The Great Date Experiment

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

phone 047Our church is doing this really cool thing for the next 6 months to help spice up the romance in your marriage. It is called the Great Date Experiment. Each month they will give out an envelope with instructions for you and your spouse to take on a date. Lara and I went on our first of six dates last Friday night. It was fun!

After dropping the boys of we got in the car and began reading step 1 of 6 to start the date. Yes I cheated and read step one earlier in the week before Lara caught me, so I was already prepared. In step 1 husbands are suppose to use 4 pet names for their wife during the date while the ladies are suppose to touch their husbands backsides twice. I chose a few names that they suggested that I wouldn’t normally use like magic princess, gangster girl, and cowgirl. I don’t think these helped our romance level due to the fact that I laughed every time I called her these pet names.

Step 2, Go for appetizer at a favorite restaurant. We chose to have guacamole live at On the Border. There we answered fun questions and laughed. Step 3, The appetizer was so good and the snow was falling so hard that we decided to stay for dinner. The questions got a little more intimate as the night went on. After dinner we went out side in the snow and took a wonderful picture that we made our wallpaper on our phones and profile picture on facebook. It was a little corny but fun too. Step 4, We walked in the snow to CVS so we could buy a $2 gift for each other. This was hilarious! When we got back to the car and we gave each other our gifts and explained why we bought these specific gifts. Lara had bought me post-it notes so she could write me love notes and I bought her nail polish so I could paint her toe nails when we got home. This was a fun and sweet part of our date and almost felt like we were on a date back in high school. Step 5, You are suppose to either go for dessert or sit in the car and make out. Well we debated the skipping dessert but because dessert is the part of the date that my wife had been looking forward to all night we saved the making out for later. We drove slow in a snowy wonderland to Chile’s where we ate dessert and finished answering the questions for this step. This part of the evening was my most enjoyable part too but not because of the dessert. The questions lead our conversation to an intimate time of verbally encouraging each other. I realized that we don’t do this for each other enough and it felt good to share how special to me she was.Step 6, is not up for conversation but it is a time when the experiment becomes chemistry!

I think that Lara and I have a pretty good marriage and I thought that this wouldn’t really be that needful for us but this date night will be a night that we will not forget. It was fun, exciting, relaxing, intimate, uplifting, and satisfying. The thermostat of romance in our relationship was definitely turned up a few notches. We can’t wait until Great Date Experiment 2!

Try it out http://www.marriedlifeonline.com/greatdate_np.jsp

Mac’s first mission trip

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

Costa Rica and Panama Nov 09 188We had the opportunity to take Mac with us on our last trip to Panama. It was one of the coolest experiences that we have had as a family. The couple of weeks before the trip you could tell that he was getting nervous. He would ask a lot of questions about the people, food, what was he going to be doing, etc. It is not unusual for Mac to ask a lot of questions but when most of his questions are centered on one topic you know that things are stirring around in his head. I think that one of his biggest concerns was what he was going to eat. Half of his backpack was filled up with food and snacks just to be safe.

Mac did very well with the traveling. No matter how long or bumpy the flight he just keeps talking. Long bus rides were no problem either. He just fell asleep on who ever was beside him. The first night we slept in a hotel in Panama city. I got a little worried for Mac and the rest of the week when he looked at his bed and said with a cracky voice,”there are bugs on my bed”.

When we arrived in the small village of Alto de Jesus Mac quickly became the focus of attention with the children. He quickly made friends and fit right in when he brought out his bag of Legos. I remember him sitting on the dirty ground playing along with the kids and then turning to me and saying,”Dad, I don’t know what they are saying!” It was pretty cool for me to sit down with him and his new friends and help them talk to each other. These new friends would become his partners in ministry and entertainment for the rest of the week. Two of his best friends were a brother and sister named Arnon and Rose. By the end of the week you would have thought that they had known each other forever.

Some of Mac’s favorite things about Panama were sleeping in a tent, playing all day with his new friends, feeding chickens, riding in the back of a truck, and telling other children about Jesus with his Evangecube. He ate great, loved the extreme part of the trip(except all of the hiking up hill), and hardly ever complained. He is filled with a sweet spirit and built for ministry. Mac is one of the best trip participants that we have ever had and the three of us are so glad that we have this experience of serving the Lord together to remember forever. Praise the Lord! Serving the Lord alongside of your family is one of the coolest things you could ever do.

