The first verse is from Isaiah 1:31 (ESV), where God is speaking of His enemies, those who have forsaken Him.

And the strong shall become tinder,
and his work a spark,
and both of them shall burn together,
with none to quench them.

(I can’t get over how poetic that is)

And the second is 2 Corinthians 13:3b-4 (NIV) where Paul is speaking to the believers who were demanding proof that Christ was using Paul to speak to them:

He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our dealing with you.

I found those verses because I was thinking about snow, and happened upon Isaiah 1:18-20. Random! =)

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Last year I also fell in love with pumpkin spice lattes from Panera Bread. I’m not the type to breeze into the coffee shop every morning before work, so yesterday I thought, “I should just make my own pumpkin spice coffee.” I’m quite happy with the result. Here is a great recipe that I used as a guide:

Pumpkin Spice Mix
(enough for a 10-12 cup pot)

3 pieces of Crystallized Ginger,
(or 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
2 Tsp Cinnamon
3 Whole Allspice Berries
3 Whole Cloves
1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

Since I’m a cheapo, I just bought a little jar of McCormick’s Pumpkin Pie Spice, which contains the cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg. I did buy the whole cloves, because there’s really no excuse for leaving them out.

I used Java Love whole bean coffee from The Organic Coffee Company as the base blend. The recipe I listed above recommends that you sprinkle the mix on top of your coffee grounds before you brew, but I was happier with the flavor on my second try, when I had mixed it all together and stored it overnight. I may have used more spices than the first time, too.

I topped my finished cup with a generous heaping of whip cream and sprinkled it with spices. Delicious.

All that to say, I don’t actually remember what the sermon was about a few weeks ago, but here’s what caught my eye that morning:

In Deuteronomy 28, Moses dictates a summary of what life will be like for the Israelites if they choose either to obey God, or to disobey God, since “You have now become the people of the Lord your God” (chapter 27 verse 9). It feels very much like reading through a contract (covenant, anyone?); I half expected to see a dotted line at the bottom where the Israelites would have signed their names and perhaps checked a box labeled “I have read and agree to the terms and conditions above.”

The first 14 verses are spectacular. If the Israelites obey God and follow His commands, they will live in prosperity all their lives, and be blessed wherever they go and in whatever they do.

The next 53 verses are a very detailed description of what will “overtake” God’s people if they choose to disobey Him. Not to make this a negative post, but the following verses are actually what stuck out to me the most, because they are so telling. I could check off all of the things below that I have experienced when I wasn’t upholding my covenant with God. It is all the more amazing to me that we so often choose these sorts of things rather than the abundant life that God offers.

“Among [all] nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!” – because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.” Deut. 28:65-68, NIV

Drupal has a handy function called user_roles that is included with the User module. It will return an array of existing roles, so we just need to check it for the admin role:

<?php
if (in_array('admin', $user->roles)) {
// Put stuff here
} ?>

Where ‘admin’ is the role you are looking for. Easy-peasy.

We bought a house. It’s quite big, and so far, everything I dreamed it would be. I’m forecasting many years of decorating and remodeling. But for the in-between “I’m too busy to care” times, I am content to shuffle from room to room on the creaky wood floors, and bask in the thrill of it all. I mean, come on; I’ve waited my whole life for this.

We will be arranging a house-warming party once we get back from our cruise to Alaska. It probably won’t take place until early July. And the house will NOT be in perfect order like I wish it could be. I’m trying to be realistic. “Nobody minds if your house is a mess or poorly decorated” has become a popular mantra for me. After all, these things require money, and who has that?

I’m taking a very large break from freelancing, because I now have a full time job, and the house promises endless chores. Most of which are fun, so I’m far from complaining.

I wonder what’s next?

