Disappointed Again By Microsoft

One of the things that irks me about Microsoft, one of the worlds most successful companies, is that they let the customers do their quality control.

Whether it is with their software (Vista) or with their hardware (XBox 360), they make improvements on their products when they get complaints, rather than doing a thorough testing beforehand.

That is one of the reasons I am REALLY DISAPPOINTED after paying over $400 for my new XBox 360. After a few minutes out of the box, it was evident that the wireless controller that came with my XBox was not working correctly.

I called the store I purchased the console from and they said that I had to deal with Microsoft directly - Microsoft has some special policy about that. Then I spent 20 minutes online looking for a solution to my problem (not mentioned) and then another 10 minutes on the phone speaking words into an automated system. (Picture that phone commercial where the guy on the bus yells his password into his phone "I ain't no hollaback girl!")

Finally, I spoke with a guy who didn't care what my problem was, who essentially said I HAVE TO PAY to have the controller shipped to Texas. What!!! There are 20 stores by me that have literally hundreds of these controllers, but I have to pay for the privilege to wait almost a month to use something I saved 6 months to buy.

While some say Microsoft's customer support is great in spite of their problems, I say the best customer support is not needing any.

Needless to say, I am disappointed.

Adopt-A-Powell

As you may know, Andrea and I are attending the National Worship Leader Conference in Austin, Texas at the end of July. We are looking for some compassionate families to Adopt-A-Powell while we are gone - more specifically, Andrik and Kellin Powell. You can adopt either one or both kids for a period of one to seven days between July 20-26.

As an added bonus, we'll throw in a photo and handwritten letter from your adopted kid so you can post it on your refrigerator after they're gone!! :-)

Oh yeah, they're also good at doing household chores.

XBox 360 Baby!

I've been saving for some time now, and today was able to buy an XBox 360! Kind of my birthday present to the whole fam. It was great to just escape to video game land for a few hours with the kids.

Rock On Rob!

I heard from my good friend Rob, yesterday. He used to play acoustic guitar here in Helena for Hannaford, but ended up securing a job and moving to Pheonix, Arizona a couple of years ago.

Rob is an architect and has been given the opportunity to work with FEMA in Iowa to assess flood damage. The current firm he is with is giving him the 3 or 4 months he needs to help families get back on their feet after all the flooding in Iowa. He seems genuinely called to go help and I am very excited for him. It's such an awesome opportunity for him to share what Christ has shown us in a real and tangible way.

If you can, please pray for Rob and this opportunity. Rock on Rob!

What Happened To The Powells?

Hello everyone! We just wanted to drop a post to let you all know we're still around. We've been quite busy, sick for a while, and trying to play catch-up.

• I just added the photos of Kellin's pirate-themed 8th birthday party from back in February.
• I want to tell you more about what we have planned for Good Friday and Easter - I'm really excited. You can get a glimpse at Hannaford's Easter here.
• I've been busy rehearsing for an upcoming conference on May 10. It is a joint effort of the Last Chance Men of Integrity and Promise Keepers. We're having local worship (I'm leading the team) and some national speakers.
• We've also taking some good movies lately: 10,000 BC, Horton Hears A Who, and the rental We Are Marshall.
• Our friends Gezer and Kaci introduced us to a pretty fun game called Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot. We've been trying to play it as often as we can.
• I'm also taking over as web designer and administrator for the Montana Family Foundation and their three websites. I guess I'll be learning a whole lot more of ASP and SQL.
• We also need some intense prayer. Ministry is so difficult sometimes and we can use as much spiritual support as possible. :-)

I hope to be blogging more again in the future, but I am really overwhelmed with all that's going on. Drop a note if you want to stay in touch.

Ask...

There are times in our lives where we face a crossroads. When we begin a new season and a choice stands before us. Hannaford now stands at that crossroads, for instance. I believe I may stand at a crossroads as well.

While some would say that we must simply do "what seems right to us" (as I heard one conference speaker share a few years ago), I disagree. I think we must ask. God knows the plans He has laid out for us and it is flat out arrogance or stupidity NOT to seek His guidance through the Holy Spirit in every step we take.

May we be diligent in surrendering to the Spirit in all our decisions ... and ASK.

