The Start of Something New Part 2

Hi, all! Well, we have officially endured our first week of living in Iowa. We have to say, life is good. We are really starting to see the beauty of this place. It's such a great little town, and the people are so friendly. We are so thankful for the opportunities the Lord has given us, and for all of His abundant provision.
This last Sunday was our first "new" church experience. The first official day of our hunt for a Dubuque church family. We went to a brethren assembly called, Arbor Oaks Bible Chapel (AOBC). It's a small church with seemingly only a handful of members (compared to the Westside body ;-)), and it is very "traditional". No exciting instruments, nothing flashy or anything... Just simple. Even though the church was small and traditional, it had a great charm to it. I think it was probably because the people there came just as they are. Something that I noticed was that the people in the congregation were very authentic, and that when they came up to introduce themselves (which literally happened every 5 seconds or so... Christian and I were talking with new people the whole time hehe), they were so kind and gracious, and so legitimately interested in learning about us. Their welcome of us was so warm, and we were so thankful for it. They tried to plug us in right away, also, which is incredibly sweet, and we're thankful that their needs seem to be areas that the Lord has equipped us in. Still, we don't want to rush things, and would like to keep exploring before making a decision as to where we want to invest ourselves the most. It would seem, though that the decision might be really hard if this is what Dubuque assemblies are like... Uh oh. Just kidding, but it will just take a LOT of prayer. :-)
On Monday, Christian and I went into Emmaus to pay tuition and have him register for classes, etc. It was great. We just love the staff and faculty. Christian has even already been invited to grab coffee sometime with one of his professors. Wow! That doesn't happen everyday to college students! Anyway, here are a few pictures of our NOT finished apartment, but we're getting there :-) And some pics from Christian's first day as an Emmaus student!
This is the bathroom, which I have painted a light green, and then primed and stained the wood towel hanger, the door, the sink pedestal, the mirror and the toilet paper rack. We're pretty happy with the result :-)

Here is the kitchen. Still has some work to be done, but it's been fun putting it together. I just can hardly wait to ORGANIZE it!!! If the yellow is too much, PLEASE tell me :-) Would appreciate it, because I still can't decide how I feel about it. Christian has the "I'm a guy... I don't really care" mind set about it. ;-)

Here is the little nook that will be my office space (our whole second room is dedicated to Christian anyway... his "man-cave" ;-) In the nook, our landlord happened to find an old chandelier in storage, so he gave it to us. We spray painted it silver, and I am going to paint the bottom half of it some color that I haven't decided on yet. :-) I also bought a curtain rod to put across the top there, so we will have two red curtains pulled off to the side after we install the curtain rod. We'll post more pics once it's done.

Here is the dining room table that we just purchased off craigslist. AND our unfinished walls. After tomorrow, that will no longer be the case, Lord willing.

Finally, the painting that we bought at Bed Bath and Beyond the other day. This will go over our couch on the wall opposite the one you see in the table pic.

We are getting new laminate flooring this Saturday, too, which we are REALLY excited about. Finally, after that, hopefully everything will be on its way to being done! Now some pics of Christian's first day of school!

We are so thankful for all your prayers! We will update again, shortly! Hopefully with pictures of finished rooms! :-)
We love and miss you all!

The Start of Something New

Hello, friends and family! I know that this post has probably been long awaited, and we are thankful for your patience. :-) Needless to say, lots and lots of big and insane changes happening in the last several weeks. I (Linda) graduated form PSU a mere week and one half before our wedding, then had probably a million (not really, but a ton) of friends and family that came into town the next week to participate in the wedding festivities. It was so nice to have everyone there supporting us, praying for us and encouraging us. The wedding was great, and we are so happy to be married and sharing life as one now. After our honeymoon to Mexico, we came home for Christmas (which really means that we packed like crazy), tried to spend as much time with family as possible, and then said goodbye. It really has all been a whirlwind of changes, big and small. God has remained so faithful through it all, though. He is so good, and so gracious. Things have been tough. I am not one that is a huge fan of dramatic change, even when it's great I still have a hard time letting go of the past.
Christian and I left at approximately 8am from my parents house one week ago from today. The morning was more filled with excitement about an adventure than filled with the sadness of leaving home and the shelter of our family and friends. Our first destination: Missoula, Montana to visit my brother and his family on our way to Iowa. On our way out of Hillsboro, we stopped at a traffic light right behind this car. The license plate was pretty ironic, I thought.

