Lucy's Birth Story: A Guest Post By Valorie Rogers

*Our daughter Lucy Kay Marie Rogers was born February 4th, 2014. My wife Valorie recounts her birth story. It was originally titled:

 

There and Back Again...

A Mother's Tale By

Valorie Rogers

 

Lucy's calculated due date was January 24th. Of course we all know that babies come in God's timing and not our own. I finished working on the 23rd. Lucy's due date came and went. Matt's birthday, Dena's birthday, my grandma's birthday and January all passed by and still no signs of her coming out. The Super Bowl came and went, still no Lucy. I would often look down at my belly and wonder what she looked like, what she would grow up to be like, and most of all, I would pray for her. Everytime we went to church or I talked with anyone, they would ask if I was having any contractions. "Nope" I would reply, and smile and give my schpeel about waiting, trying to be patient in my heart. It is much easier to keep up appearances of patience than it is to actually be patient in my heart. Matt and I wanted to have an unmedicated birth. This is what we had planned and prepared for by attending the 10 week Birth Boot Camp. Lucy's heart beat was strong at every appointment and she was continuing to grow, so we continued to wait. We knew that she would come out eventually, in God's perfect timing, although in that last week and a half there were many jokes about her taking so long that she would eventually walk out.

Matt and I spent the last week doing our favorite thing, spending time with each other. We went on a date nearly everyday. I believe that this is one of the reasons that Lucy was "late." It allowed us precious time to spend together soaking in the last days of it being just the two of us. God was using this time to grow us and strengthen us.

On Monday, February 3rd, I woke up at about 6:45am with some contractions. They would come and go, but they wern't regular or anything worth timing. I was super excited! Maybe today would be the day! The morning went on and the contractions actually seemed to subside. We went to our appointment with Joni(our wonderful midwife) at 1pm. She checked me to see if Lucy's head was in the right position and it was. I was dilated to 3cm and 60% effaced. Lucy's heart beat was good and strong! Because we were at 41 weeks and 3 days we discussed doing a biophysical profile the next day and decided to do go ahead and schedule it at the ultrasound place. Matt and I went to eat lunch at Rooster's in Denton. While sitting at the table the contractions started again! This time they were much stronger. It made it to where I could barely sit still and at one point before we even ordered, I told Matt we might have to just go home. We ended up staying anyways, as eating a good meal at the start of labor is what they told us to do in Birth Boot Camp.

When we got home I tried to lay down. I laid on the bed for about an hour before I had to get up. I moved to the couch to watch Downton Abbey(my new favorite show!) I went back and forth between the yoga ball and the couch. The contractions kept getting stronger and Matt decided we needed to start timing them. At 4:30 or 5:00pm Matt went ahead and called Joni and Alexa( our amazing doula,) to let them know we were in active labor. Contractions were getting stronger and closer together.

During the pregnancy Matt read The Lord Of The Rings series. So there had been a lot of LOTR references in our house. Sometime during that last week I expressed to Matt that I was a bit scared and wished we could just have the baby and not have to go through the labor to which he replied that just like Frodo had to leave the Shire and take The One Ring to Mt. Doom in order to have the adventure and story, I had to go through labor to have the baby and have the labor story(it made a lot of sense at the time.)

At 9:50pm Alexa arrived at our house. Matt was gathering all of our stuff for us to go to the birth center. At this point contractions were coming every four minutes and lasting a minute or so. They were very intense. Alexa put a hot wrap on my back which really helped. At 11pm we left the house to head to All About Babies. On the drive there I was having a hard time and Matt reminded me that the pain of childbirth was part of the curse of Adam and Eve when they ate the fruit of the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden of Eden. He said God gave us the curses not just because of our disobedience, but so that we would know in the midst of those curses that this was not the way things were supposed to be and it was meant for us to cry out to him in our pain. We were not meant to go through this alone, but to call out to our Heavenly Father through the pain. This reminder to cry out to God was exactly what I needed. I began to pray silently. Knowing that God was with me all the way gave me the motivation and strength I needed.

We got to All About Babies at 11:30pm. Little Sarah was already there taking pictures! We went to one of the exam rooms and she checked me: 5cm dilated. I was kind of hoping for more like 7 or 8 in my head. I was a little disappointed because I wanted to show up to the birth center ready to push. We then went to our suite and settled in. I got in bed to relax. For most of the early morning hours I went back and forth from the bed to the birth ball. At 4:15am it seemed like my contractions were getting farther apart. Joni thought that I was getting tired, at this point I had been awake for 21 hours or so. She offered me Benadryl and Tylenol or half an Ambien. Being a nurse, I've seen too many people have crazy reactions to Ambien. I wasn't interested in being crazy AND in labor so I opted for the Benadryl and Tylenol and settled into bed with Matt laying next to me holding my hand. After about an hour of laying there, I thought to myself "I should've taken the Ambien."

