LukeandEllen.com

While we were visiting Ellen’s parents in Guatemala over our Spring Break, we had our first baby shower!  Well, it was sort of a mini-shower with just the the two of us, my parents, and grandparents in attendance.    But it was very special because we opened gifts from them and also from other family members who had sent things down.

The before picture

The after picture

We felt very blessed…so many fun and cute things for our baby!    From crib toys to bottles to boy and girl outfits to soft blankets to a pack ‘n play!  Thanks Mom and Dad, Grandmommy and Granddaddy, Karen, Aunt Beverly, Aunt Kelly, Sarah, Brenda, and Catherine!

So cute!

Baby Rosenberger on the Way!

The newest, most exciting news for us is that we are expecting our first child! We are so thankful for a healthy baby and happy mama-to-be so far! Ellen is at 17 weeks and the baby is due on her birthday, July 24. It was a huge blessing and a lot of fun to tell our families the news this Christmas. Ellen’s parents will be first-time grandparents and in Luke’s family, our baby will be the 7th grandchild. We are planning on having the baby here in Nicaragua and Ellen is looking forward to her new role as a mom at home. Please pray with us for a continued healthy pregnancy.

Nicaragua Christian Academy had it’s fourth annual Spiritual Emphasis Day for the Secondary students  on January 28th. The day was focused on spiritual topics in main sessions, praise and worship and classroom sessions. The students each attended four sessions from various missionary speakers throughout the day. One of the highlights from the 140 middle school and high school students was reading letters that their parents had written to them. This is one of the favorite days of the year for Luke to be involved in because of the spiritual growth of the students.

  

Soon to be 1st time grandparents

At Ellen’s family Christmas, we had her parents open their gifts last.  We gave Ellen’s mom a picture frame that says “#1 Grandma” with these words inside: Insert photo after July 24, 2011.  Ellen’s dad opened a man-sized mug that says “World’s Greatest Grandpa”.  It took a few seconds to register and then Ellen’s mom exclaimed, “Are you pregnant?”  Yep!!!  This will be the first grandbaby on Ellen’s side so her parents are pretty excited to be grandparents!

We later told the rest of Ellen’s extended family, Luke’s immediate family (all 18 of them), Luke’s extended family, and our “other family” of teachers, co-workers, and friends here in Nicaragua!  It was fun to share our exciting news in creative ways each time.  Looking forward to the arrival of Baby Rosenberger on or around July 24, 2011, which is Ellen’s birthday!

On December 20th, we will celebrate our first year of marriage!  It has been a wonderful year and we’ve had so much fun establishing a life and a home together.  Despite missing family, God has blessed us with each other.  Throughout this year we have been continually reminded of His care and provision in our lives.

As much as we all look forward to each school year coming to a close, there is that sad realization that hits, “The seniors won’t be coming back.” This year was another great class of NCA Seniors that will be missed when the school year begins in August.

NCA Graduation is the dress-up event of the year (since there is no Prom). It’s fun to see everyone showing up looking their best.

This class was particularly special to Ellen because she had most of them in class as 9th graders her first year of teaching at NCA.

Luke taught them as 8th graders his first year of teaching at NCA.  6 of the Seniors were in youth group leadership.  They helped out in so many ways from running games, leading music, planning retreats, etc.

Congrats, class of 2009!

A few weeks ago we lead a High School Retreat with the youth group here in Nicaragua.  This year there were 37 students who came along with 11 leaders. 

With a bus load of kids and a few other vehicles we headed up north, about a 3 hour drive from Managua, near Jinotega.  We stayed at a Young Life camp that is run by a family of one of our teens.  We all enjoyed the cooler weather up there! 

The kids enjoyed various activities such as: canoeing, rock climbing, zip lining, and team challenges.  We also had two sessions with our speaker, one that was held in the middle of a prayer labyrinth. 

This was a very powerful and unique experience for many of the kids.  Each of them walked single file through this labyrinth on a prayer walk until they reached the center that had a cross in it.  It was one of the coolest experiences from what we heard.  Our youth band was in the middle with a guitar and bongos leading worship and preparing our hearts for the message. 

It was evident that the youth had a great time together on the retreat and it was neat to see how teams bonded together.  A lot of effort and planning went into the retreat and we praise God for the work that He is continuing to do in these students.  We appreciate your prayers as we both seek to lead our students in a way that is wise and driven by passion for Christ.    

Ellen's Pre-K level II class

Every day before snack time, our class sings a prayer:

“Thank you, God 
For my food
And my many blessings
Say Amen.”

Several days ago I asked the kids to give me some ideas of what other things they could be thankful for besides food.  In other words, what are some blessings in their lives.

 This is what they came up with:

• my mom
• my dad
• my sister
• books to read
• the sun
• the playground

Before we were done, one of my boys raised his hand and said “You!”  He shyly put his head down on his desk as my face filled with joy.  What a sweet thing to say.  It is my prayer that I have been a blessing to each one of these kids.

As my class heads towards Kindergarten, I am sad to see them go.  They all have been little blessings to me.  I’m looking forward to enjoying this last month or so that I have with them.

May God send blessings your way today!