Christmas Greetings from the Rogi

Amidst the hustle and bustle of this Christmastime, we enjoy the moments we have to reflect of the year gone by.  And so we raise our “rock of Ebenezer” (1Sam 7) by putting pen to paper (21st century style) and share with our family and friends some of the highlights of 2011.

The big news, and what much of the year has focused around, has been our decision to expand our family.  After praying for a time, we told the children at Christmas last year that we believe God was asking our family to welcome an orphan into our home and our hearts.  And so, from that time it has been a whirlwind of decisions and prayer and paper chasing and fundraising. Not all of it has been fun, but all of it has been worth it.  It is our hope by Christmas 2012 or shortly there after we will be travelling to Ethiopia to bring home our new son.  We have not met him yet (it is possible that he is not even conceived) but we pray for him and his “tummy mom” nearly every day.  This endeavor has deepened our faith and brought our family even closer together.  For that we are grateful.

With Khris working more than full-time each week, the majority of the paper work for the adoption fell on Michelle’s shoulders and she handled the added responsibility well.  Juggling paperwork and homeschooling and haircutting and worship team and cooking and.... is plenty to keep Michelle out of trouble.  She also continues to ride horses and fill in working at the barn when needed..  All in all she is content with her lot in life and is looking forward to opening her heart to another Rogers child.

Khris has kept himself busy as well.  The garage door business has continued to improve and with the subcontracting work available it has been full-time all year.  In October, one of the guys he subs for underwent emergency surgery and has not yet returned to work.  So Khris is running both companies currently.  Also, his responsibilities at church have increased due to their Pastor and very good friend’s diagnosis of brain cancer.  Khris is now teaching at the church on Wednesday nights along with his home group on Mondays.  He also continues to lead the worship team for the church.

Korynn has blossomed into a beautiful young lady, mature beyond her years in many ways.  This year has seen her return to one of her lifelong loves in dance, though with a different company.  This one is a faith based company and she enjoys the atmosphere there more.  She is also in her second year of bible quizzing, understanding 2-3 books of the bible and memorizing 10 scriptures per month.  She too is becoming a horse lover and rides 2-3 times a month.  In her studies, she continues to do well and if she has spare time you will find her nose in a book.

Lily continues to pursue her passion in art.  She is expanding her mediums and even took a sculpting class at the local rec. center this fall.  She carries her pencil box, filled with crayons and the like, like other girls her age carry dolls.  Even a short trip in the car must be occupied with paper and crayons.  Hers is a joyfilled heart and she can often be heard singing songs of praise to her God.  She is quick to laugh and quick to cry and she always wears her heart on her sleeve.

Reese is growing into a boy of vim and vigor.  He is the energy of the family and believes that walking is too slow a method of transportation.  He tried his hand this fall at flag football and even got to play his final game on a high-school field.  While he did not fully understand the game, his coach could count on him to do what he was told to do.  He and Daddy spend time together working and playing frequently as he is growing and learning the responsibility of being a Godly young man.

Michelle and Khris got to take a week in March for their anniversary and go to Dallas.  While there, they got together with 10,000 of their closest friends and worshipped God at the Passion conference.  They served on the security team there and got a couple extra days to enjoy Fort Worth.  Khris also worked at the Passion conference in Atlanta in the beginning of the year and is headed back down there the first week in January.  The family also went again to Myrtle beach in June with Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Jo, Uncle Jarrod and Hunter and Archer.  They have come to enjoy their time there each year.

As we look forward to 2012 we are grateful for all that God has brought us through in 2011.  It has been faith stretching and we are growing in Him.  But we wouldn’t have it any other way.  It is our hope that this Christmas the world’s view of this holiday would diminish and the true joy that is to be found in knowing Christ would be yours in heart and mind.  And we are praying that the year ahead would be joy filled for you and your family.  God bless each one of you.

We appreciate your prayers and support as we move forward with our adoption.  There will be updates and opportunities for you to be involved in 2012.  Please subscribe to our blog (by entering your email address in the column on the right) to keep up to date on the progress.  Thanks!


In Christ’s love and mercy,

Khris, Michelle, KK, Lily, Reese and ?

photo credit faithclipart.com

MONGO Success!

