Uncensored Grace

Currently I am reading a book called Uncensored Grace. The author is Jud Wilhite, and he pastors Central Christian Church in Las Vegas. I heard this man speak at a leadership conference last week and was blown away by the stories he told. I had to get his book! Since I got it, I haven’t been able to put it down. The pages of this book are filled with story after story of sinful people from Las Vegas who have been transformed by God’s grace and now live a life of service and whole-hearted surrender to God. I wanted to share an excerpt of Jud’s book with you…this part I found particularly thought provoking and convicting.

“As a pastor committed to a conservative Christian faith, I have no reason to water down the message of Christ and what He came to accomplish. He came to free people who were – and still are – enslaved by sin, and it is my job to share that message, to call people to break free from the bondage of sin.

But after I call sin what it is, I want to be soft on people. I’ve learned that my assessment of others is always incomplete. Sometimes people who have it together externally are a mess internally. They hide dark secrets and addictions. I’ve known people who appear together on the outside, but sexually abuse their children or beat their spouse in secret. No matter how well-grounded my assessment of someone may be, it is still incomplete. So if I’m going to be wrong anyways, I choose to err on the side of grace. I choose to suppress the initial categories I want to put people in – rich, poor, together, not together, druggie, yuppie, rocker, loser, winner, cool, uncool. I choose to remember that I don’t know their struggle or their pain. I choose to err on the side of grace because someday I’ll stand before God, and I pray He’ll err on the side of grace with me.

The truth is we are all a mess, but God loves messy people. I turn to the Bible and see Jesus hanging out with the riffraff of society. Eventually the religious leaders accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. He “welcomes sinners and eats with them,” they said (Luke 15:2). We can’t overestimate how radical this was in Jesus’ culture. To share a meal meant to extend a bond of friendship…

Jesus did not simple hang out with people on the fringes of society; He took great pleasure in being around them. “Sinners” referred to those of low reputation who engaged in blatant sin – prostitutes, crooked businessmen, drunks, and rough and tumble people like the ones you see on Jerry Springer. As they sat and laughed together, He imparted meaning and purpose with His presence. He blew up the social norms and celebrated life with others…

Why did Jesus delight in these people? Certainly because they were loved by God. Perhaps also because they didn’t pretend to be blameless. There is something refreshing about those who readily acknowledge imperfections. Rather than play self-righteous games, they are stripped of pride, aware of their brokenness, and open to the message of a savior. Jesus said the religious establishment was worse off because they thought they were righteous and were blind to their own sin.

Too often we mistake grace for weakness, forgiveness for giving in. We see strength only in pointing out sin and stomping on it until its dead. But in Jesus we find someone who has no patience for those more concerned with enforcing the rules than helping others. Though He was perfect and, therefore, in a position to judge and punish all of us, Jesus showed us a different kind of strength, a strength found in grace, compassion, and forgiveness.

A paragraph by C.S. Lewis rocked me…He noted that there is someone I love even though I do not always approve of what he does. There is someone I accept, though I don’t like some of his actions. That someone is…me. I don’t like a lot of the things I do, yet I still accept myself. If I can accept and love myself in this way, I can seek to extend a similar compassion to others. This insight allowed me to love people freely, irrespective of what they may or may not be doing.”

Pastor Jud goes on to describe three situations in his church where this kind of grace was not shown:

1). I’ve known churches where people turn their nose up at the guy who steps outside to smoke after the morning service. One person told me that after several judgmental looks and a few snide remarks, he took it as confirmation that he wasn’t good enough for church or for God…and he left. He was driven away from God by the very people who were supposed to represent Him.

2). One friend of mine had his marriage shattered by adultery. When he reached out to the church for help, he was told he would be welcomed back to the church after he reconciled what happened and made it right. How does one go about doing that in isolation? Their family was in crisis, and they needed help to reconcile the situation.

3). Another lady said she was leaving the church because she didn’t like the type of people that were showing up and she did not approve of the way they dressed. As she put it, “I’m scared to even sit in my seat at church because you never know what you might get from those people.” I tend to think her comment was much more offensive to Jesus than the things those people were doing. (When Jud told this story at the conference he told us, the crowd, that he said to the lady, “Well, then don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”)

Jud finishes this chapter with this paragraph:

“I’m ashamed and embarrassed that Bible-believing churches have so often failed the people God loves by holding on to judgment and refusing to show them His grace. But it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s time to take risks to do things differently.”

