BIG Things, Legacy, Life’s Purpose….

Posted on April 6, 2016April 6, 2016 by Spanky Rouse

rf4-2 — Grey (left), Mac (center), Elly (right)

I believe that God has created me and called me to do BIG things in this world! Big things that will move the Gospel forward. Big things that will change lives, families, and communities. Big things that will help people know Jesus better and better. Big things that will put a smile on my Heavenly Fathers face and things that will become my legacy.

I have dreams of what these BIG things might be, could be, or want them to be. They all revolve around our life and family’s mission statement…we are going to love people well, serve those in need, and help them know Jesus and grow in a real relationship with him…The BIG things could be endless with a focus like that.

But what if the BIG things that I dream about and hope for are smaller than I initially imagine? I had this thought the other day and it is something that I have really come to ponder a lot over the past couple of years. What if the biggest thing I ever do for God, for those in this world, or as my legacy is NOT to change the world? When I say change the world what I mean is making a lasting difference wherever and with whoever the Lord puts in front of me.

What if God’s whole purpose for me in life is to simply raise/disciple/train up 3 little people that will then go on to change the world? Not that this is or would be a simple task but at first glance it does seem way smaller than the dreams I have for changing the world. What a difference could it make if I simply tried to, Be the best, most Godly dad I can be to my children? I whole heartily believe that if this is one of the main focal points of life that my children will go on to change the world, at least the world around them. They will be people and are people that love others, enjoy serving others, and know the truth that Jesus loves people more than anything else already. If this is who they are today, WOW, who will they be in 10, 20, 40 years from now!!! They will go on to do BIG, HUGE, ENORMOUS, GIGANTIC, UNIMAGINABLE things for God. I get the opportunity to shape these kind of people. That seems like a mission worth pursuing.

I know two things in life. God has created us to be people that love and trust Him wholeheartedly, and He has called each one of us to a specific purpose. If I can live out the first part of that then I will live out the second. As I come to love and trust God with my life I will live out the purpose of raising world changers! I have never been great with words but I do great with numbers therefore, 3 is always better than 1. What the 3 of them will do with their life will make a greater impact than my single life could every make. I can live with that kind of legacy!

Traveling buddies

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Spanky Rouse

Today I get to travel with one of my best friends and it is his first time getting on an airplane! This is going to be an adventure. We are planning on documenting much of the next couple days so stay tuned!

New neighborhood, new school, new opportunities

Posted on August 28, 2015August 28, 2015 by Spanky Rouse

So we made it through the first week of school! We have one child that loves school and misses it about half way through the summer (Mac). We have another that dreads the thought of waking up everyday and going (Grey). With them starting a new school we really didn’t know what to expect but so far so good. Grey, the one we worry the most about, came home from school the first day and said it was heavenly. After we picked our jaws up off the floor we asked him why. He said that his teacher was so nice and doesn’t give out homework or at least she doesn’t this first week of school. We are hoping that he still like her next week when she loads him up with homework. Mac obviously loves it and is already making friends while he is trying learn who all is a “walker” and where they live.

“Walker” – we do not use this term in the same manner as zombie like creatures from the show The Walking Dead even though this is exactly what comes to mind every time the boys tell me about a new walker they meet. Walkers are kids in the neighborhood that live too close to the school to be assigned a bus…they have to walk. Our kids are walkers and we think that it is the coolest thing. I tell people that it feels like we live in a storybook. Who walks to school with their neighbors! So cool!

While walking in the morning with our kids we spend time talking, praying for their day, and praying for our neighbors. We truly believe that God has great plans for this community, the school, and the people here, so we ask daily that He will do a great work among us. We also ask that God will give the Rouse House favor and influence as well as opportunities to love and serve those here. We know that influence will likely come as we have a chance to serve them more. We have been thinking about ways we can get to know others since that seems like the obvious first step in living missionally. This morning it hit me! Walk to school and talk to those we see along the way! Sounds simple enough but it actually works!

