Ellen Rosenberger

I've been thinking recently about how much my job as a mom (of three young kids spaced evenly 19 months apart) resembles that of a juggler. Now, I don't know much about juggling but I know it takes concentration, practice, and it's all about timing.  In my stage of life that's how I feel. It takes a lot of concentration - that is mental and physical energy.  A mom is always "on".  Even in the wee hours of the night.  :) It also takes practice.  Thankfully, we can get better with practice.  We figure out what works best for us and our family.  We get to know each kid, their personality, their interests better each day. And it's all about timing.  This is a big one for me these days.  Once one ball is set in motion (a kid is fed, put down for a nap, etc) you've got to set another in motion.  And you have to make adjustments if one ball comes down too quickly or stays up too long. And you can't really take your eyes off of any of ...

Merry Christmas from the Rosenbergers We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Our family has grown in number this year. Her name is Lucy, she brings us much cheer! We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! 3 year old David has started preschool. He’s doing great and thinks that it’s cool! We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Little Emily is almost two. She loves her baby sister and is saying words too! We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Six years ago we said “I do”. It’s been an adventure, and a blessing, it’s true! We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a...

I read this quote a few years ago and it has stuck with me ever since.  Thankfulness really does protect the heart.  From greed, selfishness, discontent, anxiety and many other things.  I regularly write in a "thankfulness journal" so that I am intentionally giving thanks to the Lord for the many things in my life, big or small.  And I even try to thank Him for the not-so-fun things or the difficult things.  It's in those times that I practice thankfulness that I experience deep peace. As Luke and I raise our kids one of our desires is to see them develop hearts of gratitude and thankfulness as well.  This year on Thanksgiving we did a family project, creating our own "thankfulness tree".  It was fun to come up with ideas of things we could write on leaves to say thank you to Jesus for. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.     ...

Our third child came to us on September 27th at 5:45 a.m. She was 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20.75 inches long. She is our first U.S. born child, as David and Emily were both born in Nicaragua.

This summer has been full of activities, celebrations, and traveling.   Here's a recap in pictures...   June 6: NCA graduation June 12: World Cup begins! June 18 - 26:  Our friend, Hannah, visits us in Nicaragua. June 21: Seeing Melody, Mark and Christine (on mission trips in Nicaragua). June 28: David and Emily travel with Grammie and GrandDad to the USA.  July 2: Luke and I finish packing and storing things in Nicaragua and fly to Indy. July 4: Parade in Sheridan, Indiana. July 7: Reunited with our kids in Colorado! July 7 - 10: Stay with Katy , Eric, and Winter in Denver. July 11 - 27: Family vacation in Frisco, Colorado with Grammie and GrandDad July 13: David turns 3 and all he wanted was a strawberry cake! July 24: Trying out a new restaurant for my birthday. July 26: Enjoying Dairy Queen for GrandDad's birthday. July 27 - August 1: DAR (Debriefing and Renew...

Luke and I had the opportunity to attend a DAR (Debriefing and Renewal) seminar the last week of July.  It was held at Mission Training International in Palmer Lake, Colorado.  This program was for any missionaries who had spent time on the mission field and were coming back to the US for a time. Topics included: stress, burn-out, soul care, healthy goodbyes and hellos, etc. We took this week as a wonderful gift from God.  We were very thankful that an anonymous donation came in to pay for more than half the cost of the conference!  And an added blessing was that our kids could spend the week with their Grammie and GrandDad, leaving us with kid-free meal times and evenings - a great chance to hang out with others or process what we'd been learning each day.   Though the program is pricey, we found it very helpful and would highly recommend it to any missionary who has spent any amount of time on the mission field.  It is so well worth it.  He...

We've been in the states just over two weeks.  Usually any "normal summer" is filled with visits to family and friends, a bit of traveling, enjoying all the goodies and treats we can cram in (can you say Dairy Queen blizzards?), and soaking up the time off of school.  Some parts of it are restful and some parts of it are very busy making sure we do everything in the short three week period of time. This time it's a bit different.  This time yes, we are here for summer break but it's also the knowing that we're living in the United States until next June.  It's the remembering that before we left Nicaragua this time we boxed everything up and put it in storage, said goodbye to friends, our home, our dog, Bella.  It's the weird feeling that we're here to stay for a while and that we've never actually lived in the United States together before. There are some benefits to this of course.  We feel less stressed trying to run around and see e...

As we look forward to our furlough (aka: rest/rejuvenation time from the mission field), there are some things I'm excited about!  There are also some things that I will miss about living in Nicaragua. The things listed below are not meant to be complaints or a comparison as to which country is better.  It is simply a way I can express this mix of emotions I'm feeling as this transition nears.  Excitement. Sadness. Relief.  Hope. Nostalgia.  Expectation.  Fears.  Peace.   Being a missionary involves the feeling of belonging to two places and not belonging fully in either place (I guess that is also influenced by the fact that I grew up as an MK).  Hopefully what's shared below gives you a glimpse into what things are going through my mind and heart these days as we prepare to go "home" for a little while. SEE ---  I'm excited about seeing: clean and litter-free streets and public areas our family, face to face (although Skype ...

Here are some shots of the kids over the past couple of months, interspersed with funny quotes I've recorded David saying.  Enjoy!   "Mom, what you doing?" (all the time!)  "Amen!" (after coloring with each crayon)   "Paul George play basketball."  "Bye bye toys.  I go Pizza Hut."     "Mama, God made all birds."   "Dada, you big boy?"   "Peyton Manning!" (random times)    "Mama, you pretty!"   "How 'bout airplane crash house?"   "Dada play basketball.  God make a basketball."   "Mama, Superman wear underwear?" David's ideas for baby #3 names: Moses Isaac Airplane Bigger-bigger-bigger Baby Mama (after finding out it will be a girl)