http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog en angela@afcoaches.com Copyright 2013 2013-06-15T15:33:57+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/honored_and_blessed http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/honored_and_blessed#When:15:33:57Z This past Wednesday, I (Gary) had the privilege of receiving on behalf of Barb and myself, as well as the entire America's Family Coaches team, the State of Iowa Governor's Volunteer award. As you likely know, we are passionate about serving the military marriages that God has brought into our lives. We launched this ministry in 2006 and have ministered to national guard units in the Army and Air Force, Marines, Sailors from the Navy, leaders at the Command Staff and General College and heroes from Ft. Bragg and Ft. Hood. And over the last year we have become the "marriage coaches" for HelpingAHero.org, an organization serving wounded military service men and women. Our lives will never be the same as we have learned so much from serving all of these heroic men and women that serve us all daily and put their lives on the line for our freedom! Recently, we were nominated by the Iowa National Guard for this award. General Tim Orr, the Adjutant General of Iowa's National Guard sent us a letter a few months back telling us we were nominated by Major Jason Edwards, one of the soldiers whose family we served while he was in Afghanistan for a year. We were humbled and honored. So Wednesday, I drove solo (Barb was taking her parents to a funeral) and received the award on behalf of our team. I also presented Governor Terry Branstad with the America's Family Coaches military coin for standing with us in our ministry. This quarter we are celebrating that we have officially distributed over 20,000 of our resources to these heroic families worth over $400,000. This has only been possible because of generous donations from friends like you. Thank you for equipping us to serve these heroes so well. We are a small part of helping them, but we are diligent to the Lord's calling. May the Lord bless you. Thanks for your friendship. Guard your hearts, Gary and Barb 2013-06-15T15:33:57+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/promise_keepers_recap http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/promise_keepers_recap#When:22:31:51Z PK Phoenix 2013 is history...and  what a God sized experience it was! I want to thank our Marriage Champions prayer warriors, plus others that prayed for me. I also want to thank our Facebook friends that are reading this update.The photos will tell much of the story! I was encouraged by the platform team to be willing to go "off script" to speak into the hearts of the over 4,000 men at PK, from some of my own current situations of my life. We are going through a bit of a "Perfect Storm" including health issues, supporting our married daughters and kids, the aging of Barb's parents and other stresses. This brought the truth of Paul's message to the people of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 to even greater clarity for me. "Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be men of courage, be strong. Do everything in love." My message assignment was entitled "Defending the Homefront." God was honored, and the Holy Spirit came down as I had desperately prayed it would. I was poured out, as should be the case when God uses all of us. But the real story is in the "stories of some of the people I met." A couple of examples...Terry (and Robert) who volunteered to man my book table and sell Guard Your Heart. They served with humility and honor. Thank you. Vanessa was a 31 year old single gal working the hotel gift shop, and when I asked "Do you have any Tums after a Friday night dinner of BBQ?" she replied "yes I do." My response? "You saved me!" to which with a big smile on her face replied "no Jesus did that!" Well you can imagine that was all it took. Before the next 15 minutes were up, I was praying over her, she had taken her pink NASB Bible out from under the counter and showed me how she is getting up early each morning to learn more about God, we made plans for Barb and me to send her a book and have her listen to us for 10 minutes a day on OnePlace.com. What a serendipty. Ed, Lucia, Greg, Harold, Raliegh, Matthew, Eric, Hudson, Bob, Stan, Gale, Dana, Wayne, Duane...as well as Larry Jackson and others were men that prayed with or for me and connected. I prayed with an Air Force airmen, a soldier, church small groups and others at our table. But likely the story of all stories occurred after lunch Saturday. I went to my booth having prayed with several men on the floor of the arena after my talk before lunch...and Zach and Aman approached me. A couple of 20 year olds (Zach is in the red sweatshirt in the photo below) and told me a story that rocked me. I asked him to email me it which he promised to do, and it is here for you to read and praise God for. This young, single man was called by God to leave the arena and go wash his 24 year old sister (Kassi's) feet to honor her for protecting them during the painful days of their childhood experiences. Read it. Pray for Zack and Kassi. And be moved to do the work in your own life where you need to follow God at the drop of a Holy Spirit driven thought like Zack. I am home. I am spent. I am