Debt Free!

Aside from our wedding day, this is one of the most exciting days of our marriage for me. We are completely debt free!! I just paid the LAST payment of my student loans off. Wow, did that feel good!! With the amount of student loans I graduated with, I know that it is only by the grace of God that we were able to persevere and pay it off in four years. God is so good! Not only has He allowed us to pay this debt off, but He has also blessed us with very cheap grad school opportunities that we'll be able to pay cash for along the way. Thinking back to my high school days, I remember how impossible it felt to be able to afford to go to a private Christian college. I spent countless hours in prayer in high school and in college asking that God would provide the means to make it a possibility. I also remember praying that God would allow me to reach my goal of paying my student loans off in 5 years rather than the 10 we're given. That dream seemed impossible at the time. Now in hindsight, I'm reminded that nothing is impossible for God. He went above and beyond answering my prayers. In fact, He probably laughed at my goal of five years and thought, "I'll show her--I'll allow her pay it off in four!" God not only blessed me with a wonderful education and experience at a Christian college, but also a place where I met my husband, who graduated with no student loans (thanks to the Eli Lilly Scholarship) and a place to work! My cup overflows with blessings (Psalm 23:5).

Philippians 4:6-7, 13: "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. ...For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."

Summer Missions

Luke and I just returned last weekend from a week-long mission trip in Cincinnati with 17 middle school students and 2 other adults (entire group shown below).

Most of the students who went had never been on a mission trip before, so it was great to experience things through their fresh eyes that week. Our team was split into four different crews for the week, so during the day we went to various work sites in the area. My crew and Luke's crew worked at a inner-city private school with a preschool teacher, Evangeline DeVol, who had us do various work projects around the school, preparing it for students to come back this fall. Evangeline is an amazing Christian woman, and I believe she is one of the reasons God placed us there all week--so that we could watch her and learn from her story. She shared her testimony with us and challenged us to "make our mess our message" as we share our own testimonies with others, which I thought was great advice! On the last day we were there with her, she treated us to Graeter's Ice Cream and gave each of us a copy of the "Starfish" poem, which she shared with us while we were there. Here is a picture of our work crews with Evangeline:

Tuesday night of the trip, we had a free night to do whatever we wanted to do together as a youth group, so we went to downtown Cincinnati, walked across the Purple People Bridge, ate at a pizza place, and then let the kids play in a fountain. It was such a FUN night!! Here are some pictures from that night:

The Whole Group (minus me behind the camera) on the Purple People Bridge!

Part of the Group next to the Ohio River during Devotions. (Purple People Bridge in the background)

The Girls Hugging Luke after Getting Wet in the Fountain

We ended the Cincinnati trip by spending some time at the Creation Museum on the way home. The picture below shows our group in front of the museum. It is such a cool place!

Now that the Cincy trip behind us, we have this week off from trips, and then we leave again on the high school mission trip this weekend to Milwaukee, WI. There are 31 of us going, including adult leaders. The cool part is that the other church going to the same site is the United Methodist church from Columbia City!! We didn't even plan it that way...God is good! Two of my cousins, Ryan Peppler and Sam Lipply, will be going with that group, so CC will be transplanted in Milwaukee for a week. I am excited to see what God has in store for us there!

Memorial Day Tribute

Today, on this Memorial Day, I'm reminded of how sacred our time here on Earth is--of how special our time with family and friends really is. Last week, I learned that a 2010 grad of Huntington University, Courtney (Beerbower) Knox, recently lost her husband, JaBraun Knox, who died serving in Afghanistan on May16th. JaBraun and Courtney have a 6-month old son, Braylon. You can read a full news article about them here. I will warn you, that article is a tear jerker!! I didn't know Courtney well at HU, but definitely knew of her. This story has really ripped at my heart and has been a great reminder of how short life can be. If you think about it, please pray for Courtney, her family, and JaBraun's family as the viewing is today and the funeral is tomorrow.

Family Time

This past weekend was GREAT! Luke and I got to spend extended time with his family on Saturday for Mother's Day. The weather was perfect, so we sat outside most of the day. Doesn't get much better than that! For Mother's Day, Luke's sister, Brianne, made Deb a video slideshow of pictures of them growing up. Thought you might enjoy seeing it as well: View Video.

Sunday, for us, had a bit of a different feel because there wasn't youth group due to Mother's Day, so we spent some quality time with my family at my parent's house. Again, with more time outside in the sun! When we came home, I spent the evening planting flowers, which I'll be sure to post pictures of soon. Our front porch is full of life again!

