God's Spring Production

A shy redbud tree in our yard. 

   "Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord the glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth!"

-Psalm 96:6-9 

      Spring has arrived here in Kentucky! It’s like it happened overnight. God has set the stage, written the lines and cast all the parts perfectly for a grand performance of His beauty.  
    He's used brighter hues to paint the backdrop of the sky than when Winter was here. Bold blues, bright pinks, oranges and purples are all used morning, afternoon and night to display His handiwork. The clouds are bigger, whiter and softer looking. It’s as if He’s washed them all out so that while His Spring production is playing they will only enhance it and not distract from the overall performance.

    God has dusted trees with delicate red blooms that are some of the first to appear onstage before Spring’s performance officially begins. They line the roads and peek out from the brown, barren curtains of the forests. They are nervous and shy like expectant little children at a school play. But so far, despite their apprehensiveness, His little Spring fore-runners have been playing their part beautifully.

Spring greens in the fields and redbuds lining the road.....lovely. 

    If you look around you’ll see God has also caused the pear trees to release their long-asleep white blossoms. They’ve exploded so vividly that it looks as if He’s brought the fluffy clouds to nest among the naked branches. And the part they’ve played has been a grand one, they confidently display their colors and boldly announce that our God has once again written a masterpiece called Spring. They are only playing their part to remind us of His beauty.

    Flowers, though little in stature, have no small part to play in this production. They adorn their delicate, colorful clothes and recite their lines with boldness. Their time onstage can be short but it is one well remembered. The way they annunciate their script causes us to sit back in wonder at the intelligence and beauty of such a Playwright as our God.

    The wind hasn’t been left out either. Her Creator has carefully written her a new song, not the strong cold one of Winter, but a soft warm tune to awaken the world again. He’s rehearsed her gentle dance with her until she can display it herself in graceful, delicate movements. She twirls among the treetops and lands in clouds. She spins in the new grass and lifts her hands to caress the blossoms on the bare branches, singing to them and reassuring them of the part they have to play. She too, is only dancing and singing to remind us of our beautiful Maker.

    More music is added by the chorus of birds that sing throughout the performance. Each kind has it’s unique set of notes taught to it by God. Their song is a cheerful and grateful one, as they are thankful to be included in this play that is actually a tribute to their Creator.

    The hills of bare forests hear the song and remember the part God gave them to play. Slowly but surely, God dresses each one for the performance. Starting at their feet, He exchanges their brown branches for clothes of bright green baby leaves. They adorn the trees at the base and the color moves from tree to tree up the hills as Spring continues. Soon they are lifting their hands in applause to Jesus, to God, who has written the script for one of the most beautiful performances ever witnessed.

    

View from our front porch. Isn't it spectacular?! What a blessing from Jesus :) 

    So what is your part? Where do you come into the performance? Have you spent time with the Director learning your lines?

    I pray that I don’t try to steal the show, or become a reluctant performer. May I be like all of creation and play my part to my utmost because I am doing it all to bring honor and glory to my God.     

Of Weddings, Reunions and Australians

    We had the opportunity to travel to Ohio this past weekend to celebrate the wedding of one of my good friends, Anna. Her and I traveled together in Life Action and we also got to meet up with other LA friends on this trip! We left our house Friday around 11:30pm and arrived at our destination Saturday around 4:30am.

    To sum it all up, the trip was amazing. We had perfect weather, we got to see friends that we haven’t seen in years and to top it all off our host mom, Diane, was from Australia! If you know us, you know that our dream trip is to one day go to Australia. I’m sure we looked like complete nerds expressing our fascination with Diane’s home continent, but she was very gracious. I just love Australian accents, I could have probably fallen asleep listening to her read the phone book. Anna, because she is amazing, had arranged for Jonathan and I to stay in a host home instead of a hotel. I was worried that it might be a bit awkward, not knowing them and all, but it wasn’t. They were very hospitable and relaxed.

    After sleeping for a few hours at our host home it was time to get ready for the ceremony which started around 1:00pm on Saturday. Because our host dad had left early we ended up driving our host mom with us to the church. Which was fine with us, more time to listen to that fabulous accent! ;) The church was close and we arrived in no time. En route, Kellie texted me and told me that when we get there she would take me downstairs to see the bride who, in her words, was “AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL!”.

    Jonathan dropped me and our host mom off at the door and I walked in trying to find Kellie’s amongst all the unfamiliar faces. And then she appeared smiling that gorgeous Kellie smile and we hugged. I hadn’t seen her in over 3 years and it was so very good to see her again! Being well acquainted with long-distance friendships has made friend and family reunions one of my favorite things.

