We learned a few days ago that a friend of ours had unexpectedly passed away. You can read about Bill here.

I have been pondering for some time now how God views death and how we should view death here on Earth. When you hear news like this all else seems so insignificant. Whatever was on the calender before seems like a waste of time. The only thing that feels like it matters is mourning, remembering, and staring off into space lost in your thoughts about your loved one. I began wondering if in the light of death so much of what occupies our time doesn't matter, should it matter in the light of life? What IS significant in this life?

And then I began to think of Bill and other loved ones that have passed away. I began to remember all the things that I loved most about these people - their quirks and smiles, their thoughts and laughter, their heart towards this world and the next. And it hit me...that's what's significant in this life and the next. How we live our life matters. How we treat other people matters. How we love God and serve Him matters. Because those are the things that last, those are the things that are remembered. I don't remember Bill for the stuff that he had or the job that he worked, I remember him only.

In Psalm 116:15 it says, "The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die." I don't know what "cares deeply" means yet, but I know that He cares. He cares about our life and our death. He remembers both our life and our death. Our life and death are significant because God controls them both and uses them both to communicate His love to His people.

So thank you God for caring about Bill's life and death. Thank you for using his life and death to remind us of your love. We look forward to seeing him again.

Just wanted to share an update on our month of no spending. It's been a good month, although a bit boring at times. For example, it's Saturday night at 8:45pm and i'm blogging, Dustin is walking around our studio apartment aimlessly...i think you get the point. I guess I would sum up the month in the following ways:

1. I absolutely would have regretted this month had we not made this decision. We easily could have wasted the extra money that we received through my extra paycheck. So, I know that I will feel good and not guilty at the end of the month regardless.

2. The Theology of Money class that Dustin and I took was extremely instrumental in helping us to make this month about changing our life choices and not just seeing if we could not spend for one month. I have a feeling that every month will be no spending month. =)

3. We have decided to follow Dave Ramsey's (www.daveramsey.com) Total Money Makeover as a way to pay off debt and get in a better financial situation. It's comforting to know that we have a proven plan to follow and i'm very excited to stay committed and see results.

4. Dustin and I have had to be more creative in how we spend our time. It definitely sucks not being able to do stuff sometimes with friends. But it's been fun having people over to our house and cooking for them. I miss entertaining and this gives us a good excuse. Even though we don't have much extra money, we have been inspired by another newlywed couple to make traditions for our family. For example, Frozen Fridays, our date night to eat frozen pizza and hang together.

5. The truth about money is becoming a passion of mine. It's crazy how our views of money have been predominantly determined by what society says, especially credit card companies and car loan businesses. It's crazy that our society teaches using debt in life rather than saving. It's disappointing that the church has, in my opinion, fallen short in this area. Most churches are so hesitant to talk about money for fear of turning people away. However, in the meantime they haven't educated people about what the Bible says and about how God views money. I think the church has done a great diservice to society in general and Christ followers in particular by not educating its people. I hope to be a part of changing that in the future as God changes my heart and continues to open my eyes.

I feel so blessed to have a husband that is on the same page as me. God has taught us so much in our almost 2 years of marriage and he continues to provide for us day by day. We pray that we will continue to be faithful and obedient.

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

Dustin and I decided a few months back that June would be our month of no spending for a few reasons:
1. I get three paychecks in June and will therefore have more money to either save or pay off debt.
2. We are trying to learn a new perspective on money. We are taking a Theology of Money class on June 8th and 9th at Western Seminary and are hoping the class will help us personally in how we spend money.
3. We want to honor God with our money and we don't always do that. We want to learn to view money as God's and not as ours and give more of it for His good work and not our own personal pleasure.
4. We REALLY need to pay off debt. It's almost embarrassing to say how much debt we have, so I won't.
5. We rely too heavily on going out for a few drinks or dinner or a movie for entertainment. We need to enjoy all of the free nature loving things Portland has to offer.
6. Did I mention we really need to pay off debt?

(I should probably qualify what "no spending" means. It means any spending outside of bills, groceries, and gas. And we are putting a limit on groceries, as we always do, so we don't spend erratically, such as buying lots and lots of beer, which I know my husband will be tempted to do!!)

Today is June 1st and therefore the beginning of our month of no spending. Already last night Dustin tried to break our rule!!! It's going to be an EXTREMELY difficult month, but we will persevere.

To all of our Portland friends, expect no spending activities when hanging out with us in the month of June. But we do want to hang out! Just in free ways. =)