Monday, June 28, 2010

Lightning (Bugs)





Welcome back to the Midwest! Yahoo! We've been staying in the country at a HUGE mansion this past month. (I have limited pic's on here because my camera's setup cd to import is packed in the POD so all these photos are from Jeff's iphone which has worked out well.) Here's a cut off shot of 'our house'. We've been here since the end of May, and all those peaks above the garage is the Master Suite which WE GET TO STAY IN! We have the main floor and upstairs and the Arants are staying in the basement. All 7 of them in the basement! No, we're not evil, just the two of us hogging the whole house, but the Arants are actually staying there until their house is finished being built in September. The family that actually lives here and is SO GRACIOUSLY letting all 9 of us 'live' here over the summer are in Haiti for the summer. How cool are they? They have 4 sons and took the whole family to help over there. They'll be back at the end of July, so Mark, Leatha and family are getting used to living in the basement cause that's where they'll be once the family comes home. We're so thankful for the Krobs and for the Arants for taking us homeless people in. (We get to move in the Townshouse we'll be renting for the next 2 years, August 1st...I CAN'T wait! I always think oh I have a "______" (fill in the blank) then remember, oh yeah, it's packed away in the POD)
At the 'mansion' we're in the country which has lead to some fun sites. Here are a couple of Examples:
*Lightning bugs. This was Jeff's accessory while we played a game of bocce ball.
*Storms. Ok, these are not fun. They are honestly the thing that has been my hardest adjustment. There have been MULTIPLE tornado warnings the past couple weeks, and it's fine when you can hear the sirens but here are a few reasons I'm FREAKED out: 1.) we're in the country so you can't hear the sirens well at all. 2.) we're staying on the upper level, so we're the first to go. 3.) we sleep with a sound machine that is loud (that's the point) so we can't hear the sirens for those 'middle of the night storms' at all! 4.) see photo below:

Jeff took this while on a bike ride!! Insane! That day we had 2 HUGE storms where we watched the clouds begin to swirl on storm #1 and with storm #2 there were sirens going off and everyone was gone, when they came running into the house they found me in the basement with our safe (filled with wedding video, birth certificates, passports, etc) and my purse. Whew! That was an exhausting day.
Anytime we have high winds I'm up (in the middle of the night) checking for storms or warnings. I need to chill out, I know that and admitting it is the first step.

Veritas Church

Our church has been named! Veritas Church. I love it. The more I hear it the more I love it! Here's a little description of why Veritas---(I'm stealing this from Mark's blog-anyone who reads his blog too, I'll tell him next time I see him I promise. :) )

"Veritas" is the Latin word for "truth." In John 18:37, Jesus said to Pilate, "for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth." Our church exists for the same reason. We use the Latin word as a reminder that we join history in the pursuit of truth, which is often elusive and polarizing. Truth transcends cultures, nations, and history itself. There's at least one thing we share in common with the Ancients, namely, this quest for truth.

There it is! We're all going to get Veritas tattoos written in some Old English font now. Just kidding.


Complicated Buyers.

So as stated in the last post, we're very very thankful that the bank has approved the price at which we can sell our house, now is the next complicated part....We had a buyer. A very rich buyer who was actually an investor (great idea, if you have TONS of money you also should be buying up these 'steal-of-a-deal' houses) was ready to purchase our house in California. Turns out his bank said he has one to many properties and would have to put down 30% on our house. He slept on it, while we prayed hard about it (God if it's your Will. God PLEASE MAKE IT YOUR WILL!!!). Turns out, he didn't think it was worth it to him to put that much down which then means...we need a buyer for our house. Nuts. But I do trust that God has this all timed out accordingly, AND Phillippians 4:6 helps. "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God..." SOOO, if you remember to pray about a new buyer for us that would be very much appreciated. :)

Saturday, June 19, 2010

PRAISE HIM FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!!


God did something remarkable for us on last Tuesday. After just a month in process, the bank has officially accepted the offer on our house! We are ecstatic about God's goodness and blessing in all of this! We can now go 'rental shopping' in Iowa City!!!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

A ride in our car...


Here is a little video from our travels across the country. It's unedited and raw, but gives you good insight into our relationship! Ha!!