We stopped at Multnomah Falls on the way out of Portland (mostly for a potty break... shocking, right?) and caught a few good pics :-)

We arrived in Missoula with no problems whatsoever, and we really enjoyed the drive! It was great to spend time together and just talk and listen to sermons, etc. Spending time with Tim and Jamie (and the rest of the herd) was a blast as always. We loved getting to spend some good time with them before the "great divide". The next morning (or should I say "afternoon" because we were planning on leaving at about 9am, and ended up leaving at 12:45pm), we said even more goodbyes, and made our way to Buffalo, Wyoming for the night. Unfortunately, this is the stop where I officially had my first meltdown. Throughout the entirety of the big changes in my life, the tiredness and the immense stress and craziness, I had yet to let it all out and cry. Poor Christian... I just sobbed and sobbed about how much I missed home, my family, my church, my house... He even tried to turn on the movie Madagascar to help ease my emotional pain. Surprisingly, I cried through that for the most part, too. Since then, I have had my moments of tears, still. It's still a difficult transition.
The next morning we woke up, packed all of our things and went out to the lobby to check out of our motel and hit the road for Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We were both shocked to walk out into the lobby and see pure white... EVERYWHERE. The wind was howling, the snow was blowing, and Christian and I had jaws on the floor. Neither of us have ever experienced anything even near a blizzard... but here we were... smack dab in the middle of one. Most people probably would have groaned and rolled their eyes and seen this as a huge hinderance, but no... not me and Chris. Instead, we both looked at each other and said, "YES! Let's go!" After a few minutes of listening to the weather forecast and discovering that the interstate was "not closed, but no travelling unless it's unavoidable", we got in our car and headed out. We prayed first, and felt like the Lord was telling us that it was ok, we left. The coolest thing about it was that, even though all of these people were warning us to go, we both felt secure that the Lord would take care of us, and as soon as we hit the interstate, the clouds opened up and the road began to clear, and in about 5 minutes, we were free of the scary weather.

My sister-in-law, Amy has a cousin in Sioux Falls, and she arranged for us to get to stay the night with her. That was great. It was really nice to be able to catch up with Joy a little bit, and to spend New Years with her (even though C and I totally flaked out and went to bed at about 11:30... LAME), but it was really great how the Lord provided for us, even on our trip. We were given giftcards for gas as wedding gifts, so that helped us save a ton on gas costs, and then getting to stay with family and friends on our way to Dubuque also was a huge blessing. Not only getting to see people we love, but it was easy on the bank account, too! What a gift!
Finally, on Sunday at about 3:30pm central time, we arrived at our new home in Dubuque, Iowa.
To be honest, the first impressions of the place were not all that spectacular. In fact, they were super disappointing. After travelling for three and a half days, coming "home" to an apartment where the contractor had been smoking (in the apartment!) and left an overwhelming smoke smell, no electricity and super dirty floors was not what anyone would call ideal. In fact, it was ultra discouraging. Since we were not able to go apartment hunting in person, we had to go off of pictures of the place. The house was built in 1929, and is a four-plex, so that limits the people amount, which is nice. Our neighbors are pretty cool. They are very mellow guys, and have not been a problem thus far. Still, since day one Christian and I have been hard at work, cleaning, buying furniture, painting and trying to bring beauty from the ashes, so to speak. It's been a lot of work so far, filled with lots of times of ups and downs, but we finally got the electricity to work, the floors cleaned, and the smell out. Lots of work to be done still, and my attitude to be perfectly honest, has probably had the most dramatic of swings since we moved here. It's been really tough leaving a perfectly amazing home, surrounded by comfort and a secure web of believers and friends and people that support us and love us, and come to a place where we don't know anyone, have no spiritual encouragement (as of yet) (and outside of phone conversations with family back home), no church, and a place that doesn't feel like "home" yet. Granted, it's only been four days, but these four days have already felt like months. Still, we are encouraged by each other, and are finding that even though we are occasionally experiencing some serious lows in this time, we are progressing, and the Lord's goodness is so evident and abounding. We are grateful for each other, for the experience that this is and for what is to come in this time here. We know that the loneliness will pass, and that we will soon have a great group of friends, and that believe it or not, the apartment will become a good home for us. Hopefully the Lord will use us to encourage others, and that we will be used in many ways here. Last night, I was actually able to make our first real meal since we've been here, and it was a crockpot one, too! Yay! It also turned out super good, if I do say so myself ;-) Here's a couple of pics.

