. As we walked by, we would also often hear a rippling murmur follow after us, “Gringos, gringos---¡americanos!” Almost everyone greeted us with a big smile, and many tried to use the little English that they knew.

After shopping at the market, we would usually make a few other stops, ending with a stop at the ice and water plant. Here is where they would get their agua purificado and hielo real.

Back at Nelly’s Buffet, their restaurant, we would usually eat breakfast. Back in the kitchen, three or four employees would already be hard at work. The delicious smells from the kitchen were incredible. Traditional Dominican food, is usually served on or with rice. They also make many savory soups, with the meat still on the bones and sometimes with large pieces of corn on the cob floating in it. The Dominican spices are very unique; they are not hot, like Mexican cuisine, nor are they minty, like Italian. If anything, they are closer to Indian or perhaps Cajun, without the characteristically mouth-blistering heat of the latter. The Dominicans use many tubers, like yucca, plantains, and potatoes. We also drank a lot of juices; mango, pineapple, beet, and the best of all, the Dominican cherry--- I think it was called something like cereta--- in a perfect world, we would all survive solely on the juice of this little fruit. One thing that is really neat about Santo Domingo is that nearly all of the trees and shrubs throughout the city produce the very foods we were eating--- pineapples, coconuts, mangoes, those cherries, avocadoes like you’ve never had before --- maybe I’ll add avocadoes to that utopian diet of mine.

[caption id="attachment_431" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Working on the Church"][/caption] When we all got to Iglesia Fundamento Biblico in the mid-morning, we began our construction labors. While the bottom level of the church has been complete and in use for several years, the upper stories have been going up over the past year or two. Manuel, a member from Iglesia Fundamento Biblico, is directing all of the construction on the church. They have also hired several laborers. These men are the principle builders; we were merely assisting. Our first task was to sort through and move a big pile of rubble on the second level of the building; this level will be the new sanctuary for the church. Since all of the construction is concrete, the rubble from broken blocks, mortar mixed on the floor, and stray globs of concrete plaster builds up quite quickly. After moving some boards and scaffolding, we shoveled and pushed the rubble up against the far wall of the room. Here, the workmen were preparing to make the raised platform that the pulpit will stand on.

After a break for the mid-day meal, we finished up our labors for the day and began to tidy up and prepare for that afternoon’s Summer Bible School. Today we all had a better idea of where and how we could help. The 200-some kids were divided into seven different classes. With that many children, the event could only be managed confusion, but it was amazing to see the persistence and devotion that the Dominicans manifested where we Americans would have thrown up our hands and said it was impossible even before we got started.[caption id="attachment_432" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Some Children at the Summer Bible School"][/caption]
That evening, after the Summer Bible School, Iglesia Fundamento Biblico held their weekly prayer meeting. A group of missionary gringos from Baltimore, MD stopped by to worship with us. They were helping with a Vacation Bible School somewhere else on the island. It was an encouragement to meet these other Americans, and a great blessing to be able to better get to know the members of Iglesia Fundamento Biblico.

God has blessed me with more fruit in the past two days than I have received in the past few months. One person after another I am ministering to. One after the other. I think I am on 3 today already. Just speaking the truth. Praise God.

1 Corinth. 1:17 I don't need to have creative words to preach the gospel, i just need to tell it how it is. The word has power that when spoken will have effect.

1 Corinth. (a little bit later) Christ is God's power, God's wisdom

A grenade of God's grace was dropped in my house today and now I am on super high with him. sooo good.

It is amazing to see things like old roman columns that were around when Jesus was around. The time of Jesus was so long ago yet there are still remnants of that time. I think about how Mary held Jesus the child when I look at this photo and how her struggles as a mother could have been just the same as the struggles of mothers today. I think of how she relied on the Lord for provision and how Joseph had to make the money for the family. How her back must have been tired after carrying her tired son. How that son grew up and now is here.

More artwork from the invitations for the ordination of 7 candidates to the Permanent Diaconate in the Sacramento Diocese, which took place on June 7. 2008. The idea was to emulate the style od Sr. Virginia Broderick.

