The Democrats stole the last election. Then they stole a year of this man’s life for protesting it.
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Thank God he’s out of prison now. I remember January 6th–the day the Democrats love to hate. I think they hate it because it reminds them of how fragile their designs of tyrannical government are. When the rubber meets the road, people will not abide government meddling. We rejected Yahweh all those millenia ago. Why be surprised when we reject the pitiful institutions humans cobble together? Pat Stedman was just a guy who loved his country and wanted to express his concern about a fishy election. What could be more American than that? Still they locked him up for it.
When/if they steal it again, the political backlash will be worse on both sides. You know this. It’s time to pray for peace and wisdom. How does a Christian respond to government oppression and persecution? That’s a question as old as the church. A very real one to people all over the world.
God has blessed this country with a deep tradition of respect for Christian values. The last few weeks I’ve studied Revelation a little bit every morning. I see that our churches are falling into traps John warns us about in the first few chapters. Complacent, shy, fearful. Is this the church that the gates of hell cannot withstand? Maybe when the world is too comfortable the church gets too comfortable with it.
The tides are turning.
Trump is the most impressive political leader of our time. He may be able to buy some time for Traditional Values™ with a landslide victory. That's what it will take to stop the steal. But what’s next? We’re headed into uncharted territory, at least for my generation. For reasons unknown and most likely supernatural in origin, the powers of our time have driven wedges into society. Hammering gender, racial, and ideological faultlines, fake experts preach the gospel of hate. Hate for people who look different, think different, or just have a more stuff than you. Unheard of outside the fringe just a decade or two ago. This is a manifestation of over a century of spiritual warfare and psychological manipulation. I could go on and on about this. Maybe someday… It goes deep.
The bottom line is: Hold the line.
The point is, hold onto your family. Hold onto your church. Hold onto Christ who holds the seven stars in his right hand. When he wields the sharp double edged sword of justice in the Day of the Lord, whose side will you be on? Do you think Trump or Kamala will be there advising the Almighty on who were most faithful to the good side of politics? Maybe Biden will mumble something about garbage in his ear. Oh yeah, and he'll be consulting Santa Claus's naughty list while he's at it. No, the only book consulted on that day will be the Book of Life. Our job here is to gather as many names in that book as we can muster.
Do I know the outcome of the next election? Not even a little bit! But I do know that I serve the one who rides on the clouds, the Alpha and Omega, the one who visited Death and came back with the keys, the victorious Messiah. I know the outcome of the final war with Death.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Let's make this crystal clear: it's good to have an opinion on politics! Please continue thinking deeply, looking at the world and the information available to you, and discerning truth and wisdom using your best judgment. Pray.
”Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.“
Also speak out about it with boldness! When you do speak about it, accept feedback with humility. Nobody knows everything. Don't get offended when you get pushback. Every interaction is a chance to model Christ. None of us will model Christ perfectly, but it's an aspiration. Let's live up to it with joy!
Whatever "side" you are on in the US political scene this year, if you follow Christ, our unity transcends all earthly boundaries. This era is an opportunity for the Church to model our unity. Instead of saying "there's no way a Christian could vote for that guy", try "I wonder why they support that guy. Do they know XYZ?" It's about dialogue in brotherly love. You may disagree with me on this last one, but I think it's healthy to let go of our uptightness around things the world considers a big deal. We follow the ruler of the entire universe. Shouldn't that manifest in a higher perspective?
Some of the issues are serious. It's still legal to murder babies in this country. None of the major candidates plan to do away with that any time soon. What's worse, it seems like the country doesn't even want to make baby murder illegal. Just today I got a campaign mailer (from a Democrat) aghast that his opponent "voted no on exceptions for RAPE & INCEST in our EXTREME abortion ban". Look at the framing there. Instead of calling it what it is, murdering a baby: abortion. Instead of focusing on the life of the child, they direct your attention to the unfortunate circumstances leading to the child's life. Is the child to die on the altar of Moloch for his father's sins?