    Kellie took me downstairs and I finally got to see the bride! Kellie wasn’t lying about the way Anna looked. She was stunning. The dress was perfect for her, all ivory and with just the right amount of detail. Her hair was in soft curls framing her face and she looked natural and beautiful as a bride. 

    I also got to see Crystal and Jordan and their adorable, two year old son Evan. We all had a few moments in the dressing room with Anna ‘oohing and aaahing’ over her dress and rubbing Crystal’s pregnant tummy ;) Then it was back upstairs to wait for the ceremony to begin. I found Jonathan upstairs and eventually we were escorted to our seat by one of Anna’s younger brothers. And there we sat and waited for it all to get started.

    I wish I had taken more pictures to share on here but I wanted to enjoy this wedding and not be worried about getting a good shot the whole time. Besides, if you really want to see amazing pictures just get on Facebook and check out Amanda Weis Photography. They did a superb job with the photography.

The ceremony site was decorated simply but beautifully. Lots of tulle and candlelight. It all seemed to reflect Anna’s personality. She’s your sweet, servant-hearted with a dry-humor-sarcastic side, kind of girl. Knowing her over the years had definitely been a privilege.

    Weddings are so special and I love seeing them done the right way. It definitely brought tears to my eyes to see Anna walking down the aisle so graceful and beautiful and so ready to become Stephen’s wife. And it didn’t help that when I looked onstage at Kellie she was tearing up too! All in all,  the ceremony was perfect. I love how they included both sides of the family and especially brought honor to Jesus Christ through it all.

    Then it was on to the reception. I didn’t know you could make a gym look so lovely. More tulle and twinkle lights and flowers! Once again, simply and gracefully done.

     We loved relaxing at the reception. Catching up with Jordan and Crystal, Nathan and Amanda, and Kellie and Anna was so good! I sure hope it’s not that long before we see them all again. Soon it was all over and time to crash. As much as I love dressing up I was ready to put a t-shirt and jeans back on. We ended the day by watching a basketball game with our host parents back at their house.

    One of the highlights of the trip for me was getting to go with Kellie to Starbucks the following morning on our way home. She lives on the other side of the country so visits with her are pretty scarce. We sat at the coffee shop and talked like no time had past since seeing each other everyday when we were Base Camp teachers together. I love (even crave at times) good, Christ-honoring fellowship. It’s so rare and talking with Kellie was a refresher for my soul. And through the whole thing, Jonathan just sat there patiently listening to all the laughter and girl chatter. I love that man! After dropping Kellie off and saying our good-byes it was time to head home to ol’ Kentucky. We were ready to see some hills again. Ohio is beautiful but a bit flat for us ;)

    I thoroughly enjoyed myself on this trip and thank God for all the safety we had driving back and forth. We are blessed to know such amazing people and so happy we got to share in Anna and Stephen's big day! 

Truth found in Chaos

    We all loaded up in our van and headed for the communities affected by the recent tornadoes. I say 'affected', but it's more like ravaged. It's the second time in a little less than a year that I've seen what a tornado can accomplish in a matter of seconds. We drove around in astonishment looking at these used to be homes. There are no words at times. We just stared with round eyes and opened mouths. 

I believe this is looking up someone's driveway, where their home used to be. Where their life used to be.  

     The pictures don't really do it justice. It literally looks as if someone stuffed everyone's belongings into a giant blender and then took the debris and blasted it with a cannon through the trees. There's roof tin intertwined in tree tops, insulation plastered in fences and all over the ground. Toys, clothes, pictures, memories. All mixed up and torn up and mostly you can't even tell what any of the rubble used to be because it's all been shredded beyond recognition. 

    We drive to several homes, ask the people there if we can help in anyway, but everyone so far says come back later. I can understand. It's a cold, wet day. The kind that no one really wants to be out in. Probably everyone is taking a break from the clean-up.

  But how can you 'take a break' when you're living in the basement of your house because the rest of it's gone, and all you have for a roof is a blue tarp?

    It is a dismal day. The rain falls in sheets and the wind whips about as if it's trying to push everyone away because it's ashamed for anyone to see the devastation it caused earlier. 

    Finally, we come to a house where they can use our help. We climb out of the van and immediately step into an inch of thick mud. My first thought is how dirty we're all going to get. There's no avoiding it. And there's no use complaining about the cold, and the wet and the brown slime covering our feet. 