Saturday in Athens

I had the great privilege of having my first full UGA football experience...meaning both tailgating and the game. Unfortunately, the dawgs lost, but the whole day was great anyways!

My Saturday began at 5:30am, waking up and getting all dressed up for the day! In Athens on Saturday, everyone looks their best! I was decked out in a little black dress, a Georgia "G" necklace, a mascot bracelet, and a little bulldog tattoo (see my right cheek). I had never been so dressed up for a sporting event before, but it was sure fun to be in a dress (plus, it made me not sweat so much in the 90 degree heat that was during the whole game).

I left the house around 7am to go to Chick-fil-A to pick of a party tray for the tailgating. I had also made some of my own homemade pumpkin spice bread for everyone to enjoy. Since I work for Chick-fil-A, I was able to see some of my co-workers that morning. I was blessed with getting the day off to enjoy the entire game, so to bless my bosses for that, I made them some of their own pumpkin spice bread to put in the break room for their own fun Saturday.

I got to the tailgating spot around 8am, and then began the real fun. It was my first time actually tailgating before a UGA game, and it was great. We all enjoyed some great food, coffee, juice (since the game was at noon, we had breakfast food at our tailgate). It was a great time of fellowship, fun, and of course, getting pepped up for the game by listening to our school's fight songs on the iPod.














Pictures from tailgating...





Around 11am, the group of us starting walking down the road to Sanford Stadium. We wanted to make sure we got there early enough to get good seats in the stadium.


We got in the Stadium, and then the game began. The first couple of minutes were great, then the halftime show was amazing as always, then the last quarter was a nail biter, but the sad thing is...we ended up losing because of a last second touchdown. Oh well, the day was still super fun!

Lessons from Nicaragua

1. Don't wave at taxis, they will stop, thinking you need a ride.
2. Don't wear red in the mountains, a bull cow will charge you.
3. Pouring skittles into your hand after putting on bug spray does not make them taste good.
4. You can always put one more person into a vehicle.
5. In the US, we can say as much as we want to, but we don't. In Nicaragua, we want to say more than we are linguistically able to.
6. Bandannas make the outfit.
7. How to flush a toilet manually.
8. You will hear Soulja Boy singing and see Britney Spears posters.
9. God reminds you in little ways that he cares about what you're going through.
10. Hearing English words from Nicaraguans means a lot.
11. The power goes out at random intervals.
12. Crystal light makes warm water desirable to drink.
13. You will see people texting while riding...a horse!
14. Your feet will never be truly clean.
15. Don't drink the water.
16. Spades and hearts never get old.
17. Mafia does...
18. There are no street lights in smaller towns so watch where you're driving or you might hit a motorcycle.

LOST in Nicaragua

Thanks to some friends of mine, I have been hooked on the show LOST. I've seen all the seasons and just finished the series a few weeks ago when it came to a end. So, inspired by my friends doing the same thing, on my recent trip to Nicaragua I decided to be on the look-out for some numbers that are a key element in the show...

...and a Dharma symbol ?

A Choice is a Limitation

This is an excerpt from Elisabeth Elliot's book "Let Me Be A Woman," a book she wrote to her daughter when her daughter was engaged to be married. I thought this was a great chapter and wanted to share it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your most recent letter to me...said, "Oh Mama, it gets better and better!" You spoke of the utter peace and contentment you know when you are with him. We can believe that God has answered our prayers - mind of years' standing, "Keep her from and for the man she is to marry," ("from" meaning until His chosen time, that you would not hurry ahead of His will)-and yours to be guided to the man of His choice.

And so you wear his ring. Tertullian alludes to the ancient custom of wearing a gold ring on the fourth finger because it was believed that a vein ran from that finger directly to the heart. A woman was allowed to wear gold only there, in promise of marriage. In the medieval service the wedding ring was placed first on the thumb, "in the name of the father," then on the index finger, "in the name of Son," on the third finger, "in the name of the Holy Ghost," and on the fourth finger with the Amen.