See how tricky the powers of this world can be? This candidate seems like a decent guy. He's just stuck to his party's platform at the expense of personal judgement and responsibility.
Other issues are less serious, but people act like we'd be dropping a nuke on DC. Trimming the fat in the federal government, for instance. I'm sure we could get by with 10% of the people in bureaucracy. Maybe less! It's important, just not important enough to make the top of my list.
As far as civic duty is concerned my aim is to find a way to get involved at a local level. I have no idea how I'm going to find the time or choose which thing to get involved with, but the meager attention I do pay to politics at all I want to go into my community.
So, what will I do when my values become a problem for the folks with the keys to the federal prison? Take a cue from Daniel:
Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.
Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Find that window in the upper room and flaunt your loyalty to Yahweh before Satan's scheming hosts. That's what I aspire to. I can't promise what God's response will be. So many Christians have lost everything including their lives. Christ told us it won't be easy. But what I can promise you is the fruit of the Spirit if you have repented and submitted to Christ. Amen.
Don’t forget the goal! Connect the body of Christ to support each other and reestablish our commitment and connection to God through Christ. We are never truly alone. If we can get some of the kind of synchronous connecting we cherish, we should try.
Every week the Sun rises on Sunday sweeping like a faith seeking radar signal around the planet. I imagine God looking down, smiling as each church lights up on his celestial scanner. Each gathering of the saints synchronizes the Body at many levels. Our hearts orient with our shared focus. Our bonds in brotherly love strengthen. Our awareness that this is happening all over the planet. We reassess our walks in the light. Though perhaps the physical gathering in a building isn't strictly necessary we have so many reasons to maintain synchronicity.
The strategy
I'm going to lay out a progression of techniques you can use, ranging from things that anyone can apply to specialized software for the truly tech savvy. Follow this document until your head starts to hurt, and stop there! No need to add extra stress. Only apply a technique if you think it will add significant comfort for someone in need and will not add more unnecessary stress for you setting it up. As with all things, find the right balance for your situation.
So often we allow our devices to isolate us from others. Try to remember a time you sat around a table and nobody took out their phone to check their notifications. Sadly I'm struggling to recall a moment like that. The irony of the times is that we may finally learn to use these tools to bring our loved ones closer instead. The Internet could allow the global Body of Christ to find more connection than ever during this strange time. I pray we can carry what we learn beyond the current crisis.
And now the strategy.
Spiritual
Help the needy
God's word is clear on this point. Let's look around us and help who we can. Like any family we all need things from each other from time to time. But in this particular moment it seems that the elderly and others with compromised immune systems have special needs. Many are also losing jobs with the economic downturn and so people who you may not think need help may suddenly find themselves in a tough place. Let's be vigilant and prayerful for the hurting.
For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
👆 Take the opportunity of solitude to nurture the most important relationships in your life.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
Low tech
You already know how to do these! It's good to get a little refresher from time to time, so here's a quick list of easy habits we have an opportunity to form in the coming weeks.
Snail mail
Phone calls/texting
Delivering physical needs
Prayer walks
Simple tech
Increase synchrony using some easy-to-use technology.
For these options you just need…
An internet connection (almost any quality will do)
A smartphone or computer (mainstream devices like Windows, Mac, Android, iPhones should be fine)
Chat
It's easy to chat online, but the array of options out there can be dizzying! Here are a few of my recommendations and how to choose one for your church.
First of all, I'm not scared. However I am concerned by the amount of glib dismissal or overhype I've seen going around. I've also seen pages which seem to say nothing one way or the other like this from the CDC. I'm sharing this document because I've done a lot of work vetting and curating quality sources of information to put this together for my family. I'd like to share that with you.