grateful. Thank you for going with me as my prayer team. Thank you friends on Facebook for joining us in praising God for HIS FAITHFULNESS. As I told the men during my talk "you can forget my name," but we will all remember the incredible work Jesus did during our time together at PK. By the way, make no mistake about it, PK IS BACK. Guard your hearts, Gary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zack's Story: “You’re not going to remember my name, but I don’t care.” – Gary Rosberg When this story is read, understand that no credit is due to me for the events that took place. God put something in my heart and encouraged me through the words that he put on Gary’s heart. In other words this is for God’s glory. It all began Friday night when my buddy, Alam and I, decided to pray before we called it a night. I recall asking God to please reach out to my loved ones in my family, especially to my close sister, Kass. I asked God to please show her how much he loved her and to grow her faith. The very next day at Promise Keepers I listened to Gary Rosberg begin his talk. He asked, “What is breaking the hearts of your wife and kids?” Though I had neither, I knew none the less these words could be applied to the members in my family. He continued to encourage the large stadium of men with scriptures like 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 and Psalm 51. We were instructed to do everything in love, even though that means sometimes putting aside our own goals so we can encourage and affirm those in our families. He then showed a video how a man did just that. An older man was shown washing his family’s feet like Jesus did for his disciples. The man in the video humbly and lovingly washed the members in his family’s feet and apologized for his wrong actions (sin) in his life and encouraged them to follow after God. Gary also shared in his message about how when it comes to our life and the things God calls us to do; we don’t always get it until we look back at it. I would soon find out that these words were true. After the video ended, a memory that I had long forgotten vividly appeared in my head. I was 6 years old, and my sister Kassie was covering my ears so I couldn’t hear my parents fighting in the next room. We were both in tears. The image broke my heart, I knew that memory signified the beginning of a lot of pain for us both since our parents soon divorced after that day long ago. I can’t explain how or what God’s voice is. But in the next moment I knew I had to see my sister and wash her feet just as Jesus did and the man portrayed in the video. Gary then wrapped up his talk and dismissed us for our hour long lunch break. I was instructed by God to do something. In that moment my heart began to pound, and I felt a boldness (a feeling that is not the norm for me.) I was determined to do what God had asked. As soon as I got out of my seat my mind was bombarded with doubt. Things like, “You don’t even have a car to drive to see her.” Or “You’re crazy if you think you can get this done in an hour.” “Do you think this is even that important?” “You’re only going to freak her out.” “Look at this crowd, you’ll never make it through.” “She’s with her boyfriend, he is going to disapprove.” “Why you?” “You’re wasting your time, she’s only going to be weirded out, you don’t want to look weird do you?” “Plus, you don’t have anything to wash her feet with.” Looking back I can now see this was the enemy trying to sow doubt. I can remember the words, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins,” from James 4:17 run through my mind. I was then encouraged, and the doubt died. I told Alam, my friend who I prayed with the previous night about what God had put on my heart. He then said, “Okay, I’ll take you to her.” We then made our way through the large crowd and hit the highway. I texted my sister, “Can I see you for lunch?” She replied, “Do you even have the time?” I replied, “Sometimes you have to make time for what’s important.” She then gave me the address to her location. (iPhones are awesome) Before arriving Alam and I prayed that God would give me the right words to speak. I had no idea what I was going to say. Before I got out of the car I grabbed a shirt and headed into the building where Kassie was. My heart was pounding again. I passed a bathroom and turned back as soon as I saw it and wet the shirt with soap and water and I snagged some paper towels. I then called her name, “Kassie?” I heard, “I’m in here.” She was sitting on the floor studying. I walked in and sat in front of her and said,” hi!”I then said, “I was at Promise Keepers and I have something that has been put on my heart. I’m going to wash your feet.” She soon crossed her legs and said, “No, no you’re not.” I looked at her and said, “I have to.” I grabbed each foot and took off her shoes. I still had no idea what was going to come out of my mouth. Then I looked into her eyes and began washing her feet and I said, “Kassie, I know there has been a lot of hurt in your life. I know you didn’t have a father that told you how beautiful you were and said that he loved you and spent a lot of time with you. I know you didn’t have a perfect mom that you felt close to.” She interrupted me, “Zack its okay.” I continued to speak, and I know we don’t see eye to eye about faith in God and