When the wedding ring is put on your finger you will have finally sealed your choice. It is this man, and this one along, whom you have chosen for "as long as ye both shall live." There have been many revisions and improvisations in modern weddings, some of them made in the belief that words written by the bride and groom themselves are by that very fact to be preferred above old words written by somebody who knew how to write, because they are more "sincere" or "meaningful" or "honest," as though the repetition of others' words, probably clearer and more beautiful words than most of us could ever have written, cannot possibly be truthful. In one of these improvisations the phrase has been changed from "as long as we both shall live" to "as long as we both shall love." This cuts the heart out of the deepest meaning of the wedding. It is a vow you are making before God and before witnesses, a vow you will by God's grace keep, which does not depend on your moods or feelings or "how things turn out." As others have said, love does not preserve the marriage, the marriage preserves the love.

When you make a choice, you accept the limitations of that choice. To accept limitation requires maturity. The child has not yet learned that it can't have everything. What it sees it wants. What it does not get it screams for. It has to grow up to realize that saying Yes to happiness often means saying No to yourself.

Remember Dinesen's proud man: "He does not strive toward a happiness or comfort which may be irrelevant to God's idea of him." To choose to do this is to choose not to do a thousand other things. Those who made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of God, of whom Jesus speaks in Matthew 19:12, had to accept the radical limitations which being a eunuch imposed. Those who marry, Paul said, will have troubles in the flesh. Perhaps he felt that that statement was beyond dispute, that such troubles were obvious to anyone, but he did not mention the troubles in the flesh which one who does not marry may encounter. Perhaps that was too close to the bone for Paul to wish to speak of.

Last year there was a symposium of seminary women at which one women complained that everything in the seminary program was based on the assumption that the students were men. The statement was not accurate, but even if it had been, it would seem that a woman who chooses to go to seminary would know ahead of time that the majority of the students would be men and the program would naturally emphasize this. She would be prepared to be in the minority and accept the limitations imposed by this. Common sense would tell her this. I thought of John Sanders, a blind graduate of the seminary. I have never heard John complain that the whole world operates as though everybody can see. Of course the world operates that way. Most people can see. John accepts this as a matter of course, never whines or even refers to his blindness, and makes a way for himself in spite of the (to us) impossible limitations of his life.

You will remember Betty Greene, one of the founders of the Missionary Aviation Fellowship, who has flown every kind of plane except a jet. She even ferried bombers during World War II, and you were surprised that she didn't "look like a pilot." Nobody else thought she did either, and often when she would land in some foreign airfields the authorities were nonplussed to see a woman step out of the plane. "Do you fly these planes alone?" she was often asked. But long ago Betty had made up her mind that if she was going to make her way in a man's world she had to be a lady. She would have to compete with men in being a pilot, but she would not compete with men in being a man. She refused to try in any way to act like a man.

It is a naive sort of feminism that insists that women prove their ability to do all the things that men do. This is a distortion and a travesty. Men have never sought to prove that they can do all the things women do. Why subject women to purely masculine criteria? Women can and ought to be judged by the criteria of femininity, for it is in their femininity that they participate in the human race. And femininity has its limitations. So has masculinity. That is what we've been talking about. To do this is not to do that. To be this is not to be that. To be a woman is not to be a man. To be married is not to be single...To marry this man is not to marry all the others. A choice is a limitation.

The South Vs: The North

Don't be fooled by the titled; I'm not talking about the Civil War. No, this is simply a comparison. After looking over my blog this morning, I realized that it's been sometime since I've written something. So why not take some time and write about a topic that's been on my mind for quite a lot the last few weeks. The topic of what are some things that are different about the North and the South.

I have lived in the South for almost a year and a half. WOW! Has it really been that long? I guess so: a short time compared to the 18+ years that I lived in the Northern part of the United States. Being in Georgia the last 18 months has given me some time to notice three things that are so different from the North that it has taken me months to get used to them. So for your enjoyment and hopefully a good laugh, here they are (in order of increasing interest to me)...

1. Shoes
When I walk in to any house, I immediately take off my shoes. I was taught this at a young age. You never wear shoes in the house. Why? Because what you have on your feet has just touched the ground outside. And this ground is dirty, wet, snowy, muddy, you name it, and you wouldn't want to track any of that into the house. So naturally, when I moved to the south and entered a house, I left my shoes at the front door. But I soon found out that I was the only person walking around with no shoes on. When a southerner walks into a home, they leave their shoes on. Why this is so, I do not know. But, I have given in to this trend and while it is still habit (and preferred) for me to take off my shoes at the doorway, I will keep them on when appropriate.