The medical system
Stats as of 3/1/2020
It's clear that the virus itself can kill people, but these simple stats almost beg more questions than they answer. That's why I recommend that you check out reliable sources which display easy to read charts without bias. The last thing you need is a nervous news reporter telegraphing panic in her body language in moments like these. Check out the Worldometers coronavirus page and dig into the stats that matter to you. They have a lot of information which could get overwhelming. Here's some of the important links:
Symptoms: Fever, cough, shortness of breath (similar to common cold)
The hysteria criticism is absolutely valid. This could all amount to nothing in the end. I have decided that I have to act on my principles. I want to keep my family safe. In this case we have a certain level of risk to my family with some simple and reasonable measures I can take calmly without adding to any of the hysteria. The only downside? Maybe some food industry CEOs make a little extra profit and we have few more cans of food than we need. Seems acceptable to me. There are always places to donate canned goods!
A final note on hysteria: This is actually one of the reasons I think we will see problems in the next few months. The closing of businesses, schools, borders, and airports will all compound with economic fear. As paranoid hypochondriacs will flood the medical system convinced they have the coronavirus, you'll be comfortable at home knowing that you've prepared adequately.
Food
Every grocery trip, pick up some non-perishable veggies and protein. I'm thinking about plenty of canned veggies, dried fruits, jerky and canned beans or meat. Make sure you're prepared to take care of sore throats and stuffy noses however you see fit. Think about things like canned soup and your favorite broth ingredients. Maybe even stock up on electrolyte mix.
Medicine
Stock up on the basics for pain, inflammation, and fever management (ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin). Make sure you've got plenty of bandages and common disinfectants like hydrogen peroxide and alcohol so you don't have to venture out into the public when minor accidents happen.
~~I'm not a doctor, so I'll keep this simple and common sense. We all need a reminder sometimes!~~
Stay home - Enjoy alone time or quality time with family. Minimize outings.
Sleep - Make sure you take the time to rest now so you can help your sick neighbors later.
Wash your hands
Don't touch your face
Hydrate
Take immune boosting supplements - Do your own research! I am not an expert. (But do feel free to reach out to me if you want a sounding board.)
Really do sleep. I'm saying this for myself because I hate that I need to do it, but it is important.
Resources
Reference
Book: Where there is no doctor - This book has a wealth of information. Written for remote villages with inadequate healthcare resources, so it's basically a short, easy to read handbook for taking control of your health. I recommend it for any parent!
In closing, please stay calm, check in on friends and family, and pray that we all get through this safely and laugh about how silly I was for writing this in a few weeks. Focus on what we can learn longterm instead of stressing over things happening now which we ultimately can't control.
The US has vulnerabilities. An antifragile approach means implementing systems of preparation.
Unprecedented levels of globalization leads to complexity nobody understands. Don't believe experts. Predictions are not reliable. Mitigate risk to a reasonable degree regardless of what the experts say. Pay attention to how the experts rationalize how the unfolding outcome confirms their prediction.
Keep honest tabs on your reaction to the outbreak. This is a good opportunity to observe how you react to complex, high stakes scenarios. How's your prayer life? Time in the Word? Your physical health? Take stock.
If you have anything to add, I will add it and give you credit! Please let me know on twitter or kaleb.lape@gmail.com or anywhere. Be sure to put CORVID-19 in your message so I can prioritize it.
Grace and peace,
Kaleb
I plan to continue updating this document as I learn and implement more precautions. This is my preliminary plan as of 3/1/2020.
The fires continue to rage in California. It's catastrophic. In fact, if I had to put a dollar amount on how bad it is, I would say at least 13.5 billion dollars. PG&E, a Californian utility company, just agreed to pay this much in a settlement to victims of the latest round of fires. Why? Well, if you zoom out with me, we will take in a larger scope to understand a deeper meaning and maybe even learn something about ourselves in the process.
Let's dive in.
Have you ever tried to make big changes in your life? Ever made a New Year's resolution? We all know how difficult this is. Even small changes to our routine feel like a major inconvenience for weeks. The bigger the goals, the heavier they bear down on you and make you feel overwhelmed. We buy gym memberships only to accumulate a series of line items on our credit card statements.
I'm thinking about this stuff today because it's my birthday. You are probably beginning to shift your mindset into this frame as well. Although I'd love to take credit for your paradigm shift, you're probably not thinking about my birthday. The rest of you are starting to reflect on 2019 and envision a new, better year in 2020. It's a time of renewal and promises to change our lives for the better.