We would like to thank each one of you that came out for our Going MONGO fundraiser last night!  And BIG thanks to the BD's Arena crew for a great night!

Gettin' my grill on!

Khris is really good at this!

Our friends, the C family came all the way from the Cleveland area...  what a blessing!  The shirts we wore were from their adoption fundraiser.  You can check out their adoption journey HERE.

MA & J from church

The L's and the B's

Newlyweds A & C

My parents, affectionately known as Grammy & Poppy

My sister's family, the W's

The T's also drove over an hour to bless this event - Thanks!

The S family

Khris' sister and her hubby & BIL

The L's

PH and her crew

He liked this way too much... 

I think with his new skills-on-the-grill he's always got employment options ;-)

Look out, I have "swords!"

Cheesin' with my friend J

The V's and the H's

Two of my 3 running the raffle & ornament table...  so much fun (=

There were many more not captured on film too!

We raffled off a basket containing Just Love Coffee with the Fa, La, La, La, La Christmas CD, travel mugs and a box of Cheryl's Cookies.

The winning raffle ticket was drawn around 8:30.  Congrats to BG our winner - Enjoy those goodies! 

Over $800 was raised from ticket sales, raffle drawing, ornament sales and donations.  We are more than blessed by this generous outpouring on behalf of The Rogi and bringing our newest member home from Ethiopia.

The Christmas ornaments that we made were a hit, so if you'd like to purchase one, they are $5 each (+$1 shipping unless I hand it to you) and we can make them with plain or patterned felt.  Here's some samples:

 

Check out the Active Adoption Fundraisers page for color & pattern options.

Thank you again for partaking in the Rogers Family Adoption Journey and have a Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Reflections

Sitting at the laptop enjoying a cup of coffee on Saturday (not just any Saturday - OSU/Michigan Saturday) and reflecting back on two days of feasting and fellowship.  It has been a very nice holiday weekend.

I needed this respite.  Life has been challenging for me of late.  I know that God is granting me strength in the midst of these circumstances and that He is using them to refine me.  Some might look at what I am going through and say, “ I could never do that.”   And others would say, “dude, that’s nothing.”  So I won’t use the blog to say - woe is me.  I am grateful that God is molding me and shaping me.

As I had the privilege to look around two Thanksgiving feasts (Michelle’s family on Thursday and my family and some friends yesterday), I realized that God has blessed me with many who love me and care about me.  He opened my eyes to the exorbitant blessings of feasting food, so much so that we will have leftovers for a long time.  It is a joy to walk into a warm house and know that I have a very comfortable bed to retire to each night.  God has granted me the ability to work and plenty of work to do for the foreseeable future.  I have a wife who loves me and three kids who think their dad is a king.  Blessing upon blessing upon blessing.

And I find my mind wandering 7418 miles east.

I am wondering what the tummy mom of our soon to be son would think of my life.  I am sure that her trials and challenges look far different than mine. Did she get to eat today?  I pray so.  Did the father of my son have the chance to work today?  Is he able to?  Is he even in the picture?  Do they have a house to live in?  A bed to sleep in?  Are there other children in the family that wonder if this pregnancy means that there will be less food for them?  

I am grateful for the opportunity to take a break from the routine of life and reflect and gain some perspective.  The Rogi are a truly blessed family. May we all be a little more thankful each and every day.

"If the only prayers you said in your life were 'thank you', that would be enough" - St. Athanasius

Going Mongo! December 11th

There is a BLESSING to fundraising.  How is that?  Well, it gives the Rogi an opportunity to share our heart about adoption.  And do you know what's a BIGGER BLESSING?  YOU have the opportunity to be an integral part of bringing an orphan to his forever home.

My friend Amy over at Feet 2 Our Faith puts it this way:

We need the people of God to come alongside us and partake in the story. We need your prayers and your encouragement. Our adoption becomes a gift to not just our family and our future kids, but also to those who choose to involve themselves in it. They have great joy as they see our thermometer rise. Can you imagine the joy they will share when they see us in the same photograph with our newly ransomed children? Oh! It makes my heart race with excitement!  (read entire post here)

Amen!  I couldn't have said it better myself - really!