At 6:20am I got really antsy and wanted to get in the water, but I wanted to make sure I was dilated enough first so Joni checked and I was 8-9cm dilated this time! I was super happy to be getting into the tub! In my head I equated getting into the tub with making progress because in my ideal birth I would labor at home, arrive to the birth center at 10cm and push the baby out in like three pushes! (lol) I always heard about those women who push like twice and there's a baby!! Well I didn't get that labor, at least not this time(maybe next time?) I got into the water and it was amazing! It had this crazy relaxing effect on me. Natural epidural? Ehh not quite, but it was still very pain relieving. It almost seemed too relaxing. It made the contractions farther apart and weaker. At 8am I got out of the tub and tried a side lying position on the bed to help things move along. Joni had everyone in the room praying for longer and stronger contractions. At 9am contractions were still going slow, so we tried to break my water with some pushing in hopes that if it broke contractions would pick back up. At 9:50am, after attempting to get it to break for a while, I asked if Joni would just break the bag of water and she did. I was ready to really push too! I got back into the tub and pushed for a bit, but again the contractions seemed to get farther apart and I couldn't feel them well enough to know when to push and I didn't have the urge to push. In addition, I wasn't giving it my all. I realized that the times I was pushing weren't really my best. Joni gave me a pep talk(one of a few throughout the labor) and asked me if I was scared to go on to the next part of labor. After encouraging me she prayed for me(also one of several times during labor). Her encouragement and prayer helped me to persevere and changed my attitude about my labor; I decided to take control of it. I didn't want to end up being a "failure to progress" labor and have to go to the hospital. I got out of the tub and pushed on the birth stool for a while. At about 1:30pm I had been pushing for quite a while and began getting tired, so Joni had me lay down and try to take a nap. This time I actually did doze off a bit because at 2:30pm or so I woke up and nearly jumped out of the bed because I finally had the urge to push!!! Everyone came back and I began pushing again. I went back and forth between pushing on the bed and the birthing stool. Finally after 24-ish hours of labor and 4 and a half hours of pushing Lucy was born at 4:16pm! Matt and I were so happy to finally meet our baby girl!

Matt was by my side the entire time! Holding my hand and encouraging me. My birth team was incredible. My doula Alexa, My midwife Joni and three other midwives were by my side the whole time, praying, helping, and encouraging me. I could not have done it without them. I was so blessed to be able to labor with all these Christian women on my side seeking The Lord on my behalf. Also, special thank you to Sarah for capturing all the sweet moments! I am so thankful for our sweet little Lucy! I may have had to leave the comfort of the "Shire," go to "Mordor" and back again, but this is where the real adventure begins!

 

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Sunday School: Yahweh's Glory is Revealed

26 January, 2014

*This series is a place to share what I talked about with our OverFlow students. The outline and some commentary for this lesson came from The Gospel Project: Worldview Session 2 but has been customized to my teaching style.

Exodus 33:18-23

Then Moses said, “Please, let me see Your glory." He said, “I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He answered, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.” The Lord said, “Here is a place near Me. You are to stand on the rock, and when My glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back, but My face will not be seen.”

• What does this tell us about Yahweh? That Moses had to be hidden inside a rock and couldn't see His face? Yahweh is holy.
• What does this tell us about Moses(and ourselves?) Our sin separates us from God. Adam used to walk with Yahweh in Eden. How far we have fallen.

Exodus 34:5-9

The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name Yahweh. Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:

Yahweh — Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped. Then he said, “My Lord, if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Even though this is a stiff- necked people, forgive our wrongdoing and sin, and accept us as Your own possession.”

• This is Yahweh describing himself. It's incredibly important.
• Moses asks to see Yahweh's glory and gets told of his character. What does this say about the nature of Yahweh's glory? God is worthy based simply on who he is. Not only his description of himself, but the way he expresses his character through-out history.
• What stands out among Yahweh's characteristics?
• What's Moses response to Yahweh's glory? Worship. Asking Yahweh to lead Israel, forgive them of their sins and to take Israel as his possession. This is also the response we have when confronted with the truth of Jesus- Yahweh's ultimate expression of his character.

