Search Results for: missional living

Seriving in Your Community {WITH Littles}

January 25, 2018 by Jules 1 Comment

YOU can serve in your community WITH your littles. They're not keeping you from serving and their not just in tow while you do so.

In some countries, having children is seen as "tying your feet". To be honest, I've felt that way on and off again. Structuring my day around their needs and the routines that help my children thrive occasionally feels like tying my own feet. I know God is at work in so much going on around me and I'd love to be apart of it, all of it. I feel like I'm missing out on blessing when I see God asking us to get to work where He's already working and I can't. I've even felt jealous of others and the serves they're able to do as a single or as a mom of older kids or even a mom of fewer kids. But here's the thing:

God HAS and is continuing to bless me right where I am.

In the this current season. With aaaaall these tiny humans I'm allowed to claim, even for a short time. God has blessed me with a husband after God's own heart. God has blessed me with home after home to raise my family and welcome others into. God has blessed me by abundantly meeting my needs. God has blessed me with friend upon friend, even if some are for a short season and others from a distance. Focusing on my blessings and learning to say no to good things in order to be apart of the Best things has taught me--> I can and Should be serving right where I am, with those placed in my life, when I see the opportunity, because God is bigger than self-pity, routine's, and excuses. I've also learned some practical ways to serve with my children and I'd love to share them with you to help untie your feet.

10 Practical Ways to Serve in Your Community with Your Children

Invite neighborhood children over to play consistently
I've totally laid younger children down for a nap while my older children and the neighbor friends played. My children are also getting to participate service to our King through hospitality.
Host a block party in your neighborhood
I've also put a child down for the night while carrying a baby monitor into my front yard to mingle for the rest of the block party. Depending on your neighborhood, over a holiday weekend, consistently on a specific weekend, or celebrate something fun one time a year might work for you.
Serve within your local Church
Most churches work hard to put on service events during a time that is family friendly. I've also learned that messing up my kids routine momentarily is well worth the rewards of living and serving in genuine community.
Make and deliver seasonal gifts to neighbor friends, delivery people, grocery store employees, civil servants
Letting kids come up with fun gifts and who they're give them to helps them be more aware of each person they naturally come in contact with on a daily basis and just how easy being missional in our living can be.
Donate food, clothes, and toys to a local drop off center
Having children help in decluttering, purging, whatever you want to call it can help them make it natural in their own lives. Being grateful for and generous with our belongings is good stewardship.
Host homeschool meet-ups, field trips, or parties
When we moved to this town we were told there were lots of other homeschoolers but we've had a hard time finding them. I guess they're all in their homes. lol SO, we created our own coop and simply started advertising it on Facebook. We meet up once a month for a simple party, field trip, or class of some kind.
Go to a rehab or retirement center and sing or dance, then stick around to chat with residence
The dance class my girls are in actually planned this and take the opportunity to have a mid-year presentation for the grandma's and grandpa's at the local rehabilitation center.
Create and host original events in your city park [or other neutral space in your community]
Our community is large in residence but small in things for those residents to do so we've had to get creative from Movie Night in the park to Water Day that included a giant slip-n-slide and huge water gun fight.
Clean up trash on the side of the [back, low-traffic] roads
This was actually an idea my kids' had while driving down the road after a storm so we grabbed random plastic bags out of the car and hopped to it.
Participate in and serve at as many community events as possible
This takes most of the prep work out of serving. Stay involved in community and or school events. Find places they need volunteer or just participants and have fun being a part.

Those are just 10 of the simple ways we've found that are fun to serve as a family in our community. Living Missionally [or being intentional to spread the love of Jesus as You are going] is simple but not always easy, if you don't know where to start.

PLEASE, by all means, share what you've learned works!

Filed Under: as Jules is living, Cool Ministries, Missional Living, Parenting, The Ones about Jules Life {Randomness}, The ones about the Rothacher Home, The Ones about The Valley Church

Enjoying My Supporting Roll in God’s Story

April 29, 2016 by Jules Leave a Comment

Two years ago, a traumatic thing happened in our small town- an F4/5 tornado took out most of the businesses, tons of home including an entire neighborhood, and many lives were lost. This happened just over a year after my husband and I moved our family here to plant The Valley church.

We constantly pray for God to teach us how live missionally: to love the community we live in, show new ways of share His love right where people are at in their lives, and grant us favor so door will be open to lead people to Him. That night in April, God handed us just that, on a filthy, demolished platter perfect for serving the hurt and searching town He sent us here to server.

