Rogers Family Christmas Newsletter

December, 2014

From L-R, Back row:  Noah, Samantha, Tim, Elsie, Michael, Jan, Kara, Jon

Front row:  Asher, Aiden, Sadie, Friedel and Harry

Christmas Greetings to our Dear Family and Friends!

Well, here it is, another year going by before we know it!  We sincerely hope that this finds you and yours well and content.  I hardly know where to start!  Much has happened this year in our lives.

Before I tell you about Michael and me, I’ll start with the rest of our family and work our way up!  As you see by the photo above, which was taken at Thanksgiving, they are all doing well.   Michael’s parents are in their upper 80’s but are still active and healthy.  It was such a blessing to have everyone all here for Thanksgiving this year.  It was Tim’s 30^th birthday that day, so it was even more special.  We had a wonderful time.

Jon and Kara are doing well.  Jon has been very busy with the practice.  More about that later.  Kara is quite busy with the three Grandkiddlins (Asher, 9, Sadie 7, and Elsie, 3 )and is a great Mom.  She helps Jon with the business as she can find the time, helps at the kids’ school and at the kids’ programs at church and maybe has a few minutes to sew her darling creations here and there.  She still makes the best cookies we’ve ever had and truly is a ‘baking artiste’.  The kids are involved in various activities between gymnastics and sports and Kara stays on the run.  Despite the demands of the business, Jon still finds time to spend with his family as much as he can.  He also helps with many things at church, mostly related to the worship ministry, and plays guitar on the praise band.  So, their lives are full but they are happy. 

Tim has a darling and very sweet girlfriend now, Samantha. I was going to write this newsletter one way, but I am thrilled to say that he proposed to her today and she accepted!  We are delighted to be welcoming her into our family.  She and Tim are good for each other.  He is working at a company in Greeneville, Premium Waters, and really seems to enjoy it.  Samantha works two jobs at a local shipping company and a nursing home.  She is really busy with work and raising her two boys, Aiden, 5 and Noah, 1, and doing an admirable job. Tim plays bass on the praise band at church and is very happy.  We are very proud of the men both of our sons have become.

So, now for us.  I suppose I should start at the beginning.  Last year I was really unable to share much about Michael’s health because we weren’t sure of many things.  In August, 2013, he developed severe anemia, and, over the course of the next few months, between the local Hematologist and the Vanderbilt Hematology Department, he was diagnosed with two things:  MDS (Myleo Dysplastic Syndrome) and MPD (Myleo Proliferative Disorder).  Suffice it to say that his stem cells weren’t doing what they were supposed to.  So, a decision was made that he would go to Vanderbilt and have a bone marrow stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor.  What everyone expected was that he would be at Vanderbilt for 100 days and then come home and go back to work in November. 

On May 22 the transplant took place.  That was followed by probably the most difficult 5 months of our lives.  Michael was very sick.  He had every complication they know of and then some, but through it all, God was so faithful.  He provided for our every need. He lifted us up and carried us when it seemed as though we couldn’t take another step.  He was our Rock and our Fortress, our Encourager and our Provider.  We couldn’t have made it through without that.  Nor could we have made it through without the loving and faithful prayers and support of our family and the saints whom God raised up to come alongside us.  There were people praying for Michael across the globe; from across the ocean to across the country.  The outpouring of love was tremendous.  We got cards and notes of encouragement from people and churches we didn’t even know.  Many of Michael’s patients sent him cards and called from time-to-time to see how he was doing as did the office staff.  He was truly loved through this time.

So, five months in Nashville and then we finally came home.  It has been a journey to say the least.  If you want to follow us or read through any of the past entries, we have a Caring Bridge blog:  www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaelsjourney2  Michael is still recovering.  He is now undergoing chemo for a secondary issue that arose but that will be over at the end of next month and he will be so glad.  He hopes to return to work sometime after that.  He lost a lot of weight but has regained over half of it and is getting stronger as time goes on and we are very thankful for his continued recovery.

So, what did that mean for us and for our family?  Well, even in that, God had it all worked out in advance.  It meant that we basically had to put our lives on hold and move to Nashville for 5 months.  Tim moved in and took care of the house and chickens while we were gone.  I can’t tell you what a relief that was!  He did a great job. For Jon, it meant the stress of trying to find dentists to come in and work temporarily in Michael’s place while we were in Nashville and work a lot harder himself taking precious time away from his family.  But, God provided men to help him and orchestrated even those things in amazing fashion. He has also found another dentist to work with him fulltime, a very nice young man, Dr. Carlone,  which has helped relieve the stress on him tremendously. No one expected the transplant to happen as quickly as it did or to be as difficult as it was.  Our dog, Polly, was able to come and stay with us in the apartment we had in Nashville.  There was a really nice park nearby and she and I went walking there every day.  So, it’s been a challenging year for our entire family.