I find it extremely comical that privacy and comfort come at the price of, well, everything else. Yard maintenance, utilities, broken windows, missing doorknobs, cracked tile, and really bad paint jobs. We must be out of our minds. The American dream is to go into debt up to our eyeballs and not pull ourselves back out until we’re 52 years old. And that’s only if we don’t garner any other sort of debt over the years.

It really does feel like we are about to sign our lives away.

But along with all that headache comes a thrilling sense of freedom and potential. While we won’t have monetary ownership for quite some time, we’re gaining new liberties, new possibilities, new challenges that we don’t have in our current residence.

I feel like I’m being handed an enormous blank canvas and being told, “have at it!” There’s something very exciting about being able to express myself artistically through decorating, and I’ve never really been able to unleash that energy in any place I’ve lived.

Money is certainly a big factor, but that’s life – waiting and saving. I think if you want something bad enough, you will do what is required to earn it. And there is great satisfaction (and great learning) in working hard at something and being able to enjoy not only the result, but more importantly, the process.

See, it’s really not about the house. It’s about the challenges, the lessons, and the growth. It’s about letting God teach you, and shape you, and show you what He can accomplish with the gifts He has given you. I constantly remind myself that owning a house won’t make me happy, and making it look pretty won’t make me happy. God is the only source of true satisfaction, and buying a house might just be one of the things that generate opportunities to get to know Him better. In that case, I’ll take it.

So, not be presumptuous, but if God is leading us in the direction it appears He is… here is our new opportunity.

Colossians 3

¹Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

²Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

³For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁴When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

⁵Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

⁶For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

⁷and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

⁸But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

⁹Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

¹⁰and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him–

¹¹a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

¹²So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

¹³bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

¹⁴Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

¹⁷Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

¹⁸Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.

²⁰Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.

²¹Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

²²Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

²³Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,

²⁴knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

²⁵For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

NPR did a fascinating piece on H.M. in 2007; I strongly encourage you to listen. This was the first time audio of H.M. interviews was made available to such a large audience.

I read three or four articles prior to listening, but I was extremely moved when I actually heard H.M.’s voice. He was calm, patient, and honest. Here was a man without memory. He didn’t know what happened one hour ago, much less one day ago. He couldn’t keep friends, because he would forget who they were in a matter of minutes. His doctors had to introduce themselves to him again every single morning. He had to be repeatedly informed of his own mother’s death, and each time he experienced the grief as if it were for the first time. When asked about his age, he would guess “about 30,” and be dumbfounded by the reflection of an aging man staring back at him.

Yet, he seemed to maintain a sense of humor about his situation. And even more significant was his perspective on what was happening to him. When asked “What do you think you’ll do tomorrow?” he responded, “Whatever is beneficial.” And to the question, “are you happy?”, he simply responded, “Yes. Well, the way I figure it is, what they find out about me helps them to help other people.” And it has.

I don’t think I’ve ever cried so hard about a person I’ve never met. In what struggle of my life have I ever said, “if this ever might help someone else, I’m willing to go through it”? My trials are so trivial in comparison to H.M.’s, and yet I bear them as if they are insurmountable. My selfish heart says that I deserve better, and that things should be fair.

I must now ask myself, “What am I willing to let God do with me?” What pain am I willing to endure? And if the ONLY reason is so that someone else may be affected in a way that might help them grow, am I willing to be put through the fire? If God is trying to teach me something, am I going to let Him do what is necessary, what is best for me? Even if it hurts? Even if every day of my life is a battle? How much of myself am I going to entrust to God? What part of my life is worth clinging onto? What part of me do I not want God to use? What part do I think He is unable to use?

Am I willing to do “whatever is beneficial”?

Sources:
“The Day His World Stood Still” by Joanna Schaffhausen
N.Y. Times: H.M., an Unforgettable Amnesiac, Dies at 82
NPR: H.M.’s Brain and the History of Memory
Wikipedia: HM (patient)

So, for the record:

To fix the fonts in e16, edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add the following line under Section “Screen”:

Option “DPI” “96 x 96″

Finis.