Sun kissed by His Glory

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

Bella 029Have you ever heard the phrase “sun kissed”? Sun kissed is when you have been out in the sun all day and feel the effects of the hot glowing sun all over your body. We tell our little boys that they look sun kissed when they come in from the pool or beach and their cheeks are rosy pink.

I heard a wise and godly man says something so that really got me thinking. He said that his daughter and wife were glimpses of the Glory of God to come. That stuck with me. It made me see my family in a little different light. They are precious and wonderful gifts sent by God to me. He gave me them so that I can know Him better and know of His Glory to come. WOW! How differently will we talk to and treat our families when we see them as a glimpse of God’s glory.

My wife and two wonderful boys are to me like being sun kissed by God’s presence, power, beauty, and love. How good it feels to be sun kissed by His glory!

A day at the beach

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

I could not have asked for a better day with the family. We were going down to the beach to celebrate our anniversary but decided to go one day earlier so we could spend it with the boys. Lara’s grandmother was keeping them at the beach anyways so who wouldn’t want just one more day at the beach. It was absolutely perfect!

The skies inland looked dark and rainy but on the beach we had nothing but warm air and sun. The weather and water were perfect.Grey slept for the first part of our trip in his stroller under the pier while Mac and I played in the waves. Mac is the absolutely coolest boogie border that I have ever seen with his Scooby-Doo board. Once Grey awoke and realized that there was “wadoo” he was in. (wadoo means water in the language that Greyson speaks) He was a little hesitant at first but quickly got use to the waves. Every time I tried to sit down and take a break I either had Grey pointing at the ocean saying, “no wadoo, wadoo”, or Mac pouring buckets of sand and water on me so I would chase after him. He thought it was so funny. I quickly learned that it would be years before I just sat on the beach and relaxed with my wife.

Between her frequent trips to the water with Grey and laughing at me, Lara lounged in the sun with her grandmother and aunt. They enjoy talking about everyone that walks by and who am I kidding I enjoy that too. We could not have had a better day at the beach. There is nothing that could have made this day any better. Well if everyone wasn’t so pink it might be a little better. Praise God for his creation: the beach, family, His mercy and love, and all of those things combined into one day.

p.s. Pictures will come later!

My Boys

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

DSC0282 copyI have come to realize that God makes each of us special and unique. Lara and I have two wonderful little boys, if you do not know already. These boys, Mac and Grey, are something special. If you have spent anytime at all with either of them you will know what we are talking about. If you have spent anytime with them you will also know just how different these boys are from each other. Mac is sweet, tender hearted, blond hair, and blue eyes while Grey is tough, strong willed, dark hair, and brown eyes. These two could not be any more different unless they weren’t brothers. I even wonder if they are brothers some days.

Yesterday we were riding down the road talking about how different they are when the Lord revealed something great about both of them to us. While Mac is sweet and continent always he is not a great leader, yet. It frustrates me when I see him following others and not standing up for himself. Not even to his little brother. I want to say,”be strong and of great courage!” with a God size voice so he will listen. It makes me wonder if it is a coincidence that we named him Joshua? I think not! Grey is the one that I seem to butt heads with and seemed to get frustrated with since it is “his way” or no way. No comments! We named Grey, Jeremiah with the hope that God would touch his mouth and let His holiness come flowing out and not his Rouseness. Just kidding.

But with their weaknesses we can also see the potential in them to be great men for God. That is our hearts desire. That there will be nothing more important in their lives than Him and that God will do great and wonderful things through them for His glory. Mac is going to be such a servant for the Kingdom like his mother. He will give you anything even if it is his last one and you never hear him complain. What a blessing he is! Grey is going to accomplish what ever task God puts before him and he will not let anything get in his way. If he is determined and if his energy and focus is towards Christ the world and Satan better watch out. What a blessing he is!