I made a chicken pot pie sort of dish with easy drop biscuits. Seriously, when they call them "easy", they are not kidding. That's pretty much the easiest thing I have ever made. I love them! Then boneless, skinless chicken thighs, left to cook with carrots, celery, onion and peas, flour and milk. Yummmmmmm! One of my favorite things to do as a wife is make my husbands tummy happy. :-) We finished the evening with watching The Help on my laptop (which was hooked up to my desktop screen (seen below)). It was lovely. Our first evening of starting to feel like, "Yes, this is good, and this works. It's starting to feel like home." 

We have also been greatly blessed with some great items that we found on craigslist for super cheap, such as a couch/oversized chair and ottoman, and a fabulous table with four matching chairs and chair pads. We are going mattress shopping today, so hopefully we will be able to find something reasonable.
Thank you all so much for your prayers. We have really felt the Lord with us throughout all of the changes. Please continue praying for us, that we would maintain a thankful attitude for all the Lord has done and is doing, and for some close friends for us, and that I (Linda) would find a job. Also, Christian has orientation on Sunday, and school starts on Tuesday. Pray that he will feel at home and welcomed at Emmaus, and that the Lord will give him some strong guy friends that can encourage him and help him.
When we were first driving into Dubuque, this song was on the radio, and I think that I will close with the lyrics.
         "Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King. His love endures forever. For He is good, He is above all things. His love endures forever. Sing praise. Sing praise... Forever God is faithful. Forever God is strong. Forever God is with us. Forever."

Hello, From Dubuque!

Hi, all! This is just a quick post to let you know that everything is going great! Our apartment is starting to feel more like a home for us every day, but the transition is still difficult at times. We are so thankful for this opportunity, and can hardly wait for Christian to start school. God is so good, and he is so faithful. We have found a great friend in Lauren Ashby (Christian's admissions counselor), and she has been such a blessing to us. We are so thankful for all of your prayers, and ask that you continue to pray for us, that we might be able to really settle and that Dubuque would continue to become more of a home for us. Also, that I would be able to find a job here at the end of next week (when I will officially be starting the "job hunt"). Blessings to all, and we will be posting again VERY shortly. (I just forgot our camera to upload pics... so... I'm waiting to write a for real post. ;-)

IT'S ALMOST HERE!

Oh my goodness, this week has been a doozy! It has been filled with so many good/great things, and anticipation is exploding out of Mom and Dad's home. Monday was super exciting because, guess what??? I GRADUATED! I am now officially a holder of an International Relations degree with two minors in German and Business from Portland State University! My life can finally move on, and I can actually read for pleasure! Wow! What a feeling! I can tell that my body is finally decompressing because, low and behold I have caught a horrible cold. It's OK, though! I'd way rather have it now than on our wedding day or honeymoon. It's all good, folks. ;-) Oh! And I finally had the time to make these delicious mint chocolate chip cookies that I've been dying to try! Wow, all of this free time! It's so foreign to me... I could seriously get used to this!
Christian and I also submitted an application and background checks for an apartment in Dubuque. The landlords are incredibly friendly, and the apartment is only a minute drive from Emmaus. If we get it, it would be such a blessing. Please be praying (if you think of us) about it, and that if it's not this place, that the Lord will provide something even more suitable for us to spend the next 3-4 years living in.
Christian also just finished his last class of the term, so now all he's thinking about are how excited he is that his family and dear friends are coming the day after tomorrow, our wedding is in SINGLE DIGIT days! (9... or 8 1/2... preferably the latter ;-)), and that the next time he goes into a classroom, it will be at Emmaus! Praise the Lord!
We are so excited to welcome Christian's family and our friends! We love them all so much, and can hardly wait to hug them all.
It's interesting to be so excited about all of these amazing things that are happening, but at the same time it's weird to think that the next 8 1/2 days are going to be filled with a lot of "lasts", too. This week was our last caregroup meeting. This Sunday will be our second to last day at Westside (our last day will be Christmas day). These are the last days that Christian and I will be single. This is the last week that I have living in my room, and my house. I guess this is my last week of being a "kid". BUT, the future is coming, and it will be a great adventure! I am so thankful for all that the Lord has done in our lives, and we are excited to continue the journey together now. After this week of "lasts", Christian and I will be having a lifetime of "firsts". I can hardly wait for that. :-)
Oh! And, just to kick-off our lifetime of "firsts", our amazing friends, Jeremy and Kylie Cole gave me my first Bible with my NEW NAME inscribed on the cover. I loooooove it!!!
Here are a few pictures from the last week :-)

Me, with my very last school paper EVER!

