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"We are climbing Jacob's ladder" everyday. As we go throughout our day we are faced with a series of challenges weather it's testing our faith in God or ourselves. However God's voice that came down along with the "vivid dream" was "Remember, I am with you; I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised." In all honestly God, actually would never leave us. Regardless of our hardships God will forever remain on our side and continue not only support us but to carry us regardless of the time.

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I couldn't agree more with Jean Wise as she seems to find God in nature. I also find God everywhere in nature. Whether it is the wind that tosses my hair or the water that caresses my feet. I am always in awe by the beauty of nature. I also find it interesting on her reference to to Exodus and the burning bush. When the voice that comes from the burning bush says, "Moses... do not come nearer to here. Take off your shoes form your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5). In my culture it is a custom to always take off your shoes when you are at someone's house. Simply because the house is clean inside and outside is considered unclean. This has always been engraved in me ever since I was a child in my traditional Chinese family. I would consider her reference to be quite familiar and not out of place in my family. Keeping the things that are clean and kept inside. While the unclean thoughts and chaos out of my sanctuary, or home. God is everywhere and it seems that taking off ones shoes is a sign of respect, and to humble one's self. I also think that by taking off your shoes come with a sense of vulnerability. With nothing to clothed or protect your feet you come into contact with the "outside world". It becomes a much more intimate interaction with the outside world. By taking off my shoes I can feel the pebbles underneath my feet or the grass that sways along with the wind. Hence, by feeling and being in contact with nature give me a stronger sense of being one with God.

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The Slaughter of the holy innocents of Sandy Hook Elementary 

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The Slaughter of the holy innocents of Sandy Hook Elementary 

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The children who were killed by Herod is Bethlehem after the birth of Christ are almost never remembered. And just like these children, the Holly Innocent were slaughtered at Sandy Hook Elementary School when a 20-year-old gunman forced his way into the school. It seems to be a reoccurring theme nowadays. Once a shooting happens America moves on and al those death will soon be forgotten. in addition to that the gunman died as well. "If I couldn't also speak the truth that God came to save us, all of us, that Go created us in God's image and that lived we'd rather extinguished are still precious to their maker [...] I really had no business being a preacher that day." During this time I think that in some cases, even as odd as it sounds, gun-man is also someone God truly loves. He was definitely in the wrong but he is in fact someone that God loves dearly, and by ignoring someone like him and saying he is not on par with us shows that God doesn't love him as much as he loved us. Which of course is not true.

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I find Bolz-Weber an... interesting writer. Her writing style is very down to earth seeing as she states, "I kept thinking about Cassie's Mary calendar and wondered if the mother of Jesus was considered "good. After all, she got knocked up before she got married." I'm pretty sure she doesn't believe that now since God didn't literally "knock [her] up". Other than being completely blunt in her writing I do think she makes a valid point when she's says, "I seriously doubt that she made herself into a girl whom God could favor because she took the advice of her youth rabbi and lived the way she should". During these last couple of years of high school I seemed to have strayed from God and had forgotten the sense of his unconditional love. By reading this blunt and seemingly rough journal I was reminded that God really does love you simply because you are you. I don't have to change my looks or personality I just have to keep on being me and in that sense I couldn't be more happier. It was a sense of comfort and security that I've never felt before when I realized this.

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Probably one of the most relatable and inspiring woman I have seen. Nadia is a woman who has seen hardships and has experienced them first handed. I especially love the quote, "A God who causes beauty to rise form ashes". God finds the weak, unwanted, and just the people who you would never even take a second glance at and just turns them into such breath taking beings who inspire others. I also completely agree when she says, "this is a God who has always used imperfect people". It is because Bolz-Weber is imperfect that she can connect with the teenagers that are suffering on such a personal level. God uses her failures and pasts as a pillar of light for those who are lost. She is one of those people who didn't give up and continued on. She strived to be her best self and that makes her all the most inspiring.

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"The human spirits is structured with an unrestricted openness toward truth" (27). As stated in the reading the question that follows is that: If all humans are created with an orientation toward God, why are so many atheists?
I'd like to add in my 2 cents to Johnson's statistics and Karl's question. There is such a thing called 'free will' in this world, and it is something that God gave all humans. We are for sure, "strutted with an unrestricted openness toward truth" but that truth varies between all human because of our free will and ability to choose our path and destiny. We are not simple machines that are programmed to simply worship God. We are interesting and intelligent beings. We are given the gift of intellect and a grasp on our own choices. The reason why there are so many atheists is because they chose it on their own free will and it is because we are not forced to worship God. It is our choice to or not to worship.

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I have come to a new sense of appreciation when it comes to Mary: as a Jew, a peasant, and in faith. I grew up in a Protestant family and Mary was never placed in the spotlight. I knew that she gave birth to Mary, but that was to the extent of it. I never knew her struggles as a mother or her life in general. As stated in the reading, In Search of the Real Mary, "Mary walked by faith, not by sight". I think this is such a relevant and true quote. Mary was born as a female, as as we all know women at that time had barely any rights. The majority of men just see women as baby makers and the caretaker of the home. In addition to that brides or girl in general was supposed to be pure and untouched by sin. Seeing as Mary had become pregnant before marriage was simple a disgrace and shamed. Mary had to bear the burden or carrying a child and hoping for the acceptance of her husband that never touched her. She has displayed remarkable courage and a solid foundation of faith. According to the readings, In Search of the Real Mary, I realized the Mary was an incredibly normal woman. She lived as a peasant "in a Mediterranean rural village, Nazareth, whose population consisted largely of peasants working the land and craftsmen who served their basic needs." Needless to say living conditions was not easy, yet she was able to care for Jesus and his siblings. Mary clothed them, made such they never starved, and in overall nurtured her growing household.