How many of those changes stick? If you're like me, you have a crypt of broken promises from years past. Open only when absolutely necessary, right?
Let's take a quick look at the last century of wildfires in the US. The Big Blowup started in the midwest in 1910 with several smaller fires throughout the rest of the decade. This fire burned for two days devouring millions of acres of timberland in Idaho and Montana. In response the US brought the hammer down on Mother Nature putting the full force of the federal government behind strict fire suppression protocols. Heroic firefighters extinguished every flame from the 1910s all the way into the 60s. But they didn't know that for all their effort to tame the forest they had only poked the bear. And I'm not talking about Smokey the Bear.
In much the same way that wildfires transform a landscape, God demands that we change our hearts and minds to match His. When you choose to follow God, that will spark a fire that will clear a path through the desolation for the ebullient forest of God's love to take root in your life.
“Do not be shaped by this world. Instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you. And you will be able to know what is good and pleasing to God and what is perfect.”
Romans 12:2 ICB
https://www.bible.com/1359/rom.12.2.icb
Once Godly thinking has transformed you, what then?
“…Take this cup and give it to everyone here. I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until God’s kingdom comes.” Then Jesus took some bread. He thanked God for it, broke it, and gave it to the apostles. Then Jesus said, “This bread is my body that I am giving for you. Do this to remember me.” In the same way, after supper, Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup shows the new agreement that God makes with his people. This new agreement begins with my blood which is poured out for you.”
Luke 22:17-20 ICB
https://www.bible.com/1359/luk.22.17-20.icb
If you worship regularly with the Body of Christ, you will notice that we still take the cup and the bread 2000 years later. I imagine little fires springing up around the globe every week as Christians gather and remember Christ.
Turns out, God engineered the forest to require regular cleaning from these smaller fires. Strict fire control led to an overabundance of dried out fuel in the forest. Stephen J. Pyne, an expert in forest fires, asserts that "…we aren’t suffering from a surplus of bad fires, but actually a famine of good fires." The forest requires regular fires to clear out the debris, make way for new growth, and prevent major calamity in the future.
Would you rather rebuild your spiritual life from scratch every few years or keep a steady pace? While we may make big sweeping declarations of change every new year, we need weekly–or even daily–reminders of our real purpose. Glorify God as we follow Christ.
In the PG&E case, investigators determined that one of their electricity towers, which had been left unmaintained since 2001, began sparking due to neglect which set a fire that killed at least 41 people, destroying the property of thousands more. They just forgot to check up on it. I can’t help but wonder if the fire would have been as destructive if the misguided firefighters hadn't begun their scorched earth policy 100 years ago. We may never know.
We do know that spiritual renewal is essential for our walks with Christ. Just as the forest needs the dead kindling cleared away, we need Jesus to clear distractions from our minds. Unlike PG&E keep up with your maintenance schedule. Don’t set off a wildfire in your life. Be present in this moment. Allow Jesus into your heart to transform your thinking and restore your spirit.
Transform your own mind to transform the world.
“Be like a fire that burns a forest or like flames that blaze through the hills.”
Psalms 83:14 ICB
https://www.bible.com/1359/psa.83.14.icb
Imagine this. Your mother obsesses over drug dealing, cheaters. Your father is doing time for dealing drugs. Your mother goes to the club leaving you and your siblings to fend for yourselves. Your mother only shows up to ask for a loan. Thugs gun down friends and family every year. Maybe you've got a great family but don't know if there will be a roof over your head next week. This is life in the hood. Kids in the hood tend to stay there their entire lives. These innocent souls become the drug dealers and gang bangers of tomorrow. Who can blame them when it's all they've known? Can they break this cycle?