Exodus 34:29-35

As Moses descended from Mount Sinai — with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain — he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him. But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them to do everything the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, and the Israelites would see that Moses’ face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:12-18

Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness. We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the the end of what was fading away, but their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. Even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

• The main purpose of the veil was to prevent the Israelites from observing the fading of the old-covenant glory. The Law was designed by God with a built-in obsolescence(Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one.) (Hebrews 8:13 By saying, a new covenant, He has declared that the first is old. And what is old and aging is about to disappear.)
• Another purpose is to keep the veiled person from seeing outside. The Israelites can't see the obsolescence of the mosaic covenant until they are set free from their blindness by Jesus.
• Not only do we see Yahweh's glory displayed for us in Jesus, but we are also being transformed into the likeness of that glory/character.
• Our transformation is powered by the Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus set us free so that we could mirror His glory and be ambassadors on earth, proclaiming Jesus so that hearts can be unveiled and people can pass from darkness into light.

 

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Criswell Chapel Notes: James Draper

*Criswell Chaple Notes is a series I'm doing mostly for myself, to make the most of my chapel experience, but I think it might also benefit others or create a place where discussion can take place. My notes should be considered observations from the sermon or text and not necessarily(but not excluding) quotes from the speaker.

21 January, 2014

My Role As A Minister of the Gospel

 

1 Corinthians 3:5

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given.

• Ministers of the Gospel are primarily servants.
• Even Jesus-centered ministries may be different from one another because God has given each of us different roles.
• My service and success in the kingdom of God are in direct relationship.

 

1 Corinthians 3:9

For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

• I am working with God and others in ministry.
• I do God's work, but only in his strength.
• Working with God guarantees success(on his terms.)
• As I'm working with God he is also working on me.
• The Church is perfected by doing God's work.

 

1 Corinthians 3:16&17

Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him; for God’s sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are.

• The Holy Spirit is in me and empowers my ministry by testifying about Jesus.
• Our individual and collective holiness comes from what Jesus accomplished in his death and resurrection and the Spirit of God setting us free from sin to do good works as we walk in the Spirit.
• Anyone working against God's bride is under his wrath.

 

1 Corinthians 4:1-2

A person should consider us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of God’s mysteries. In this regard, it is expected of managers that each one of them be found faithful.

• God has revealed himself to us and made us responcible for this revelation.
• I am a faithful manager of God's mysteries by proclaiming Jesus as king.

 

Final thoughts: As the new semester begins this was a great messege to meditate on. It not only applies to preachers today, but every citizen of the kingdom of God as emissaries and missionaries in the places He has put you. Be found faithful.

 

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My Testimony Is Not My Testimony

Like most stories about people submitting to Jesus, mine starts with someone other than myself. You could probably look at my grandparents who doubtlessly prayed for the salvation of all their grandchildren after the adventure of raising a combined six boys and one girl between the two sets, the tales of which I still hear about and stand amazed that they made it into adulthood! My God-fearing grandparents left a legacy of faith that cannot be questioned, but that's not where I want to start. My parents individually embraced salvation before I was born, but they wern't connected to the body of Christ at the beginning of my story and thus, I would not like to start with them either. I want to start with my older sister Melanee.

One summer Melanee wanted to go to Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church in Little Elm, TX(since renamed CrossRidge.) If you know anything of the program it's a week filled with games, crafts, snacks, and stories focused on Jesus. Friday was the last night of VBS and all the parents were invited to come and view the crafts their children had made and hear the last night's production. My parents filled out a visiter's card and soon afterward a pastor of the church came to vistit our home. He challenged my parents to re-connect to the body of Christ and raise their children in a God-honoring way. Sure enough we became members.

My dad involved himself in the student ministry of the church and for an event we went to see The Power Team at FBC Carrolton. These Hulk-like men would roll frying pan's up into burritos, bend rebar into bows, tear phone books in half and break concrete blocks with their faces. In between they would share their testimonies just like I'm sharing mine with you. Obviously the six year old me was completely captivated by this Christian Circus.

I was by no means a theologian. I didn't understand one percent of what I've learned since in bible college. I had some understanding of God and from all previous indications we were on good terms. What I had failed to realize before that night is that I had rebelled against God and pursued my own desires instead of His. How much rebellion can a six year old get into? You tell me, but the bible says in Romans 3:23&24 that all have sinned(rebelled) and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified(made right with God) by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So there it was: My rebellion had seperated me from God and it was only through Jesus that I am made right with him. My little six year old self said "give me some Jesus" and I went to the front at the invitation time so that I could tell Jesus I was turning from my rebellion and submitting to him as my king and trusting what he did in his death on a cross and ressurection from the dead so that I can be made right with God. I was very thankful for Jesus. Soon after that I was baptised by Pastor Mike Neuse.

