Wednesday, December 25, 2013

The Diehm Diaries 2013

Diehm Diaries 2013

As we consider the Christmas season, I wanted to share a story with you. There was a man who was living well, with a nice house, a wonderful family, great job, and everything else going for him. The problem was that he was dying of stage 4 cancer and didn't even notice the symptoms coming on since he was so wrapped up in his life. His doctor however did notice, and contemplated speaking with the man. You see there was a new cure that this doctor knew about that had a 100% success rate of curing this man's type of cancer. The doctor wondered however if the man would reject his cure since he was living such a happy life and might not want to hear the news. The doctor also wondered what his colleagues might think about this radical treatment and how they may ridicule him. The doctor pondered telling the man about his certain death, and the cure that he was sure would heal him. If you were the doctor what would you do? This story is real for all of us, because we all are or have been in the shoes of the man dying of a disease. The Bible calls this disease 'sin'. As the doctor that is sure of the cure, I hope you will read my diagnosis and consider what the Bible has to say.
Like the man in the story, most of us are unaware that we are suffering from this disease. Maybe we have heard about it, but surely it would never happen to us. After all aren't you a pretty good person? We need to look no farther than the Ten Commandments to see that we are all guilty of breaking God's law. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever wanted something that wasn't yours? Have you ever stolen anything regardless of value? Have you ever used God's name in vain? Have you ever not loved God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength? The list goes on, but the fact is that “we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible also says in James 2:10 that even if you “keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, you are guilty of breaking all of it”. See God is perfectly loving, but He is also perfectly just and must punish sin. Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death...” and so because of our sin, our punishment that we deserve is death. This isn't just physical death, but spiritual death in hell for eternity. It may seem like a steep punishment coming from a God who says that He loves us, but we must not loose sight of the person we are offending. It is God who made us and gave the law. To assault a random person might get you into a little trouble, but assault the president, and the punishment will be much steeper. So since we have sinned against God, we deserve to go to hell. You wouldn't say that a judge is 'good' or 'loving' if he let a criminal go free, would you? Of course not, and so God must punish sin. Once we understand that bad news, we can realize the cure for our disease. What if as that judge was getting ready to imprison you unless you could come up with a 100 million dollar fine, and all of a sudden, someone you didn't know came in and paid your fine for you. You didn't deserve it as you were guilty, but this man did it for you anyway. That is what Jesus did for you and I on the cross about 2000 years ago. It isn't anything we can earn, or anything we deserve, but something the Bible describes as grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”. Romans 6:23 certainly starts with “The wages of sin is death...”, but it finishes with “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Please understand that you are a sinner and that you are on your way to certain punishment in hell if left to yourself. There is nothing YOU can do to right your situation. Only Jesus can help you, and He already has paid your fine for you. So what do you need to do? You do nothing to earn it, but merely take the free gift by faith in what Jesus did for you like the Bible says. This means that you come to a realization of what your sin means to God and find yourself guilty before God. It means that you have a change of heart about your sin and turn and accept Christ's free gift of eternal life in heaven. If you do that then you are guaranteed to go to heaven when you die (1John 5:13). If you truly have that change of heart, the Bible says that you will be born again, meaning you will have a new nature. You will no longer desire sinful things as a pattern of life, but will instead desire to serve God and follow Him. If you have come to this saving faith, does your life reflect that? If not, the Bible says to consider whether or not your really in the faith. But don't just take my word for it, take Gods. Read through the gospel of John first and see what conclusion you come to. Just ask God to show you the truth. God bless you in this season and all others, where Jesus is the only reason.  

We have missed a few years of Christmas letters (the last one we did was in 2010), and a few things have changed in the past 3 years (as we then had an almost two year old, and are now on our way to having a 5 yr. old, 2 yr. old, and are 30 weeks pregnant with #3!)

Our excuse for no Christmas Letter in 2011 was the arrival of our second little girl, Elaina (Lainey) Jane Diehm. She came a bit early and arrived with style on New Years Eve 2011. Since then she has been kept us very busy…from not sleeping through the night until she was 10 months old, to using the toilet water to brush her teeth, she has earned the title of “Dennis the Menance”, as we affectionately call her. However, we love our “Lainey Lou” to pieces, and she totally has us wrapped around her feisty little finger. She is now almost two years old, speaks in 4-5 word phrases, and still has not made it onto the growth chart at a petite 20 pounds, although she eats more than any one else in the family on a daily basis. Her favorite activities include “helping” cook (as she stirs and taste tests everything), playing with sister “KEY-ra”, and feeding or strolling her baby dolls through the house, with a purse on her shoulder. Her current favorite phrases are “I DOO it!”, “Love you too mommy”, “I HUNGY or FIRSTY”, and “Oatmeal COOOO-KING” (as oatmeal is the first thing she requests in the morning).

