Whoa, where did 2011 go? I suppose time seeming to run in fast forward when you have a baby for the first time is just an inevitability, but man, that really snuck up on me.

Looking back over what I posted in 2011, I count about 32 posts, not including my weekly auto-posting of “Tweets of the Week” that gives me (and others if they’re interested) an overview of things (thoughts, pictures, links, etc) that seemed worthy of mention.  That doesn’t quite hit the 1/week rhythm I’d like to keep up with, but didn’t fall below 1/every other week either.  Hoping for some more consistency here in 2012.  We’ll see

As I survey what I did post, I spent a lot of time writing about theological education from a missiological perspective (initially in March, April, and May and then in a more focused manner in August, October, November, and December). The bulk those thoughts got encapsulated in a paper and video that I had the opportunity to contribute to that will hopefully continue to spur on some conversation over at thefutureoftheologicaleducation.com.

Theological Education wasn’t the only thing I wrote about however.  Among other things…

• I sketched out the focus of my doctoral research.
• I announced the birth of our daughter, Aubrianna Mae…
• And then offered my conversation with her about why I hope she never goes to Church.
• I talked about my identification with the Anabaptist theological tradition.
• I dove back in to some conversation about the “Missional Movement,” and the “Mega-Problems of Mega-Churches.”

So if that’s a brief look back, what’s in view with a look ahead?  Near as I can tell, 2012 will be punctuated by three major developments.

1. A Major Job Change

As of the first year, I’ve resigned my position at Northern Seminary in order to begin working with a new initiative named the Missio Alliance (no website quite yet, but it’s coming).  The basic purpose of the initiative is to bring together a cadre of theological and missiological voices from various streams of evangelicalism in order to begin to offer training and resources for the theological and pastoral formation of Christian leaders.  I’m excited about this opportunity not just because I’ll find the work personally gratifying, but because I think there is a major need for an initiative like this, one that seeks to be theologically centrist, relationally oriented, and structured around the tight integration of theology and practice.  If this sounds like something you’re interested in knowing more about or participating in, don’t hesitate to drop me a line.

2. Giving Ourselves to God’s Work in Elgin

For over a year now we’ve had the sense that God might be calling us to give more of our attention and energy to the people and needs of Elgin.  We are just as enamored with our church community, Life on the Vine, as we have ever been.  But, a huge part of what it means to be committed to the vision of Life on the Vine is maintaining a sense of openness to God’s leading for mission and this is what we feel like we’re responding to in faith.  While what this might mean is still very much up for discernment with others (including the pastors of LOV, our close friends, and those we feel like God has brought into our lives as friends and partners here in Elgin), our sense is that God is leading us to begin cultivating what we would call a “missional community” – a group of 20-50 others who identify with a common sense of mission and seek to invest in one another through common rhythms and practices around that mission.

3. Prayerfully Moving Forward with Adoption

Amy and I have talked about adoption for several years now, since before we were married as a matter of fact.  The big questions for us have been, “when will be a good time?” “and “where might we adopt from?”  We are still talking, praying, and asking questions about the various factors to consider in terms of domestic vs. international adoption, but at this point it’s fair to say that this is something we feel committed to and will perhaps formally begin the process of here in 2012.  Potentially, this could even mean moving to another home in Elgin that offers the kind of space that we might need as we consider getting a home study done.
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I’m sure that I’ll be posting much more about all of these things through this next year, but for those of you beautiful people that regularly ask what’s going on and how you might pray for us, near as I can tell, these are the things that will factor most substantively into the shape of life for the Rozko’s for the next 12 months.

As you lifeasmission readers out there may or may not know or remember, Amy and I found out that we were expecting our first child on our final day at the Lausanne World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa last October.  Our due date was June 29 (actually we found out last week that a more accurate due date would have been today, June 23), but our baby decided to make her way into the world just a little bit early, sneaking up on us yesterday.  Allow me to introduce you to Aubrianna Mae Rozko.  7 lbs even.  19.5 inches.  Born at 11:58 AM on 6/22/11.

This is her contemplative face.

I wanted to offer this update here as this little girl will of course be a MAJOR part of “life-as-mission” for me from now on, but if her sweetness and beauty are any gauge, she could easily become the ONLY thing that I ever write about.  So, for those of you who may frequent this blog just to keep up to speed on our family stuff, you’ll want to make note of another blog we’ve begun here.  There are already several posts up chronicling the last 9 months as well as some more recent stories and pictures.  Our little girl will of course make her way into posts here from time to time as I/we work through what it means for God’s kingdom to come in and through our emerging family, but we’ll undoubtedly add a lot more “day to day” stuff at the other blog.

