It has been a CRAZY busy last 2 1/2 months! Let us fill you in with what has been going on with us via posts and pictures. Love to you ALL and we hope you all had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and that your new year is prosperous. **Remember, the ONLY thing that matters concerning what we do with our lives, is what we do for Christ. When we bow before Him someday, we will wish we had given Him more! With Care, The Rodrigues Family
Our travels began the middle of October with about 3 weeks of traveling. Our first meeting was in PA near our old stomping grounds of where we used to live in New York right before we moved to WV.
LOVED meeting one of my most loyal FB followers here. – Ruth Carpenter.
While there, what a TOTAL joy it was to have my WONDERFUL and generous Aunt Val come and visit us in Pennsylvania- which was fairly near where she lived. π She took us out to eat and spent the whole day Saturday with us! She is a gem and I am honored to call such a SPECIAL lady my aunt! πππ Jill
What a GREAT last week it was at Elkdale Baptist Church! We LOVE you guys and are honored to have met such great, new friends!
Thank you for everything and for your hospitality and delicious food you served us day after day!
Until Next Time, The Rodrigues Family
While in the area… Sometimes I just need to reminisce. Although the memories bring an ache to my heart…of childhood memories gone by at dear old Grandpa and Grandma’s house…it is well worth re-visiting those nearly perfect memories.
On Monday night, these wonderful friends of ours (in New York) had us over for dinner. How can I describe such great friends that we go back with nearly 20 years. They have ALWAYS stood behind our family and our decisions and we have gone through adult life together…whether near or far apart. Anderson Family, thank you! We love you and your precious children. The food was delicious! Our love and appreciation, The Rodrigues Family
Pressing on to the next church we sang at in VERMONT! This is a note from the Pastor posted on FB….
“Our missions revival begins in just less than one hour! The Rodrigues family are here! So excited!” -Pastor Daniel Anderson
I was SO excited! My son Phillip (15 yrs.) who has a DEEP love for God and a PASSION for righteousness, had an opportunity to preach in Vermont for the 1st time!
What a JOY it was on our way home from this trip, we got to visit my sister and family. β€ I got to meet my new nephew Chapman for the first time!
“Angie, I love it when we get to nurse together, go to church together, laugh together, embrace, agree in God’s Word together, clean together, train our children together, and just simply share life together as sisters. πππ You are refreshing to me and thank you for your hospitality towards our large family. Of course, you have 8, so God is blessing you with a big family also!” π Love Forever, Jillie (your sis)
P.S. I simply LOVE your new home! It is GORGEOUS! ππ
At the tail end of our trip to Pennsylvania and Vermont, I turned 40!! Yikes! New hairdo for my 40th birthday – pictured below. Do you like? Hmmm, I am not sure I like the sound of 40! However, I LOVE this phase of life…with grown children, teens, and babies. I LOVE my family! My family spoiled me rotten and I feel like the MOST blessed lady on the face of the earth! ππ€ππ
Sometimes you just have to stop everything…the busyness of life, work, etc. And just PLAY with your children. Soak in the moments, for they grow far too quickly! π I love my children more than life itself and I am SO blessed God gave them to me! ππ
Speaking of children… Below is the Plexus X-Factor Children’s Chewable Multi-Vitamin! You should SERIOUSLY order some today and help your children be the HEALTHIEST they can be!!
Benefits and Facts….
*Gluten Free
*Non GMO
*Vegetarian
*No artificial ANYTHING!
*4 BILLION active cultures for gut and immune health
*Effective and AMAZING ingredients!
*Support healthy immune and digestive system
*Support growing bone, teeth, and muscles
*Supports healthy brain function
You can order some from my Plexus website at- www.plexusworldwide.com/jillrodrigues
What a JOY it is having Kevin & Amy & their 6 children & the Foster Family live here in West Virginia now. It is a BLAST when we all get together.
BTW, Amy and Betsy are my “uplines” in Plexus and they absolutely LOVE Plexus and are faithful in taking it EVERY day! *Notice my NEW Plexus sweatshirt that my wonderful daughter Nurie bought me for my birthday!
I LOVE spending time with these godly ladies! Amy (as always) is my hero! Betsy is due for her 4th baby any day now . Amber just had a precious baby boy- Moses (Nurie is holding him in the photo below) this past September. Ladies, I LOVE you all!
We voted in November! As a Christian, it is our responsibility to make SURE we get out and vote!
Absolutely LOVE having God’s people over for fellowship. These dear folks (LePage Family) are missionaries to Guernsey.