What we have learned from all of this, dear ones, is that time is precious.  Only God knows how much time each of us have on this earth.  We have learned the importance of making those moments count.  We have also come to know God on a deeper level than ever before.  No matter where God leads us; no matter what the journey, we MUST trust that He has a plan and a purpose in it all.  I can remember when we were first learning about all the diagnoses and the plan for the transplant was beginning to take shape.  I remember one day vividly.  I was so conflicted about everything.  There is a higher risk with these types of transplants; more than with any other.  I walked out to the chicken coop with tears streaming down my face.  With each step I took, through gritted teeth, I said to God, “I WILL trust You, I WILL trust You, I WILL trust You.  It was as though I had to surrender my will to His that day.  It was just the beginning, but, there were many times I had to do that over and over again as the journey progressed.

But, here we are.  The light at the end of the tunnel is drawing closer.  Michael is getting better.  For a while it didn’t look like that was going to happen.  Even though it has been difficult, we can truthfully look back now with gratitude for all that God has done.  And, we celebrate Christmas with a new view now as well.  We have learned to trust God’s plan.

What we celebrate this time of year may be the beginning of a life, but, it’s not the beginning of God’s plan. His plan for our redemption was formed before the earth as we know it.  In fact, the Bible tells us it was formed before the foundations of the world.  So were we.  Isn’t that incredible?  God’s great gift, that of His Son coming to earth in human form was necessary.  So was His death.  As I know I have said in past newsletters, I can’t see the manger without the shadow of the cross looming over it.  Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God".  Not only that, the Bible teslls us that God has 'lavished' this gift upon us.  Have you ever stopped to consider the Gift in that context?  The dictionary defines the word 'lavish' as to bestow something in generous or extravagant quantities upon.

As we close this year, we encourage you dear ones, to consider this so-great-a Gift. Time is growing short until the Lord's return.  May we all make renew our efforts to share His gift with a lost and hurting world.

We wish you a blessed Christmas and joyous New Year!

As always, you are in our hearts, ever near and ever dear,
Michael and Jan

Christmas Greetings, 2013

At St. Michaelsberg, Bamberg, Germany, 2013

Christmas Newsyletter, 2013

Christmas Greetings to our Dear Family and Friends!

As always during our Christmas greeting, we hope all of you are well.    And, as seems to happen when I sit down to prepare my thoughts for sharing in our annual newsletter, I look back in amazement at how quickly the year has flown by.  I wonder, sometimes, if that’s part and parcel of the aging process; the time that seemed at to march on slowly now races by like an Olympic sprinter.  And, of course, once the years pass 60, one thing rings true, and that is that there is more time behind us than before us.  But, be that as it may…life is still good and God is better.

I do hope your year has gone well, dear friends, even if it hasn’t been a year you had hoped or planned for.  That’s another thing that seems to happen, isn’t it?  One of the things that God has shown me this year is that His plans are not always the ones I would have chosen; not always the ones I had hoped for; but, they are always divinely ordained, and when all else in life is uncertain, that is the one thing I can be certain of and for that, I am grateful.  No matter what you have been going through, and I know from many of you that you have gone through a lot,  you can know that if Jesus Christ is the Love and Lord of your life and rules your heart, then He also holds your life, your circumstances and all contained therein securely in the palm of His hand.    

So, on to how our year has been.  It’s been a good and busy year for us, as always.  There have been some challenges along the way, and, as I’m sure as it has been for you as well; things that went really well, some things that didn’t, and much in the way of change.  And, change is hard, isn’t it?  It requires us to leave our comfort zones and often be stretched and pulled.  But, in the end, even though we come out differently in various ways, the experience reminds us to be flexible and yielded to the Lord in all things; depending on Him to direct and lead, which is a good thing.