Tokyo Police Club is awesome. Please do not confuse it with the suck-tastic Tokio Hotel band. Seriously, they're the poster children for The Let's-Play-Into-Stereotypes-and-Make-Crappy-Music Club.

This post comes in some parts, the specific number is to be determined as we go.

Part One: DIY or die...?

So I've been toying with the idea of making my own clothes. I have a lot of old clothes that I never wear anymore* and I've been thinking of recycling them into new, super-cool things. I've also drawn out some things that look kind of pretty, and I think I want to try out making them. My mom has a crapload of fabric and seven sewing machines, so I don't think I'll really need to buy anything.

I've been mostly inspired by this DIY community called Threadbanger. It's really cool. If you're into that sort of thing, you should definitely check them out. They also have a YouTube channel, so if you're a visual learner like I am, you can watch some things being made.

Part Two: This new trend I've started.

Everyone knows I'm the biggest trend setter in the nation. The latest one: blogging.** Here are some links to people who I like.

Sarah writes about disturbing dreams she has. It's really a big ball of joy there.

Stephen writes about aphorisms, enchiladas, and pornography.

Hope writes about...a lot of things.

Part Three: Back to school, anxiety dreams, etc.

So lately I've been having a lot*** of anxiety dreams where I'm in school and I can't find any of my classes, and I'm sure that the bell is going to be ring. I ask everyone in the school if they know where such-and-such class is, and of course they don't know. This dream featured a Maglev type train deal that could transport you to your class, but I never got to ride it. The school also had a floor below the first floor, and my eighth grade social studies teacher taught there. Weird.

I'm hoping that Back-to-School night will ease these dreams, but we'll have to see.

Part Four...?: I'm too lazy to see if this is really part four.

I think that's it. Everyone should vote for the "More Elf" shirt for me on the Nerdfighter Ning. I would really appreciate it. If it doesn't win, I'm just going to make one myself.

I bid you all farewell.****

-Laura

*Anyone who knows me knows that I wear the same seven shirts every week. I going shopping on Thursday, so maybe this will change...?

**Am I the only one who loathes the word "blog"? I can't stand it.

***By "a lot" I mean, one every night.

****After all my efforts, "farewell" is COMING BACK! Speaking of coming back, big hair is coming back. First leggings, then big hair...I really hope it's fuel-efficient Deloreans next.

We have been camping.  I don't mean the "camping" that my ILs do with their satellite TV and their a/c and microwave.  I mean that we met friends in a county park.  We cooked and ate outside, poked fire with sticks, drank beer, slept in a hammock, wore a sweatshirt in August...camped.  Our kids (there were four kids between us) were filthy from playing and eating.  Ella and Silas rode their bikes on the blacktop in front of the campsite and they were perfectly safe.  Dogs...everywhere.  The locusts kept us company at night.  Camping.  Real camping.  The kind of weekend that I remember as a kid.  The kind of weekend that I hope Ella remembers. 

Stephen would have loved it.

He would have been giddy about the circa 1980-something popup camper that was only used to store food and sleep.  The pop and crack of the logs (and various trim board from my friends' house remodel...why trash it when you can burn it, right?) mixed with the soft undertones of the classic rock station filtering through the trees.  He would have delighted in his daughters' sweaty curls as they ran through on their way to visit yet another new friend.  He would have held my hand in the dark.  He would have talked too much, told too many stories in too much detail, as the empty beers piled up. 

Maybe that's why I was content.  He would have loved it.  Maybe he was actually there.  Maybe he had a hand in picking the weekend with its perfect weather.  Maybe he brought friends together. 

And maybe it's okay that I am happy.  Maybe it's okay to laugh and maybe it's okay to make someone else laugh...to pull out all my old, tired jokes and Jenn-isms that would make him roll his eyes.  "Hey are you feeling sensuous?  Sence-you-was up...get me another beer."

Maybe it's okay to be a little bit charmed.  And maybe it's okay to wonder.  And not just wonder what everyone else will think. 

It's probably all in my imagination...the wondering. 

I try to picture myself raising these two girls by myself and I can't do it.  What I see is all the people who love them as much as I do and wondering who I will add to the list.  Will anyone love them (love me) as much as he did?  Maybe.