The best part of this week is knowing that I have all of next week off of work with no plans! I can't wait to actually have the time to get stuff done around the house and spend more time outside! Ahh...summer is in the air!

Where has April gone?

It's hard to believe that May is just around the corner! As you can probably tell from my lack of blog posts recently, we have been pretty busy around here lately! Although things never really slow completely down for us. Plus, in March, the weather was WAY too nice to be inside blogging! We spent our time grilling outside instead!

Luke only has three regular youth groups left before the seniors graduate and we break for the summer, which is hard to believe! In addition to regular youth pastor responsibilities, Luke started grad school in January and is now 20% done (as he would say)! He just finished a class and won't start his next one until July, so he is pumped! For him, that means a break from reading and writing papers. For me, that means a break from proofing papers!

As for me, this is one of my favorite parts of the year for me at work. High school seniors are making their college decisions, which means I'm beginning to figure out who will actually be coming to Huntington University this fall. During the months of May-August, my work load is much lighter, so I'm looking forward to some time off for youth mission trips and time to get some stuff done around the house. Like Luke, I will also be starting grad school this fall, working towards my MBA at Grace College. The best part is, it's essentially FREE! Because of my job at HU, I was accepted into Grace's MBA program on a tuition exchange, which means the tuition fees are waived! I only have to pay a small fee for each class. It's been amazing to see how God has provided and blessed Luke and I financially with grad school. We'll both be done within two years! God is good!

In other exciting news, Luke's sister, Brianne, is getting married this July, and her first bridal shower is this Sunday! We are so excited for her and her fiance, Matt!! They're keeping up the Diehl tradition by getting married in the month of July. Luke's brother, Brady, married his wife, Christa, on July 25, 2009. Luke and I got married July 31, 2010. And now, Brianne and Matt will complete the cycle by getting married July 14, 2012!

Well, I think that's all the news for now! Wish I had a picture to make this post more exciting! Guess I'll have to work on that next time!

Winter Retreat Update

Our second winter retreat with the middle schoolers was awesome! God answered our prayers because none of the 70+ students got hurt or injured, which I think is amazing! It was a great weekend! Many students either made commitments to put more effort into their daily walk with Christ or made first-time commitments. I've included some pictures below.

The Whole Group!

My Cabin of 6th Grade Girls
Can you tell they're having a good time?

Some of My 6th Graders Eating Icicles on the Last Day

Winter Retreat - Round 2

Well, Luke and I are off again for another weekend winter retreat at Spring Hill Camp! This time, however, we're taking middle schoolers...about 70 of them, in fact! So many signed up that we are now taking two charter buses! Even though there's no snow here at the moment, Evart, Michigan (where Spring Hill Camp is), got 5 inches of snow last night and are expecting another 2-4 inches to fall today. That's a sure sign that we are in for a fun weekend. Please pray for our safety to and from Michigan, that no one gets sick or hurt, and that lives will be changed. With the size of group we have, I think that will be a miracle if we do come back without something like that happening. Thank you for checking in and for praying for us! I will be sure to post pictures when we return.

Winter Retreat Pictures

Here are a couple pictures from the senior high winter retreat last weekend! The weekend turned out be pretty awesome--two students accepted Christ!! The only negative thing that happened was early on Sunday morning (the day we left for home), Luke and two other students got the stomach flu. Fortunately, they didn't got sick on the bus ride home and no one else got it after returning home!

The Whole Group!

Me and Most of My Freshmen Small Group Girls
(Kaitlyn Sheets, Nikki Aumsbaugh, Summer McEvoy, & Amy Spencer)

Winter Retreat

Tomorrow afternoon, Luke and I are hitting the road on a Charter bus with 41 high school students to head to SpringHill Camp in Evart, Michigan, for a winter retreat! We are so excited, as this was one of the highlights of our ministry last year! We have quite a few students going with us this year who are not very plugged into the church, so we are expecting God to do great things in them this weekend.  Please pray for our safety and that lives will be changed!  I'll be sure to post pictures when we get back.

And if you're thinking we'll be tired when we get back, you are absolutely right! We'll both be off from work and in a sleep-induced coma on Monday. ....But, we get to do this all again in February with over 50 middle schoolers! That's when we'll REALLY need your prayers! :) The high school trip is a breeze!

Happy New Year!

Well, I didn't quite complete my goal of posting a "Lesson Learned After College" every day until the end of 2011. To be completely honest, I ran out of lessons and got too busy doing other things! Even though I didn't post one every day, I know the important thing is that in addition to the education I received in college, I have learned a lot since then from simply living life.