One of those things for us this year was the culmination of Michael’s decision to pass the ‘mantle of leadership’ of his business on to Jon.  So, at the end of April, Jon became the new business owner and Michael became his employee.  Basically, they switched positions. And, now that the transition is final and the dust has settled and we see life’s experiences through new eyes, it was a good decision.  Jon will take the business to a new level and I believe that will be a good thing.  It’s been a rather dramatic and major change for Michael, but it’s also been a good thing in many ways.  We are pleased to see how well Jon has done as he has faced many challenges of his own and as he has faced the multitudes of decisions and the demands of his time that accompany business ownership.  It’s been a learning experience for him, but, he has done very well with it and we know that he will continue to do so.

So, as you can imagine, going through all that pretty well encompassed the majority of our time during the first half of the year, and we were sure ready for a break when it was all completed!  It was a LOT of work and we were sure glad when it was over.  And, of course, being over wasn’t really over even when the sale was final.  There were myriad details that had to be worked through on a continual basis, although I can finally say six months later, that we seem to have nailed them all down. Whew! 

One other major change was my decision to retire from the business.  I originally planned to retire when the transfer of ownership was competed in April.  However, in discussions with Jon, it looked like he really needed me to stay involved longer, and I agreed to stay for another six months.  Well, as we were nearing the end of that time, it became clear that I needed to stay on until the end of the year.  And, now that we are almost at that point, it’s looking like I may need to stay on for a bit longer than that.  So, I can say that I plan to retire, but, I’m just not sure the actual date of my exit.  So much for a retirement party!  I will continue to be involved in the business as the Bookkeeper, but, the rest of my time will hopefully be freed up to do some of the things I’ve been wanting to have more time to do for years.   

And, lets’ see…there have been other new things in our lives as well.  One of the most fun ones for me is that, after asking Michael for 16 years, he finally acquiesced and we now have chickens again!  This is solely my project.  In the beginning I planned to only have maybe 6.  But, the more I looked into breeds available these days, the more excited I got and the next thing I knew, I had 15!  I have room for one more and plan to add one or maybe two more next year and that will be it.  The breeds are too many to take up room in this newsletter to list, but, suffice it to say that I have a great selection of egg colors and sizes.  My two blue/green layers will probably not be laying until Spring at this point, but the rest are.  I love ‘the girls’ and they are little pets to me; beautiful, and so much fun.  We got a really neat chicken house for them and Michael and Tim built me a great chicken yard.  I’m just loving having them and having eggs that are so yummy, and organic because that’s what I feed them.  And, I’m selling my extra eggs which helps cover the cost of the more expensive food.  Haven’t gotten to the point of being able to view them as meat chickens and don’t know if I ever will!

 

Chicken House and Yard

Another major change in my life was the weight loss I have been working on with the Lord’s help.  My goals was to lose 100 lbs. and I accomplished that towards the end of Fall.  And, that has been a very good thing.  It’s not without challenges of its own, but, necessary.  Through that process I discovered a wonderful book called “Made to Crave” written by Lysa Terkeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries and I recommend it very highly.  I have led two groups of ladies through the study and that was a true blessing.  

One of the most enjoyable things we did this year was return to Germany for the Christmas Markets.  We left the day before Thanksgiving and returned the first Saturday in December.  Our travels took us to Frankfurt, Munich, Bamberg (where Michael's mom is from) and Nuremberg as well as little places along the way.  We went to many Christmas markets, spent just about all day every day walking, visited many cathedrals and other sights, revisited old memories and made some wonderful new ones.  We ate well, did the majority of our Christmas shopping, and just had a wonderful time.  The weather was cold, but, very tolerable.  The people we met were wonderful.  Everything was so beautifully decorated and I came home with lots of ideas…lots of ideas and fabric! 

One thing I determined to do differently this time was to explore the world of quilting in Germany and I found a few quilting stores with good selections of fabric not American- made and that was fun.  Quilting is becoming more popular in Germany and the last store I found in Frankfurt was such a joy because the owner spoke English so well and we talked for quite awhile about quilting and crafting.  I came away with many ideas.  Her store was small and is in a shared space with their other business which is selling motorcycles and parts so, that was really different.  If you want to learn more about our trip and see the many photos I posted, just go to my Facebook page which is listed under Jan Rogers.

We have had many other fun experiences this year; time with family, trips to North Carolina to see Michael’s family and even a short, but wonderful and refreshing trip to Hemet, CA to see our dear friends, Layne and Kristy Livingston.  That trip was taken because of another change that happened in our family and that change involves our son, Tim.