The days following the storm, my husband and I were overwhelmed with the support from all the networks we had been apart of, long and short term. I was too much to keep up with. I often felt like I'd been given this huge responsibility and I was failing by not being able to manage all the help He was sending our way. Things have slowed down over the past two years...well, in comparison to those crazy couple months to after the storm.

This year as I scrolled through my archived private messages and "memories" on Facebook, I was overcome with guilt all over again. How I didn't answer some of the lost messages from friends and acquaintances, timeline post I wasn't sure I handed well enough, and most of all the lack of appreciation I didn't show those how fought through the pile off notifications to help us. I had high hopes of sending formal Thank You cards, letters of how prayers were answered, gifts were used, and just how very loved I felt. Even now, satan is making my insides hurt with remorse because I am so VERY thankful to be a minor character in this beautiful thing we are living.

God has taken these two years to reassure me that while we are all just supporting rolls, in God's story, that all points to Jesus, they're all important I have shared before that I often give up on things because I see someone else doing it, and likely way better. BUT God has plans and invites us to join the adventure of going on it with Him. We aren't called us to compare ourselves to others but rather support one another's part in the story.

Don't become arrogant when God's story starts playing out in front of you.

That's where focus is changed from what's most important or players get pulled.

Don't forget that the sun doesn't revolve around you.

The ONE who created light without that sun is where our focus should remain so we stay in the light.

Keep at the front of your mind, that EVERY story in this world points back to Jesus; whether it's acknowledged or not.

I want to make sure the story I'm in gives all glory where it belongs.

I guarantee you that this high schooler in our town was organizing volunteers sent her direction way better than I was. BUT God sent certain people along my path in life for such a time as this. He ask that I play a part in their story involving my town.

I know many of the women who worked the Play Place with me after the storm could have run it better, shared our story better, and accomplished more. BUT God ask that I run with it amidst my poor relational, communication, and organizational skills.

I promise, there were hundreds of other kids in our town that could have offered input on the new playground. BUT God saw fit to have my daughter and I as part of that planning team.

From schools, trips, camps, ministries, neighborhoods, and places we've passed through in live all showed up when God was ready for things to pan out that He's been writing since before I was born. Do you ever feel like you're not playing the part you want in the story of life? Be encouraged! Every [seemingly] small part in a story is valued.

When God ask you to play a repetitive, type-cast roll, Say Yes! When God invites you to play an unexpected drop-in roll, Say Yes! Because you never know when your story will change and there will be a big BUT GOD right after your YES!

Thank you, to at least 2 different countries, 14 different states, 37 different US towns, and MORE than 61+ different friends/acquaintances who shared a part in our Vilonia Tornado chapter through asking for prayer from their friends, collecting donations, sending necessities/gift cards/monetary support, delivered items, helped with clean up, and so much more! It's so humbling to be connect to each of you and really hope I didn't miss anyone. These are just the names I could find on my Facebook timeline and private message history not including my husbands:

Brittany Thompson- Ervington, AL
Kelsey Harris- Arkadelphia, AR
Danna Magness- Batesville, AR
Morgan Smith- Batesville, AR
Shadrack and Mellissa Black- Batesville, AR
Amy Howard- Benton, AR
Kathryn Doland- Bethel Heights, AR
Jessica Colley- Centerton, AR
Kim Stiles- Conway, AR
Morgan Williams- Conway, AR
Molly Jones- Conway, AR
Janna Chaffin- Dalton, AR
Cheryl Patterson- El Dorado, AR
Craig Herring- El Dorado, AR
Dana Rumph- El Dorado, AR
Deedra Nash- El Dorado, AR
Wanda Deason- El Dorado, AR
Hannah Henderson- Fayetteville, AR
Kelly Malancon- Fayetteville, AR
Sally Acosta- Fayetteville, AR
Johnathan Stoner- Floral, AR
Brandi Shinn- Greenbrier, AR
Cristin Jensen- Greenbrier, AR
Terri Nicholson- Greenbrier, AR
Amy Whisenhunt- Greenland, AR
Cindy Brantly- Little Rock, AR
Shane Harris- Little Rock, AR
Samantha Grant- Magnolia, AR
April Winn- Marmaduke, AR
Cathey Griffin- Parker's Chapel, AR
Fran Brotherton- Parker's Chapel, AR
Heather Gilmore- Parker's Chapel, AR
Jennifer McNab- Parker's Chapel, AR
Rita Snow- Parker's Chapel, AR
Rob and Amanda Waggoner- Parker's Chapel, AR
Julie Beavers- Pine Bluff, AR
Jessy Cutrell- Star City, AR
Doreen Keim- Siloam Springs, AR
Ashley Hall- Strickler, AR
Anja Spadoni- White Hall, AR
Candace Achorn- White Hall, AR
Shannon Paldino- Orlando, FL
Kate Stoner- Keokuk, IA
Jam'e Brown- Wichita, KS
Katie Archer-, Ruston, LA
Rebecca Dorobis- Rockport, MA
Patrick Sherrill- Alpena, MI
Karen DeBeus- Hope, NJ
Sami Roe- Midwest City, OK
Scott Jenkins- Norman, OK
Edna Cain- Sapulpa, OK
Betty Lin-Fisher- Akron, OH
MaryAnn Waltz- Milford, OH
Kathy Metivier- TX
Christine Hurt- Orem, UT
Abigail Assam- Lynchburg, VA
Heather Rennie- Aberdeen, Scotland
Jenny Sim- Aberdeen Scotland
Rachael Underwood- Insch. United Kingdom
Betty Pennington- ?
Justin and Crystal Murphy- ?

