I am sending myself on blogging sabbatical. This week has been about papers and homework so far, tomorrow we are heading to Pennsylvania to spend Thanksgiving with Rebekah's family, and then we have finals week.
I had hoped to finish my "Christians and Alcohol" series, but recently I have found myself discouraged by the endeavor for various reasons. If it works out, I will draw some conclusions in a couple of weeks.
This is the 300th post in the life of this blog; maybe not a major milestone, but a milestone nonetheless.
If you have been a faithful follower of Thorns you have experienced my frustration with the design of the blog through the multiple changes that have occurred in the past six months.
Well, it looks different again. I hope this one sticks. Tell me what you think.
Alright. I have been a poor blogger lately.
So, I have reassessed how I blog and decided that I need not put off blogging until I have an essay to write. I don't have time to write a lot each time I post and it is unfair to my readers to wait until I have a significant amount of material. I must be more concise and consistent.
Also, I think that I have become a bit predictable, so henceforth the "Tree of the Week," has been suspended. I do plan on continuing through Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions, but hopefully on a more consistent basis.
Overall, I am changing my idea of blogging from something lengthy and academic to something that can be gleaned from quickly.
Please let me know if you have suggestions. Thanks!
Thorns is under construction.
I thought I could pull off all of the changes I wanted in an evening, but I was wrong. So if you are a regular visitor to the actual blog there is a reason it looks like a six-week-old paraplegic ape was messing with it. If you usually read Thorns from Facebook or a feed-reader, then you can ignore this post. Thanks for your patience.
I just went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Rebekah requested that I wait five minutes since she was about to wash her face. I said yes.
With five minutes on my hands I decided to celebrate my 210th blog post. But first I had to write it.
So this post is both the reason for my celebration and the celebration itself.
Thank you to all of you who made this possible.
I will now brush my teeth.
This past week I have been on vacation with Rebekah, my parents, and my sister. I was hoping that the time away would help clear up the small strain of blogger's block that I seem to have come down with in the month of March. Unfortunately, it was not the cure to my condition. So, this is the best I can do right now. Maybe after a few days in my natural habitat I will have something to blog about.
In other news, I have started writing a novel.
So, I started tweeting on Twitter. I don't know if I'll keep up with it, but you can check it out and follow me if you'd like.
If you'd rather not go through all that clicking, you can just glance at the sidebar in my blog. I have fed my tweets in there. Of course if you are reading this on Facebook or a feedreader, you'll have to click through to the actual blog.
Open your arms wide and embrace a new blogger to our blommunity (blogging community?). My good friend and reciprocal best man, Jeremy, began his blog, Sufficient Grace, last Thursday. Take a look. And don't forget to subscribe.
My wife started blogging today. She has dubbed her blog Heart's Cry.
I guess she wants a muntjac deer.
For some sagacious Labor Day reading, seasoned with wisdom, take a look at my father-in-law's new blog: Come As You Are Productions.
Blogging was not my top priority in July. But now I am married. And I have a job. And life is finally slowing down and dropping into a bit of a routine. So now I have time to ensure that you get your blog fix. And I have plenty of material.
Lick your finger and raise it up into the blogosphere. The winds of blog are blowing.
I apologize for the recent lack of posts. I have been moving and I am not yet connected to the internet at my new place. And since my laptop at the church went missing, getting online has been a bit of a struggle. It may be a few more days before I get back into the groove. Thanks for bearing with me.
Here are some suggestions of things to do with your new found free time:
Yesterday I got on my soapbox and told everyone how and why they should subscribe to blogs in my entry entitled, RSS: An Untapped Resource.
Little did I know that the RSS icon that shows up in the URL field was set to send you to an unknown feed. Smooth.
Well, the problem has been fixed. If you tried to subscribe using that icon in the URL field and were unsuccessful, just try doing it again. It works now. Promise.
Subscribe away.
More than 90% of the world's internet users do not subscribe to blogs or newsfeeds or anything. Why? It's a mystery to me. But if you read a blog or news online, I urge you to check out RSS (Real Simple Syndication).
Subscribing to feeds is about the easiest, simplest thing in the world. Just look for the 
Maybe people just don't know about subscribing to blogs or news. Here is a helpful video in understanding why it's a good idea to make use of RSS.
The main point is that you do not have to visit every blog or news site directly in order to read it. You can simply subscribe to your favorite blog on your reader and concentrate on reading, not on searching.
Recently, there was a post entitled A Step by Step Guide to Google Reader on the Desiring God Blog. Check it out. It is a great resource in understanding Google Reader and the importance of making use of RSS.
Also check out the official RSS Day website. It discusses the benefits of RSS and how it can help you.
Subscribing lets me know that you are reading my blog and enjoying it and making use of RSS is free and you do not have to give out any personal information.
This is my plea to you to subscribe to my blog and to others. I am not the only blogger in the world who likes to see that people are reading his or her material. Subscribing to blogs builds the bloggers credibility and gives us more of a reason to continue blogging. Read Abraham Piper's "22 Reasons to Subscribe" on his blog, 22 Words.
So, using RSS is simple and beneficial to both the reader and the blogger. You can always subscribe to as many blogs or news feeds that you like and unsubscribe to them whenever you like.
If you are still confused about subscribing, leave a remark! I would be more than willing to help you out.
I would love to have you subscribe to my blog!