With THAT said...............

The Rogers Family wants to invite you to dinner - and THEY'RE GRILLIN"!

Khris and I are grabbin' our "swords" and joining the BD's Mongolian Grillers to cook up some stir-fry, Mongo-style, for everyone in the restaurant.  Sounds FUN, right?  Well, we're putting the FUN in FUNdraiser to support our Ethiopian adoption!

When?  Sunday, December 11, 2011
Where?  BD's Mongolian Grill in the Arena District
               295 Marconi Blvd. in Columbus
What time?  5:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Proceeds from the ticket sales benefit the

Rogers Family Adoption Fund

"How much are tickets, and what is included?"

That is an EXCELLENT question!

Here's the rundown:

$23 Good for Unlimited Stir Fry, Fountain Beverage,
and Mini Dessert

$21 Good for One Bowl of Stir Fry, Fountain Beverage,
and Mini Dessert

$12 Kids 3-11 Good for One Bowl of Stir Fry, Fountian Beverage, and Mini Dessert

(Tickets do NOT include alcoholic beverages and do NOT have cash value)


"But how do I get tickets?" you ask? 

Well, it's EASY!

If you see me frequenlty, you can buy them directly from me.  (checks payable to Michelle R. Rogers)  If not?  You can order your tickets via the Paypal button on the sidebar right over there    --------------->>>>>>>>
See where it says "For Our Ethiopian Adoption -- God Bless You!"?  Click the "Donate" button to purchase tickets.  The button is there below the Little Rogi's picture?

(Aren't they darling?)

Please indicate which tickets you are purchasing and the quantities in the comments along with your delivery preference.
If you are in the Columbus area, I would be happy to deliver your tickets to you.
If you would rather I mail them out, please inticate your delivery preference in the comments section in Paypal checkout along with your mailing address.  Please add $.50 processing/mailing fee with your total (just the cost of an envelope and stamp).

Questions? Leave a comment on this post with your contact info and I will follow up with you (I will not post your contact info on the blog).

What a blessing you are!
Thank you for joining us in this mission to...
...learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.  Isaiah 1:17

Wild Olive Tees

 Since the last post, we have been chugging away on the paperwork for our international adoption.  We are only a few documents away from completing our home study so we can get our USCIS paperwork done.  My goal (realistic or not) is to be DTE (that's Dossier to Ethiopia) for Christmas.  

This means I need to have our homestudy approved in the next few weeks so we can file our application with USCIS, get that USCIS approval letter and send our Dossier to Ethiopia.

♪♫ All I want for Christmas is 

a DTE, a DTE, a DTE ♪♫

As I read the blogs of parents in the online adoption community, I see LOTS of fundraising efforts on behalf of bringing little ones home to their forever families.

 

Wild Olive Tees is our next fabulous fundraiser.  
Here is their mission:

"Wild Olive adoption tees have been created as a means to help families fundraise for their impending adoption. Our goal is to partner with adoptive families to help them gain support from friends and family to offset the cost of their adoption, and in turn, help bring children home to their forever families!"

What a blessing for these adoptive mommies to have this heart...  

Thank you Wild Olive Tees!

Christmas is coming, so get some shopping done!
Our fundraising period is 

NOW thru December 14th.  JANUARY 11TH!
(Thanks Wild Olive Tees for extending <3)

Click the Wild Olive icon or  "fabulous fundraiser" above to order yours today.  Be sure to use our family code ROGERS1019 when on the check-out screen so that Wild Olive Tees can track our fundraising.

Speaking of Christmas...

we still have our
 coffee store open at
  Just Love Coffee <=== Click Here
 to order.

Ethiopian Sidamo has quickly become the favorite coffee around here! 

Not So Much An Update

Well, we continue in the paper chase process of our adoption.  We should be finished with our home study by the middle of October and be able to send our USCIS paperwork at that point.

While we think of things to blog about...  here's the video we took of the kids on Christmas morning when we announced our adoption.  Enjoy!

Well Under Way

A lot has happened since the last time I posted.  In May we put our application for adoption in to America World and waited until the beginning of June to hear whether we were accepted or not.  Once we signed the agreement and paid the first installation of the program fee we waited to hear from our new family coordinator.

