Rogers Family News
Christmas, 2012
Greetings to all our dear Family and Friends!
Well, another year has almost come and gone. Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday that I was
typing up last year’s newsletter! As we
greet you in the name of the Lord, it is our hope and prayer that you are well.
How has your year been? We earnestly hope that it has been a good year, and that you are in good health. Our year has probably been much like yours; life just ‘happens’! But, through it all, the Lord protects, grows, disciplines and provides, and we have experienced all of those things this year as I imagine you have as well.
One constant in this year has been that our whole immediate family still lives in Greeneville. Michael's parents and sister are still doing well and living in the Winston-Salem, NC area. We have made many visits over to see them and they have made some visits here as well. We also had the fun of going back to Hilton Head again this summer with Jon, Kara and the Grandkids. This year, we rented bicycles and rode around which we could finally do because the kids were old enough. We also took Asher and Sadie on a pirate ship adventure out on the sound and all had a ball. It was a fun trip. No trips overseas this year, but, we are planning to go back to Germany next year.
Jon and Kara, both 31 now, have been busy with their many family activities and involvements. Jon is active with the Praise and Worship ministry at church, plays soccer, and I’m not even sure what all else, but, he is always busy. Kara is plenty busy keeping up with house and home and all the kids’ different activities. Despite that, she continues to do well with her online sewing business, sew.hip.mama. She makes many smaller things for little ones like darling hair clippies, but, also makes purses and other accessories, putting her art background and talent to good use.
Elsie, their youngest, turned a year old in October. She is walking up a storm with a little
personality all her own, different from her older siblings. She loves all things doll and stuffed and
keeps Kara running. She is quite
inquisitive and loves to walk around seeing and learning new things. When she smiles, she smiles with her whole
face and is so much fun to be around.
Sadie, now the middle child, turned 5 in March. Sadie is unique. She can be the most feminine little girl one
moment, and in the next sink her fingers into things that would make other
little girls run from! She is beginning
to look a lot like Jon and I think she has a lot of his personality. She is outgoing and personable, and quite self-confident. She’s still a ham and loves to be on
stage. The other day I was at her school
checking in and the ladies in the office were telling me how she brought a boy
from her class who wasn’t feeling well down to see the nurse. She mothered him and proceeded to tell the
nurse all about his symptoms and how he had been feeling sick the night
before. Then, as she was leaving, she
asked them “wasn’t I brave to bring him down here all by myself?” Apparently, this had happened just before I
arrived and they were still talking about it.
The photo below was taken at the local Kids Fishing Day
last Spring. It’s a fun activity up on
Viking Mountain and both the kids had a really good time, as did we. Dressed all in pink, Sadie ran from person
to person, dancing excitedly whenever she got to handle the fish which even the
boys her age (and some older) wouldn’t do.
She’s a tough little girl in
some ways, with hardly and ounce of fear and a really off-the-wall sense of
humor. To read more stories about Sadie,
go to my Facebook page, because I have lots of stories about the kids there in
some of my posts earlier this year. She reminds me a lot of Jon at that age.
Asher, the oldest, turned 7 this year. Precocious, cautious and an analytical
thinker who likes to be in charge and who doesn’t adapt to change really well,
he has parts of both his parent’s personalities. I can see some of both of his Grandfathers in
him, too. Asher is extremely bright. In second grade, the last I saw, I think he
was reading at 5th-7thth grade level with comparable
comprehension. I have the blessing of
helping in his classroom again this year, and most frequently, I help with what
they call ‘directed reading’. It amazes
me how more quickly his brain processes information and how advanced his skills are. I
usually stay and eat lunch with him after helping in his classroom, and one day
earlier this year, I was at the lunch table with some of his classmates who are
probably his best school friends. Asher
got up from the table in search of a spoon, and one of the boys said “Asher is
the BEST kid in the whole class!” a statement with which most of the other kids
at the table agreed. I later told him he
had a fan club and he looked me and said “Oh, Grandma, c’mon!” He’s a lot of fun to be around and when he’s
here I try to rattle his world a little because I think it’s good for him. He usually goes along with me pretty well. He’s a whiz at computer games, loves Angry
Birds, and loves to read and write. In
that way, he reminds me of myself at his age, where I could most often be found
sitting upside down in Dad’s red leather easy chair with my nose in a book.
Last May, Jon and Kara had a wonderful opportunity to go
to Sweden for an international Dental Implant Conference which Jon had the
distinction and honor of being selected for with all expenses paid. They went and had a blast, and, while we were
gone, we had the kids most of the week and had a blast of our own. It was pure joy and I don’t know when I’ve
had so much fun. It’s nice to have them
close by.
And, speaking of close by, Tim, 28, is still living here
in Greeneville, and still playing in a band.
He is working at Applebee’s now, serving, and still hoping to get more
involved in the restaurant business. He’s
busy with life and we don’t see him too often, but, he does stay in touch. At the present time, he doesn’t have a
girlfriend, but, that never seems to go for too long!
Michael is still practicing, and still loves
dentistry. Lately, he has felt his heart
being called more and more towards dental missions, so, we will see where the
Lord has in mind for him to go. I have
been learning a bit about dental assisting, and have assisted him a little bit
after hours with patients. It’s my hope to study more of this in the coming year so that I can be prepared to go with
and assist him on mission trips in the future.
He still loves to hike and be outdoors, accompanied by our dog,
Polly. Polly is a chocolate lab mix who loves to hike and swim, so, she’s a lot of fun to take along. He is playing bass guitar now on a rotating
basis on our church Praise Team and really enjoying it.