How can I even think about complaining? We all have a warm home and hot shower to go back to, these people don't:

    

The blue tarp is covering this house's foundation. It's all that was salvageable after the tornado. 

    Someone hands me a push broom and I start pushing. I'm not sweeping off the porch after a party here, I'm pushing buckets of mud off of their driveway and out of their now wall-less garage. Gallons and gallons of mud.
    The guys grab a wheelbarrow and start shoveling it full. Along with the mud there's baby toys, key rings, bricks, insulation, glass, all mixed together in a sloppy, dirty soup. And the rain just keeps pouring down while I try to find meaning in it all.
    If you're a writer (or blogger) like me, sometimes you take the observatory approach to these kinds of situations. You try to notice and remember as much as you can so you can write about it later. And while I'm pushing and pushing the mud away, I'm doing just that. But nothing is coming to me in the form of an idea for a future blog post. So I just keep pushing this slop around and waiting. It's not until we're about to leave that God speaks to me through the rubble.
    I married into a family of mostly boys. Boys like cars. This is new to me (coming from a family with only two boys and six girls.). It amazes me that we drive down the highway and I can ask Jonathan what virtually any car is and he can tell me the name, year and who the maker of the car is. It's very rare that he isn't able to identify a one. It's a trait that he shares with his dad and all his brothers. They know cars. They notice cars. Even here, even amidst the turmoil and wreckage of a tornado's wrath. Jordan (Jonathan's younger brother) spots something about 200 feet from the home. A car, and Jonathan identifies it as a 1967 mustang.

 Jonathan, Tamara and Jordan are in the left corner by the tree with the tin in it, wearing blue. That's where the car was.

    They walk down to see the car and I stand on the back steps of this used to be home and take it all in. I see the once beautiful hills and think about what a lovely view this family must have had, but not anymore. Now the trees are ripped apart, now their life is strewn about in the tattered forest, their life work washed in mud. It's overwhelming really, to see so many personal things just thrown about for the world to see. 

    After they get back, Jordan makes a comment. "So much work put into that car, so much money, and now it's just...." He doesn't finish his sentence, he just shrugs his shoulders. But I know what the last word of his sentence would have been: gone.....GONE. 

    Jordan knows how much money, time and effort goes into restoring old cars. Their family has taken on several of them as projects over the years. So he understands what it means to see that old mustang (which had been restored or kept in good condition) all smashed, shattered and buried at the bottom of the trees. It makes him shake his head and it makes me sad. And the more I think about it, God starts speaking to me. 

    I don't want to put all my time and effort into something that, in the end, is going to end up as rubble. Or can, in a matter of seconds, be ripped away from me. Why not use my life to invest in things that nothing on this earth can destroy and that will be eternal? 

    God says that all of our works will be tested by fire. He says that fire will reveal what sort of work each one has done. 

'each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.' 

1 Corinthians 1:13

    
     I don't want what I've done with my life to be burned up like 'wood, hay and stubble'. I want it to last and mean something. And the truth is only what's done for and through Jesus will last eternally. So I pray that I learn the lesson that I believe God taught me out there amongst all the tornado damage. Here it is:

    Don't waste time investing in and clinging to earthly things. It can be destroyed in a second. Don't place all of your value and worth in things of this world. That includes relationships, an area that I struggle putting way too much value in. Yes, God wants us to invest in people, by pointing them to Him. And yes, we can benefit by having healthy, Godly relationships with people. But humans and material things were never meant to be worshipped, which is something I tend to do by the way I cling to them. I need Jesus. He is what will satisfy me and He is the Eternal One. And if what I do and what I have is centered in Christ than that can never be taken from me. 

'for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.'

1 Peter 1:24-25

    

    Lord, please help me to live in an eternal mindset. Help me to be focused and driven by a love for You. And give me the grace to do all things for Your glory. 

Jonathan and Jordan walking down the hill. 

Please keep all these tornado victims in your prayers. Pray that God will use the situation to bring them closer to Him. 

Just so you know.....

    To put it simply: I love to write. My words just needed a place to call home….thus the blog. 

    This is where I’ll be sharing my thoughts, updates on us Rodgers, and what God is doing in our life. By God’s grace, I’m going to strive for honesty and sincerity in everything I post. Without transparency everything just becomes a grand show and who wants that? I’m more for the real-deal-nitty-gritty stuff myself. 

    Please don’t read this looking for perfection (grammatically or otherwise), cause you won’t find it. I’m just a sinner sought out by God and named His in Christ Jesus. I'm so excited to start this blog and share life together. All glory to Jesus!

     Hopefully more posts to come soon!