This morning after I left the boys I saw a family that was leaving for school too. They live on the corner between our house and the school so we see them each morning. I have tried to talk to these guys a few times but they never seem interested…I still wave, smile, and say hey…Lara and I were joking the other day because I waive at everyone I see in the neighborhood. I told her I want to be known as the crazy guy that is constantly waving and saying hello…Back to this family on the corner. I saw that their fridge was sitting out by the street this morning. I asked if it broke and if they had another one yet but they don’t. I asked him if he would be interested in a new one if I could find it for him and with a big smile he said, “Oh yea. That would be great.” We then quickly introduces ourselves.

This little moment this morning may not seem like much but I know that it is a start. All great things in this world had to start somewhere and I believe that they probably started with a quick hello. The RouseHouse may have big dreams, passions, and prayers for this community but we know that we have to start somewhere. Today it could be simply helping a neighbor get a new fridge, tomorrow it could be cutting a neighbor’s yard, next month it could be coaching a boys club after school, next year it could be leading a small group through the bible in our home, and before we know it God can have done something amazing here in our neighborhood. Something that last for years and even generations as we focus on caring for people and their families. It is a HUGE as, even overwhelming when we think about all of it, but today we are just going to keep walking to school, smiling and waving, and being the kind of neighbor that Jesus would probably be until He says He is finished with us.

What kind of neighbor are you?

Do you know your neighbors by name?

What if we went out of our way to meet those around us and find ways to serve them? I would love for you to leave a comment on how you are going to meet and serve your neighbors!!!

Romans 15:2 The Voice

2 Each of us must strive to please our neighbors, pursuing their welfare so they will become strong.

Zimbabwe

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Spanky Rouse

That isn’t smoke, it is midst rising from the falls. You can see it from miles away.

Every couple of years we gather all of our missionaries from around the African continent for what we call conference. This is a time of renewal, rest, realignment. This was my first time attending the UWM African Conference and it was held in Vic Falls, Zimbabwe…It’s actually called the Afro Conference but I just can’t bring myself to call it that :)… This was my first chance to meet many of these missionaries. I have talked on the phone, Skype, and emailed most of them but there is nothing like face to face time! I spend almost every minute of this week meeting with people to hear their stories, getting to know them, finding out ways I can better serve them, and praying for them. They are long days and I am always exhausted by the time I get back on my plane to head home but I wouldn’t want it any other way! I love what I do!

The Baobab is also called the upside-down tree because when bare of leaves, the spreading branches of the Baobab look like roots sticking up into the air, as if it had been planted upside-down. – This isn’t even the largest of their kind!

I had an opportunity to speak to 3 different groups while I was there and give a brief presentation on how we were going to serve them and their ministries better. My number one goal was to connect with them personally and have them leave feeling like I was for them and their ministry. By the power of the Holy Spirit it went great! I was able to gain their trust, let them see my passion for Africa, and begin building a strong relationship with them. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Psalm 66:3Say to God, "How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You. 4"All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name." — Psalm 66:3Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You. 4″All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name.”

I was texting Lara one day to tell her how the day was going and she said, “You have the best job in the world!” I think it was because I mentioned to her that I was standing at the glorious Victoria Falls having a delicious cappuccino. My “job” is pretty awesome! I get to travel to amazing places, meet awesome people, help others achieve their dreams, passions, and calling, and I have the privilege of seeing/being a part of the Church taking action by equipping leaders, establishing new churches, and engaging in holistic ministries.

Some crazy, fun parts of my trip to Zimbabwe were:

Two of the great minds and missional hearts that I get to serve alongside! Kevin (expansion) and Tom (strategy)

visiting Victoria Falls – it is mind-blowing at how grand and beautiful it really is!!! NO WORDS!

eating some wild game like buffalo, crocodile (taste like tough chicken), warthog (the best meat I have ever tasted! So tender you need no knife), antelope, ox tail (fatty, I do not recommend it), ox liver (not bad), some other animals liver, and a couple other ones.

rafting sown the mighty Zambezi – No joking here, I thought at one moment I had taken my final breath of air while being tossed around a whirl pool in a class 5 rapid! It was an amazing experience after that! The hike in and out of the gorge was pretty awesome too!

watching elephants from the deck just before dinner come to the watering hole in large herds!

watching the sunrise over the African plain each morning!

One of my favorite pictures! This is the sunset on the Zambezi river.

taking a sunset cruise on the Zambezi leaves you breathless!