2. Make-Up
I wore a lot of make-up when I was in late middle school to early high school. As I matured, I toned it down to just what I needed. My first year out of high school, I would only put it on when absolutely necessary. Now I go to UGA and have realized that women, and even young girls in 6th grade, wear SO much make-up. And I am NOT exaggerating. It's amazing to me how beautiful the women are in the south, but also how much make-up is on their face. Even when I did wear lots of make-up, I was never one to wear foundation. It clogged my pores and my acne is bad enough as it is without something else helping it to get worse. Down here, I see the girls from far away and envy their seemingly perfect, acne-less skin, but upon getting closer, I realize it is all only an illusion. What seems to be perfect skin is nothing short of the Covergirl liquid make-up that is hiding the blemishes that the sinful world and bad genes has cursed us with. Unlike the shoe issue, this is one area that I will not be conforming to (at least not everyday). I wear the occasional full-face of make-up (complete with foundation, blush and eye-shadow) for special occasions such as parties or church functions. But my everyday wear will still consist of only mascara and my special lipgloss (which at the moment is only chapstick). I want people to be looking at me for me, seeing the beauty within, not because my Neutrogena powder is covering all my facial flaws.

3. Food
Let me tell you a story. Last Saturday night I went to an engagement party with two girls from my Bible Study for the woman who led our Bible study. The time of the party was 6:30pm, right around dinner time. I was tempted to eat before going, thinking that I might get hungry while being there, when I stopped myself. "What am I thinking. This is the South. There will be food there." In the south, everything seems to revolve around food. You will never go to a party or a function without there being food (and people wonder why there are so many fat people in the south...hmmm). Now, I'm not just talking about chips and dip or cookies and candies; I'm talking about an actual meal. In the north, at least what I experienced, if you went to a party, ya, there would be food there. But the extent of the food in the north is just what I mentioned. Snacks: chips, dip, candy or dessert. In the south, it's a full meal, or enough that it could be a meal. At the engagement party I went to, it was a meal. Salad, pasta, bread rolls, mashed potatoes, roast beef, and even shrimp. I was talking to one of the girls that I went to the party with and told her about this difference, that this was not the norm in the north. She could not wrap her mind around the fact that if you went to a party in the north, there just might not be food.

I've been out of the US before. I went to Europe for 10 days with my grandparents and my cousin. I went to Panama for an 18 day mission trip with my Church in WI. I've been to Mexico and Canada. I have even spent a month in Brazil with Impact360 last January. People always talk about experiencing culture shock when going to or coming back from a foreign country. I never have...until now. Living in the south is a culture shock. And it's not like the year ends and I get to go back home where I'm used to everything. No. I live here now. This is my new "normal."

The Red and Black

Around the UGA campus are red newspaper bins In these red newspaper bins is the University newspaper that is free for anyone passing by. As one reads "The Red and Black," as the paper is so appropriately titled (because UGA colors are red and black, for those that did not already know), the reader will find numerous amounts of opinion articles that are written by various students that write for this paper. As always, keeping with the USA history of free speech, the writers can write about any topic they please. And boy oh boy, have there been some interesting topics (ranging from, of course, the football team, to the economy and even marriage and sex). Readers of The Red and Black are able and encouraged to write letters to the editor about any article featured in the paper, whether they liked it or disliked it. All letters appear online, and some get published in the paper. So last night, after reading an article, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity. I have posted the article, as well as the online version of my response below (although, my letter did get published in the paper).

Article:
Restrictions on vows
by: Stephanie Jackson

Marriage isn't fair.
To some it is a security blanket, to others, a religious duty.
But to me, marriage has always been a joke.

At least, that's what I thought a year ago. I was young, single, and starting my third year as a journalism student at the University of Georgia. I had no ties to religion, hated fancy clothes and would have died if I had to put all my relatives in one big room. Marriage wasn't on my mind.

My two best friends back home in Alabama, ideologically similar to me in many ways, had the same views.

My best girl friend had already started a family with her immigrant boyfriend. She knew a marriage proposal would only lead to legal issues - government officials asking for the dirty details on the truth of their love. She's a stubborn girl. There was no way she'd go through something other couples didn't have to.