Or is this something we tell ourselves when the wondering begins?

Squirtle, Ivysaure, and Charzard are to Pokemon Trainer as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O'Brien are to Mike Hucabee. I mean seriously, if you watched The Daily Show, Colbert Report, or Conan O'Brien you would have noticed that they were "devoted" to Hucabee. They even had fights over who "created" him. I think it was a Jon Stewart Stephen Colbert combination (^_^)

[caption id="attachment_297" align="aligncenter" width="521" caption="I Choose You! Jon Stewart!"][/caption]

Lagu pertama yang saiia denger adalah Coming Home Now. Langsung nangis.. Lagunya dalem bangetth..

FYI, BoyZone ada 5 personel: Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Keith Duffy, n Shane Lynch..
Dari 5 ntu, yang suaranya paling awsome jelas Ronan. Ndak heran dia-lah yang solo karir-nya paling cemerlang. Tapi yang saiia tau cuma When You Say Nothing At All..

Sementara yang paling cute en jadi Mr McDreamy adalah Stephen Gately. Ganteng, so sweet, senyumnya "maut", suaranya ntu ibarat narkoba,, bikin kecanduan.. Wah, pokoknya dia perfect laa..
Tapi yang bikin sedikit kecewa adalah,, dia gay..

Stephen berperan jadi ceweknya, kyak Si Tukang Jagal Ryan ntu.. Sementara si cowok namanya Andrew Cowles. Mereka "merit"di Las Vegas tahun 2003. Sebelumnya Stephen udah pernah "merit" ama Eloy de Jong tahun 1998-2001.

Uhm.. Kenapa semua cwo terkenal yang saiia suka kok punya "kelainan" ya? Mulai dari temen sekolah, public figure, ampe anak SMA keren yang saiia temuin di bis. Banyak banget gay di dunia ini...

Oh yeah, if U are a gay, percayalah kalo saiia tidak membenci gay! Saiia tetap menganggap mereka orang biasa yang memiliki kebutuhan yang sama dengan orang-orang yang bukan gay..

Tapi yang bikin bingung, kenapa sebagian gay (biasanya yang jadi wanita-nya) itu manis-manis :)
(Hhehew,, gak ngomongin Ryan lho. .)

Hmmph... padahal sejak saiia 5 tahun saiia udah suka ama Stephen Gately ntu..

Hhoho.. kenyataan yang menyakitkan..

The Wedding

The reception

I have always been one to get homesick.  I don't like staying in new places.  I need a constant.  When I moved to Indianapolis from Carmel it took me three days to stay the whole night at my new place.  Getting used to my Indianapolis apartment wasn't much of a challenge, I was 20min from home and my face could be found at home with my grandparents every day, that was my constant.

Then I moved to Boston.  Wow, that was was hard, but I had a constant, Stephen.  Despite being 1000 miles from home, in a new place, not knowing anyone, I had Stephen.  He was my rock, my constant, my piece of home.

Now I am 23 and I am over the homesick feeling of leaving my grandparents house for something new.  But I have never left everything behind.  I am going to Andrews on my own.  Just me.  I have to admit that is scary.  I feel like such a baby at 23.  Worrying about being on my own, most people do that at 17 or 18, if at all.

I know I will be fine, and after all, if Stephen is joining the Army being alone and separated will be a major part of my life in the future.  I have no doubt I will make it through  this, I just need time to adjust, time to process, time to make the most of it.

The weird part is it seems like we are breaking up.  I started going through stuff this week, separating mine from his.  My clothes from his, my computer from his, my iPod from his, taking his stuff out of my gym bag, separating his files from mine.  Once you combine your lives, once you function as one you don't imagine having to pull apart, having to separate yourselves in such an exact manner.  Unless, the unthinkable happens, a breakup.

The thought that I probably won't see him again until Thanksgiving kills me.  I love my family, and I always miss them, but I am used to not seeing my family for months, even years, at a time.  But regardless of where our lives were going I have seen Stephen almost everyday for the last 7+ years.

I really thought typing this might help me feel better.... It doesn't...  These next few months are going to be tough.