I’m sorry if I ever judged you (the tears stared pouring down my face at this point) or told you what you should be doing, it isn’t my place. Please forgive me and know that I love you, but more importantly, God loves you more. (She began to tear up) I know it doesn’t all make sense right now, but it will. I know one day you will have kids and you will be a great mom to them. And I pray for you and Adam that you will have it all; God, love, joy, and peace. I am so proud of you for working and going to school and trying to do your best in life. I feel so privileged to be your brother. I remembered today how when I was small and you would protect me and cover my ears instead of yours when mom and dad would fight. And like you were there for me, I will be here for you. I love you so much Kassie.” I hugged her and she began to sniffle. I let go and said, well I have to go now, I hope we can spend some more time together soon. On our way back to Promise Keepers she responded with a text, “Thanks for coming to see me. It means a lot.” My response, “Well I love ya, and we made it back on time J Study hard. I could use a good example.” Her response, “Haha...we can learn different things from each other.”   That day I experienced the privilege of being obedient to God and the power of love. And I am confident my sister will again come back to know Christ as her personal savior and make him Lord of her life. “Watch, stand fast in faith, be brave, be strong. Let all you do be done with love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 2013-05-20T22:31:51+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/guard_your_heart_military_marriage_conference_miramar http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/guard_your_heart_military_marriage_conference_miramar#When:17:51:43Z Barb and I are praising God for the incredible ministry that occurred at the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar on Friday! This is our third visit in 6 months (November Date Night, January Marriage Conference and the April Marriage Conference.) We originally were invited through two different friends: Captain Tony Semelroth, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, and Lt. Commander Jarrod Day, who is serving in the Navy in Florida. So unfortunately neither of these good, good men were with us. However, Tony's wife, Jenni, was with us and we honor her. We hope to join Jarrod and Jamie with their new colleagues for a Date Night later this year in Florida. This was an incredible event. We coached these military couples on connection in three areas: emotional, sexual and spiritual. In their training they are often taught to lean into logic rather than feeling, so our teaching in this area is critically important in order to coach up their marriages. Sexual purity is essential in a Godly marriage. We also know that pornography has taken a toll in men and women alike so the coaching of moral purity, affair proofing their marriages during deployment, as well as being together is critical in helping their marriages. And then finally, the introduction of spiritual intimacy is a key part of any marriage. For some this was a reminder. For others a new idea for their honest consideration. We are once again reminded of a few things from this conference: First of all there is incredible leadership in the military. Lt. Col. Kevin Korpinen is a star. We honor him and are so grateful for his leadership in bringing his Marines and spouses. Kevin and Denise are a great couple with incredible passion for marriage. Commander Scott Morton from the USS Boxer not only brought couples from his aircraft carrier but also from the USS Makin Island and the USS New Orleans. Scott and his bride Melinda are incredible leaders and love marriage and impacting the spiritual lives of these heroes. And then our dear friend, Chaplain Robert LeCompte and his bride, Rebecca, whom has hosted us three times, also once again outserved us. Please pray for these heroes. We provided over $12,000 in free DVD's and books to these couples. Chick-fil-A (Brent and Ashley from Mira Mesa) served them all the food they could eat. 40 kids were taken care of and God was honored. Pray for the next step for Barb and myself in serving these men and women. They are heroes and deserve everything we can do for them! And then look forward to my next posting as I join HelpingaHero.org on Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday in Dallas. I will be serving wounded warrior couples, their staff and board in coaching them up on Wednesday following Roger Staubach on Tuesday night. Thank you for teaming up with America's Family Coaches and praying for us and supporting us!!! Guard your heart, Gary Rosberg 2013-04-28T17:51:43+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/final_four_marriage_events http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/final_four_marriage_events#When:23:15:28Z Barb and I had the honor of coaching marriages at the Final Four this weekend in Atlanta! Gary Lydic, our Vice President of Development at America's Family Coaches, introduced us to this ministry opportunity in 2003. This is our 7th Final Four and 6th in a row where we have the honor of coaching teachable couples! Today we introduced our Date with a Purpose Four Week Challenge helping them "get their date on!" Pray