Acts 7.

The other day a friend and I were having a conversation about how we would react to different situations (murder of family, rape, torture, etc...). I was reading Acts 7 today and Stephen hit home big time. Acts 7:54-60, 8:1.

Stephen is being stoned for claiming Christ, more or less, and this is his response while being stoned. (7:59,60 and 8:1)

"While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he fell to his knees and cried out, 'Lord do not hold this sin against them.' When he said this he fell asleep. And Saul was there giving approval of his death."

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To me there are a few cool things going on here;

1. Stephen is a baller and getting stoned for not being bullied and keeping the faith.
2. Stephen did not assume that he had 'worked' his way into heaven and in his final moments pleaded for his spirit to be received by Christ. (v.59)
3. He begged for the mercy of his persecutors. Knowing that they were not followers of Christ, therefore they did not know the severity of the sins they were committing.(v. 60)
4. Once he asked for the forgiveness of his wrongdoers he fell asleep. -- he did not die brutally but rather fell asleep while being stoned then died peacefully!
5. Saul was a witness of the death of Stephen, he was there listening, observing, and most importantly in favor of the slaying, literally cheering on the death giving it approval. Its crazy that Saul hears this plea to God from Stephen (who is faithful to God up until the very last stone which causes his death) and then in chapter 9 he, Saul, makes the conversion to follow the teachings of Christ
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I just thought this was cool and wanted to share it.

Leadership Class

Count these points

The first apparent thing in Africa was that Jenny Craig would be out of a job... and probably the only fat person on the continent.

There were probably thousands of these paper flyers pasted to every public domain imaginable.

Good thing there are no side effects!

School Time.

Sudanese people are gorgeous. That is all there is to it. I took this picture when I was in Central Sudan doing some photography work for the Manute Bol Foundation and Sunrise Sudan. This particular photo was taken in a school in the village of Turalei in South Sudan. You may say to yourself, "If this picture is IN a school then why is it outside?" or "It's just a sea of children." Well yes it is a sea of children. The schools usually have anywhere from 350-800 students and there are usually 4-6 teachers. The educational system is a definite art of organized chaos. And yes, the students are outside IN school. Schools in Southern Sudan meet under trees. The war has not only displaced communities and villages it has taken all governmental buildings and schools as well. So they meet for school under trees and are just happy that they get the opportunity.

Disclaimer: Do not look directly into the eyes of the children. They will capture your heart.

(Insert something clever and catchy here.)

You cant see it but right behind where I am taking this picture there is a highway sign in Arabic reading "Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere." Okay, there wasn't one but I am pretty glad that I am no longer 'stuck in Sudan' as our interpreter Mayom would have said.

Man, I miss that place.

The Nile.

So I have been looking through pictures from this summer (that is why there are spratic postings with random picture of nothingness or the occasional small African child) in this case I am emphasizing and utilizing the nothingness category. These two picture were taken about 600 miles apart but were in the same river which is pretty stinkin sweet. The picture on the left is in upcountry Uganda with my tent and pack on a bank overlooking the Nile river. The picture on the right is me in Jinja, Uganda about to take a very cold and what also seemed like at the time a stupid swim at the source of the Nile. The source. Anyway I work at the Pathfinder so I am obligated to post stuff like this.

You Found Me

So here is an excerpt that I found relating to this song, You Found Me by The Fray, that Isaac Slade (the lead singer) wrote:

“You Found Me is a tough song for me. Its about the disappointment, the heart ache, the let down that comes with life. Sometimes you’re let down, sometimes you’re the one who lets someone else down. It gets hard to know who you can trust, who you can count on. This song came out of a tough time, and I’m still right in the thick of it. There’s some difficult circumstances my family and friends have been going through over the past year or so and can be overwhelming. It wears on me. It demands so much of my faith to keep believing, keep hoping in the unseen. Sometimes the tunnel has a light at the end, but usually they just look black as night. This song is about that feeling, and the hope that I still have, buried deep in my chest.”

There is something about this song that is just easy to relate too. From the intensity to the extremely real lyrics this song just grabs me.

• rhapsody

Brrr.

There is something about 12 degree weather that intensifies my inability to get out of bed in the mornings. For some reason it makes my 11 minute walk to Thompson Hall that much less appealing. It has got me thinking a lot lately about motivations though. What motivates someone to brave sub freezing temperatures to do something they dont want to be doing in the first place? Hmm. Well I will expand later but for now I am going to drudge through the arctic to my Environmental History class...

Scketchy

I will start writing regularly again this week... I promise.

Apparently there is a lot more to this graduating college thing than I have ever imagined.

PS I'm real tired of school.