Tomorrow is the last day of Luke and I's vacation time, and I must say, I am not looking forward to going back to work on Tuesday. I have thoroughly enjoyed relaxing and spending time with close friends and family. Luke and I were able to sleep in until 8am most days (two of those days, I stayed in my pajamas all day!), the house has stayed clean all week, I got to shop a lot, and I read two books this week! I highly recommend both of the books: Sticky Faith by Dr. Kara E. Powell & Dr. Chap Clark and The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko (thanks to Aunt Marcia!).  I was inspired by both of them.

As my Christmas decorations come down tomorrow and the new year begins, I'm going to make it my goal this year to take the time to be still and remember that God is faithful each and every day. "Great is Thy Faithfulness" is my all-time favorite hymn, and I think it's a great reminder as life moves forward that God is always faithful. He's always provided everything (and more) than I have needed.

Lessons Learned After College - #9

Lesson #9: My World is Small
I love to fly. Every time I'm in a plane, I'm reminded of how small my world really is. It's odd how much an aerial view changes my perspective. Before getting in a plane, all I know is the world as I see it around me. For all I know, Columbia City and the surrounding areas that have become familiar could be all that exists in the world--that is, until I'm up in the air, looking down at the world I thought consumed everything. That's when I get a tiny glimpse of the world that God sees. Our problems must seem so small to Him. I know He enjoys listening to my prayers, but He must laugh sometimes at the things I pray for because most of the time, my requests are so trivial! From His viewpoint of infinite time and space, I am nothing more than a spec in the sand.

It isn't until the plane makes it back home safely, that my world becomes big again. It's then that I realize, I am more than a spec in the sand. I can make a difference here---now.

Lessons Learned After College - #8

Lesson #8: We judge ourselves on our intentions, but others on their actions. Others also judge us by our actions, not our intentions.

This is a popular quote struck me recently. No matter how good my intentions are, others will never see and fully understand my intentions. They will always judge me by how I act. There is a big difference between thinking and doing, and I need to be more conscious of my actions. At the same time, there can't be a double standard. Even though it doesn't come easy, I need to realize that others do not necessarily act the way they intend to.

Short post today, but I think the quote speaks for itself. :)

Tomorrow's post: My World is Small

Lessons Learned After College - #7

Lesson #7: Similarities = Compatibility = Less Stress
Some people say that opposites attract. While that may work for some people, I have come to the conclusion that similarities are far more important. There is something refreshing and comforting about knowing that someone else truly understands you as you and can relate to you in more ways than one. Recently, I took the Myers-Briggs personality test and found out that I have an ISFJ (Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging) personality type. I took this personality test back in college, but I honestly can't remember what my results were, so I thought it would be fun to take it again. Luke's results also came out as ISFJ when he took it back in college. When I passed it along to my mom, she also had the same personality type. Two of the people who I love the most, and we have the same personality! Interestingly enough, ISFJs only represent about 10% of the population!

ISFJs are also referred to as Protectors because our primary interest is in the safety and security of those we care about--our family, circle of friends, co-workers, etc. We are characterized by an extraordinary sense of loyalty and responsibility. Instead of speculating and experimenting, we prefer to make do with time-honored and time-tested products and procedures rather than change to new. We value tradition and cherish family history. Our shyness and reserve is often misjudged and should really be seen as an expression of our sincerity and seriousness of purpose. We are willing to work long, hard hours, quietly doing any and every "thankless" job that others often avoid.

So while opposite personalities may work for others, I am thankful that I've found a husband who I can relate with on many levels and share little disagreement with.

Interested in knowing your personality type? Click here.

Tomorrow's Lesson: We judge ourselves on our best intentions, but others on their actions.

Lessons Learned After College - #6

Lesson #6: The Importance of Mentors & Role Models
We have all probably had at least a few people in our lives who we can look up to--people we've watched, wished we could live vicariously through, and gained wisdom from. I have many different role models in my life--most of them probably don't even know how much of an impact they've had in my life and yet many decisions I make are based on conversations I had with them, or actions I've watched them make. My goal for 2012 is to sit down with each of these people and ask them questions about their lives to learn more from them. Some of them I admire as older married couples, parents, or even spiritual leaders. I've noticed that more times than not it takes a moment of separation for me to realize how much I valued their insight or example. Some of my role models have already passed away. I hope that by sitting down with them, I will be able to learn from them before it's too late. Before the busyness of life gets to me, and I miss the opportunity in front of me to ask them the questions I've always wanted to know. I'll be sure to share these "interviews" on the blog when the time comes, but for now, I thought I'd leave with with a story about one of Luke's mentors: Coach King. He was Luke's cross country and track coach in college, and you can read the story here.