for these couples as they continue to purpose to keep first things first by winning at home and in their spiritual lives and marriages... Guard your hearts, Gary & Barb 2013-04-07T23:15:28+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/the_great_marriage_experience_recap http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/the_great_marriage_experience_recap#When:01:08:10Z Wow...what a weekend... A couple of years ago, Barb and I had the privilege of meeting Chris and Terry Peterson at a conference in California. They live in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and are passionate about strengthening marriages in their church and beyond. To put it mildly, they have the same DNA as Barb and myself. So the seed was planted and this weekend we saw the harvest. We joined the Petersons, Judge Randy and Terri Koschnick (also on the marriage team), Pastor Terry (Senior Pastor of the church) and a staff team including Mack (and Josie), Brian, Wes and more...to bring The Great Marriage Experience to over 150 couples wanting to go deeper in biblical marriages. Judge Randy, Terri Koschnick and Chris and Terri Peterson with Barb and me at the Crosspoint Church Great Marriage Experience Conference in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin! One of the unique aspects of this church is they all took the Rosberg Marital Assessment Program (RMAP) before we arrived for the event, which allowed them to not only have their individual results for their own marriage but allowed Barb and me to give an "overview" of an aggregate of their responses to equip Pastor Terry and the marriage team to zero in on their needs for the future. The Great Marriage Experience Marriage Conference at Crosspoint Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Grand slam! We had a blast...and fell in love with this community of marriages that are taking a stand in the Milwaukee area in Wisconsin. We can't wait for the next step as they potentially bring the 6 Secrets message to their church and see covenant homes established, celebrated and cheered on. Go Crosspoint!! Guard your hearts, Gary and Barb 2013-03-15T01:08:10+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/we_love_promise_keepers http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/we_love_promise_keepers#When:23:38:28Z Barb and I had one of the most incredible times of both ministry and connection over the Valentine's Day weekend. As many of our friends know, I began speaking with Promise Keepers in 1996 and spoke annually for 10 years. Last year I circled back with this great ministry which is "back" and spoke in Cedar Falls, Iowa and Cleveland. This year I am on tap to speak at three of the six conferences (Tulsa, Daytona Beach and Phoenix). My sweetie and I rarely give up our Valentine's Day personal celebration, but when Dr. Raliegh Washington, PK CEO and President, invited us to speak to a gathering of couples in California last weekend, we emphatically said yes because of our love for the team, the calling and the legacy. I am here to say "PK is definitely back"... Barb and I went deep in ministry to couples gathered speaking with vulnerability and passion on the importance of marriage. We also introduced our "Date with a Purpose" 4 week Date Night Challenge on the gloo app to our friends! Grand slam. Music was provided by Nic Gonzalez from the group Salvadore. He is married to Jaci Velesquez who joined Barb, Nic and me in ministry as she sang during part of our presentation bringing a deeply moving time of ministry to all of us in the room. Praise God...and I hope to see you on the road at Promise Keepers in 2013! Guard your heart, Gary 2013-02-19T23:38:28+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/date_night_at_chick_fil_a http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/date_night_at_chick_fil_a#When:23:44:44Z We had a great time doing Date 3 at Chick-fil-A Paradise Pointe last week. You can still use the Des Moines Area Deals in the mobile content to get great deals at Chick-fil-A Paradise Pointe and other places in the Des Moines area through most of this week. Now we're getting geared up for Valentine's and the final part of Date with a Purpose! How are you going to celebrate Valentine's Day? 2013-02-11T23:44:44+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/they_still_sleep_together http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/they_still_sleep_together#When:22:14:36Z I just hung up the phone from encouraging my mom over the piece that was written about them in today's Sunday edition of the Des Moines Register. She was concerned because the article stated that they didn't sleep together and she wants everyone to know--"they still sleep TOGETHER!" Ha! Wonderful that at the ages of 91 and 95 they are still CONNECTED!  