I never attained any sainthood after that, but I was raised in the church and sat under some very caring teachers who poured love into me. I was able to serve the Church through missions to Panama several times and it changed me and gave me a more global look at the kingdom of God. I started dating my future wife during these early teenage years. I never could escape the depressingly typical complacency of believers saved at an early age though. This carried me into a rebellion-rich young adulthood until it rocked my relationship with Valorie. Our resulting break-up made me realize that I needed to be with her for the rest of my life and I decided to start saving for a ring.

My marriage to Valorie and my marraige to the Army happened about the same time. When I came back from deployment I took college classes, but on January 30th, 2012 my friend and youth pastor that I worked with took me out to lunch for my birthday. I shared a little about the confusion I was facing with wanting to either further my career in the Army or get a degree for a good civilian job, but before long we were just talking about how much we love the students we served. We talked about the vision we had for our ministry, the potential in each one of our kids, and we prayed for them. When I left I had the most profound impression given to me by God. It was like he branded me with a hot iron on my brain that told me I needed to go into ministry and preach his kingdom. There was nothing left to do but tell my wife, re-orient my life, and start researching bible colleges. I landed at Criswell College and havent turned back. My church licensed me as a minister of the gospel on January 12th, 2014 and I can't wait for the future he has set before me.

My testimony is not my testimony. I desperatly want to impress that into you as you read this story. It belongs to Melanee. It belongs to my parents(Billy and Dena). It belongs to my grandparents(Bill, Doris, Betty, and Jimmie.) It belongs to my amazing wife Valorie. It belongs to Pastors Mike Neuse, Scott Jackson, and Marc Farnell. It belongs to Wilber Butler. It belongs to a bunch of circus-freak strong men. It belongs to George Bewley, Chad Howard, George Jones, and every other youth and children's minister along the way. It belongs to Moises and Talsidia Vega in the mountains of Panama. Ultimatly it belongs to King Jesus, who bought the citizens of his kingdom with his own blood(Revelation 5:9&10.) Those citizens lovingly serve him and will be rewarded with a resurrection into eternal life where we will be with him on a new earth.

Unless you grow up by yourself on a desolate island and Jesus reveals himself to you in a vision and slaps a MacAurther study bible in your lap, your testimony doesn't belong to you alone(and still not, as I explain in the next paragraph.) There is a legacy of faith and submission that has lead to your own faith and submission. It has been a holy hierloom that can be traced back to Jesus himself as he showed perfect faith and submission to the Father. He passed it to the twelve and the apostles, and then to the church. The church has changed a lot since those early times, but the seed has remained the same.

What does this tell us about God? We often share our testimonies to relate our salvation experience in a way that makes us the main character and advertises that others do the same so that they can recieve similar benefits. What we fail to realize in this aproach is that our testimony is really more about God than it is about us. He has orcestrated your salvation all the way back to Genesis 3:15 when he promised the seed of Eve would crush the head of the serpent. Jesus won victory over Satan by dying on a cross and won victory over death itself by raising from the dead three days later. The effects from that all point to and give praise to God. This is what we testify to.

What does this tell us about ourselves? We do not live in bubbles. You affect everyone around you and they affect you as well. Every act of love and defense of the oppressed matters. Every word of encouragment and truth matters. Every moment teaching God's Word and sharing Jesus matters. This holy heirloom has been passed to you through someone and you have been commissioned to pass it on to others. We underestimate our Holy Spirit-empowered impact at a staggering level.

Your homework is to think about the spiritual legacy that has lead to your salvation. Don't just think about the immediate event, but the story God wrote through other people's lives before you. Think about how every simple act of faith you have displayed has the potential for them to be part of God's story. I challenge you to write it down in some way. It could be in digital format or even a letter for your current or future children. I promise you that they would want to know. I even wish I knew my own parents stories better. I want to have this preserved as a record for my soon-arriving daughter Lucy. Also there are a few movies that deal with this "everything is connected" concept that came to mind while writing this: Crash, Babel, and Cloud Atlas. They all have various content that you should consider before viewing, but I suggest them none the less.

If God has used this story of the amazing richness of his grace to draw you into a relationship with him and you're not sure how, feel free to contact me through any social channel or connect to your local Jesus-centered church.

 

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