My prayer is that they will have a face to face intimacy with Christ that they will hear, see, and be touched by Him as Joshua and Jeremiah were. I also pray that they will have the strength and courage as Joshua had through out his life to follow God and accomplish His task. Lastly, I pray that they will be obedient in following the plans that the Lord lays out for them as He enables as He did for the young Jeremiah in the first chapter. What a blessing these boys are and I know will be!

“…never truly experienced until now”

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

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I was blown away this week when I received the newsletter of a missions trip participant that went with us to Uganda in February. It left me crying on my computer and praising God for allowing me to be apart of His work even in the smallest ways. Lara and I have always known that one of the biggest reasons we wanted to be apart of e3 Partners ministry is the joy of taking people to the mission field. We have the privilege of engaging the local church in missions. It doesn’t matter where one is in the journey or even if they have started down the path with Christ. We know that when they go and see the glory of God displayed on a mission trip and they are personally used for an eternal difference. Lives will be for ever changed! I am reminded ever time too that God can and wants to use this non qualified knucklehead to be His hands and feet. How cool and powerful that is when we realize that truth.

What is even better than being used by God is knowing what we have in Jesus and who we really are in Him. This tripper participant had no idea of what was to come. Not just for the next 12 days but for the rest of her life. I have know her for about 10 years and have been diligently praying for God to work in her life. I was never sure about where she stood on church, Jesus, and salvation but I knew that she didn’t go or didn’t talk about it very much. If I had to guess I would have had to say that there was no relationship with Christ.

When we began planning our last trip to Uganda we had no idea how life changing this trip would be for us. This lady said that she was interested and that in it self was exciting for us. Then when she went with us we were in shock to see how God used her and how Christ drew her near. I don’t think that I could tell you all of the ways we saw her grow in a relationship with Christ on a daily basis. Even today we still see God answering our prayer by working in her life.

People ask us all the time “when will you move over seas and be real missionaries?” If God wants us to we will go tomorrow but for now we are apart of one of the greatest mission opportunities here today. This lady’s story is why we do what we do. We love seeing God’s church in America go to the missions field and then come back home with a renewed fire for worshiping Him. “…I never truly experienced Him until now.” This was one of her closing statements in her newsletter, and that is a HUGE win for us and for the Kingdom. That makes it all worthy especially when she is my mother in law, Lara’s mom!

I think that you would really enjoy reading her news letter. It is powerful, so please take the time to read! Copy and paste this link. Then click download.  http://drop.io/momsnewsletter

Praying for Spiderman PJ’s

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

DSC0369 copy-2We have been talking a lot about prayer with Mac and Grey and I think that Mac is actually starting to get it. He normally prays that God will bless all of his friends, family and all of the people at Ridge church and on special occasions he will throw in all the people of the world. But, the other day at Target it became a little more personal. He saw some Spider Man PJ’s and he asked if he could have them but his mommy said not today. When she turned back to see where he was he had his head buried in the PJ’s. Lara fully thought that he was pouting because he was not getting his way and said “Come on”. Little did she know, he was being more spiritual than that. Mac picks his head up and proceeds to break his mothers heart while he says,”but mommy I was praying for these Spider Man PJ’s”.

While it wasn’t the most spiritual or selfless prayer it was still a blessing to us. He is at least understanding that when he has a need the best options is to ask Jesus. My prayer is that when I am in need I would have the immediate, child like faith that my son had when he was praying for those Spider Man PJ’s. When we don’t hold back and we get just as honest as we can with God in prayer I think that He is most pleased.

To begin with…

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

Rouse House Happenings is going to be compiled stories and pictures updating you on our life and ministry. We hope to bring some comical stories along with some heart warming events. We are the Rouses. Spanky, Lara, Mac, and Grey. We often have some hilarious times and we believe that you will find these times funny too.
We are currently church planting missionaries with e3 Partners ministry. We love what we do more than anything else and when we are asked what would be your dream job we gladly say that we are doing it. We get to see God uses us to help indigenous people start new churches through evangelizing and discipleship. God is working in mighty ways and we have the privilege to be apart it. We have been apart of some amazing stories that will bless your heart so we want to start sharing them with you.
Stay tuned for many laughs and exciting stories.