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!