Michael, Jan and Tim in Hemet, Aug., 2013

Earlier this year, Tim took a look at his life and circumstances and decided he needed to make some changes.  In order to do that, he determined his best opportunity would be to become involved with Liberty Ranch in Hemet, which is a wonderful men’s discipleship ministry.  Tim saw it as an opportunity to renew his relationship with the Lord and be in the midst of godly people who would love and care for him and help him achieve that goal.  So, last Spring, he moved out to California with an undetermined time goal and, while he was there, he did just as he has purposed to do.  My birthday present was a trip out to see him and our dear friends and what a great present it was!  We had a blast and it was great to see Tim.  After many months there, Tim decided to return to this area and has been staying with us temporarily while he makes other life decisions.  We are very proud of the man he has become and the courage he has shown to make these wonderful changes in his life.  Please pray for him as he seeks the Lord and His guidance and direction as to his future.

And, of course, our newsletter wouldn’t be complete without sharing how Jon and Kara and the Grandkiddlins are doing and they are doing really well.  Along with the new business ownership for Jon also came the joy and challenge of buying another home.  This one was a good and solid home, but a real ‘fixer-upper’.  They had it almost completely remodeled and moved in this Fall, and Kara did a great job selecting colors and textures.   The house is beautiful and sits on almost an acre with a huge yard and even a creek running through the yard.  It’s just the perfect house for them and is only about a 2 minute drive from the office.  It’s in the school district where the kids already go, so, it just worked out perfectly for them.  Now, if their old house would only sell!  That’s another prayer request.

Asher is now 8 and just as smart as a whip.  He’s a much focused, routine-based child and loves to read.  In fact, he won the prize for reading the most books of anyone in his school during the Fall Read-a-Thon.  Sensitive, articulate, cautious and very literal is our Asher; very much like his Dad was growing up.  Asher is going through many changes, but, I’ll wager a bet that the person he is now will be the person he will be as an adult.  He loves to construct things from legos and just about anything he can put together and is quite accomplished at it.  He has an almost unquenchable thirst for learning, just like Jon did, and loves math and science; really just about anything.  We took him to a regional university last month to see a planetarium show because he’s always been interested in space and he really enjoyed that.  I love having Asher around because he reminds me of the fun of learning and experimenting with new things.

 

Asher and Sadie after Sweet Potato Harvest in November, 2013

Sadie, now 6, has gone through the most changes of any of them in the past year.  She has blossomed into the sweetest, cuddliest darling little girl with huge blue eyes.  Sadie is so interesting:  she can be such a ‘girly girl’ but when she comes here, she’s all about the things that Grandma likes.  We go out into the garden because, like me, she loves to be outdoors, and looks for something to pick, dig up, etc., and never minds getting her hands dirty.   She loves the chickens and helping feed them and bring in the eggs.  In fact, she and Asher have each claimed one as their own, even giving them a name.   She has no qualms about picking up bugs, sea creatures or even reptiles.  I have the privilege of helping in her classroom and she is so obviously the teacher’s pet.  Smart, precocious, and outgoing, Sadie loves being on stage and I see performing in her future.  She’s growing in just about every learning area in leaps and bounds and every moment I spend with her is precious.

Elsie

Elsie turned 2 in October, and may end up being the smartest of all of them!  Even though her vocabulary is still growing, I have been amazed at her level of comprehension even for the last year or so.   She is a mixed bag of personality traits with none emerging dominantly that I can see yet.  She can be fearful, especially in new environments,  and then turn around and throw caution to the wind.  Elsie is even more of a ‘girly girl’ than Sadie.  She loves dolls and purses and all things feminine, and even loves to shop.  That, she gets from Kara!   She speaks in pretty complete sentences even when it can be a bit hard to understand her.  The one thing I see in Elsie is that she likes to be in control of her environment and when she is not, that insecurity is obvious.  She comes by that honestly from just about every adult she’s related to, so, it comes as no surprise.  Cute as a button, and lively as can be, she keeps Kara very busy.  She’s a true joy to be around and I so look forward to the time I get to spend with her.

Besides owning a business which takes up a lot of his time, Jon still manages to find time to play adult soccer and be involved in the worship ministry at the church.  Kara stays really busy taking care of all things on the home front as well as trying to get some time in to sew.  Since Elsie has a tendency to get into all sorts of things and a propensity for making important things disappear (some turn up later in trash cans), she is pretty labor-intensive.  And, their new house is much larger, so, staying on top of that is almost a full time job!  Despite doing all that, Kara somehow manages to find time to help Jon with some things related to the office and do all the fantastic baking she does.  Truly amazing!