Thank You for playing your part in God's story!!!

Filed Under: as Jules is living, Missional Living, The DeChurched, The ones about the Rothacher Home, The Ones about The Valley Church

Foster Family Organization: Keeping Our Home Ready and Running

April 25, 2016 by Jules Leave a Comment

I'm a planner for when you couldn't tell. So when we started fostering it was very difficult to keep myself calm when you just never knew how to prepare for the children coming into your home. There are a few things that I've learned that helped us me cope by keep some order and being ready for any age that may come.

It may seem odd but if you know or are a foster family, you understand that each family is unique in what they can handle and who they family will be able to care for. For us, at this time, we are only taking males under Jamin's age. That helps me tons in way of preparation but still leaves a vast area from infant to mature preschoolers. I want to share some things we've learned that can still be pre-planed to keep your sanity in such a transitional life-style.

Some of the things I've already shared about so you can click the images below to read more about those.

Having a simple way to keep shoes, hats, bags, and coats makes life less cluttered. This mudroom system right in our living room is so easy my 2-year-old knows exactly who's what goes where.

Having a fun "parking lot" set up for my kids riding toys allows for fast and easy clean up after outside playing.

Having our dry erase menu and our "boarding" month planned out takes one more thing off my plate.

Having bedrooms set up with some wiggle room allows us to not have to over think when a new call for a placement comes in, no matter how late at night it is. Our room is ready to receive an infant. The guest room is ready to receive an infant through a child. Jamin and Ellie share a room currently but we have a bed ready for her if a child needs to share with Jamin and a trundle ready if it needs to be moved into the guest room.

Our guest closet is socked but at the same time trying to make it still feel like a child's own closet rather than a guest closet. We have diapers of almost every size, blankets, baby toys and gear, air mattress and bedding {for guest not fosters}, and a few pieces of clothing for every size from 0-3 months to size 6.

My biological kids are all on daily allergy medicine and foster kids often come in with their own set of medications. The only kicker is you can't leave medications out to help you remember to give them because they would then be accessible for littles. Depending on the age of the child, I leave the vitamins out on the custom lazy Susan but otherwise everything goes in the locked cabinet and I leave medication cups out to help me remember. Fosters have to have all medicines recorded so we place a clipboard with the medicine log out in the open with a pen hanging on it so we can quickly record everything.

counter cleanup

Babies come with all kinds of things like bottle, formula, burp clothes, and diaper that need to be readily available. Therefore leaving your house in survival mode. That doesn't mean it has to be unattractive. I decided to wrap a formula can in cute scrapbook paper so leaving it on the counter next to the drying bottles wouldn't be a total eyesoar.

I hope this glimpse into our home was fun, helpful, or just interesting. I know I like snooping in other's homes with great detail and thinking through things with them about why they do certain things. Any questions?

Filed Under: as Jules is DIYing, Decorating, Foster Care and Adoption, Homemaker, Organizing, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home

How Playing Fair Can Save a Life

July 21, 2015 by Jules Leave a Comment

For years I've been a women proud of my frugal ways. I enjoy finding the best deals and steals for practically nothing. But what if we could buy something, still at a fair price and yet it was worth so so much something to someone. What if buying goods at a fair price which allows artisans to be payed what their time is worth actually made our purchasing purposeful? Wouldn't that be amazing!

