It's a picture day!

This is of Matt at Christmas time. We had a lot of fun at his parents house. Being able to see all of the family is always a blast!

This is some of us just after we sang happy birthday to Jesus. A tradition that will live on now that there is grandchildren in the family... only it won't be fully real until Jacob can talk and sing! Also, this picture tells me that Jacob is not going to have any problem eating his birthday cake come February... :)

The grandparents were sure to start outfitting the grandchild with John Deere stuff... He will grow into it. Still a little big for him.

This is our house after the 7.5 inches of snow that came last night and after Matt spent an hour shoveling! I offered to help but i was a little sick yesterday so he told me not to help... I think he'll want me to eventually!

This is our house after a lot of snow but before the latest drop in snow... It was actually this past Monday because we got 3 or so inches then! It's been a snow-filled winter!

Finally I got some pics up!! :)

2009!

Since the last update a lot has happened! We have really been very busy up to this week. I finished my internship and then just decided to take the rest of December off as far as not looking for a job. I have technically been working though because i have been contracted to work for my mom. The job is getting close to being done and I don't have a 'real' job yet. I officially started looking this week and have only heard from one place out of about 7 that they have a position for me. The catch is that the position they have to offer is only part-time. I'm not sure if that will cut it. I am really ready to work full time but as of right now there have been no openings. I am hoping to get some phone calls next week!

Track back a little; December 20th i graduated from UNI! I wasn't going to walk in the ceremony but I did because my parents asked me to and I actually had a really great time. i saw some people I had previously had classes with and had some good time of thinking about what it was like to be in class.

The week before graduation we began to move into a house! We love it! We officially finished moving in on the 20th!

Then, we had Christmas!! It was a lot of fun this year. We worked all 4 Christmas Eve services (1:30, 3:30, 5:30, and 11:00) by helping with the tech aspect of things, and inbetween the last 2 services we had dinner and Christmas with my parents and brother. We didn't know where our camera was because we had just moved but were not yet moved in so sadly we don't have any pictures... but other family members do so maybe we can snag some...

We proceeded to have 3 more Christmas parties in 2 days and played a lot of Ticket to Ride (our new favorite board game).

Then we went to the next week and rang in the new year with some of Matt's friends. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about going to this house for new year's eve but it turned out to be a lot of fun even for me. OH! On new year's eve Matt and I broke down and spent a large chunk of money......... we traded my 93 geo tracker that i had had since junior year of high school and bought a 2002 Ford Escape!!! It is such a nice car in comparison to the tracker! the only down side to the new vehicle is that it seems to use a lot more gas than either of our cars we had previously. It gets about 200 miles before a fill up... which is about 13 gallons I believe.... we're not used to that... one more reason why I need to get a job... :)

This past Monday I officially started the job hunt. I think the economy around this area is generally doing pretty well in relation to other areas in the U.S. but I have heard a lot of 'no, we're not hiring at this time' so maybe because I am looking for jobs primarily in the human services field that tend to be funded by the government, the money just isn't there. I know there is a place for me though!! We'll get there! I have found it is not worth worrying about because it's not going to make it better one way or the other. I just need to pray and get myself out there. The more places I put my resume in, even if it's a job I don't think i want, the more likely I am to get a job... (I hope)!!!

Anyway, all of this to say Happy 2009!

It was a random post but so much has happened and it was also good for me to recall it all....

Thankfulness

So Thanksgiving was over a week ago but I had every intention of sharing what I am thankful for over last weekend. Better late than never, right. I look at it this way, at least I've been really thinking about what I'm thankful for over a longer period of time!

I am in such a good place right now. Yesterday I officially finished my internship and this morning I finished all the assignments for it. It feels really good to have accomplished something significant in my life. Really good.

Matt and I have a wonderful caring family. We are blessed with two sides that really want us to be around.

WE have been blessed with housing all of our lives. To me this didn't seem to be a big deal but a natural given. But after working with some families in the community that are constantly moving form place to place or are living with friends because that's the best they can do, it puts a different light on the things i have.

I'm a food lover and so naturally i am thankful for food. I am thankful that this year we embraced Aldi for what it was and began taking control of their prices and started shopping there regularly.

I am soooooo thankful Matt has a stable job. If he wouldn't have, we wouldn't have made it while I did my internship. Now it also puts me at ease to really be able to figure out what is next and not feel rushed to jump into something if it's not the right fit. Don't worry babe, I will be working soon but I am so thankful you have been given the opportunities you have been given. It's pretty amazing really.

Friends. I've learned quickly that life is really not complete without them. Matt and I know a lot of people but really know very few. We are thankful for those of you that are on the inside of our lives. Some of you we've known for what seems like forever and some have become close friends in a relatively short time. The friends we have will always share a special place in our lives and hearts as our lives change. I only hope you know who you are. :)

Well, I must close this post now only because I am being summoned to do something else. Perhaps I will expand at a later time.

Go and be thankful!

We found a place!!!

As a temporary solution to the problem/issue of what we're going to do with our lives, we've found a place we can live that isn't going to break the bank and isn't going to require us to sign a year long lease!!!