Hope you all had a thankful Thanksgiving!
It’s pumpkin cookie decorating time! π Yum! Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! ππ
More pictures of Thanksgiving Season Foods. Ymmm! Pumpkin goodies made from scratch. Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Seeds. Ymm!
Cute BOY moment showing off to Mama their muscles to impress me and have me express to them whose were the BIGGEST! LOL.
Olivia. All she wanted for Christmas was her 4 front teeth. LOL. π (Just kidding. She got a realistic baby doll and accessories.) π
*BEFORE and *AFTER pictures of our back patio. We got it done JUST in the nick of time for Thanksgiving. We had a small crowd this year for Thanksgiving…only 34 people were here. LOL. (For us, that really is small.)
Thank you, Babe, for all your hard work to get this done. I LOVE you! -Jilly
I am so proud of my Phillip. On his VERY first day of hunting EVER, he got a deer! It was small, because earlier he (by mistake) scared off a 6 point buck. π« So, he was determined to get the next deer that came. It was this little one. π He was SO excited! It dropped dead in its tracks. “Good shot, Phillip!” π
I am a tender heart when it comes to animals. That is why David doesn’t ever take me. LOL. He is afraid I would shout a warning to the deer. LOL. π However, we love deer meat and are thankful! π
Total, we have 3 deer in the freezer. (David got one also and we had a friend give us one.) π
Thanksgiving Day ARRIVED! Yeah!
Memories from when everyone was here for Thanksgiving! π It was a JOYOUS time! π
*Check out these ADORABLE dresses Angie made for her two little girls – Azalea and Amity. π Aren’t they beautiful?!
Also, the guys LOVE to play card games.π
Last pic….the “ladies” went out for coffee on Saturday. Blessings, Jill π
Can’t believe our little Sadie is already 5 years old! π’ We had fun putting on this “Cinderella” birthday party for her.
Happy 5th birthday, Sadie girl. Daddy and Mama love you more than you will ever know! ππππ
We got a REAL Christmas tree. SUCH a cozy family night! Do YOU have any Christmas traditions that you do each year?
I hosted an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. I had a lovely group of neighbors and friends come. These were some of the ladies present. π We had a great time! β€ Check out these cute sweaters.
Merry Christmas!! God blessed us with a very Merry Christmas!! Below are Tessie and Hannah’s gifts – realistic Baby Dolls!
I just love living near my precious sister- Amy Foster and her DEAR family! We all went and saw “Bethlehem” LIVE nativity.
It was a bit rainy, but it made it much less crowded.
It was a lovely night…topped off with hot chocolate and cookies and then we went over to their house for fellowship afterwards. I LOVE my family and it inspires me to “hang” around my hero- Amy.
All About Janessa…
7 months old…
8 months old…
Can’t believe this little cutie is already 8 months old! She is doing AMAZING and creeping all over the floor!
We ADORE her and are abundantly blessed to have her in our lives! π
We had another appointment today with Janessa’s Neurologist Pediatric Specialist Doctor. He carefully examined her and continues to see NO areas of concern.
He said his only concern is the MRI results (from right after she was born) in how her brain is malformed and some of it is damaged (due to in utero stroke…they think). Also, she is missing her corpus callosum…the part of the brain that connects the left and right sides of the brain. These issues often cause seizures, developmental challenges with motor skills and also speech/academic learning skills, etc.
However the doctor said that in SOME cases you don’t notice anything wrong! Well, guess what? That describes our MIRACLE Janessa! She is doing AMAZING!
The doctor does not need to see her for a whole YEAR now and he told us the next “hurdles” for Janessa to overcome, are walking and talking. π She already babbles a lot and copies our word sounds. To he honest, she seems further ahead than some of our other children did at her age.
When SO many people are suffering, what do you do when you receive such INCREDIBLE NEWS?! You lift your hands to Heaven to glorify our WORTHY Saviour! A God that is STILL in the miracle working business! A God that answers prayer! A God that is SO deserving of our praise…through the good and the bad.
Thank you, Jesus! I am BEYOND grateful to your goodness to us in SO many ways…but especially in the case with our precious, little Janessa!
***Marriage Counseling Begins!!***
For years in New York, my husband taught a Young Married Couples Class. We LOVED helping to strengthen marriages and love on people.
Recently, God has opened a door for me to do some marriage counseling. It has turned into a “once a month” event…where we will gather, pray, and study about the Biblical role of wife and mother.