For now, I’ll just offer a quote by a favorite theologian of mine and Amy’s, Stanley Hauerwas, that gets at the the attitude and approach that we desire to have toward this new identity we have as parents…

For Christians do not place their hope in their children, but rather their children are a sign of their hope, in spite of the considerable evidence to the contrary, that God has not abandoned this world.

Remember all those times you rolled your eyes at your grandparents when they started a sentence, “You know, when I was your age…” ?  I had one of those experiences the other day, but in reverse.  I felt like I was peering into the future.

I rolled up to a stop light with my window down and noticed that the car next to me was shut off.  Just when I was about to ask if they needed a jump, I realized that it was a hybrid, which basically shuts off when it comes to a stop – the engine stops running so it’s completely quiet.  It struck me as quite weird – and then I fast-forwarded 30 years or so and imagined myself in this same scenario, but as a grandparent with a grandchild sitting next to me (I guess they were old enough!)  Here’s how our conversation went…

Grandchild: “Grandpa, what’s that noise?”

Grandpa: “The car next to us is making that noise because the engine is running.”

Grandchild: “Grandpa, that’s crazy, everyone knows that car engines don’t run when cars are stopped!”

Grandpa (with aged predictability): “You know, when I was your age…”

Grandchild (with youthful predicatability): [rolls eyes]

Grandpa: [smiles with exceeding joy that his grandchild lives in a world where the idea of streets filled with planet-destroying automobiles that all run on non-renewable energy seems just as believable as the idea that one person could own another did when I was their age]

I am recently back from a 10 day trip to Kenya in Africa.  Though the entire trip was incredible from beginning to end, the highlight just might have been ringing in the New Year by participating in African tribal dances around a huge bonfire (which featured the stylings of Ben K. who introduced our Kenya friends to the timeless art of “the robot”).

I am really at a loss for how to summarize the trip.  It featured stops in Lagos, Nigeria, Nairobi, Kenya, and Dakar, Senegal.  We got to go on safari and see all sorts of beautiful African wildlife.  We attended a crusade, visited slums, drove through a market (which, by the way, was meant to be walked through), visited with local pastors, enjoyed local cuisine, helped to run a summer camp, and entered into relationship with an incredible bunch of orphans.

I had been dreaming about visiting Africa for a number of years and I’m already anxious to return.  The landscape, both cultural and spiritual, is something I long to further understand.  The marks of Western colonialism are painfully obvious and though I was overjoyed to hear one pastor speak openly against it (he preached a message about faithfulness being the mark of true success – a message I implored him to share with his bothers and sisters in the US), the prosperity gospel is sadly entrenched amongst African Christians.

I loved getting to travel and serve alongside the other guys on the team.  I could go on for a long time about the great stuff I saw out of them, not to mention stories of all the various Africans I got to know while we were there.  But I think I will leave anything further to these pictures (which I have tried my best to add helpful descriptions to) and any specific questions you might have.  I hope to share more pictures and links as others on the team post them.

Here’s some more from John.

About 10 years ago some friends started a tradition of gathering the Saturday before Thanksgiving to cook a meal together, play football, and to share with each other all that we were thankful for from the previous year.  This tradition has become a linchpin in the life of our community of friends.

More than simply attending, it is not uncommon for us as a group to do everything in our power to help others find a way to to be there to share in the day.  There is nothing magic about the day, but I do believe that there is something sacred about it.  It is perhaps the day of the year that I look most forward to.

Yearly, this community continues to grow.  Many people in our community are in the season of life where babies are coming into the picture.  These little ones add an incredible dimension to our community.  We have had conversations in the past about raising kids together and it was really cool to listen to Caris, the oldest kid in the group (almost 4), refer to all these people as “uncle” and “aunt.”

My friends Ryan and Heather have new born twins and I would venture to say that the rest of us cared for them more during the day – holding them, changing them, feeding them, and attending to their cries, than Heather and Ryan.  They are awesome parents, it’s got nothing to do with that, but everything to do with the fact that for us as a community there is no aspect of life that is not shared.

As always, the day of feasting on food and fellowship was followed up by a big ol slumber party back in Canton at a couple different houses.  The event on Saturday is special enough in and of itself, but some of my favorite memories are created after as we play games, continue to share meals, have coffee, share stories, and visit local favorite spots.  Man, I am already ready for Thanksgiving ’09!

Enjoy some pictures!