It's actually a really interesting story how this all came about. About 2 weeks ago i found a listing on Craigslist for a house in Cedar falls that was a month to month lease because the owner was trying to sell the house but was going to take it off the market for the winter and then put it back on again in the spring. Well, we instantly fell in love with the house. It had a 4 season porch and 3 bedrooms (which is way more space than we need right now) and the kitchen and bathrooms were updated. The only catch was that the monthly rent was about $200 more than we felt we could commit to spending on a monthly basis. We wrestled with whether or not to say yes or to just forget it. The guy renting it said he would give us priority because we are a married couple and he'd rather rent to us than college students because he had just spent a lot of time and money renovating the place. We didn't feel right about making that type of commitment when we are not entirely sure of our working situations coming in the next month. IF we had taken this house it would about double what we are paying now for rent + utilities. We know i'll have some type of job but whether or not it'd be enough to help us save while we're working was a valid question we had to ask.

so, we gave up on that house and were back at square one. Thursday of last week we were talking with a friend and he mentioned that he had a friend that is trying to sell his house because he's moving to an acreage outside of town. We shared how we're really in no place to buy or to sign a one year lease because we are just unsure of a lot of things right now. He said something like he'll see if he's willing to rent. The next day his friend calls us and wants to know if we're interested in renting his house month-to-month at the exact price we had felt we could afford for renting... he will take the house off the market for the winter and then in march/april put it back on...

We decided we would look at it and then decide.... We got home about an hour ago... for how much rent is going to be we wouldn't be able to find anything better. It's really like God is walking us through this time one step at a time. I am very encouraged. This is not all set in stone yet by any means but we left the house feeling like it is really a place where we can spend some time and also be wise about our money. Tonight the owner told us that they had just decided about the possibility to rent it the day before our friend talked to him about us... that is not a coincidence... : )

I feel like this one is really going to work out!! Yay! Now if we could just figure out the rest of our lives... and this isn't a permanent solution by any means but it's going to be what we need for now... and that's enough.

Mobilize

Mobilize: (n) 1. to organize and encourage (people) to act in a concerted way in order to bring about a political objective.
2. bring (resources) into use in order to achieve a particular goal

We met with a gentleman from Indiana that works for the wesleyan church and has strong ties with where we were over the summer in the Czech Republic. We expected this meeting to be something of the sort where this gentleman would try to encourage us to jump on board and become career missionaries in the Czech Republic. We were prepared to hear him out and to leave ready to consider any possibilities. After all, we have been weighing anything as a possibility for a few months now.

He did nothing of the sort. He shared his frustrations with the church and the wonderful things he's been a part of in the church. Overall, we walked away feeling more encouraged and more at ease with where we are right now. We have begun to see and understand the possibility of us being 'mobilizers'. In essence, we are more likely to be effective if we are able to get more people to go with us than we would be just going as two of us alone. This isn't saying we aren't effective. It's saying that we are enabling people to share in an experience along with us and help to spread the vision of the great commission while getting people out of the pews on Sunday morning.

Our talk with this gentleman was fascinating and he had many great things to say that are definitely worth thinking about for a while longer... This is just the preliminary thoughts and I wanted to get them in writing so they don't just slip away from my head...

In addition to being Christ's followers, how are we best able to mobilize others to catch a glimpse of the bigger picture; the great commission?

Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV)
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Fall is here??

A couple weeks ago Matt and I took a day trip to Backbone State Park. We were under the impression that we would see a rock that looked something like a backbone. Neither of us had officially been there before. Needless to say, the renowned backbone is a trail that is rocky and hilly like a backbone would be. It was interesting to tell that to our small group when a couple of them are from around there! We had a lot of fun. It turned out to be the perfect day to be out and about on the trails.

If you'll notice, i am wearing Matt's shorts because we took a picnic lunch and i spilled my applesauce all over and bees were landing all over me to help clean it up. It grossed me out overwhelmingly. I have a very thoughtful husband! Mostly i was also just lucky that he decided to wear shorts under his pants in case he got hot.

Anyway, we are settling into a schedule that looks like it's going to be changing within the month. I am extremely happy at my internship except for the fact that i don't get paid for it, which is a problem. But i will be finishing it up in about 4 weeks and then figure out what is next. that is still a big question for me because i am not sure what my exact passion is. But i fear of being a wanderer for some time being. I don't want what I do next to just be a dead end. I feel like where we are right now, anything we do needs to be working towards the end product. The end product in this case is when we reach our ideal job or life purpose, which we hope is in some way ministry, however that may look. Now is a time to build contacts and gain experience in real life organizations and situations.

Some balls have started to roll... that's good news for us... depending on which way the balls roll..

...

Still waiting...

Waiting is a hard place to be.

It's a hard place when you don't know where you'll be living in a month and a half;

when you don't know how you will have money to put food into your mouths;

when you have been waiting patiently for the Lord to reveal a path to you for quite some time.

There is so much need in the world. People are hurting. People are starving. People are dieing. 

With all of the need in the world, one would think that it would be simple to find a a place where your skills can make a difference.

Now, I know we could go anywhere and do something, but we desire deeply to make the biggest impact--to be the biggest help.