We took a shuttle to the airport. We waited in more lines. We sat at another departure gate. Today our flight was perfectly in order and rather uneventful, which was fine with all of us. What glimpses of[caption id="attachment_391" align="alignright" width="245" caption="Map of the Dominican Republic"][/caption] the Caribbean Sea that we could catch through the clouds, were beautiful. We approached the Dominican Republic from the northeast, and so we had to cross over a good stretch of the island to get to the south side, where Santo Domingo is cradled along a wide and restful bay. As we approached the Dominican Republic, the island was blanketed in clouds; the verdant mountains wore a snowy, billowing cap. Soon, we entered that cloudy blanket, and until we approached Santo Domingo, we only caught a few peeks of the Dominican Republic.

[caption id="attachment_388" align="alignleft" width="237" caption="Pastor Castillo"][/caption] After we bumbled through customs at Santo Domingo’s international airport, we were once again reunited with our hoard of suitcases; but this time we soon had the pleasure of being united with our hosts, Pastor Castillo and some of Señora Waters’ family as well. Somehow, in someway, all of us and all of our luggage ended up in one of four vehicles (Dominican-style--- which means that there are no real limitations to how many persons or objects you can fit in a vehicle) bound for Iglesia Fundamento Biblico.

My first sights and impressions of Santo Domingo will probably remain with me for years to come. The city is wild, wonderful--- no, that’s West Virginia--- dirty, beautiful---so is a garden or a barnyard--- full of people, full of empty buildings--- hopefully where people will soon live--- built out of concrete, laced with gorgeous tropical vegetation--- that’s new for me--- pulsing with glee, choking in sadness--- O, city of contradictions! Add all of these descriptions and a million other sights, sounds, and smells, and you’ll have it: Santo Domingo… Inagotable.

When we arrived at Iglesia Fundamento Biblico, we were arriving on the second day of their Summer Bible School (they do not call it a VBS). What’s more, this second day of Summer Bible School had already begun. Already feeling the language barrier, we all straggled and stationed our selves around the big, half-constructed church building, merely able to watch and observe the 200-some children in action. But perhaps this was a good introduction, for none of us were quite accustomed or prepared for the next few days of managed chaos.

That afternoon, to complete the Summer Bible School, a representative from Colgate gave a very informational and very humorous demonstration. As the kids left, we handed out a toothbrush/toothpaste set to each of the kids. The Waters family stayed with some of Señora Waters’ relatives, and the rest of us headed to the Castillo’s house for dinner. Throughout that night, Calvin, Nathan, and I also met the family we would be staying with, the Guerrero Family.

As we drove to the Guerrero’s lovely home, and were warmly welcomed in, we began to get to know[caption id="attachment_400" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Familia Guerrero y Gringos"][/caption] our host family. Within hours they felt like family. Between the five of them, they spoke a little more English than the three of us speak Spanish. Yet even if it took all of us five minutes to ask or answer a simple question, somehow we almost always reached understanding. We all soon settled into a mix of broken English, brutalized Spanish, and vigorous non-verbal gestures. As I said to one of the others on the trip, my salutation upon landing was, “Welcome to the world of half-comprehension.” Straining to understand everyone around me was enough to wear me out each day.

Commit your work to the Lord,
and your plans will be established.
Proverbs 16:3 (ESV)

and I am now totally exhausted......

Just a quick view on today event:

Bywater saat ini sudah kembali berlatih bersama rekan-rekannya di tim Derby County. Paul Jewell merasa senang kipernya bisa kembali berjuang mendapatkan tempat di tim utama tim divisi Championship tersebut.

"Saya pikir Stephen (Bywater) sedikit kecewa, namun menurut pandangan saya, dia akan menjadi pesaing kuat untuk Roy Carroll," ujar Jewell kepada Derby Evening Telegraph.

"Stephen terlihat sangat konsisten selama pra musim dan saya merasa tidak kecewa, meskipun Lewis Price (kiper ketiga Derby) masih cedera", tambah mantan manajer Sheffield Wednesday tersebut.