The LORD is teaching me to wait.  I think I get it.  I am confident that waiting is what God wants from me.  I don't see the BIG picture and I know that in my waiting, God is working.

While we waited, we had our first Adoption Benefit Garage Sale.  The kids manned a lemonade/hotdog stand that grossed $125 in two days!  God is amazing!  The goods we sold for the rest of the sale brought the grand total to $450 for our adoption!  Wow!  God is AMAZING!


Since the garage sale, we have "met" (over the phone) our new family coordinator with America World and our home study coordinator, we have read and signed a bunch more paperwork, and are looking forward to our home study orientation next week.  Thus the paper-chase begins.


We have also started looking at different ways for you to get involved in our journey if you would like to.  Our first venture into fund raising is for all you coffee lovers out there or for the coffee lover in your life.  We have partnered with a great organization called "Just Love Coffee."  If you go to our store on their site and purchase a bag of coffee, we receive $5.  So go, buy lots of coffee.  See if you can get your office manager to make next months coffee purchase from us.  Maybe your church would like to buy some for Sunday morning services.  And you know, it is never too early to start thinking about Christmas...


Click on the Just Love Coffee Roasters image below to go directly to our adoption fundraiser page.

http://justlovecoffee.com/talesoftherogi

Thank you for blessing us in our adoption process!

Peace and Comfort

So, the waiting begins. We placed our adoption application to America World's Ethiopia program late last Wednesday evening. I got an automated response and then have heard nothing.

It has kind of been bumming me out a little bit - off and on. I have had fears that we won't even be accepted into the program, but I know God is good. He has brought us to this point in our lives of choosing adoption to grow our family. As we await word from America World, I am comforted by Scripture, prayer and song.

My friend shared Isaiah 26:3 with me:

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You."

God is keeping me at peace as I wait. I do trust Him.  If you read further, verse 8 is my heart as well, because ultimately, my desire is to see God glorified in my life:

"Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts."

As I read in my quiet time, every day there is a verse that the Lord speaks directly to my heart.  It's amazing that no matter where you are reading, there is relevance to your life and the Lord will minister to you and speak to you through His Word.  


"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."  2 Timothy 3:16-17


I am also thankful for all the prayer that covers us as we walk this adoption journey. I really can't express how I am touched by the prayers of the saints.  Thank You, Lord, for surrounding us with people who love and serve You, and who are praying for us.


And then there's music.  Music always ministers to me - as well it should I guess, being a musician and all.  As we were driving home from church last week, the Lord got my attention using the song that was playing on the CD player.  Khris and I were in a focused discussion about God's sovereignty through our adoption journey.  I have had doubts that this thing would ever happen and he reminded me that our adoption will come to pass in the Lord's timing, not mine. As we were talking, the words being sung were, "I know You're with me...  I know Your love will light the way."  The Lord - MY Lord - spoke to my heart then and there.  I need to walk in this faith that I claim daily in my words.  After we put the kids to bed, I entered the rest of our information and submitted our online adoption application.


The next day, I was driving the kids to music lessons, and couldn't wait to back up that track in the van to listen to the entire message of the song.  The Lord was right there, in the van, bringing me comfort and peace.  My heart was bursting with His love for me.  I am seeing Him more clearly than I think I have in a long time.  Thank You, Lord Jesus, my God.  Oh, how I love You, too!

AFTERMATH by Hillsong United

The skies lay low where You are
On the earth You rest Your feet
Yet the hands that cradle the stars
Are the hands that bled for me

In a moment of glorious surrender
You were broken for all the world to see
Lifted out of the ashes
I am found in the aftermath

Freedom found in Your scars
In Your grace my life redeemed
For You chose to take the sinner's crown
As You placed Your crown on me

In that moment of glorious surrender
Was the moment You broke the chains in me
Lifted out of the ashes
I am found in the aftermath
And in that moment You opened up the heavens
To the broken the beggar and the thief
Lifted out of the wreckage
I find hope in the aftermath

And I know that You're with me
Yes I know that You're with me here
And I know Your love will light the way

