Introducing Scooba

Don't you love it when your Mom gets you something you can really use. I mean, the gifts are nice, really nice when they come - but every now and again Mom just sends you something that changes your homemaker life.



This, is Scooba. My new favorite toy. Now friends, Scooba (I'll see if I can say this without getting too emotional) MOPS my floors! I know, I know. Take this is in for a moment. This little robot thing cruises around my house just mopping. Let me paint this clearer for you: I don't have to MOP anymore! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently it just so happens that Scooba doesn't fit under the bottom lip of my Mom's kitchen cabinets and gets stuck. Darn. :) He fits under mine! I'm in love. Now I just need to walk away and let him work so I can enjoy the extra time. Because at present I get a snack and sit down and watch him (you know, supervising making sure he does what I would do). I'm quickly getting over it.

As you can see from the link here most of us young with kids types don't have any business paying for such a thing. But Mom - she can. And she did. And out of the goodness of her heart (and her cabinet heights) she gave Scooba to me. I will pray a crazy Scooba story for you.

What we've been up to

It's summer for the Rogers which means - it's nuts! Yeah, summer is NOT a slow down time for us. But we are trooping through and enjoying every moment of sun and fun that comes with it all. This weekend is rest weekend and we are so stoked - I think it might be our only one till vacation. This week so far has brought us:

- All day Saturday pre-marital class. First time we've done that. We prefer 1:1 over the course of a couple months for pre-marital. But Holy Moly a ton of couples are getting married this summer and there is no way in the world to fit them all in save meeting with a couple every night of the week. Pass on that. So...an all day class it was. We did it together with the Rhodes (Don and Lisbeth) which was a fantastic idea. Something about having a couple married 13 years and then another married for 30 years that makes things feel...well rounded. It was good. Couples seemed to be encouraged and learned a lot about the purpose of marriage (evaluations they turned in were good and some we talked to after). We'll do it again end of this month. Glad to finally get all our teachings consolidated and to hear it all together...was pretty powerful. God loves marriage and it's so fun to share the details of that with couples.

- Off to Prineville, Oregon Sunday afternoon to see our good friends the Hallman's installation service in the church that he has been asked to be the transitional pastor for. Missing them terribly already but so so good to be there with them. Will be fun to see what God does in that church and in them through this. First time for us in Prineville - it's way out there! I felt like I was driving into Radiator Springs (you know, from the movie Cars). Spent the night with some good friends Brad and Kindra in Bend that night and Kindra made us apple pancakes in the morning and I got to play with her baby a bit.

- Back home Monday night to fire pit and more premarital counseling (this couple couldn't make the class). Nice to be home. Love our little backyard with the tiki torches. Fun to hear the hearts of an engaged couple and offer our lives to them.

- Braden started swimming classes this week and that's been the funnest thing ever. I LOVE watching little tykes learn to swim. So cute and fascinating. He has goggles. I'm not out with the big camera like I was last year, but I totally take iphone pics of him still and I notice I have a perma grin the whole class watching him. The teacher has picked up on the fact that I am "that" parent.

- I started a Mary Kay business! Yep, I'm selling make-up. I've used the stuff for 5+ years and love it, I figure it's time I start getting my make-up for free since my whole family buys it anyway. Looking to continue to cut our expenses during this fun economic crunch time so this will help. But it's fun to have friends get their make-up from me too - i think everyone should have a healthy cute face don't you? www.marykay.com/karenelaine

- This Sunday is the launch of our Summer Electives for elementary kids. Aside from the 3 teachers (people from our congregation coming to teach a one time fun class) that never checked their email in the last 2 weeks to see that they are scheduled, and now backing out - I'm excited. Little note of wisdom: When you sign up to serve somewhere and give them your e-mail - CHECK your e-mail to see when they might like you to do that serving. ;) Otherwise, don't give them your e-mail! Ok, so the reason I'm excited is this: This is the most fun time of year for the kids as they do more creative learning and see all kinds of people's lives shaped by God. Hoping/praying the congregation continues to respond by offering one Sunday of something they are passionate about to the kids. Up this week: Music/Worship class, vegetable painting (tied into caring for our bodies), and a bus ride field trip to learn about how life with God is an adventure! Yeah, it's cool.

- Today visited my friend Neisha in the hospital. She is my assistant at Imago Dei Community and is 7 months pregnant. Her first pregnancy. Had a large cyst that doubled in size on her ovary during her pregnancy so they had to take it out. It was a pretty invasive surgery but baby is just fine. She has been in a ton of pain so we cried a bit together this morning and I got to hold her hand, stroke her hair, kiss her and tell her she's doing a great job. What is it about being at the bedside of your friend that is so emotional? Just one look in their eyes and you know they are in pain, possibly embarrassed that they are in a gown and have bad hair, and are a bit scared. It melts me. And I think the fact that she is pregnant with her first sweet baby is just the kicker. NOT the way one wants to go through a pregnancy. So...praying for her tonight as she had to stay over again. Her pain is subsiding some now..maybe home tomorrow.

