Problems are for Solving

Death
Comes as an enemy
Delivering to a Friend

New in the sidebar I have added a few new links, but also a new RSS feed. I use Google Reader, which allows me to share posts with other google reader users called “friends.” This RSS feed (look to the right under recent posts) shows posts on other blogs I’ve read that I thought were particularly interesting. Sometimes the title is enough to know what it’s about, sometimes not, but this is the only way I can get my sidebar to do it with my limited computer skills.

Because I use an RSS feed for reading (and so do some of my readers) I have to tell you when something is new on the actual blog page.

I started to leave a comment on this post from Gabrielle, and then it turned into something long enough that I wanted it here.
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And because of this, even when our lives are pathetic and cranky, Jesus intercedes and redeems those things that are pathetic and cranky.

He gives us:
Beauty for ashes
An oil of joy for mourning
A garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness.

And He sometimes gives us hope for despair as well. Praise the Lord He is risen in power.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion– to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
(Isaiah 61:1-3)

Ok.

So last night Theresa and I go over to Seth’s to have ice cream and do the whole Wii thing. This is a first for me, you understand. Busy morning so I only have three things to say:

1. Due to the help of others, my Mii is scary realistic like me.

2. I’m glad we don’t have a Wii

3. I’m glad Seth does.

A while back I started writing some “poetry” down in my blackberry notes and saving it and from time to time I’ll post one here.

It’s not very good. Some of it is “haiku-like,” short, pithy stuff. Others are self-reflective or otherwise. Feel free to criticize any of it–I won’t be posting anything I just wrote, so if you think it sounds depressing it’s likely something I wrote weeks earlier on a bad day.

Here’s the first installment for today:

Deadness
In a cold branch
Waiting for new life

Great Jehovah
Who fed the children manna in the desert
Feed me till I never want again
Save an endless hunger for You
So that I may be full of Christ
Hear this starving soul and graciously feed me
Amen.

OK. I’ve decided, at least for now, to keep the current theme. It has all of the formatting issues solved, I like the double, rearrangeable sidebar, and everyone seems to like the flames at the top (I can change the color to a few others, but I liked this one best right now–you might see a different color in the same theme from time to time).

I also added last week to the sidebar a link to my Pandora stations. If you haven’t checked out Pandora–you should. You can create a station from a specific song or artist and Pandora will play other music like that song/artist. They don’t have everything, but they continue to improve and you’ll discover new artists in genres you like and I find that totally cool.

I also took the time to make a new page with favorite music artists of the moment (don’t know how often I’ll update them) with links to their own pages.

Paul Tripp Ministries: Realistic Expectations
There’s no escaping it, this world isn’t functioning as it was designed to function.

Another really good post from Dr. Tripp on Psalm 27.

Previous posts on the dishwasher: One, Two, Three, Four

Thursday I called the Sears repair center to schedule a repair appointment for the dishwasher. I don’t know what’s wrong with it–it just isn’t cleaning the dishes. Thankfully, with the warranty it’ll be at no charge. They were able to schedule an appointment for the following afternoon, thankfully, so the repair man came out yesterday.

Apparently the problem is that we really don’t have a food disposal, but something that works a lot like a food disposal, only not as well. The labels from glass we’re washing to recycle got caught in some drain and caused the dishwasher not to work.

So our dishes are clean now again–without washing by hand. Yay!

If anyone took the time to try to comment on posts since I changed themes, I know it’s not working now. I’m contacting the systems admin dude and finding out if there’s a way to fix it. Until then I’ll be switching to another theme as soon as I find one that will work with the two sidebars that isn’t really ugly.

Sorry.

UPDATE: As you can see in the comments below they now work, and I’ve switched to a theme that isn’t quite as nice looking, but has all the features of the theme I picked yesterday, plus one more: comments work.

Thanks for your patience. If the system admin can get another version of the Royale theme that has a comments form that works I’ll switch back. Until then you get this one.