We are looking for some fairly local ladies, that feel they need this encouragement, to join us!
If this is something you are interested in, please let me know and I will send you the details!
– Jill
Although we are VERY thankful for the TOOL of social media to promote our ministries, this below poem is a GOOD reminder NOT to let it control our lives and distract us from serving Jesus and to win souls for Christ!
Poem written by our good friend and “brother in law” (of sorts) – Steven Foster. What a blessing and powerful reminder!
Look Up!!
We look at our phone, and stare at a screen, but is it known, what this could mean?
While Facebook has your eyes, and youβre focused on the one who texted you, you might not realize, youβre missing the one whoβs next to you.
Itβs time to admit, weβve lost control,
or we can just sit, watching it take itβs toll.
Staring into a screen, as life passes you by,
oh what a sad scene, itβs happening you canβt deny.
Itβs time to look up, and put down the phone, before we have to drink the cup, of all the seeds weβve sown.
Look at the one, beside you, and never let your phone, hide you.
Life is so precious, and goes by so fast,
please donβt forget this, for it soon will be past.
Look up today, and see whoβs around you, and soon you will say, Iβm glad I looked up and found you.
We need to look up at the faces walking by, and show them love before we die.
We need to look all the way up to the One who can save, for He made a way to live beyond the grave.
Look up, look up, and call on Jesus,
for only He, can truly save us.
By Steven Foster
All About Timothy…..
We left him in Washington State for College back in August. He has been gone from us now for over 4 months. These are the SPECIAL things that happened while he was away. (P.S. He JUST got back for Christmas! Yeah!)
When your son is at work and sends you this picture (this is an “I LOVE YOU” sign in American sign language)…well, it makes me cry. I am SO blessed!
When you get a card in the mail (like the one below), well, you weep with JOY and THANKSGIVING! We are blessed parents! ππ We LOVE and miss you, Timothy! ππ -Mama
Yesterday, I cried and cried and cried…because this beautiful delivery came to me from my wonderful son Timothy. (See below)
He is paying his own way through Bible college and has to be VERY careful with his money to be able to pay all his bills. YET, he saved and scraped together enough money to do this for me. It just blessed me SO much that the tears flowed! π
Timothy, God is going to DEEPLY bless your life, because you have greatly honored us- your parents. We love you and are SO pleased with your godly choices! My Love and DEEPEST Gratitude, Mamma xoxoxo
Timothy was not able to be with us this Thanksgiving, but we look forward to him coming for Christmas! God provided (through Timothy’s prayer partner-who had flight points) for him to fly home for Christmas. Hallelujah!
Later…..I am SO proud of Timothy. He finished his final week of college for this semester and he has had to study SO hard for all of his final exams! π― He has worked SO hard to pay his way through this first semester totally debt free! He is literally one of the most hard working modern day people I know!
**Check out this clock that Timothy painted and made from scratch for an assignment at college. The teacher said to make something that points us upward. Timothy thought of making a clock…reminding us that time is fleeting and to use our time wisely for God. He painted mountains that point towards Heaven. ***Also, can you tell our family likes to bake? LOL. Look at the holiday goodies Timothy also made all the way in Washington?
Bud, you did a beautiful job and I am SO honored by your godly choices! Love, Mama
**Finally, Christmas Eve Arrived and our Timothy (whom we have missed SO much) came home from college for a couple of weeks!
**On Timothy’s flight home he posted…
This is Timothy Rodrigues. I am so excited to be coming home for Christmas! I get to be with my family for two weeks. I wish it could be longer, but I don’t want to miss too much work.
Timothy got back Christmas Eve and it has been heavenly having all 13 of my children back under one roof (for 2 weeks anyway).
Janessa was a little scared of Timothy at first, but she warmed up quickly to him.
We went on a double date while Timothy was back for the holidays from College. While Timothy and Nurie wait for godly, chaste mates; they enjoy each others grown, adult company. Check out these awesome photos!
As you embark upon the New Year of 2019, don’t forget to seek God’s blessing upon ALL you do. In Christian Love, The Rodrigues Family
P.S. What taking a righteous stand (in the Name of Jesus) results in… (posted below). YET, what an HONOR it is!
Luke 6:22
“Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.”
Mark 13:13
“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Matthew 24:9
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”
This is what we should do with it though…
Matthew 5:43 & 44
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”
Sometimes we feel we stand alone, but then God reminds and comforts us with His remnant. It is an HONOR serving Jesus!
-The Rodrigues Family
***Food for thought…