Shortly after snapping this picture this little guy attacked me! I was definitely more scared of him than he was of me!

Watching monkeys jump in your room to steal food or jump up on the table in the restaurant to grab the sugar packets never gets boring.

Africa always seems to surprise me with its beauty and awaken my soul to the voice of God. The sights, sounds, smells, taste, and people refresh me every time and leave me wondering when the Father is going to ask my family and I to move there. But until then I am choosing to enjoy this wonderful

journey that He so faithfully is leading me on! Jeremiah 1: 4Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

To all of you who prayed for me and for my family during this time I want to say Thank You!

Summer Update

Posted on June 26, 2015June 26, 2015 by Spanky Rouse

Mac having a water fight on one of the last days of school

Summer is off to a good but busy start for the RouseHouse! And man is it hot here in the south! We wanted to pause for a few minutes and share some quick family and ministry updates with you as well as share some ways that you can continue to partner with us in prayer.

Mac, Grey, Elly, PawPaw, and their cousins, Jake and Cole. Everyone loves to sit with PawPaw!

The kiddos are doing great! Mac keeps saying, “it feels so weird to not go to school every day!”, while Greyson is loving a break from the regular routine of getting up and going to school. Sometimes the guys can be night and day different. For Elly I think she is loving this time of having “her boys” at home with her…for the most part they are enjoying her too. They have already spent much of their time at the pool (and yes they have a nice tan already), at Nana and PawPaw’s with their cousins, riding scooters, having water gun fights, playing with the dog, shopping (Elly talks us into this one) and staying up late. There is still so much for them to do this summer!

Scooter ridging is a new family favorite! Elly is a little more concerned with everything matching (all Pink) than most people.

Lara is just getting over the Shingles and starting to feel a little more normal. She was a real trooper! You can tell she really tried not to complain even though she was in horrible pain, scratch even though it felt like a large patch of mosquito bites, and lay around even though that is probably what she should have been doing. She is one tough momma! I wish we had a dollar for every time someone would say, “I thought only old people could get the Shingles.” For the record it isn’t just for old people. This has been a painful and very uncomfortable time for Lara and we are thankful for all of the prayers and support! Other than that she has been busy taking care of these 3 crazy guys. It really is a full-time job! My favorite quote from Lara this summer so far is when Mac ask if it is time to eat again and Lara says, “do I have to feed you everyday!?” For the record Mac thinks it is always time to eat. When he is done with one meal he is planning the next before he gets up from the table.

Move in day! A group of friends and family gathered to pray for us and our new home. It was a very special time!

We are loving our new home! It is an answer to prayer that we had been asking the Father for years to grant us! We regularly look at one another and say with a big smile, “this house is perfect for our family”. We have been able to meet most of the neighbors on our street and regularly take walks to pray for them. God has big plans for the RouseHouse here and we believe that we will see Him transform this community and families for His glory!

I have been busy with some cool things at work but have also had some opportunities to spend a little extra time with the family since school has been out. Summer time can be a little slower for mobilization at UWM (this is the team I serve on) which has been good for me with the move, kids being out of school, and Lara being sick. But I have had the privilege of being a part of some great missional things too. We are in conversations about taking on more of a role with Business as Mission (BAM) and I have been chosen to be on that team which I am very excited about. I have also been able to be a part of some expansion opportunities. Expansion is when we open a new country for UWM or a new type of work we currently are not involved in. I can’t be too specific because of security reasons but we are opening some new African countries, possibly Asian countries, and Middle East areas. Taking the Gospel to some dark places! My team will also be leading a new missionary orientation/training in July for families going all over the globe. Did I mention I am heading to Zimbabwe next week too! I am so excited!

We truly value the prayers of our ministry partners! If you could please spend a few minutes over the next month praying for some of these specifics and anything else the Father brings to your mind we would appreciate it!