Sementara itu, setelah gagal merekrut Bywater, kubu Hotspurs dikabarkan melirik kiper Real Zaragoza, Cesar Sanchez, sebagai pelapis untuk kiper utama mereka asal Brasil, Heurelho Gomes. (zoel)

(sumber: Sportinglife, foto: bbc.co.uk)

As I sit on a bed in a room of 9 feet by 5. With a window. My dad turns one year older today. I called him and nailed it. One of the best days of my trip so far calling him. So simple but so good. 40 Billion dollars helps a few billion people remember that the world can come together in the name of sport and competition. With a few words Putin talks to Bush while walking a mile long red flag symbolizing equality through communism. 080808. is a war that started today in between Russia and Georgia on your mind? A few people died. And now
the call to war has broken through a boundary not only in the BBC, but in my soul today as well. Emails are out and I want to go.

i want to capture hearts with the message of love.

Is it possible that the reason we walk is to lead others to the cure?

Hebrews 1:1 and so on as God has chosen for this age to speak through his Son Jesus.

Therefore, we packed into the bus in the wee hours of the morning, and arrived in Cleveland well before our airline’s counter opened.

[caption id="attachment_368" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Justice"][/caption]Some hours later, we were sitting at our departure gate, waiting, waiting, waiting to board our plane. Finally, some 15 minutes after our flight was supposed to depart, we were all informed that the flight was canceled due to a scheduling error; the crew for our flight was not even at the airport!
[caption id="attachment_369" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Stephen and Baby Mikey"][/caption]
So, a few hours later, Señora Waters and a very helpful airline agent had plan B figured all out. We would not be able to get to Santo Domingo on the 28th. Instead, we would fly to Greensboro, NC, and from there to Atlanta, GA on the 28th, be put up in a hotel in Atlanta, and then embark for Santo Domingo the on the 29th.

We were a tired mob that day and the next. But there was some excitement to be had while we lived in airports for the next 24 hours. For example: having our whole team frisked in Cleveland because we rescheduled our flight so quickly; going on a walk, Nate and I, in Greensboro’s nice little airport and accidentally walking out of security without our boarding passes (which are needed to get back through security); eating beans--- only one of us was--- without a fork while standing in line for customs; riding the trams in Atlanta; swimming in the pool at the hotel in Atlanta; and having to guard and lug around 42 suitcases and our additional carry-on bags.

The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.
Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

Before I embarked for the Dominican Republic, I had thought that I might write in my journal most evenings during the trip. The reality of the trip, however, did not allow for nightly writing. I could have posted some while there, but it would have meant less time with the people right around me. Besides, we generally got to bed late and needed to rise early. Our days were long, full, and rewarding.

I still want to give a recount of our trip to Santo Domingo, so as to share some of our ministry opportunities, life-changing memories, and snapshots into our days abroad. I’ll do this by dedicating a separate post to each day. I’ll get these posts up over the next few days, and more pictures might be added over the next few weeks.

Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
Psalm 127:1 (ESV)

[caption id="attachment_370" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pittsburgh by Night"][/caption] ]]> http://deww.wordpress.com/?p=134 Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:35:40 +0000 dewilsonx http://deww.wordpress.com/?p=134

Acts 7:54-60! All of that...

This is an amazing chapter. Its like what every movie ever made that involves martyrdom is based on. Like braveheart only better. Stephen is basicly getting grilled by this group of people and he replies with basicly the whole old testament in a few paragraphs. He ends it with verse 51-53!!! Then verse 54 " When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him." Not sure what gnash their teeth means but it doesnt sound good. AND THEN!! in verse 56 "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. The crowd COVERS their ears and starts yelling at the top of their lungs as they rush him to stone him. In the end He gave his life gratefully for standing up for God. Even in the face of death he crys out to the Lord to forgive them for what they were doing and to not hold theirs sins against them. EVEN AS HE WAS GETTING PELTED WITH ROCKS! After  he said that the bible says he fell asleep. Im so giddy over this chapter its insane.

God I pray for the courage to stand up for you when it comes down to the right time. THe courage to see it to the very end. Give me a heart like Stephen in this chapter. An unashamed fearless passionate heart to follow after you.

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