The fact is that when the reporters were with them from the paper, my dad was in skilled care for a couple of weeks and my mom was in assisted living; I sat and listened during the entire two hour and fifteen minute interview and these two lovebirds were bemoaning the fact that they were not sleeping in the SAME BED. I sat there like a kid and thought, "This is too much information!" But no, they carried on about how important it was to them both that they shared the same bed...and I'm sure I saw a twinkle in my dad's eyes as he stared at my mom. Goodness, I felt like I was four all over again as they would start to kiss, and I'd try to stand between them trying to make them stop. But today, fifty five years later it's one of my favorite memories of my parents' intensely potent attraction and love for each other that they've shared together over my lifetime, and today they still are madly in love wanting the world to know that yes--they still sleep together after 72 years. My advice, go home and give your spouse a 6 second kiss, you know the kind we teach at our conferences...and if you're at all inclined don't stop at 6, keep kissing til' the kids try to pull you apart and in fifty some years they'll remember with a smile--that my folks really had what it took to have a great marriage.   Loads of love from my heart, Barb See the front page images from the article.  2013-02-10T22:14:36+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/date_night_at_bangbang_mongolian_grill http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/date_night_at_bangbang_mongolian_grill#When:14:55:03Z We had a great time on our Date 2 for Date Night Challenge on Thursday night at BangBang Mongolian Grill! Can't wait for Date 3 next week! How was your date night this week? Share what you did with a photo from your date on our Facebook page! Read more details about next week's date. If you live in central Iowa, we hope you will join us! Guard your hearts, Gary & Barb 2013-02-02T14:55:03+00:00 http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/date_night_des_moines http://www.americasfamilycoaches.com/blog/date_night_des_moines#When:02:54:00Z What started as a dream several months ago has now come to full fruit, and what a harvest we are experiencing! Barb and I were invited in 2011 to join in on the ground floor of a movement of taking our written resources and joining with other "marriage champions" (authors) in bringing our message to a new format of a mobile app. As we began to dream about the exponential growth of our message joining with other marriage strengthening champions our dreams got bigger and bigger. And last Thursday night (January 24) we saw an overwhelming response to this "big idea"of our friends at Gloo (the mobile app platform designers and hosts). Our team has been working for months to load mobile content into this new app (Gloo) with the strategy of launching a four week challenge in our hometown of Des Moines, Iowa with old friends and new friends worldwide. With over 460 attendees at our free, no registration event last Thursday evening, we were blown away with the response, interest and passion that couples married a handful of months up to sixty some years showed as they gathered for the launch of our four session Date with a Purpose content on the Gloo app. Couples came from churches, individually, some new to our ministry and other old friends. Coldstone Creamery at Jordan Creek Mall provided free ice cream, the Chick-fil-A "cow" roamed the church, and we maxed out the internet capability of the church with so many couples loading the app on their iPhones, Androids and iPads. We had paper copies of the app content for those that didn't have mobile devices and saw couples delighted with a date "for just the two of them." Our team also took on the potentially daunting task of launching a livestream video of the event (https://new.livestream.com/americasfamilycoaches/DateNight), which was picked up by couples and small groups across the world. We had viewers across the US, in Guatemala, Malaysia, Germany, Canada, Finland, South Africa and more!   Our media production team didn't miss a beat in delivering HD quality video for our friends tuning in. There were 500 unique visitors tuned into the livestream that night, as well as through Facebook and our website. You can still view the event coaching couples up on romance and connection via livestream on our website (americasfamilycoaches.com/date) and Facebook page. We have also challenged couples to take the next three weeks to be part of the four week date night challenge culminating on Valentine's Day. Barb and I will even be live in our hometown the next two Thursday nights at local restaurants (BangBang this Thursday and Chick-fil-A Paradise Point the next Thursday night) greeting couples taking advantage of the coupons for special deals at restaurants, ice skating, The Social Canvas art experience and more! Bottom line? Check out the photos on Facebook in our Date Night Des Moines album. Post YOUR pictures of your date nights on our Facebook page wall. Load the Gloo app and go to the date with a purpose series of dates to sharpen your romance, heart connection, spiritual connection and sexual connection. And stay tuned as we upload even more date and coaching content resources to the Gloo app specifically for military couples, as well as couples worldwide. What a blast to be part of this movement! Tell all your friends to download the app and try our dates, too. We also have PDFs available on our website for those desiring paper copies of the material. And, congrats to our AFC team and volunteers for setting the bar of serving our guests last Thursday evening...Barb and I think you all hung the moon. Guard your hearts, Gary & Barb Livestream: https://new.livestream.com/americasfamilycoaches/DateNight   2013-01-29T02:54:00+00:00