Rouse's in Haiti

my friends KC

Quite a bit has been happening since I last posted.  God has been up to what He is always up to, changing lives and shaping them more into His image.  I'm so thankful that God doesn't allow us to just sit and remain comfortable in our current environments.  What tends to happen in my life is I get used to the routine and I start relying on my own strength and very seldom find myself completely dependent on God.  That past 7 months or so God has shaken me and brought me to a place that I need Him more than ever in my life.

Last November a team of 4 people went down to Cabaret Haiti to an orphanage that our association runs.  We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving while we were down there which was pretty funny because it is obviously an American holiday but we celebrated anyways.  We briefly taught the kids the meaning of the holiday and even went to the market, purchased 4 live turkeys which we killed, plucked, and fried like any good baptist would do.  I feel in love with Haiti that week and God reminded me of lots of conversations that my wife and I have had over the years about becoming missionaries.  I also was reminded of Stacie's dream of one day running an orphanage.  When I came home I didn't really talk about this to anyone though.  My life was going so good, I now had a little girl (Piper), ministry was going well, we were seeing real heart change take place in youth so I just sat on those thoughts.  January rolled around and God blessed us with another opportunity to adopt. This time a little boy (Hayden).  It's one thing to dream about being on the mission field when it's just you and your wife but when kids come into the picture its a different story.  It was sometime around the time of Hayden being placed with us that my pastor came to me and asked me a questions that I wasn't expecting.  He said "you feel called to Haiti don't you?"  "Um.....maybe" (knowing that the answer was YES!!!) that began a conversation that hasn't ended yet.  We began to talk about how our church FBC Orange Park could be the sending church of my family to Haiti to do the work God has called us to do.  First step though was to take a trip with Stacie to Haiti.  In March my church allowed and paid for us to go to Haiti for a few days to pray and talk with the missionaries that are currently working at the orphanage and doing a wonderful job.  We quickly realized that by us being there right now wouldn't help things all that much.  Instead God revealed that there is a story in Haiti that isn't being told very well in Jacksonville.  I believe that is my job, to tell the story.  Our goal is to be in Haiti soon, and I still feel like we will be there in a little over a year or so but there is a lot of work to be done right here in Jax.  Here's the amazing part.  God has called us to Haiti, but might be calling our church into this story also.  Our church is praying over the possibility of sponsoring my family for 3 years while we begin this new ministry.  That means FBC Orange Park is potentially going to pay my salary but I'm not going to be an "employee" of their church.  I will remain a member of FBCOP but I will be employed by the Jacksonville Baptist Association.  All this has been presented in different formats to my church family but no votes have happened yet.
I do have some personal request of you as you read this.  I beg for your prayers for me and my family.  At first the strongest feeling I had was guilt when I thought about taking my children to Haiti.  I felt guilty because I would be taking them away from their grandparents.  I felt guilty because I would be taking them away from the comforts of America. Guilty because that is what the enemy wanted me to feel.  Please pray for confidence that God is going to provide all the we NEED.  Pray for mine and Stacie's parents as they deal with the stress of knowing we are moving to a third world country.  Pray for Hayden's grandparents (the Spanglers) as they trust God and us to raise their grandson in a place they weren't expecting us to raise him.  Pray for our church family as we transition from a church framework to a kingdom framework. And pray for Cabaret Haiti.  Pray for the precious kids that we will get to invest in.  Pray for salvation to come.  For a mighty movement of God to shake the ground much different than it was shaken a couple years ago.

I'll be keeping you all updated on what is happening in our family and with Haiti. In the mean time please pray.