- And lastly, tonight I participated (and am still participating) in Braden's first ever sleepover. His buddy Willem (the one's that just moved to Prineville) is in town and he is staying the night here. They were adorable and reading to 2 kids at night is harder, but possibly more fun. Braden prayed for Willem and when they shared about their "high's" for the day they both shared their high was seeing each other tonight. Sigh of bittersweetness. They talked and whispered and played for too long so after threatening to separate them and that failing (they voted to come to my bed) I finally laid down with them. They were out within 10 minutes. 11:30pm mind you! We'll see how late they sleep in and if they wake up in the middle of the night. They are both passed out in Braden's room now and it's quite wonderful.

Peace out everyone. May God be dwelling in you as you enjoy this holiday weekend.

Holy Feet

This morning I helped host a table at the Women's Forum our church did. It was the last in a series of 4 or so that were done this year. Some topics in the past included: What is it to be a woman?, What is it to value your sexuality? (which was a huge hit and got everyone stirred up and talking), and What is it to have a woman's body? Today was What is it to be a woman in the church? It was good to sit with a mix of women I don't normally hang out with or whom I have never met and talk about where we fit in the church, and what the church really is (and isn't).

One woman, whom I'll call Violet, I got to spend quite a bit of time with. She is in her 50's and has some body issues and past experiences that are full of shame. She talked very quietly and kept her hand in front of her face most of the time. She is unsure of how to give of her gifts in the church, but wants to. When the time came to wash each other's feet we were asked to pray for one another as Christ to each other. Violet asked me to do this with her. She told me she could not kneel because of her health issues, and I wasn't sure at first whether she wanted to pray for me. I (foolishly) thought I might need to lead out the time with her, but instead, she led it out with me. She started praying for me and at first it was quiet and general but then she started praying more deeply than what I had asked her to pray for. This not only surprised me, but as I listened it seemed to me that Christ was praying over me. In the person of Violet He had come to me.

She then tenderly took my feet in her hands and started to wash them. It's really amazing what something as simple as washing one another's feel does to a relationship. I found myself getting all teary over this woman caring for me in this way. She took her time and washed each toe. This woman who seemed so unsure of herself and so much shame surrounding her story - gave generously to me. And as I looked around most of the other women were getting weepy as well. Something about being served that we feel unworthy of perhaps.

My feet feel holy now. They have been washed and touched tenderly by a woman who gave all she had to give to me - Christ. I pray I gave Christ to her as well as I had the privilege of washing her hands (she was uncomfortable with me washing her feet) and praying over her.

I think we should wash each others feet more often.

More art by Sandy

My cousin Sandy is a photographer. See her blog for all her art. I've never seen anything like it. I love it. This is one of her latest pieces.

Make It Personal!

I posted another bit on family (making it personal with kids) here.

Family Rhythm

I posted a bit about some things I'm learning about family here: imagodeikids.blogspot.com

Thankful for a husband

So here we are, Kevin and I, on a date night a few weeks ago. On top of the somethingorother tower at Portland City Grill having appetizers for dinner. The couple sitting across from us was also on a date night away from their kids and were kind enough to take a shot of us (via iphone camera) proving that yes, Kevin got me to eat sushi. For the first time ever. It was pretty yum.

Recently I was talking with a friend who is single and was contemplating whether or not she really wanted to find a guy to marry. She's pretty content in her single life and has influence over many people in the places God has placed her. Does she want to come underneath a husband? What does that even mean? She shared how she had sat at a table of respected friends who talked about how difficult their marriages are and that they still haven't figured it out. It left her discouraged, wondering if she even wanted a husband.

I've thought about this over and over the last couple of weeks and find that I'm just sad about it! Is that all we are portraying in our marriages to single friends? That it's a pain in the ass and we just struggle through it? Ha - well now I'm laughing because I guess much of this is true I suppose! Marriage is hard and none of us would claim to have it wired. We're just a couple of idiots trying to be Christ to one another. I think the friends at the table she was at were being honest and humble.

But more needs to be said don't you think? To all my single friends out there (and married for that matter), this is what I want to convey about being married to a man, to my man:

• Marriage is the best thing I've ever done, been part of, decided to enter into, and continue to enjoy. Parenting next. But marriage best.
• I do not want to imagine life without Kevin. He is my best friend, making him irreplaceable and the person in this world who knows me and understands me the deepest. When you find a man like that, you just want to be married to him forever and ever.
• I am in awe of being loved to the point of being died for. My husband displays this in so much as he can and though he'll never be Jesus Christ, he displays much of who Jesus is to me. Consistently. Day in and day out. More often than I deserve. To the point of just weirdom sometimes - doesn't he know how NOT worth it I am? This makes me want to change.
• Being married causes me to be so much more aware of my sin and how I want to take over - everything. This isn't an easy part of marriage. But it is a part that humbles me constantly and brings me to the feet of Christ. To a place of transformation.
• I am home in the arms of my man. Wherever my love is I am home.
• Sex. Enough said. Or is it? What a difficult to put into words experience that unites two people in a way I've never known. Is it OK to say I feel closest to God and worshipful after sex? Well, I do.
• Kevin says it best and I believe he got it from Garry Thomas who is the author of one of our favorite marriage books, Sacred Marriage: "If you want to serve like Christ stay single, if you want be like Christ, get married." Well that pretty much sums it up. No right or wrong on this thing, but certainly a journey that has transformed me.

What else am I missing?? Praise be to God to give me my husband. I wouldn't be the woman I am without him.