And, lastly, I manage to keep busy. I took on a couple of new responsibilities
this year: first, I was asked to take
over as Director over our church ESL program.
I have really enjoyed becoming involved in this outreach, and lead the
beginning class. Right now, we have
students from 6 different countries. It has been a learning experience for me
because I have never done this before, and I continue to research and grow in
my teaching skills.
Second, I am facilitating a new Bible Study which really
is probably the area of most growth in my life in the last couple of months. Around mid-October, I had a little scare with
high blood pressure. I had let my weight
get rather out of control, and was paying the consequence. I know what God had been trying to tell me
for several years, but, I had been ignoring Him. Well, there was no ignoring him now. His message was unmistakeable: get healthy.
If you can’t do it for yourself, do it out of obedience to ME. Knowing I could no longer ignore Him or my health, I began
my journey to health, and as of today, it has been 2 months and I’ve lost 32.5
lbs. and my blood pressure has gone way down to lower than it’s been for
years. I am also exercising at least 4
days a week. The third new thing I have
done this year enabled me to hire a Personal Trainer who comes to my house to
help me with an exercise routine twice a week and that has been an incredible
motivator for me. She’s really good and
keeps me working hard at a level I never thought I could do. Exercise has never been my favorite thing to
do, so, help and encouragement was necessary for me to be successful.
That third area was totally new for me and that was that
I began selling Mary Kay cosmetics about 6 months ago. I never in a million years would have
pictured myself doing that, but, do it I did.
I can’t say that my business has boomed.
I’ve been busy and it’s hard for me to find the extra time. However, I am doing it. So, if you ever need anything Mary Kay, no
matter where you are, you can order off my Mary Kay website by going to www.marykay.com/jrogers92330, or just give me a call at (423)552-3622. I have used Mary Kay products since 1976 and
have a lot of confidence in them, so, it seemed like a good fit.
I still have the blessing of teaching a Precept
Ministries Sunday School class. We are
now doing Covenants and it has been a real privilege to have such a great class
all of whom are so serious about studying the Bible and learning and growing in
God’s truths.
The other new study I’ve been involved in which has
helped me tremendously in my health journey, and which I would recommend VERY
highly to anyone who wishes to do the same is the Made to Crave study written
by Lysa Terkheurst of Proverbs 31 ministries.
It is an incredible study. She
could have been inside my head! One
thing I realized when I began this journey is that I needed to figure out and
understand why I overeat in order to overcome the same. Well, I am learning exactly that and I can’t
tell you what a difference it has made in my life! I feel better and healthier than I have in
years. Our church opened this study up
to our community and we meet one night a week with ladies from several
different churches, all of whom are serious about getting on a journey to
health. I have truly enjoyed the study
and the fellowship and so appreciate the support from our church in this
effort.
Through Made to Crave, the Lord has taught me so much
about Him and about me, and our relationship.
One thing that He has impressed on my heart more than anything else this
year is the need for obedience. It’s
true that our salvation is a free and unearned grace-gift from God. No doubt about that in His Word
whatsoever. At the same time, there is
obedience. Jesus tells us very clearly
that He will abide in us IF we abide in Him.
In fact, John 15:1-8 makes that concept of abiding crystal clear: if we are truly His branch; we will abide in
Him. If we don’t, we aren’t. I love the way Kay Arthur from Precept
Ministries succinctly puts it:
continuance in the faith is evidence of salvation. Yes, it’s a gift. But the gift is received and used through an
act of obedience, and obedience should be the natural response to the gift. Obedience, no matter what the circumstances,
requires sacrifice and death to ourselves and our own desires. The wonderful thing is knowing that God gave
us those desires; those cravings. It’s
what we choose to fill them with that matters, and what He wants us to fill
them with is more of Him. That has been
an important part of understanding myself, and an important part of the success
of my health journey. It isn’t easy,
but, then, obedience rarely is, isn’t it?
One other ministry I am involved in which has been both
eye opening and an incredible blessing is our church’s and the Gideon’s’ local
jail ministries. I go with a group and
share my testimony and often play and sing.
Last week, I went with the Gideons group and shared my testimony and led
the group in some Christmas carols. It
was one of the pods of men this time, and as I shared with them and encouraged
them, I also challenged them that they were going to be faced with choices
after they got out and what were they going to choose? Most of them had grown up in church as kids,
but, had made wrong choices as adults. I
know all about that. I spoke to them
about obedience and the richness of God’s reward for us when we were, and the
consequences they were all-too-familiar with if we aren’t. It's always a matter of prayer when we go to the jail; praying that the Lord will give us the right words to speak and that His word won't return void and that a difference will be made in the lives of the men and women we reach out to.
So, dears, I think that’s about all that’s new in our
lives. Next year will be an interesting year for us. There will be new joys and challenges as we grow older and our lives change. However, we
know God will be walking with us every step of the way. We do hope that is the strength you rely on
as well. Often times in life, we cannot
move forward outside of our total dependence upon God. I will have a lot more to share in next year’s
Christmas newsletter about that!
We sincerely wish all of you and all of those who are
dear to you a joyous, blessed Christmas and the best New Year ever. If we don’t have your email address or
Facebook contact, you can find us at: mikeandjan4him@gmail.com, or on
Facebook under Jan Rogers. You can also
follow me on my blog:
tnrogersfamilynews.blogspot.com.
Don’t have time to update it as much as I’d like, but, I try to from
time-to-time.
As always, you are in our hearts, ever near and ever
dear.
With much love,
Michael and Jan
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