Tomorrow's Lesson: Similarities = Compatibility = Less Stress

Christmas Bonus Post

Since it's Christmas, I thought I'd post an extra bonus post with some family pictures that were taken this month for Christmas.


Kessie Christmas Card Picture 2011



Surprise Christmas picture taken for Luke's mom, Deb. We're standing in front of Deb's dad's old barn that has since been sold. Her dad, Wendell Abbott, passed away in August, so this was a special way to pay trbute to him. We definiately missed Wendell at Christmas this year!

The in-laws (Colts) on the left dominating the real Diehls (Bears).

Lessons Learned After College - #5

Lessons Learned After College - #5:
Children are the product of their parents--not their friends or teachers. 

I am by no means an expert on parenting--after all, I don't have any children of my own, so it would be presumptuous to even think I have a little wisdom to offer on this topic. However, looking at life from my perspective, I know that after cycling through many teachers and friends over the years, my parents are the people I have been influenced by the most. If you think about it, most parents spend more hours, weeks, and years with their children than any other person in their life. Even though friends greatly influence behaviors, I believe children will eventually turn out to be pretty similar to their mom or dad--whether that's good or bad. Don't get me wrong, there are many exceptions to my theory, but for the most part, adults behave in specific ways simply because that's how their parents did it.

Think about it: Children mimic parents. Parents who read tend to have children who like reading. Parents who eat healthy are more likely to have children who eat well. On the flip side of things, children of alcoholics usually grow up to be alcoholics. Children who have been abused are more likely to be abusers as adults. Children of divorced parents are more likely to get divorced themselves. Children of smokers are more likely to smoke. Here is an interesting statistic--Only 2 percent of smokers have parents who don't smoke, according to the Mayo Clinic! That means the vast majority of smokers smoke simply because it's always been "normal" behavior to them.

Marriage has opened my eyes to this because even though Luke and I were raised very similarly, there are still times when we challenge each other by asking, "Why do you do it that way?" Usually, the answer is something along the lines of, "I don't know. That's what my parents always did growing up. I just assumed it was normal!" Sometimes it's comical. For example, do you call it a grilled cheese sandwich or a cheese toastie?

You can probably think of many ways you are like your parents and some ways you're not. For me, I'm just glad that the good highly outweighs the bad. I'm so thankful to have parents who cared enough to set a good example.

Merry Christmas!!

Check back for tomorrow's lesson: The Importance of Mentors & Role Models

Lessons Learned After College - #4

Lesson # 4: Give More.
Christmas is the season of giving, and the theme at church this month has been "Giving Christmas Away". It's been a great reminder of the importance of giving and all of the creative ways that we can give to others.

One thing I really admire about Luke is that he is a giver. He is always looking for people and causes that we can give to. It was actually one of the first things I noticed about him when we started dating. For our first Christmas together as a dating couple (back in 2007), instead of giving each other gifts, we decided that we would rather give to others, so we volunteered at a soup kitchen. We aren't gifts people anyways, so it doesn't bother us not to receive gifts. We still don't exchange birthday or Christmas gifts. Instead, we try to give memories to each other--a vacation, weekend getaway, or even enjoying a meal out together. The awesome thing is we don't miss the "gifts"! Luke definitely has more of a giving spirit than I do. Our marriage has stretched me greatly in this. When giving opportunities come up, we always talk about how much we'd like to give, and Luke's amount is always way higher than I had in mind. Over time, I've found that the more we give, the less I fret about it. I know that one of the reasons God placed Luke in my life is to help me become a better giver. I've learned that I can always give more--we can never give too much. God rewards givers, not hoarders. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." [Acts 20:35]

So, this Christmas, who can you give more to?

Tomorrow's Lesson: Children are the product of their parents--not their friends or teachers.

Lessons Learned After College - #3

Lesson #3: Financial Peace = Peace
I am a big fan of Crown Financial Ministries and Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. However, Luke and I have both come to the conclusion that the principles they teach are pretty simple; they are just counterculture. We both grew up with parents who taught us to save and to be content with the things we have, but many people around us are tied to things they "have to have right now," but can only buy on credit. It can be a viscous cycle.

