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. :)

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!!!

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!!

Prayer Request-House

Please pray for our house to sell. There is an offer in on it, but we're now waiting on the banks approval on the short sale. Please pray for favor with the bank. We'd like to be able to 'fully engage' here, and to also not have to pay a mortgage there + rent here. Thank you so much. We're so thankful for you all.

Family. Dodge House. Holy Humid.

This past weekend I went up to Maple Grove, Minnesota (suburb of Minneapolis) to visit my brother Jordan. Our Mom drove over from ND, so we had fun little weekend of checking out Jordan's new city. It's BEAUTIFUL! We looked at shops, ate yummy meals and went on a GORGEOUS hike on this path that makes you feel like you're in the middle of no-where but we were in the middle of town! It was so neat and SO HUMID!! (We missed you Landon and Dad!!) Jeff then came up on Sunday afternoon with Mark (Arant) and some guys who are recording a worship album, and he was able to hang out that night with us! Then Monday morning we headed back to Ames (a 3 hour drive).(Mom's drive is more like 7 hours so not a quick little trip for her.) It was VERY fun to hang out with FAMILY!!! It's been 6 years since I had the opportunity to just 'drive' to see them!

Last night was our first night at the Dodge's house. Our car is unpacked into the closet and we can 'carry' people in our car now! Rollin' in the Honda. No more prying out clothes from the hanging rack, no more panicking if the doors are locked cause our TV is in the backseat, and no more only having 1 passenger!! (One Sunday after church, Jeff and I had to share the passenger seat cause Mark needed a ride home...not very cozy, or safe. But I guess it would've been worse if either of us had to sit on Mark's lap. :S)

Jeff finished his papers and tests!!! Thank you for the prayers! He put in some LONG days last week, he poor brain was exhausted. One of the days he left the house at 7am and got home at 11:45pm and then couldn't sleep cause he couldn't shut off his mind. Sounds like torture to me. I think he's finally getting 'caught up' on sleep and I know he's VERY relieved to be done with this semester of Seminary. I'm very proud of him and how hard of a worker he is, I can learn a lot from him.

The weather had been rainy, sunny, rainy, sunny. HUMID.HUMID.HUMID-WOW. It's a lot like being in Brazil, except there, we're on mission trips and it's good to get sweaty and dirty cause you're 'on a mission trip'. Well, not so good here. (boys-this next part may be boring for you) All my "products" are for dry, desert weather where extra moisture is good for your skin. I've been glowing, not 'glistening' all cute-like but greasy-holy-get-control over yourself, you look like a teenager with new types of hormones-like. Time to start experimenting with new products. I feel like those last few sentences were pretty vulnerable and I just exposed my diary, but hey, I'm just being honest.

I am enjoying this place called Iowa, and we're excited get rolling with each new step. Thanks for your prayers through this month, we appreciate each of you and miss you all!!!

PS-Jordan, sorry this is the only 'normal' pic of you from the 100 we took on Photobooth!