My best guy friend already had the marriage decision made for him - he's gay, and that's not exactly legal where we're from. Never mind that he's been in a long-term committed relationship. He'll have to settle for moving in with his boyfriend.

But now, one year later, I don't know what I think. I'm about to hit the one-year mark in a very committed relationship and I'm only two months from graduation. I'm at that point where all my friends are asking me when, not if, my man and I will tie the knot.

But while I get to throw passing glances at bridal magazines, what do my old pals get?

They get to prepare answers to personal questions for a government official. They get to avoid the glares of "traditional" neighbors who don't like the idea of men living together. I always said I'd live in solidarity with them, that I'd refuse the traditional trap of marriage until it was fair for everyone.

But something still draws my eyes to those magazines.

It's not the ring. I've still got enough of my old hippie standards to oppose wearing a rock dug out of the ground by human slaves on my finger.

It's not about my foreign-born boyfriend's legal status. I'm not as stubborn as my girlfriend and there are much more legal ways to get citizenship than marriage.

It's definitely not the social status. My friends alone prove that you don't need a license to tell you it's OK to start having children or live together.

I'm torn because I know the real benefits of marriage. It comes with filing joint taxes or with sharing the health benefits offered by a spouse's job. It comes with adoptions rights, if we want them.

A recent New York Times article explained how a same sex couple could spend up to $469,000 more in their lifetime than a heterosexual married couple, simply based on the loss of benefits and the lack of social security credits. The numbers would be similar for any non-married couple.

My boyfriend and I can have that long-lasting love without a ring. But without signing a piece of paper, the man I plan to spend my life with might not get to make important medical decisions on my behalf if I'm ever too incapacitated to do it myself. Not without that damned ring.

Obviously marriage isn't for everyone. Not legally and not emotionally. Is it for me? I don't know.

- Stephanie Jackson is a senior from Birmingham, Ala., majoring in newspapers and English.

My letter:

In response to Stephanie Jackson’s column, “Restrictions on Vows” (Tuesday, November 3rd).

Since when has marriage become all about “joint taxes” or “sharing the health benefits”? Should the fact that a heterosexual couple can save “$469,000 in their lifetime,” compared to a same-sex couple, be the reason we get married? When did marriage, a lifetime commitment of “love, honor, and cherish…’til death us do part,” shift to just a way of saving money and making important medical decisions?

Marriage is not a “traditional trap.” The desire for that intimate relationship is what “draws eyes to those magazines.” Marriage is a gift given by God! It is a oneness that is just a small glimpse of the relationship which God longs to have with each one of us. It is love, commitment, and intimate companionship that should drive us to pursue marriage, not money or any other worldly issues.

-Catherine Holt
Freshman, Bishop
Dietetics

Science and Christianity

This is an short 1000 word essay that I had to write for a final in my Freshman Seminar class. The topic is "Science and Christianity According to X." X being the person that is writing the essay. So basically, this is my view of the relationship between Science and Christianity, in a short 1000 words. I thought I would share...

“In the beginning, God...” (Genesis 1:1a) What a perfect place to start, and that is, in fact, exactly where my beliefs begin when it comes to the topic of Science and Christianity. I have lived in a Christian home all my life, born and raised. My dad is a pastor, my mom homeschooled my siblings and me until we were in high school, and I became a Christian myself when I was just shy of five years old.

I have been always been taught that God created the world and have known all the Bible stores since my elementary years. Even though some young adults doubt the existence of God when they leave the nest, I have never, always believing that the world was created by God. I have, however, had the chance to develop my beliefs for myself and not just take my parents’ word for it. This is my take on the link of Science and Christianity.

First, let me define what I mean by a particular term that is overused in this age. The term is Christianity. Most Americans, if asked, would say that yes, they are indeed a Christian. But just because they go to church, sometimes only at Christmas and Easter, try to do good things, and give to charity, by no means makes you a Christian. A true Christian is one who is “saved by grace, through faith…and not of works” (Ephesians 2:8-9) solely because of the work that Christ did on the cross 2000 years ago. This is Biblical Christianity. That is the foundation of where I am coming from when it comes to relating Science and Christianity.