The hood
Every year churches in downtown North Little Rock bring these kids to Camp Caudle. It's a short drive from home and a totally different world. The Natural State hits you as soon as you leave the city limits. It's farm country, nothing but fields of green and gold. Arriving at the rustic camp grounds they press their faces against the windows. They step off the bus and hear no sounds of I-40, see no abandoned buildings, and feel no black top under their feet. It gets even better when they see the stars for the first time at night. They look forward to church camp like it was Christmas.
I love that they get the opportunity to leave it all behind for a week, but the real world is always ready for them when they get back. How can we help them face reality and overcome? We fight the spiritual battle every week. Side by side with adults and children in the craziest circumstances we strive to share the love of Christ in prayer and bible study and fellowship. I often wonder if we could do even more addressing the devastating lack of material needs and skills in our city.
The net
In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. Five years later his dream of a connected world became a reality in a big way. The sound of dial-up internet became the anthem of the 90s. Around this time a kid sits at a computer terminal. A blinking yellow cursor means endless possibilities at his finger tips. He runs qbasic and selects GORILLA.BAS. This is the moment he became a hacker. Somewhere out there an engineer at Microsoft wrote a silly little game with gorillas throwing bananas at each other. I found this game along with its source code buried in the freebies that came with Windows 95, and now, 20 years later, I write software for a living.
Better together
2019 is an incredible time to be alive. Technology is booming. Computers are cheap. It's easier to learn to code than ever. So why don't we see more success stories? Why do people still think it's not for them? Ironically the answer may lie in the astonishing commercial success of computers since the late 90s and the advent of the smart phone over a decade ago. Computers, phones, and gaming platforms come in nice packages with scary warnings about voiding warranties. I built my first desktop computer before I was 10 years old. Many kids today only know computers as thin slabs with a touchscreen glued to the front. User interfaces are incredible today. Companies invest massive capital maximizing our attention to their games and social media platforms. They deliver the smoothest experiences designed to make us forget the machine and focus only on the content. When I learned to code in the 90s, I never forgot I was using a computer because they were slow, clunky and uuugly.
Kids today need something different. When I talk to them about a future career in tech, they have vague notions of creating new games or even just playing video games for money. The deck is especially stacked against kids in the hood. This could be a way out. Imagine that kid who doesn't know where she'll be living next week. She has no vision for her life outside surviving the streets of her neighborhood. But she's still a kid. She has her whole life ahead of her. She's smart and does well in school. Maybe she's a lot like that nerdy kid hacking on the gorilla game in the 90s. She'll never discover this for herself unless someone gives her a computer and lots of encouragement.
This isn't just about one kid, or even a classroom. It starts with that one child who takes off, breaks out of the toxic cycle, and grows up to be a role model. This is about sparking a tech revolution in the hood.
Do you want to be a part of this child's story? You can. Every summer we host a tutoring program at Silver City Church to help inner city youth stay sharp on reading and math. This year we want to kick it into high gear with a technology lab. We plan to purchase 5 build-your-own computer kits from Kano, which they call the STEAM Pack. If we get these kits I believe we can bring back the hacker mindset of decades past and kick start the careers of software developers and entrepreneurs of decades to come.
Let's take a small step to break the cycle today.
If you'd like to know more, please reach out to me on Twitter @pingortle or shoot an email at kaleb.lape@gmail.com.
I'm not gonna lie. I've felt burned out at times over the last few years. Life moves fast when you have kids, especially twins. Add to that the stress and culture shock of new jobs, broken down cars and a billion other things. It's easy to think of life as a treadmill, pushing me forward against my will. I have found the treadmill mindset dangerously influential in my thinking lately. It has clouded my thoughts. It has hidden my free will. It has made me less present with my family. I'm still trying to find my way off the treadmill, but its days are numbered.
This post is my attempt to follow the sage advice of NBA legend, Michael Jordan.
Stop it. Get some help.
I'm inviting you into my struggle. Let's take a look at my life and see if we can learn anything together.