Kara and one of her delicious goodies

Jon and Elsie at Funville

As you’ve already seen, Michael has had a busy year.  Now that he has the freedom from business ownership, he has a bit more time on his hands.  He plays bass for our church worship team, and still enjoys the outdoors and spending time with our dog, Polly, and the Grandkiddlins.  He loves going over to see his family, so, we try to get over there once a month, and when we do, we try to fit in a dinner at our favorite, national-prize-winning German restaurant, The Schnitzel Haus in Hickory, NC.  He so often comes in from outside with a handful of flowers he has picked from our garden or from the fields around us and is my biggest cheerleader in life.  You just have to love a man like that!

Michael, the love of my life

So, what am I doing?  Well, I still teach Sunday school, direct our church ESL program, am involved with our church and Gideons  local jail ministry,  and try to be involved in the choir when I have extra time which hasn’t been much lately.  Working at the office, taking care of the home, garden and animals proves to be much more than a couple of fulltime jobs and I don’t have much in the way of extra time.  But, I expect that to change next year when I finally do retire and I have many plans.  One of my plans is to have another bigger garden next year as I did this year.  With more time to manage it, it will be more productive and I plan to sell produce and eggs as well as homemade items at local Farmer’s Markets.  I also plan to start up an Etsy store and sell through a website the various hand crafted and quilted items I make.  I already have orders from people who are gracious to wait until I can get started for things like purses, wall hangings, breads, and even most recently, a Christmas tree skirt.  All that will take time to develop, but, I’m hoping to have that up and running by summer.  

Baked goods entered in County Fair

Easter Wall Hanging

One of the little custom bags I make

Fun little Valentine's Day Wall Hanging

Apples from our Winesap-First pick; one of many pickings!

Our garden did well this year.  Our apple trees produced like crazy; we got hundreds of pounds from each one of them and it seemed like all I did for a month was process apples!  I grew broom corn for crafts this year and am going to do that again next year, as well as expand to a beautiful form of Indian corn from a native  American Indian source I purchased seeds from this year.  Just for fun this year I entered a number of things both baked and grown, in our local County Fair and won a bunch of prizes which was rewarding. 

I also love to write and am considering seeing how I can develop and possibly market that next year.  I’m praying about a number of different things along those lines; everything from Bible Studies to devotionals and possibly even a fiction book.  We’ll see how the Lord leads and what doors He opens.

So, that’s been our year this year.  Other things we are simply putting out before the Lord.  I believe one of the most important things the Lord has challenged us with this year has been truth.  What truth?  Just this:  will you trust Me?  When circumstances seem bleak; when you are walking through the valleys instead of the mountain tops, will you still believe that I AM in control; that I AM on the throne; that I AM still worthy of your worship?  When life isn’t going the way you want it to go, will you still trust ME?  Isaiah 14:27 says, "For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?" And, Jeremiah 29:11-14  also encourages us:  “ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

What these verses tell me is that trusting God and His sovereign purpose for our lives requires action on our part.  It requires first faith and belief that God is who He says He is and that His promises are based on that fact and that fact alone.  Secondly, it requires a heart fully surrendered to Him.  That’s where the challenge is, isn’t it?  It’s not always easy to have an undivided heart.  Life is fraught with distractions; desires; situations where we would much rather be in control because we think God needs our help or we think we can do a better job.  Oh, how I wish I could consistently hold that message in my heart!  But, alas…no. In my humanness it isn’t always that way.  And, when it’s not, I feel further away from the Lord and God effects circumstances to pull me back into sync with His will for my life.  The passage in Jeremiah makes one thing very clear, though and that is that God will be found when and if we seek Him with all our heart.  And, when we do that, I love the further encouragement we get from Hebrews 4:16 which says, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Ahhhh.  That’s where the sigh of resting in Him begins.  Mercy and grace; help in time of need.  Isn’t that a basic requirement?  It sure is for me. 

So, precious ones; rest and trust.  Seek God with all your heart; a heart that is fully yielded to His divine will and purpose in your lives.  God doesn’t promise us, as that old song goes, “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden”.  He does promise that when we prick our finger on a thorn, He is right there, catching that drop of blood, purifying it and using it for His higher purposes.  I find great encouragement in that.  It’s what keeps me going, and my earnest prayer is that you know that truth; that knowing that truth has set you free; and that freedom is wherein lies your hope.

Please keep in touch.  We love to hear from you.  We wish you a wonderful 2014, and, until next year’s newsletter, as always, you are in our hearts, ever near and ever dear.

With love,

Michael and Jan