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31 January 2010

Weekend Joy

It has been such a wonderful weekend here in the Windy City (which isn't very windy...nor is it that cold for this time of year...but that's beside the point).
Friday night was spent at Kelly and Nicolas' new apartment where they invited us over for dinner. Nicolas made a wonderful dish of chicken and rice (with a French sauce). Lauren and I whipped up an awesome salad to compliment the dinner. We spent nearly four hours that evening in their company while we shared stories, played games, and had fun.
On Saturday I (Micah) went to work for a few hours while Lauren was able to sleep in and catch up on much needed rest.
Later in the afternoon we went to see a movie, "The Book of Eli." I will save my review for another time and place, but as a believer, and with high standards for when a movie should be watched, I would caution against seeing such a film. If you feel a burning desire to see it in order to develop some sort of critical opinion of it, at least wait until it comes out on Red Box so you don't throw your hard-earned money away. At least we went to a matinee.
Saturday evening Lauren and I went out to Edwardo's Pizza to celebrate my birthday again, thanks to the generosity of Lauren's parents! Thank you guys! We even got a free slice of chocolate cake out of the deal!!
After dinner we met up with Uncle Mark, Aunt Tammy, and Dayton at Loyola University to watch them defeat #5 Penn State in men's volleyball. We later enjoyed ice-cream at McDonalds (thanks to the Erickson's)!
Today we went to church at First Free and fellowshipped with other believers, while worshiping our Lord and Saviour Jesus the Messiah. Our pastor spoke on Abraham's faith, and what it means for us a believers to exercise that same amount of faith.
This afternoon Lauren made a KILLER AWESOME chicken something-or-other with a salad. She's an incredible cook! We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out, Lauren exploring the web, while I read several chapters of various books for school.
Hope all of you, our dear family and friends (and those we don't even know who happen to come upon our blog) are in good health, and are continuing our given mission to Love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength!

Love,
M&L

27 January 2010

Winner!!

Today Micah won $100!!!
A while back I (Micah) received an email from Moody asking for ideas on what to call Moody's upcoming summer program that invites students (I think from high school) from around the area to study at Moody for the summer. The winning entry ended up being mine! When I got the email saying that I had one, I couldn't even remember what I had suggested (I think Lauren actually suggested it to me but I don't remember)!
I went up to the office to turn in some paperwork and asked them what the winning title was....get this....
"Moody Summer Studies" :) Simple, sweet, and to the point! Just the way it should be! I was debating between that and "Jesus is awesome, come study at Moody for the summer" but I guess they preferred the former suggestion over the latter!

Well - that's all for now! God is GOOD (His love endures forever)!

- M&L

26 January 2010

at a loss...

Well we didn't end up going to see Owl City. The drive was too long for Lauren and we would have gotten back home too late at night in order to get ample rest for the following work day. So, to make up for missing (an amazing) concert, Micah dragged Lauren to BWW to meet some friends from church to watch the Vikings game...at least the food was good (and we got home at a decent time for Lauren to get enough rest)!
Today though, Micah's co-worker Carissa assured him that missing Owl City may have saved his very life (though it's hard to explain in words just how it made sense)! So that was some cheery news for today! In other good news, I (Micah) was able to talk with a couple other military students at Moody today. It was encouraging to hear their stories and how God has called them into the ministry as well.
I had Doc Fuder for my Evangelism class tonight which was refreshing, encouraging, and most of all, motivating. I am most guilty for not having a constant aching to reach the lost, yet that is what God wants from us - a constant longing and desire to share His message of salvation with those who are lost and facing death (of the eternal sort).
He read from "Jesus With Dirty Feet" and this really got my heart stirring as I longed to share who Jesus was with my fellow neighbors (whom I have never met). You can get the book on Amazon for only a penny - so I encourage you to check it out!

Well - back to studying Greek!
Blessings,
M&L

24 January 2010

School Changes

Micah has a lighter class load this semester with 9 credits. He originally had 12 this semester, but quickly realized that he didn't want to go through all the stress of last semester - having 3 classes PLUS Greek which took a lot of time and studying.
Lauren's further education is on hold for now - she completed some school work, but found out that the original information she received about her major was incorrect. To complete her degree she would have to take a semester long course on-campus at the school which is a 4 hour drive away - it was all supposed to be online. Lauren is in high spirits about it though - she's just putting pursuit of her master's degree off until the right school/program comes along.

We had a good work/school week - busy but good. Lauren is getting used to caring for 7 babies and Micah is staying on top of his homework really well. On Saturday we helped some friends from church move to a new apartment. It was only two blocks from their old apartment, but it took a couple 14-passenger van loads worth of stuff to get it done. It was fun overall, but we're very glad our apartment is on the first floor (theirs were on the 3rd and 2nd.)

Micah has made friends with a Korean international student, Myung, who is also pursuing his M.Div at Moody. He invited us to his house for a traditional Korean meal with his wife and two daughters on Saturday night. The food was delicious! And his daughters (ages 1 and 3) are adorable, friendly and quickly latched onto us. We had fun playing and reading with them.

Today we went to church and did some grocery shopping. We went to a Mexican market and the produce and meat were super cheap! Later today we are going to an Owl City concert in Indiana. Should be fun! We'll have photos of the concert to post I'm sure!!!

Love,
M&L

10 January 2010

Sunny Sunday

Micah ended up putting in 15 hours of work yesterday! But Lauren was busy too - cooking up a storm! She is usually pretty tuckered out at the end of a work day - so she's usually not too thrilled about having to make dinner on those nights. So she made lasagna, a pot roast, a big ol pot of chicken tortilla soup, and banana bread all yesterday. Now Micah gets to reap a major benefit of having a wife - lots of home-cooking!

After the service and chatting with friends at church, Micah and I are lounging at home and trying to get ourselves to do some homework. Micah doesn't have class til Tuesday, but has to review some Greek. There is no review of the old stuff in his next Greek class, so he has to make sure he's up to date on all the vocab.

09 January 2010

Home, School, Work in Reverse

Hello dear friends and family!
We're so sorry for not updating this blog as much as we should! So much has happened this past week - so much that it's hard for us to keep up online!
Presently though, I just arrived to work on an early Saturday morning to put in 12 hours of overtime (starting in 3 minutes)! School starts up again this coming week as well! I'm pretty stoked! It's going to be a lot of work, but definitely worthwhile!
Lauren is just starting up her schooling as well!
Well - I have to start work now! Love you guys a whole lot!! Leave a comment for us once in a while or drop us a line!
Love,
M&L

01 January 2010

Interjection!

Lauren needs to clarify something in Micah's previous post. She in no way recommends the music by the "band" Lights. That is, unless, you like the stylings of Britney Spears. While Lauren and Micah have very different taste in music they went on a lovely date last night. They went out for sushi - it was amazing! Micah gave Lauren a present! (An awesome, warm winter coat). Then they went to some friends' house and brought in the New Year with other couples from church. Great night!