When I first started college, I started keeping track of everything I spent. If you know me well, you know that I am a little OCD. I like things neat and orderly, and I am a nerd when it comes to Microsoft Excel. I create spreadsheets for everything. After listening to some Crown Financial radio broadcasts, I decided then to start keeping track of every penny I spent just to see if I could get in the habit of it. After all, if you know where your money's going, you're less likely to spend as much. Well, that habit has turned into a 7-year routine that I don't think I'll ever be able to stop. Now, I don't even think about it. I just keep all my receipts and enter every penny spent into different categories. Then, at the end of every month I know how much money I've saved and where I could do better next month. I'll admit, I was a little nervous before Luke and I got married to know what he would think about this idea, and if it would continue to work throughout our marriage. However, as Luke and I started talking about money, I quickly realized that we were on the same page! Luke agreed to try it out and see if he could get used to it as well. All he had to do was remember to keep receipts.

This is just one of the ways that we've decided to be transparent with finances in our marriage as we work together toward goals that we've set. Fortunately, money is an area of commonality for us. Larry Burkett, a noted Christian financial author, says, "Money is either the best or the worst area of communication in our marriages." For us, it is the best. I honestly get excited, almost giddy, when Luke and I talk about money together. It energizes me to save more, spend wisely, and look forward to the future. We've found that if we agree on money, we don't disagree on much else. It's been a true blessing and has brought peace and excitement to our marriage as we work towards our goals.

Tomorrow's Lesson: Give More.

Lessons Learned After College - #2

Lesson #2: Relationships are an Investment
More and more, I'm realizing that relationships are in investment. Whether it's a friendship, family relationship, or a marriage, your return is based on what you pour into them. In my business classes in college, one of my favorite things to study and learn about was compound interest. It was so inspiring to know the importance and benefits of investing early on in life. If you're unfamiliar with compound interest, I've included a chart below to help you visualize it.
 

smartconsumergroup.com


You can see from this chart that when Saver B starts investing earlier on in life, the time value of his money allows for much greater gaining potential. So much greater, in fact, that even though Saver A invested 5 times the amount of Saver B, Saver B gained more than $400k more than Saver A by the time they reached their retirement age. Crazy, huh?!

The reason why I illustrate this is that if we invest in our relationships early on and continue to do it frequently as time progresses, in the end it will produce a greater return (a more meaningful relationship). If instead, we just wait until a crisis threatens to tear the relationship apart or until we realize that we've missed out on many important opportunities, investing in the relationship will not have as great of an impact unless we have already laid a firm foundation of respect, trust, and love.

Tomorrow's Lesson: Financial Peace = Peace

Lessons Learned After College - #1

Reflecting on my life experiences over the last few years

For each remaining day of 2011, I've decided to post one lesson that I've learned since graduating from college. Through this process of thinking back on lessons learned, I have realized the importance of reminiscing and learning from the past. I hope that as you read these "lessons," you will think back on your own life to consider what has brought you to where you are today.

Lesson #1: Grades DON'T Matter!
If there's anyone who will not believe what's written in this post, it's my sister, Anne! As many of you probably know, she just finished her first semester of college and grades mean EVERYTHING to her right now! (Honestly, for that I'm thankful because I know there could be far worse things for her to be concerned about!) It wasn't long ago when I, too, thought that grades were all that mattered. My world was consumed with studying for upcoming exams and wondering how I was ever going to survive if I didn't get an A. Fortunately, my eyes have been opened since then! I learned that it was OK if I didn't get an A. In fact, I probably learned more in classes where I got a B than in the ones I got an A in.

Several weeks ago, as Luke and I were reflecting back on our college days, we began talking about the differences between good test takers and bad test takers. Luke was a good test taker, and I was not. The fact of the matter is, those who are good test takers do well in college. Those who are not, do not do well. Unfortunately, a very large percentage of grades are based on exams and not on projects and papers. As we were talking about this, Luke kindly reminded me of the fact that in "real life," exams don't matter. English skills, working with people, and projects are the things that matter in the workplace.

To help illustrate this, I searched for the top skills employers seek when searching for employees. Here's what I found:

• Communication Skills (listening, written)
• Analytical/Research Skills
• Computer/Technical Literacy
• Flexibility/Adaptability/Managing Multiple Priorities
• Interpersonal Abilities
• Leadership/Management Skills
• Multicultural Sensitivity/Awareness
• Planning/Organizing
• Problems-Solving/Reasoning/Creativity
• Teamwork

Did you notice that grades and test scores were NOT mentioned?! Not surprising, but it definitely would have been hard to convince me of that in college!

Here is an interesting video to watch about how fast things are changing: 

Interesting Facts:

• The Top 10 jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.
• We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist using technologies that haven't been invented in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet. (How is that for a mouthful?!)
• The amount of technical information is doubling every 2 years. For students starting a 4-year technical degree, this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.

Thank goodness grades don't matter!

...Check back tomorrow for Lesson #2: Relationships are an Investment!