Now all I have I count it all as loss
But to know You and to carry the cross
Knowing I'm found
In the light of the aftermath

I want to see Jesus, too

I am often challenged by others and their walk with the Lord.  I read this today and was definitely challenged.  I so love Him and want others to see Him in my life.  ~Michelle

The Saga Begins

Circa 1997, two mid 20’s begin to discuss and pray about what life might look like if they were to join forces in matrimony for the purpose of glorifying God for the rest of their lives on earth together as one.  Many late night conversations pondering what the future might hold were had over the ever present coffee mugs in our lives.  While many of those dreams have fallen by the wayside, some have danced in and out of our lives since those infantile moments.  

As one might expect when discussing marriage, the thought of children was discussed.  I believe the subject was broached in a clumsy manner such as this: “how many kids do you want?”.  As if a mere number can define the shape of a family.  So naive we were.  I think I said 2, she said 4 and I immediately thought, we will have to work this out later.  But I will get my way.  2 is the right number.  I grew up in a family of 2 siblings, she grew up in a family of 2 siblings.   She will come to reason I am certain.

Fast forward to 2000,  our first child arrives.  Korynn Kathleen born a beautiful blue eyed girl that immediately steals Dad’s heart.  What a joy it is to be a father is the thought, unknowing to the challenges that lie ahead in parenthood.  1 down, 1 to go....so I thought.

2002 brings us to the arrival of child number 2.  Lily Grace blesses us with her presence and at the same moment poses an interesting question.  If we stop here, the Rogers name will not continue.  The tree stops here, as it were.  Well in modern Christendom, there's this sort of unspoken "rule." You are allowed to have two children unless they are both of the same sex.  If that be the case, you are permitted one more try (but only one) to see if both X and Y are working.

And so it was, our 3rd attempt.  2004 and the question comes as we sit in the falsely comforting OBGYN office, “do you want to know the sex of your child?”.  No, we better not jinx ourselves.  If we find out, God might not give us what we want.  Reverse psychology always works on God, right?  The month of April brings about the birth of our third child, Reese Khristopher.  The bloodline continues.

And so, that is the saga of the Rogi (our plural version of Rogers) and how we came about.  Shortly thereafter, Papa Rogers visits a man with a sharp knife and the fathering chapter is closed.

Fast forward to November 2010.  Life, though not perfect, is good.  Three growing, healthy, smart, cute kids and we got this parenting thing down.  We are even crazy enough to say that we will handle their education at home, thank you very much.  And so, in the midst of a self inflicted busy schedule, date nights are scarce.  I thought it best to use my birthday as an excuse to do two things I like very much, hang out alone with my wife and watch basketball.  I like it so much, that is what we did on our wedding night.  After the ceremony and reception, before leaving on the honeymoon, we went to our hotel, ordered a pizza and watched basketball.  What a great wife!

And so, on this cold November night, we enjoy watching the basketball Buckeyes beat up North Carolina A&T.  102-61.  The conversation is light and fun as we head back to the hotel for the night and a quiet, late night dinner.  “Remember when” becomes the topic as we think back over the 12 plus years that God has given us together.  And then the questions fall out of my mouth.  “Remember when, we were dating and discussing how many kids we were going to have?  Remember us both saying that we might some day be open to the idea of adoption?  Have you thought any more about that?”

You see we had not once discussed the possibility of adoption since we were starry eyed in love when we could do no wrong in each others eyes and long before our quiver was full with three arrows.  Who needs more than 3 arrows?  

And then her response.  “Yeah, in fact I was researching adoption on the web this week.”  I don’t know if you believe in signs or not.  I am not sure if I believe in signs or not.  But this was an amazing coincidence if it was not a God orchestrated moment.  I was content with 3, what caused those thoughts that night, what caused those words to come out of my mouth?  What are the odds that in 744 weeks of marriage that this would be the week that she would begin researching adoption?  We asked those questions.  The conclusion was that it was no coincidence.  And so we began to seek God daily in this matter.

By Christmas 2010 it is evident to both her and I, that she will have her way, we will have 4 children, if the Lord allows.  Unless of course, there are more to come.

