Where Has The Time Gone?

Wow! It's been a REALLY long time since I updated the blog. Time just simply got away from me with all that we've had happening and the blog had to be put on the back burner...again. Things should be slowing down now and hopefully I can do better about posting.

Here's a very brief rundown of what's been happening in our lives since the last post.

November: We prepared for the arrival of both Ava and the holidays. Addison turned 2 years old on the 27th which was a bittersweet event. It's so exciting to see her growing and becoming her own person more and more all the time. The tough part is watching her become increasingly independent.

Addison at her 2nd birthday party

December: We experienced a very exciting start to the month of December. As I'm sure everyone already knows by now, Ava Marie Rogers made her entrance into this world on December 5th. For the complete story as only a mommy can tell it click here.

There are two things I can tell you for sure after seeing Ava born. First, watching your second child be born is just as amazing and overwhelming as watching the first one. Second, my wife is the most amazing woman in the world and I'm so blessed that God joined us together.

Ava is doing absolutely wonderful and we are so blessed that God has given her to us. Here are a couple of random facts that we learned about Ava very quickly:

- Ava is definitely her own person and definitely has her own personality. It's amazing how different two little girls can be.
- Much like her mommy and daddy, patience is not one of her virtues...especially when it's time to eat.
- She LOVES to eat!!! She's been a "Piney pig" from day one.

Introducing Ava Marie Rogers

After Ava's arrival our time was dedicated to adjusting to life with two precious daughters and preparing for Christmas. Christmas was absolutely WONDERFUL!!! Nothing could compare to the enjoyment of watching Addison tear into her gifts. The only thing better will be when she and Ava both are able to enjoy Christmas like that.

Addison on Christmas morning

January: By now the hustle and bustle of the holidays have come and gone and we're finally starting to settle into a little bit more of a routine. So far this month has been pretty uneventful. We are looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for the months ahead!

Mommy & Ava (approx. 6 weeks old)

Addison's hiding spot for hide & seek

In short, God has continually been better to me and to our family than we could ever deserve. Our church is still doing fantastic and we are anxiously expecting to see many souls saved in the near future. To Christ alone be all glory and honor!

Now that I've gotten everything caught up in this post maybe I can get back on track.

"I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth." -- Psalm 34:1

The Blog May Be Moving

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm currently exploring the possibility of moving the blog to a different blogging service. The new service may actually allow me upload podcasts of our church services. I'm still researching and experimenting with the possibility at this point but if it works then the change will definitely be worth it so we can get the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ out to as many folks as possible.

Exciting Church News

This past Sunday morning God saved another precious soul at our church!!! It was a young lady who had been coming with one of the families in our church for some time. Blythe had been under conviction for some time it seemed and finally Sunday morning she surrendered and gave her heart to Jesus Christ and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

Please continue to pray for the other at our church that have not yet accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm very ashamed that it's taken me this long to post this but it's been a very busy week, as usual.

All glory, honor, and praise to the Lamb of God!!!!

Verse Of The Week

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” — Romans 8:28

We found out yesterday at our regular baby dr. appointment that Teresa failed her sugar test. That means she’s got gestational diabetes. So, tomorrow we’ll be going to see the high risk doctor’s nurse practitioner / nutritionist. She will most likely be required to check her blood sugar 4 times per day and will probably be on a pretty restricted diet. While this is definitely not great news, things could still be MUCH worse. At least this is an issue that is very manageable and if handled appropriately shouldn't result in any long term effects and it shouldn't be too detrimental to the baby. As I was thinking about this new development, I couldn't help but rejoice that this is just a part of the wonderful and perfect plan of God for our family. What an wonderful comfort it is to know that in every situation God is at work in our live. We still desire and appreciate your prayers, but together we thank God and praise Him for His power and His plan!!

Have You Ever Been Considered? - Men's Meeting Update

Last night we had our regular monthly men's meeting at the church and, as always, what a blessing it was. For those who don't know, on the last Thursday of every month the men of our church and any other men who would like to join us gather at the church and have a worship service. The service always begins with a time of praying together at the altar. Then we have preaching or teaching.

Last night, brother Keith Copeland from Pine Ridge Baptist Church taught on the thought of "Have You Ever Been Considered?". Through the lesson God sent a wonderful reminder that sometimes the family of God goes through trials simply because we are being considered. Not all bad things happen because of chastening but sometimes things happen just so God can be glorified and seen in our lives in a greater way and that we may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every Christian who's ever been through a trial should definitely hear this lesson sent from the Lord. Thanks to the Lord enabling us to record our services we were able to record the lesson. What a blessing from the Lord!!

"And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" -- Job 1:8

Verse Of The Week - One Of My Faves

"And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" -- Nehemiah 6:3

As anyone who knows me very well at all already knows, Nehemiah is one of my absolute favorite books of the Bible. In this portion of Scripture, Nehemiah and the people of God have begun the work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem when the enemy comes and tries to hinder the work. Rather than yielding to the enemy and allowing the work to stop, Nehemiah determined to press on and not stop for anything because he realized how important that the work really was. Any time we labor in the service of the Lord the enemy will try to halt our progress. Let me encourage the family of faith to press along just as Nehemiah did. The work is far too important and far too great for us to allow anything to prevent us from finishing the course the Lord has set for us. In the words of the old hymn, "press along, weary pilgrim, press on."

Exciting Church News

I am so excited to announce that as of last Wednesday night we are now recording our worship services. The Lord wonderfully blessed our church with a great opportunity and the means to purchase all we need to begin this wonderful outreach. Now we can share the Gospel with those who are shut in or unable to attend regular service or folks that have a church home but would like to have a copy of our services as well. We thank God for this amazing opportunity to share His Word with more folks. If anyone would like a copy of any service, please feel free to contact me and we will be more than happy to fulfill that request. Please pray God would use this to reach more people with the Gospel of His Son. All glory and honor are His!!!