The Rouse Family

The Rouse Family Keeps Growing

I figured it was time for a family update blog since so much has changed since my last update. Many have read about our journey to adopt our daughter Piper if you haven't, here's a link about that story: Piper's Adoption Story. Our adoption was finalized on December 13th in the judges chambers in Polk County. It was a beautiful day spent with family. Piper's "tummy mommy" was there with us for the process. The judge said it was the first time he had seen the birth mom involved in the finalization procedure. The court system solidified what had already happened in our hearts and Piper legally became a Rouse. About a month after that date we got a very surprising phone call from our case worker with Piper's adoption. Stacie got the call asking if we would consider adopting a little 18 month old boy. We had really just hit our stride as a family and to be honest weren't really looking to adopt again for a while. We got some of the details and started praying for wisdom. The first person I talked to about this was my boss/pastor David Tarkington. After talking for awhile he asked a question that made clear what we were to do. He said in the middle of the night when you have two crying babies instead of one, and two dirty diapers to change will it be worth it? I quickly said well that's easy, of course! He then looked at me and said "well I think you have your answer then".

Over the next few days we found out more details surrounding this little boy. His mother's rights had already been terminated and he was being raised by his grandparents. To make this post shorter I'll save some of the details but basically his grandparents were praying for a christian couple that would be open to them being involved in his life and still have the role as "grandparents". Even though he was being placed by the state they had relationships with people at the Baptist Children's Home and asked them if they knew somebody that might fit this mold. Our case worker knew our relationship with Piper's birth mom was really open so she thought we would make a great fit. Our names were submitted to the state for consideration and just 2 weeks after we got the first phone call we were chosen to be Hayden's parents! We had to quickly learn the legalities of a state or adoption out of the foster system. We also had to learn to be the parents of two children only 8 months apart both under the age of 2 years. Not only had we gained a son but we became a part of the Spangler's family or they became a part of the Rouse family or maybe both, not really sure how that works lol. God has been so gracious and we love Hayden and his grandparents Victor and Ronni Spangler. Hayden was placed temporarily with us back in February but couldn't be place permanently until some legal stuff cleared. So Hayden was with us for a couple days then would have to go back to his grandparents house for the night then he would come right back to us. We feared this would be confusing for little Hayden but he was a champ and adjusted so well. He since then has been placed permanently with us and now we have a 90 day waiting period before we have a court date to make him legally a Rouse.

I can not even begin to say how blessed we are. God's sovereignty has been so evident and we are constantly in awe of how good our God is. Hayden is such a funny boy. He likes to dance, read books, watch Micky Mouse clubhouse, swim in our kiddie pool, snuggle, and go to the park. It took him a little while to warm up to Piper but now is very affectionate towards her. He gives her hugs and kisses with being prompted and whenever we go somewhere he quickly reminds us to not forget Piper. As I mentioned above His grandparents Victor and Ronni have been incredible and have made this transition go so smooth. We look forward to our families growing closer together.

So not much longer than a year ago we were a family of two and now we are a family of 4 and loving every second of it.

Foolish Pursuits

There has been much written recently about the pursuit of the American dream clashing with the pursuit of the cross. Men such as David Platt and Matt Chandler and many others have spoken extensively on this subject and I agree fully with them on the topic. Basically the message is that the American Dream is that we work hard at promoting ourselves and making something of ourselves, but the message of the cross is dying to self and making much of Christ with our lives. I love the message these men are preaching and I "like" all the post by these guys on facebook and re-tweet them regularly. The reality is however that while I like their message I have a hard time living it. This blog post isn't as much a deep new insight that you'll read and walk away from feeling challenged and talk about how smart I am. Instead I hope that it serves more as a confession of where I have fallen short of the pursuit of the cross.

The question I regularly challenge myself with is "what am I pursuing?" There are season's of my life where I can confidently say my pursuit is Jesus and His cross, but far to often my idol is comfort. I position myself to provide me and my family with the most comfortable lifestyle possible and still feel good about myself. I say the right things but my actions don't always match my words. I know in my head that Jesus came that I might have life to the fullest but a saving account and a retirement plan look pretty appealing too. My happiness to many times depends on Jesus and money, or Jesus and safety, or Jesus and success, or Jesus and a plan, or Jesus and health, or Jesus and fill in the blank. I want to be completely satisfied with Jesus. Matt Chandler said this "The most moronic thing that happens in our culture is that we already have stuff that does not satisfy us and so what we believe is that if we can get more of what does already not satisfy us we will be satisfied...now that is absolutely foolish". Lord free me from the pursuit of meaningless idols that lead to disappointment and emptiness.