A thought or two for Dads…

A few months back I had the opportunity to teach through the book of 1 Peter to our home fellowship.  It truly is a challenging book from front to back, but Chapter 3 is where we spent some time diving in and chewing on the steak that Peter is cooking up.  I thought I might share some thoughts we had specifically for the dads in the group.

We spent a whole study on verses 1-6 of chapter 3 which all pertain to wives.  As I taught I could see the Spirit working, and the hearts of the ladies being challenged by the Word of God.  While this was excellent, I did have an underlying motive.  If I could get the wives upset or at least challenged, then when I told them that the following week we would be looking at husbands, I was assured that every husband would be in attendance for that study.

I have a passion growing in my heart to see men of faith rise up and take hold of the mantle that God has given to us to truly be the spiritual leaders of our households.  Armed with that motivation, I prepared a spiritual kick in the shorts for the guys in my study.  We spent an entire study on one verse, 1 Peter 3:7 which says:

"You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."

There is so much to take away from this one verse I don’t think that I can cover it all in a single writing (perhaps this will expand into multiple newsletter entries).

Let’s start at the beginning - Peter addresses us, the husbands.  Peter was not the sharpest pencil in the box but he did understand the way of men.  First get their attention, YOU HUSBANDS!  In other words, “eyes on Peter here guys”.  And keep it short.  One verse ought to cover it.  But there is so much in that one verse.

Then he says, “in the same way”, same way as what?  Well I think it beckons back to Chapter 2 and verse 12 – “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles…”  Peter is reminding us that our lives are on display, both inside the home and outside of it.  So remember that as we relate to our wives.

Then Peter begins to lower the boom.  He says, “In an understanding way”.   Wait a minute.  Peter, I believe in miracles and all, I know the power of the Holy Spirit but understand our wives?  Come on.  We’ve all heard the pop psychology right?  Venus/Mars or Spaghetti/Waffles.  What Peter is saying is impossible right?!?  Perhaps it’s not.

Take a moment and reflect back to when you were dating your wife.  Do you recall how passionate you were about knowing her?  Remember how much time you spent thinking about her and replaying every moment over and over.  You may have never taken to academics but I can guarantee that you studied your wife.  You found out the things she liked and didn’t.  You learned of her choices in music.  You committed to memory her favorite restaurant, her favorite author, her favorite store, what kind of flowers she liked.  You learned of her hopes and dreams for the future, of her goals for life.  You studied her like a Payton Manning studies film.

So what happened?  Life got in the way, marriage, jobs, kids, kids, more kids (we are homeschoolers here).  And familiarity set in.  And exhaustion set in.  And perhaps indifference set in.  You thought to yourself, “I’ve got her now; I know all I need to know about her”.  And the studying stopped.

Well I think what Peter is saying here is that the studying of your wife is to be a life long process.  It doesn’t end at the alter, it should continue on throughout life.  And so I encourage us all, let us take time to study our wives once again.  Find out what her new favorite song is.  Can you name 3 restaurants that your wife would like to try?  What book is she looking forward to reading?  What are her hopes and dreams for the next 5 years?  Etc. Etc. Etc.

Well, as is typical when you teach something, God tends to show you the plank sticking out of your eye that you have managed to overlook.  So with that, I need to ask Michelle a few questions.  Go talk to your wife.  We’ll get back to this next time.

Peace.

A Thankful Beginning

Well, I'm not usually one to blog, but the Rogers household can be mildly interesting, so I decided to start :)

I am thankful that my hubby and I are of the same mind and heart on so many things.  The Holy Spirit has truly knit us together into a single spirit in our marriage.

Last night we were watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition as a family.  As we watched, I thought, "Thank you Lord, that we are not in need of these people's services.  You, God, provide our needs and we truly want for nothing.  We have a warm house, food in the pantry, gas in the 2 vehicles, warm beds to sleep, a loving family and 2 dogs to love on.  What more could we need?"

After the program and the kids were ready for bed, we gathered for our nightly family prayer time.  Khris prayed the same prayer over our family that I was praying earlier during the TV program.  I thought this was pretty cool.

Our God is so good in bringing us together and giving us the same mind and heart regarding our family and our lives in Christ.  I am truly thankful.