The treadmill
Sometimes I'm not sure what my own opinions are. They're harder for me to articulate because I'm consuming without recording my own personal, original thoughts. Too often I find myself mindlessly scrolling through the Internet. When something triggers an original thought, I'll think about it for a little while. As soon as that trigger flicks off the screen, the thought also vanishes from my mind. I rarely return to that train of thought ever again. Even if I do get it back, I rarely take the time to record it or process it in any meaningful way.
Sometimes I feel like I haven't made a decision in weeks. Obviously, that's not true. I make a thousand choices every day. That scares me. How can I make so many judgment calls without even realizing it? If you have hopes and dreams for your life, autopilot will fail you every time. Even though I know this in my mind, it's so easy to just pretend I don't have a choice.
If you have hopes and dreams for your life, autopilot will fail you every time.
Sometimes my relationships suffer badly. When you're trapped on a treadmill you have no time for others. The treadmill makes me feel desperate, so I lash out at my kids and pass my stress to my wife.
Getting off the treadmill
The treadmill is frustrating. For all the effort you exert no actual movement happens. If you recognize that feeling, you need to first gain some perspective on the situation. Maybe you don't think you're moving because you don't have a point of reference. Move toward something and maintain an honest perspective of how it's going. For myself I'm going to spend time writing and sharing my thoughts on things here. If I try to get out of this, I'm counting on you to keep me on task.
Be the source, not the echo
Scrolling through social media and news headlines invites thousands of other peoples' ideas to enter your mind. These ideas flash across your retinas, travel down the optic nerve, and filter through your mind like rain water. The unchecked tide of thought has to go somewhere. If you don't actively influence it, these foreign thoughts and opinions will settle at random mingling with your authentic beliefs. Worse, on social media we feel compelled to make snap decisions. To share or not to share. Should I like, love, or laugh at this? We react to these headlines without even a glance at the full content we are sharing. It's the echo chamber of empty ideas. I have a simple rule to avoid this. Never react to something unless you've processed the entire message in context. This means you have read the whole article or watched the entire video clip and taken the time to form your own well rounded opinion.
Leverage knowledge
Unleveraged knowledge just sits there taking up cognitive real estate. If you're not engaging with the knowledge coming in, it will go unfiltered. If you're not careful it will take over. A cluttered mind yields a hectic life. So leverage your knowledge! The Internet makes this so easy. Write a small post and share it with someone. You just influenced the world. What if someone disagrees? Maybe you'll learn something you didn't know, and you just got smarter. If you don't use the knowledge you have it's guaranteed to go to waste. Teach, write, record, compose. Let us benefit from the great stuff you have locked away in your brain.
Own your work
Have you ever thought about how much effort you invest in your social media? Did you realize that the platform most likely has complete control of your investment? They can easily delete digital decades from our lives without blinking. I got an early lesson when Facebook deleted my account just because I was homeschooled. They couldn't verify that I was a student. If I had been posting my content on my own website, nobody could have touched it. It would still be mine.
Systematically crush excuses
If you've ever hit the snooze button on your alarm, you know the feeling. Comfy, cozy, and full of self loathing. One snooze leads to another and another. Don't allow excuses a voice. Hate exercising? Prep your workout clothes ahead of time. No excuses. Hate eating healthy? Only buy healthy options. No exceptions. Still have that room full of clutter a year after moving? Make a plan. Declutter a box a day, and eventually you'll work through it all. Nothing too big. Nothing dramatic. Just stick to a simple plan.
Learning to walk
Over the years as a father, uncle, church member, teacher, friend of the family I've had the privilege of watching a lot of kids learn to walk. It's a little cliche, but it's so true. They fall down a lot. In public. Unabashed, they get up and try again. Some take a little longer than others. When they decide to walk, there is no stopping them. If we can learn to harness the determination of a toddler, we will become unstoppable too. In order to get where you want to be in life, you will have to learn. I'm convinced that the best way to learn is in public. You may be ridiculed. Shake it off. It's a growing opportunity. The scoffers only win if you decide to quit.
All done
Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work! If you'd like to chat more about anything here, you can find me on github and twitter as @pingortle. Feel free to DM me or open an issue on a random repository.