The Bible that the Cole's got for me with my new name :-)

The mint chocolate chip cookies that I made. (Mint Chocolate Chip is Christian's favorite :-))

Give Thanks

There is this little sign in the kitchen window that my mom put up a few days ago. It says, "Give Thanks". I have sat at the counter in my kitchen every morning with my cup of coffee in hand, just staring at that sign. You know how sometimes you just sit and stare at something and just let you mind wander, without even thinking about what it is you're staring at? This morning I finally saw what it was that my eyes have found themselves so automatically drawn to every day when I sit or walk into the kitchen. What's funny is that this sign is not a big deal. It doesn't stand out, it's just a small, brown sign that really is inconspicuous compared to all of the other items surrounding it.
So, I think that this post is going to perhaps be a little more raw than normal. I think that it's time for me to be honest, and really share my heart about all of the events that have been, and currently are taking place in my (Linda's) life.
The last few weeks have definitely thrown some unexpected hurdles at me. All of the most random of things, the most random people and the most random of issues, have all decided to come out of the woodwork and smack dab into the middle of my life. So, when I reflect on these events, these issues and these people, I can't help but think, "Really!? Right now?! Isn't this supposed to be the best time of my life?" Well, yeah, it is. But I have to say (and I am not saying this so that people will throw me a pity party), that this has, thus far been only maybe 5% enjoyable. This is SO wrong, though. This way of thinking, regardless of my circumstances is so wrong, so ungrateful, and so inwardly focused. There is so much to by thankful for. There are so many ways in which the Lord is consistently blessing us, and yet, like those bigger, more noticeable things surrounding our kitchen sign, the things that are troubling and frustrating oftentimes seem to be easier to focus on instead of "giving thanks". I am learning that sometimes I need to find the things to be thankful for in the middle of all of the noise and clutter. They must be pondered on, and conciously thanked for to the Lord.
Now that the holiday of Thanksgiving is officially over, it is a little bit easier to focus on my last week of school (at least for my undergrad... We'll see about a masters?), and of course, the wedding! I am so thankful that the Lord has brought me such an amazing man, that He has allowed us to enter marriage completely debt free, that He has allowed all of Christian's immediate family and some friends to come for our wedding, and for a church that loves and supports us wholeheartedly. The list could go on and on and on, and knowing that is a blessing in and of itself.
I have been dwelling on this thought for a couple of weeks now, and that is that every day that I wake up, God has given me life for one more day, not in vain, but with a purpose. I am not here by chance, I am here because of my sovereign God's will. Knowing that, and knowing that I have a purpose for every day that I wake up is a blessing, because I know that I have a reason for living. I suppose that, aside from that being one more huge reason to be thankful, is also a motivator for me, because it challenges me to be a blessing to others and to try to make the most out of my day. It helps me take away the importance that I place on my "circumstances", and allows me to have a much more positive attitude as well as praising God in all things.
Anyway, I think that this post might have been just a little bit haphazard, but thank you for those of you that made it this far. Will post again soon!
20 days and counting down!

Showing Off

Christian and I have recently been noticing how God has just been loving this opportunity to show off his creation. This fall has been just so beautiful! I think that we can both officially say that Fall is our favorite season. Days like today are just perfect. Cold, crisp, and still managing to be sunny and beautiful. I am so thankful for this season, not just the literal season, but for this season of life. Being engaged to the best man ever, anticipating the wedding day, getting ready to graduate from university, and getting things ready to move across the country and get Christian into Bible college. I just can't emphasize it enough just how excited I am for Christian to finally be able to study the thing that he has the greatest passion for: Jesus, and the Bible. I can almost see him bouncing his knee up and down as he thinks about how great that it will be for him to learn all of these great things! So, Emmaus-ites, prepare yourselves. ;-)
Also, the latest and greatest thing that Christian and I have been up to is going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Not kidding, that is the best program EVER! We have learned so much, and we are only three video's into it. The best part is, not only do we love learning these great pieces of wisdom about finances, but we love watching and learning it together! Christian has been amazing. He has already written up a budget sheet, and is always on top of making sure that we stay in step with the program and watching the videos whenever we have the chance. I am so thankful for his initiating and his persistence in making sure that this gets done. God has blessed me richly with this man. :-) (Sorry, cheesy moment.)

