From a Roman prison, Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Philippi, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." We usually read that verse and say, "aw, that's nice," and then move on through the rest of the letter. How often do we stop and think about what Paul was saying then - and what God has for us to learn from it today? "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."

Since I got my driver's license in 1995, I have owned six different vehicles. I've worked at four part-time jobs over the last ten years (switching between two of them a couple different times), and I have looked or applied for a different job each year since I started teaching. If my wife would let me, I'd try to find a different house every other year. For some reason, I'm never content - always wanting something new . . . something different . . . something better.

Over the last seven months, my blog has been an ever-evolving creation. Not happy with the original template I chose (mostly because it was a two-column design and I wanted three), I set out to find a custom template from the Internet. When I finally found one I liked, I started tweaking it to add new features and create just the right look for me. When I ran into limitations with the template's structure, I went searching for codes I could use to bypass certain features that couldn't be turned off or modified.

The biggest challenge I've run into so far has been getting rid of the generic header with title and subhead and replacing it with my own graphic. Today, I finally accomplished it! It was a VERY easy fix - I just had to change the fixed value to 'true' and then I was able to remove it on the page elements screen and add the picture. (I also had to figure out how wide to make the pic - just a little trial and error.) Now I can change the picture whenever the notion strikes - until I get exactly what I'm looking for.

Yesterday, I discovered Shelfari - a free online book community where you can set up groups and share lots of information about the books you own, maintain a top-ten list, current reading list, wishlist, and more . . . I really haven't explored that much about it. What I like about it is that you can share your list on your blog - and it uses the actual picture of the book cover. What I haven't figured out is how to share two different lists on the same blog. I want to share my bookshelf AND the books I'm currently reading . . . but I'm still working on that one. Until I figure that out, you can click on the link above the bookshelf to go to my personal Shelfari page.

Where will I go from here? Who knows! Every day I think of new features I could add and design changes that could improve the look and function. As long as the blog stays active, it will continue to change.

Change . . . you either love it or you hate it. You either long for it or you resist it. Paul said that he learned to be content. Contentment does not come naturally. I'm at a point in my life where I'm not very content at all. When I think about the size of my house or certain aspects about my job, it's really easy for me to start complaining and long for something better. Will I ever be content with what I have? No. I'll always want something bigger, newer, better. I have to remember the great things I already have - a wonderful wife, a beautiful daughter, countless friends, the love of God . . . and I have to learn to be content.