This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.

-Jeremiah 6:16a

Ring! Ring!

Something kind of weird happened Saturday night. My cell phone rang just before the boys' bedtime and it turned out to be a message with a sound file attached. The caller ID indicated was a local Montana number, but I didn't recognize it. I called it and got a voice mail message from someone I don't know. All I can figure out is that someone sent the file to the wrong number – MINE!

All of this story just leads up to this. The sound file turned out to be a ringtone that I find hilarious! We keep playing it over and over. Click the play button to hear it...



P.S. I think it sounds like Gollum from Lord Of The Rings.

Tax Day

Gary Thomas has some great spiritual insight for tax day...

"Thinking about eternity helps us retrieve perspective. I'm reminded of this every year when I figure my taxes. During the year, I rejoice at the paychecks and extra income, and sometimes I flinch when I write out the tithe and offering. I do my best to be a joyful giver, but I confess it is not always easy, especially when there are other perceived needs and wants."

"At the end of the year, however, all of that changes. As I'm figuring my tax liability, I wince at every source of income and rejoice with every tithe and offering check--more income means more tax, but every offering and tithe means less tax. Everything is turned upside down, or perhaps, more appropriately, right side up. I suspect Judgment Day will be like that."

Thanks to Mark Batterson for bringing Gary's quote to light.

Write It Down!

I just decided that I have to get something off my chest. There is this new trend by aspiring "servers" at restaurants. We are usually seated at our table, served our drinks, and then the server takes our order. Here's where it starts.

In the "old days," the server would just ask us what we want and write it down on their order pad. Now, in an apparent attempt to be better at their job, I often get the server who has decided that they can memorize my order. This is what bugs me!

Invariably, this "new" server always gets something wrong with my order. ALWAYS! I am NOT impressed with your memory skills. You just stress me out with you memory skills. Just write it down and get my order right ... then I'll be impressed.

There. It's off my chest. Anyone else experience this?

Letting Go & New Spring Portraits!

Just another update...It's Saturday evening. Tomorrow, I will baptize Kellin. I am also leading worship, two Bible studies, and rehearsing with Children's Church during both worship services. As my busy-ness increases, I tend to get more "stressed." I'm not sure things are progressing for Easter and that concerns we as well. It just doesn't ever seem things can come together ... but they always do. So, whew! I'll just need to let go and let God have control over all this. Thanks for listening.

Now for the portraits: I've posted some new photos in the e|Photos gallery here. There are some shots from the recent Jesus Conference (I'll be talking more about that), others are old ones from Christmas, and still others are new. Enjoy!

When We Get Serious

How do people react when you get serious? It's a lot different when a late night talk show host gets serious for 12 minutes during his monologue! I came across this video monologue yesterday that blew my socks off. Honestly, when it comes to late night talk show hosts, it's the last place we expect some serious, provocative thought. It took real guts for Craig Ferguson to allow 12 minutes of his Late Late Show to something he feels very serious and passionate about.

Instead of posting the YouTube video here, I'll point you to Eric Wright where I first found the video on his blog The Merge.

Following God Again...

I am much more pleased with my activity this week. Not really because I got more done (as my title implies), but because what I did work on was more in line with the values and goals of the worship ministry, my role, and my calling. Here are some of the things I worked on...

• Finished planning for Thanksgiving Eve worship (an extra service in the workflow). - Planning our worship services is one of my main responsibilities.
• Planned out readings for our Advent celebration. Came up with a list of names. I still need to contact the people and see if they will participate. - Allowing people to get involved in worship is also a vital responsibility of the worship ministry.
• The Women's Ministry is going through a study regarding the Joy of Serving. They asked me with share during their class this Sunday. I spent some time this week working on how I might convey how God leads us to serve, how He led me to where I am today, and how others can get involved in the worship ministry. - Again, building relationships is important. And allowing people to worship through service is what my role and calling areall about.
• We finally had the Worship Ministry Fellowship that we've been planning. There was a decent turnout (about 22) and it was a fun time. We had pizza and food, listened to some music, and played a long game of Encore. Families were invited so the kids played video games and watched the movie, Cars. - Relationship- and team- building is one of the areas we've fallen short in and it's a key focus of the upcoming year.
• Tonight, I'll be driving a team of middle-schoolers around town for the Middle School Youth "Where's Waldo?" event.