So, this part is a little more random, but I have a song that is one of my absolute favorites. It's by Big Daddy Weave, and every time that I hear it, I get what I call, "God bumps". This is where I feel the Holy Spirit in me responding to a moment of real appreciation of God's glory and majesty, and I get all choked up realizing just how small I am, how great my God is, and how, despite all of my shortcomings and sub-par performances in my life, the Lord still knows me, and cares about my deepest, desperate needs. The lyrics of the chorus to one of BDW's songs is,
"He made the lame walk, and the dumb talk. He opened blinded eyes to see that the sun rises on His time, yet He knows my deepest, desperate need... I wonder what life would be like if we let Jesus live through you and me?"
I took these pictures earlier today, because the view on my drive home was just this amazing. Like I said, God has no shame in showing off what he's made. ;-)
"For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him." - Colossians 1:16

Autumn in a Cup

I love waking up on mornings like this. Mornings where the sun is shining its rays through the light fog. It's quiet and still, and I can step outside in one of my favorite fall outfits, and see my breath as I hold my warm coffee cup in my hand while the sun warms my face. Happiness.

The last couple of months have been a real flurry. Time has gone by so fast, and I find myself today being hit with the realization that in a mere two months from today, I will marry my best friend and love. How amazing. I am torn between thinking that two months is just too long, and thinking that two months is going to fly by faster than I realize. It's hard to try to take everything in, knowing that this is possibly my last fall in Oregon, either forever, or at least for a really long time. I'm trying to memorize the views from my drives home from various destinations, jamming my schedule with spending vast quantities of time with family and friends that I love and will miss dearly. It's hard to not get emotional, thinking about leaving what has literally been my home for twenty-two years. In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in a Starbucks on PSU campus, getting all choked up. Anyone who knows me, knows that I never cry publicly. How about I focus on how good my nonfat chai latte tastes...Mmmm... There we go. Much better.

While life remains crazy and time is getting shorter, I really have to direct attention to the One who is orchestrating our adventurous lives: God. The Lord has literally carried this whole process. In retrospect of everything that Christian and I have gone through to get to this time is innumerable. I'm completely positive that there are even more innumerable things that He has done that I have failed to notice. I have seen Him work in people's hearts. For example, our professors in terms of setting our finals one-to-two weeks before finals week, just because... Without us even asking! That is just one example out of my a-fore said, "innumerable" blessings. If you are interested in hearing more, I would love to share them. God's goodness and faithfulness is something that I just cannot hesitate to talk about.

I think that I will close with some prayer requests, just in case anyone thinks of us and would like to pray.
1) That Christian and I would be able to focus on our schooling and the present. It's so much easier to think of the future: our family and friends coming into town, our wedding day, honeymoon, moving to Iowa, Emmaus. But we have to remember that we are still in the here and now, and our most current duty is to our studies (ick...). 2) That the Lord would prepare us mentally, physically and spiritually for each other. That He would prepare us to love, serve and bless one another to the best of our abilities, and that through our marriage, be a shining light for Him. 3) That the Lord would provide us with a home, and I (or both of us) with a job(s) that would allow me (primarily) to take care of our needs while Christian is in school. 4) That God would provide a good group of friends (and church) for us to encourage us, hold us accountable and build us up spiritually and in our marriage. 5) That Christian and I would be able to have the time and means to bless and encourage others with the use of our home. We both love to be hospitable, love to have people over for food, coffee, games, just talking, etc. Also, that people would feel the freedom to come over and spend time with us doing whatever. This is the area that we are most excited about, and also the area where we both feel probably the most intimidated. What if people don't accept us? What if our place is too small? What if we can't afford it? What if our schedules don't allow it? As far as the schedule thing, the first and utmost priority is that Christian and I have time together, just for each other. While this comes first, we would still really like the have the time for others, too.

Thank you, everyone who has read this, and has been/is/and will be praying for us. Prayer and thanksgiving are so crucial to everything we do, and God does listen and He does care, because it's all for His glory. :-)
"You must also help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many." -2 Cor. 1:11