Living on mission for Christ can mean so much more than attending a self-serving church, all the bible studies you can find, shipping a OCC box here and there, or even serving in your churches nursery or on a mission trip. Living on mission means looking at every aspect of our life as an opportunity to further God's Kingdom. Purchasing jewelry, home decor, or gifts for friends can still be cute, fun, and quality while providing life-saving jobs for women in poverty so they can support themselves and their children.

Fair Trade Friday gives us the opportunity to live missionally via shopping!

FTF exists as an avenue for women to empower women. We are tackling poverty through job opportunity and empowerment rather than enablement. 100% of the proceeds support the artisans, more than 500 women and their children from all over the world. FTF is a ministry of Mercy House Kenya, a non-profit organization.

Ready to get involved? How much awesomeness you want?!

Start with a recurring box for $31.99 per month. Super Easy. Click. Enter info. Wait on your box. Done. We keep sending you a box of 3-4 fair trade items from one of our 18 countries involved (and, of course, billing you for it) until you cancel. What an amazing set up! {You should know that your "box" will likely be an awesome shipping envelope rather than a literal box. Just say'n}
Try out a box for $35 plus $10 shipping. This one is a great gift option!
Join the Earring of the Month club, where you’ll get a stylish and beautiful pair of earrings made by our artisans every month.

CLICK AROUND HERE AND LEARN EVEN MORE ABOUT FAIR TRADE FRIDAY CLUB

Learn more about some of the items that came in my box: Zambian organic soap, Indian Joyn purse, and Mercy House Kenya bracelet.

Filed Under: The ones about the Rothacher Home

A Year {and a few days} After The Storm

May 1, 2015 by Jules Leave a Comment

No matter how much our town would like to NOT be known for last years tornado, it's now a part of our story and will forever define all of us in some way.

The valley {our church plant} lost our rented facility to the storm making it that much harder to ignore the fact that we will forever be changed do to a natural disaster. We've hopped from place to place, have exhausted members by working them to the bones, learned people's true heart and passion, and have most importantly Seen Christ. We've seen His heart and passion. We've seen His presence or absence in people when hard things hit and work gets hard. We've seen His spirit in every dwelling the Church has gathered, reaffirming that the Church is not a building!

There's enough tragedy and struggles experienced this past year we could fill an entire book but rather than focus on the spiritual warfare, I want to focus on the places God's brought us through them:

Play Place
free childcare for those parents working or volunteering after the storm
Service on the Slab
praising Jesus for his sovereignty
Mom's Night Out
stress relief for moms after the storm
Survived Super Summer
our middle-middle child got to experience a 1st for our family with her broken arm {it was mostly fun}
Adopted a Dog
Lulu the {almost 2-year-old} registered English Bulldog became part of our family
First Family Vacation
water park and tons of free attractions in Bran son MO
Baby Dedication
ELLIE! got to be the 1st baby dedicated at the valley church
Started Our Families Foster/Adoption Journey
we've started the process of opening our home for foster care through the CALL ministry and DHS
Hosted our 2nd Annal Kids' Valentine's Day PARTY
Baptism
Maggie has discovered what being a Christ-follower looks like for a year and announced this decision in baptism
Bought Land and Sent a Former Intern to the Ukraine Mission Field {short-term}
financially these were the biggest outcomes of people's generosity after the storm that we never saw coming

I feel like the two biggest things that have happened over this past year are the strides in our community and neighbor love'n breakthroughs we've had.

After nearly 2 years in our community I feel like we've finally made some big strides in getting to minister in and with our community included but not limited to helping with the big KaBoom! Playground and cook out to celebrate the park. Those in the community are starting to recognize our name which is NOT the cool part but because they know us more, they are more likely to call upon us to help in needed areas. We are here to serve and are finally feeling like we're getting that opportunity.

We have also been plugging away at loving our neighbors all the while hoping they don't think we're crazy. Our most resent cook outs {just here in our neighborhood/our front yard} have allowed us to meet at least 2 more families. Just living outside our home on purpose has let us get to know our neighbors so much better which means they can know and trust us more which means we can love them in bigger ways. It's a beautiful circle! I truly believe its impossible, or at least much harder not to hate that which you know so well. Ignorance leads to hate; hate leads to avoidance, avoidance leads to ignorance. NOT a beautiful circle. Take the time to trudge away beginning the simple circle Jesus has called us each to, right were you are today.