Basement Dwellers

We are currently in the middle of moving out of our apartment. We have lived here for 2 months and have enjoyed it a lot, however in order to save money we are joining Nicole, Chris, Rachel and Brian Farley in the...

Basement Dwellers Club!

We are moving in with Mike and Lianne Farley.

I think we should make shirts for all the Farleys. Ours can say Basement Dwellers Club Members and Mike and Lianne can be the presidents or something. :)

Mike and Lianne just bought a BEAUTIFUL house in North Liberty and we are very excited to join them.

Here's a few reasons:

1. Get to know them better.
2. Play with Ben... their ADORABLE 1 year old.
3. Get to welcome he/she baby 2 in January with them.
4. Have LOTS of Foosball tournaments.
5. Have very close community with them.
6. Be encouraged daily by their strong faiths.
7. Make wonderful desserts with Lianne... because she rocks at them!
8. Learn from their marriage.
9. Have a walk-in closet and reading nook in our room.
10. Save money from entering into our debt-load.

Thanks for letting us move in Mike and Lianne... you guys are the BEST!

(a few pictures from our current apartment... new pictures to come.)

Joshua 9

We went to church on Sunday at Veritas here in Coralville and I loved the sermon. We went last week as well and really enjoyed the sermon. You can read about it here on my sister-in-laws blog. But this week it was on Joshua 9. The series they are doing right now is called Narratives and is all about

MODERN TRUTH IN ANCIENT STORIES.

The story is about the Gibeons and how they came to Joshua and tricked him into making an alliance with them, which God warned against in Deuteronomy 20. There were 3 observations made and I loved them

OBSERVATION #1:
You can come close to God without ever really coming to Him.

-Faith is the receiving of what another has done for you. Many "receive" Christ without any change in their lives... "receiving" Him as their forgiver (so they are guilt free), protector (for their own benefit), etc... rather than as a benefit to Him.

OBSERVATION #2:
Receiving God is receiving Him as supremely valuable.

-v.14- The Israelites didn't do this as opposed to Rahab (another OT story) who saw God as more valuable than ANYTHING else. We must do the same and put Him above all else, even ourselves and our desires.

OBSERVATION #3:
You don't ever get strong enough to move on from Christ.

-v. 14- The Israelites didn't seek God's counsel and therefore made a covenant with the Gibeons which eventually hurt them drastically and turned them away from Christ. Christ is all-sufficient, but we quickly get distracted. These distractions can even be our Christian "badges" (going to church, underlining in our Bibles, having thick journals, etc.).

REALITY: WE ARE CONSTANTLY SINNING!

Do you see God as supremely valuable and central to your life?

A Lovely Day