Since selling my 37” Panny plasma last spring I’ve been in the market for a new TV. All summer and fall I searched for a great deal on a larger 1080p set.  My preference for a replacement flip-flopped between nearly all competing technologies. Countless times while perusing Slickdeals.net I *almost* bought a TV but backed out at the last minute, unsure of my decision. It was only last month that I found a deal that I liked enough to jump on – a Samsung PN50B550 for $820.  Little did I know what adventures awaited me!

If asked what was really important in my life, the ‘right’ answer would place God, education, and family high on the list. That’s the answer that I have been taught.  That’s the answer that something deep and sleeping and significant in me knows is true. But this isn’t the answer that I live by.

Midterms and papers have me making an early wish-list:

• 1 month of free time
• Pizza and root beer
• Movies
• Bean Bags
• Julie
• Uncharted 2
• Borderlands
• Fallout 3
• Modern Warfare 2
• IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
• Assassin’s Creed 2

Sigh.

You came into my life in January 2004. You left my life on August 13, 2009. You woke me each morning at 6:30 for two years. You were a faithful companion for the following three. You never required a new battery – our love kept you strong enough to beep for me in the dark hours of the morning. I cursed you, but you knew I didn’t mean it for I would always set you before I went to bed again

May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

For a long time I have held the belief that, as children of God, we all face different trials during our respective extended stays away from Him. I’m really talking about soul-deep trials and not superficial problems we encounter from day to day. I further believe that, although our trials are very different and unique, we are all tried in the same measure. With this view God is ultimately fair. I believe that the extent of our trials rests much on how we respond to them. And that is what this short blog post is about.