Physical good health for our family
Safe travels for Spanky and for Lara and the kids as they head out on a couple of trips
God’s wisdom and favor with all of these new opportunities at UWM and around the world
Peace, the kind that only the Father can give!
And anything else He leads you to be praying for the RouseHouse will be good

For those of you who financially partner with us to see His kingdom come around the World and right here in Charlotte we want to say THANK YOU! Our hearts and lives are blessed daily because of you therefore we thank God for you often. We have begun setting sometime aside to pray a little extra for you on the first Monday of every month. If there is ever anything specific we can be praying for please let us know by emailing us at spanky.rouse@gmail.com.

If you are wondering what it means to be a ministry partner of the RouseHouse you can simply click here. We always need and are looking for new partners! Generally, it means that you are praying for us, financially supporting this work God has given us, and are encouragers to us. We would love to share more with you and have you join this team of family and friends!

Fun in the sun

Posted on February 12, 2015February 12, 2015 by Spanky Rouse

Last Saturday we saw the weather forecast for the next day and it looked beautiful. Still a little chilly but warmer than normal and full of sunshine! If you don’t know, the Rouse’s do not enjoy the winter months! It is almost torture for us mostly because we just hate being cold all of the time. Along with the cold we hate having to be inside all the time. Since it is cold outside we stay bundled up inside which can make us a little crankier than normal.

The Rouse House picnicking Romare Bearden Park downtown CLT

**Before all of you northern folks start in, we know that our winter isn’t as bad as most but it is cold enough for us. We realize that we are big babies so no need to comment ;)**

Last weekend the forecast was warmer than normal and with a whole lot of sunshine, therefore we planned to be outside as much as we could. After church Lara, being the most awesomeness wife and mommy, planned for us to have a picnic at one of our favorite parks which is downtown Charlotte (our whole family loves this city and loves being downtown so we do so as much as we can). It was such a good time! We ate lunch on a blanket, people watched (a favorite pastime for Lara and I), kicked the soccer ball around, cuddled, laid out on the grass, played a game of freeze tag, walked to find coffee (no coffee though, everywhere was closed! not the best part of the day), and laughed a lot.

Between the warm sunshine and family time this was just about as perfect as it can get! I like to say it was like good medicine that just refreshes every part of me. These are the times that are priceless and make the best memories.

Princess for a day

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Spanky Rouse

Last week was our little princess birthday. I can’t believe that she is already 4 years old! Where does time go?! You would have thought that it was a national holiday around the Rouse House. Not because of Elly but because of the boys (daddy included). Everything for a day was all about her. She got anything she wanted and got to go where ever she wanted to go.

We began breakfast with cinnamon rolls, lunch at Taco Bell (her choice), shopping, McAdenville lights (if you haven’t been there you should go during Christmas. It’s an entire town covered in lights. So awesome!), rode around downtown Charlotte, and then headed to MidWood Smoke House for some mac and mheese (she didn’t even get mac and cheese…girls).

The next day we continued the celebration. At church, while in the hallway, I heard someone say, “whose birthday is it?”. And immediately we all heard Elly’s BFF yell, “it’s Elly’s birthday, my sister’s birthday!” **side note Elly and her BFF, Brinley, actually don’t say they are friends. They call each other sisters. Pretty cute!** We had one of the coolest (it was a Frozen princess party) parties after church. Little girls running around dressed in costumes, its something that I never ever thought would be a Rouse House thing but I am so glad I get to be the father of a princess! One of my favorite things in the entire world.

This little girl is #myblessing! Every December 6th I think about the long ride in a small bus from the jungles of Panama to the airport when God told me that I was having a baby girl one day. After a little snooze I woke up with the thought, ” should we have another baby?”. The next thought was, “it’s a baby girl with blond hair and blue eyes.” WHAT?!?! I remember coming home, walking in my bathroom to see a note wrote in a red marker on the mirror that said, “Welcome home daddy of 3”. I thought that my wife had just added wrong but to be safe I ask, “3?” She sat on our bed smiling from ear to ear! Not sure if I was more surprised to know that we were pregnant with number 3 or that I for sure heard from God earlier that day. Either way…WOW!

Guess what, the baby was a beautiful girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She stole my heart the moment I held her. To this day I know that there is no mistaken that she is a gift from God to remind me that he cares about me and he knows what I truly need (and want) even more than I do! His plans are amazing for me…I can’t seemed to get away from that truth every time I look at my princess!

Family

Romans 15:2 The Voice