It was a busy week, but I'm glad to be moving in the direction that God wants.

Another September Disaster

No, it's not 9/11. It's not Hurricane Katrina. It's "Western Day" at Hannaford Street Bible Church.

I guess that's a bit of an overstatement - it certainly will not be a disaster. Our annual Western Day tomorrow is part of our "Fall Kickoff" campaign this year. It was planned to be a big start to September. We notified all the local media and sent out 10,000 full-color postcards to Helena residents informing them of the free western breakfast, hayrides for the kids, and best of all, a live bluegrass band in both services!

Thursday afternoon the bluegrass band canceled (due to an emergency health issue in the band). So two days before Labor Day weekend we have been frantically calling and searching for a replacement group. The result? No go. :-(

Needless to say, we're pretty disappointed. We made the decision late yesterday that there is just no getting someone in here at such late notice, so I've had to come up with a plan for worship on Sunday. Did I mention that I'm off Fridays, that I cleared the stage for Sunday's band, that I'm pretty sick with a cold? We considered just playing a DVD of the bluegrass band through the whole service, but we thought that might be boring especially because you can't really see the projection screen in daytime anyway.

So finally, I've decided on a Good Ol' Down Home Sing-A-Long. I've picked out about 25 good ol' songs from our hymn book that our people can request on Sunday. I'm sure some with really appreciate and enjoy the day! Although some in second service may not know any of the songs listed. That's okay, though. Our relationship with Jesus is far more important that the tradition of singing a few 50-100 year-old songs.

Like I said, it may not be what we intended, but Western Day won't be a disaster.

God Is Great!

Just a quick note about how great God is. He has a plan. He is intimately involved in our daily lives. He changes us.

We have been here in SoCal since Monday evening and have been driving from Fontana to Lake Forest every day. It's over 150 miles round-trip. We got up about 5am each day to get there in time for the first general session at 8:30am. It was also a long trip back. We usually got in about midnight.

Through all of it our van worked great!

When I got up this morning (it is the first day after the conference), the van did something very strange. We walked up and I unlocked the doors with the remote. I opened the automatic side door with the remote. All was normal.

Then, I put in the key.

At that point, the dials went crazy and the windshield wipers went on. It was possessed! Everything was working crazy EXCEPT the engine wouldn't start. Now, as much as we love SoCal, we have a new home in the Big Sky Country and we intend on coming back some day. Besides, we'd like to see some friends and family while we're here.

Although a dead battery came to mind, this was strange behavior for a vehicle with a dead battery - something was powering the accessories. What could be wrong? We tested the battery...12 volts. We tested the fuses...they were all okay. We decided to take out the battery and take it in to be test and buy a new one anyway.

When the battery was tested, the tester confirmed that it needed to be replaced. The attendant looked at us funny when we said "fantastic!" We bought a new battery, installed it, and the van works great again!

There are multiple levels of God's provision here. 1) Our van works. 2) It wasn't some deeper, more difficult, more expensive problem (we hope). 3) The van worked all week during the conference. God wanted to make sure we made it to every session and every workshop. That simply wouldn't have happened if the battery went our any earlier.

So not only did God provide, he gave a story to share with others. He also infused us with confidence that He is involved with our daily life. He has spoken this over us, and by doing so He changed us. I know Him more intimately. He has confirmed once again that He cares and loves us.

How will we respond? Will we remember this tomorrow when we worship with other believers? I think so...and we will worship from a grateful and joyous heart!

God is great!

Welcome to our new e|Something blog!

Thank you so much (all of you) who have been visiting our e|Something blog!

We're hoping that this will be a more convenient way for us to leave updates and a better way for you to provide comments, feedback, questions, and other interactions. We'll still be posting photo galleries and such on the e|Photos page, but list the links of new photos here.

It'll also give you an easier way to figure out if there is anything new - you can "subscribe" via an RSS feed or by email (see the e|Social icons in the right sidebar).

Well, that it for starters. Be sure to tell us what you think, and come back soon!