1 Year DTE :: by Khris

When the Lord has blessed us to be able to treat our kids to a special event, such as Great Wolf Lodge or a trip to Myrtle Beach, we spend weeks or even months planning it.  What we do NOT do is tell our kids about it as we plan.  We wait until the last possible moment to tell them, so that we don't get the 1001 questions like, "Mom, can we go to the store today to get a new bathing suit?" when our trip is still 75 days away.  In essence, what we are trying to avoid is the constant barrage of questions.

But it seems this may be exactly what the Lord may want us to do with Him.  God's desire for our lives is that we would live in such a way that we press into Him for our "daily bread".  He is gracious and compassionate to His children, and longs for us to come boldly before the throne of grace with our questions.

The Rogers family is one year DTE today, March 2, 2013.  That means we have had our paperwork submitted to the Ethiopian government for one complete year.  365 days of wondering if today will be the day that we get a phone call.

We know by the trends, that most families are waiting longer than this, yet not a day passes that we don't wonder if the phone might ring.

And this is exactly where our loving God wants us, because all we can do is come to Him with our wonder and say, "when is it coming?"  And we press more into Him.  And we wait.  There is much growth to be had in waiting on the Lord.  We know that His timing is perfect.  We know that there is a sovereign plan that has been in motion since long before we began discussing adoption.  And we know that our God is good.

So we cling to the scriptures, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your path straight."

And we wait....365....366....367....

So Soon?!?!? May 2012

May, already????  I know!  Guess what though...  I forgot a very important event in the March post.  Khris took the girls to their first ever Father-Daughter Dance.  This dance was a fundraiser for Leap Of Faith Dance Company where my oldest daughter took lyrical ballet this year (you'll get a peek at that in a minute).

Aren't they precious?  The girls LOVED sitting in my shop chair, getting all dolled-up for their very special Daddy Date.

While at the dance, the girls got to dance with their daddy.  Then, while they ran off to dance with their friends, Khris got to hang out with a couple other dads.  From what I hear, a good time was had by all.

Remember all those rehearsals I mentioned in the March post?  Our final performance of Everyday Heroes was finally here.  May 12th was the big day, but not before we celebrated with a cast party after the final dress rehearsal.  The students and mom-helpers did such a fabulous job, I wanted to bless them with a pizza party.  Good times (=

Everyday Heroes cast, crew & directors

 By the end of the homeschool play, Leap Of Faith was finished with dance classes for the year and the dancers and staff were preparing for their recital.  The entire recital day was amazing as the students danced unto the LORD.  KK's lyrical class danced to Blessings by Laura Story.

Mother's Day was in there somewhere too.  Every year for Mother's Day, my husband and kids get the garden prepped and tilled for planting.  We started this year with a 4x4' & 2-4x8' raised beds.  Khris built 2 more 4x8' beds and a 6x8' on the side of the house.

Overall, a good month in May...  Hopefully I can update June (and July too?) very soon.  We've got a new fundraiser coming up too to go with some news on the adoption front.  Stay tuned!

March Madness - Help bring us closer!

It is time to announce our newest fundraiser.  I am a HUGE college basketball fan and have run a bracket pool for the last 15 years.  This year we decided to use the pool as a fundraiser to help bring our baby home.  

Go Bucks!

We would love it if you would like to join us.  We are asking for a $10 entry fee and you can use the Paypal button in the right column to pay.  There are great prizes for 1st-3rd place (1st prize valued at $100!) that have been donated by friends (Thank you!)


Here is the link to join the league:


http://matt2819.mayhem.cbssports.com/e


On CBS sports you need to have a profile.  Once you have that, then you can join the league.  The pool password is: Ethiopia


Feel free to invite family and friends to play too.  We can have up to 400 players.  Thanks in advance for blessing us in this.  We are truly grateful.


~Khris

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.