My beliefs about the relationship of Science and Christianity begin in the book of Genesis. It is quite simple. In six days God created the world and everything in it. He spoke one word, and it all came into existence. I guess you could say that I somewhat believe in the “big bang,” but my version is different from the evolutionists. I believe that God said “light” and BANG, there was light!

God made man as well. He made man out of the dust of the ground, and from His very breath He made them come alive. Adam was the first man He made, and out of this man Adam, and his wife Eve, would come the rest of the human race. I believe God made Adam as a full man from the first second of his life. No evolution from ape to Homo sapiens occurred.

The theory that man evolved from an ape to a human over billions of years is insulting to me personally and should be to everyone else on the planet as well. This theory says that we are no more than animals that just happen to live in houses made of trees instead of the tree itself. Why would anyone like that idea? It gives us no purpose to life except one of working to make more money so we can enjoy the next pleasure. Realizing that the universe was made by a God that gives us a purpose, to glory Him and expand His kingdom on earth, brings so much more to life than just going through the motions of everyday life. Without Him and a purpose, our goal in life is, to quote one of my favorite shows, House, to simply “live as long and as well as we possibly can.”

There are two bits of data that I encounter on a daily basis that prove to me again and again the existence of a Creator God. The first is that our world has a system of order. When I look at how everything works together and makes sense, it makes a statement to me that this world could not be an accident. How else would a bee know just how to pollinate a flower? How would birds have the knowledge to fly south when it starts getting cold during the winter in the north? Being in Chemistry this semester, I am currently studying all the trends of the periodic table. There is a tremendous system of order in those one hundred plus elements. Their placement on the chart shows so much order in and of itself. Without a God that created this world to have order, how else would all of those elements fit together perfectly according to atomic number and with all their properties following specific trends based on their placement on the chart?

The second evidence, of a Creator God that I see, is in how the human body works. So much goes on underneath the skin that only the medical field can discover. Just the thought of toe nails growing, blood clotting, and the miracle of cells dividing to create new human life is enough to make me marvel and worship at the One who created it all. There is so much detail in the human body for it to be an accident. This could only be the work of some higher power. For me, that higher power is the One true God of the Bible.

To me, science and Christianity go hand in hand. It is true that you cannot prove God in a lab, but you cannot disprove Him either. Studying the sciences is all about the great adventure of learning the handiwork of God. I find it a great privilege to be allowed by the owner of the Earth to be a steward of all that He possesses. I learn more about my God and the relationship between Him and me, which I call Biblical Christianity, when I am learning about His marvelous creation.

I feel sorry for those who believe in such a system of random happenings that brought about the earth by accident. I personally could not live without the belief in a God that wants a personal relationship with me as well as having a purpose for me. As a popular song states, “I don’t want to go through the motions.” I believe the Lord has given me a passion for science, particularly the biological sciences, with His purpose for me being one in the medical field. The rest of my life will be filled with the combination of Science and Christianity, and I am so excited to see what that is going to look like.

Family Pictures

First Week at UGA: TGI FRIDAY

This picture is very appropriate of how I felt as I left my last class on Friday afternoon. It was not a bad feeling, more like an overwhelming feeling, and not in a bad way. I love my classes and am looking forward to continuing them, but the weekend is ALWAYS nice.

The only classes I had Friday were Math from 12:20-1:10pm and English from 3:35-4:25PM (the times are so weird, and since high school I'm still trying to figure out why). I did some work the could hours between those classes, and then after, my dad and little sister met me at the student center to see some artwork on one of the walls done by a guy my dad knows. From campus we went to a pizza place in Athens called Stevi B's. After filling ourselves up on an assortment of pizzas at the buffet (and when I mean assortment I mean that they serve any pizza you want them to make, from taco pizza to macaroni and cheese pizza to blueberry pie pizza for dessert), we headed to the movie theater for a cheap show (Athens has a "dollar theater" that shows movies for $2.00 a person). We saw "Night at the Museum 2." Besides one or two cuss words and a few kisses, it's an excellent family film, hilarious and I think almost better than the first.

So, that's my first week of college. From memories and food, to glorified God and cars being towed, you have heard it all. There are so many more days of college that I have left (especially since I am a Chemistry major and will be pursuing med-school in 4 years), so continue following my blog as I try to keep my life interesting enough to blog about.

5 days down, a whole lot more to go...