In 2012 we neglected a Christmas Letter as we were busy transitioning to our new home: trying to figure out which box had the dishes in it, and which one had shampoo. The last thing on the list was documentation of our hectic life. ;) We sold our first beloved home in May of 2012, as we decided to take advantage of incredibly low interest rates and move into a bit bigger home that we could use for hospitality and to meet the needs of our growing family. We lived with family for 5 months while our new home was being built, and were very excited to get into our new home in November 2012…just in time for the Holidays! We are very thankful for the new home that GOD has blessed us with, and have enjoyed getting settled, adding our own touches, and getting to know the neighbors over the past year. Lainey loves seeing the cows out the back windows (as we have cornfields and pasture in our back yard), and Keira loved going on walks this summer to catch the toads that live in abundance out here. Austin and I are thoroughly enjoying the decrease of home projects that has come with a newer home.

This year has also been full of changes for us! In July God gave us quite the surprise as we found out baby #3 was on the way!! We are now anxiously anticipating the arrival of another little girl beginning of March 2014. We are excited to have a houseful of girls, although Austin has reserved the right to “Guy’s Nights” to keep his sanity.

In September, Austin and I were blessed with the opportunity to take a once in a lifetime trip…a 14 day cruise through the Mediterranean Sea with stops in numerous countries including Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Malta, and a few others. We learned A LOT of history, toured the famous ruins of Pompei, and saw the Vatican and Coliseum in Rome, to name a few of the highlights. We thoroughly enjoyed the abundance of food on the boat, and getting to interact with many different cultures. One of the main things that I took away from the trip was how blessed we as Americans are with having Christianity at our fingertips. The ability to go to church, have Christian friends, and hear the Gospel is something we so often take for granted here…but it is almost obsolete in Europe. I came away with a whole new viewpoint and appreciation after our trip!

Beyond the exciting BIG things going on in our lives, it has been a great couple of years. God has blessed us with a great church that we love attending and learning at (Southview Bible Church). We continue to teach the K-2nd grade kids club on Wednesdays, and I have had the privilege of being involved in serving as a deaconess and organizing some of the social events of the church. We have a great group of friends who are an encouragement to us, and we are so thankful to have others to share life with!

Austin continues to work at Council Bluffs Savings Bank, and has transitioned into more of the business banking side of things. He enjoys the variety that his job offers, and we are both very thankful that He works for a very family friendly company that cares for its employees. He has a great schedule that allows us to be involved in activities in the evenings, and have lots of family time.

I (Ellie) continue to work for Perigon Networks, a technology company in Bellevue. I continue to oversee the administrative and financial side of the business which includes Billing, HR, and Finance. It keeps me very busy, but I love the challenge, variety, and fast pace. I work with a great management team and love the small family atmosphere of the company.

Keira started attending Heartland Christian School this year in their K4 program. We have been beyond impressed with the school and are so thankful for the Christian influence she receives everyday, as well as the strong emphasis that they place on academics. We have really noticed that she has blossomed socially this year, as well as growing academically. She is currently starting to learn how to read and recently memorized Psalm 23 as a project for Thanksgiving time. Beyond school, Keira continues to take dance classes (ballet and tap) once a week, as well as being involved in Cubbies club as church. In her free time she LOVES to do any type of artwork or crafts, sing and dance at the top of her lungs, or play Barbies for hours on end. She is very detail oriented, and an often time corrects me. She recently told me that “Lainey is too old for a paci. If you aren’t going to get rid of it, I will”. If the weather is nice out she loves to ride her bike or Jeep, or do just about any outdoor activity. It has been very exciting this year as Keira has shown more interest in Jesus and the gospel and seems to understand it well and wanted to make a decision to give her life to HIM. We continue to pray for her and the other girls; that they would accept Jesus as their personal Savior, and that Austin and I would continue to being Godly role models in their lives!

As we look forward to 2014, I am thankful for many things, but first and foremost for Jesus coming to die for our sins on the cross so we can live eternally in Heaven. Secondly I am thankful for a husband who is the perfect match for me and a great leader for our home. As we see times changing and the years flying by, we have started to have a new awareness that “life is but a vapor”. Austin and I have both been challenged to be using every precious day that God gives us to share His good news with others, and to live for things that are going to matter in eternity. Life is so busy and it is easy to get caught up in petty things, but we challenge you in 2014 to evaluate what your relationship is with God, and to invest in things that will last beyond your 70-80 years here on Earth.


Love, Austin, Ellie, Keira, and Lainey Diehm.










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