A Day in Court; Rodee's Story

The other day my wife and I woke up and got all the big kids off to school. Then we hurriedly dressed the triplets and ourselves for court at 9:00 am sharp. We did our best not to be late for this anticipated day before the judge. Despite our efforts we still ran about 10 min behind. That's actually not too bad considering the act of God that's required just to get everyone moving in the same direction.

This day in court has been highly anticipated because it was the long awaited termination of Rodee's fathers parental-rights. The reason this process has been so difficult is due to him being deported to Mexico. In full-on tradition of the judicial system, we ended up waiting in the lobby until about 11:30 before we had our moment in court.  You would think this would have been treacherous, three 3yr olds in a court house for 2 and a half hours! In the past, there would have been no amount of suckers and peanut butter pretzels to appease my wild children. However, at present they have come so far. They are at peace inside and that peace of becoming a son affects everything. It also helped there was a sweet playroom full of toys.

Once we were finally called into the courtroom, all four of us were met by a larger then life man in a long black robe. This judge towered over me and I'm 6ft 2in! His stature was intimidating but his eyes were kind. He came out from behind his stand holding three giant stuffed animals. A Valentine bear for Jeriah, an Easter Bunny for Shawn, and a wild tiger for Rodee. The boys eyes lit up.

Before I go any further I want to tell you more about Rodee and how we got him. To start, his name is actually Rodrigo which means "famous power." His middle name is Duran which means "gift."

A significant difference in the arrival of Rodee versus our other three boys was that God had spoken to us very clearly that the 3 siblings were coming. My daughter had a series of dreams for almost four years that we were to expect 3 little boys. With Rodee we had no warning at all. We got a phone call about 4:30 in the afternoon and Rodee was at our front door three hours later. As soon as my wife, Ivey  got the call the Lord spoke saying; "if I'm giving Rodrigo to you it's because I want him healed." Ivey then called me while I was out running with my phone. The Lord spoke to me instantaneously. He said; " Rodrigo will preach the Gospel." Since Rodee's been in our home we have seen miracles almost daily in his little life, and he is also one of the purest examples of the Gospel.

You see, as we sat in the courtroom in front of that giant, loving judge a lawyer stood up and recounted my sons physical abuse. The lawyer retold the story of how his caregiver shook him at the age of 1yr causing skull fractures. How the abuse slowed down the amount of blood flow to the brain preventing oxygen from being supplied to the delicate tissue and thus debilitating my son. The lawyer then went on to state the facts about how Rodee's mom had signed over parental rights and how his birth father has done nothing to claim him. In this unexpected moment when reality smacks you upside the face, my wife and I were moved to tears. But what the judge was about to say would melt us into a puddle. He stated; " I now rule that parental-rights of the birth father be terminated and custody of Rodrigo be given to the adoptive home; the family that wants and is able to care for this child." My wife and I broke down in tears as we left the courtroom. We were full of joy in combination with a sober heaviness. It's very hard to explain. While Rodee still is not fully adopted, we have about a month of paperwork left to complete, he is our son.

When we got in the car The Lord began to speak to me how Rodee's story displays the truth of His gospel. How that even in our most broken state, when we were abused and taken advantage of. When we were rejected by the ones that should love and care for us the most. When we are helpless, incapable of saving ourselves a great, big, awesome, loving Heavenly Father rescued us. He pursued us and lifted us up into huge arms of love. He  payed the ultimate price by sending his only begotten son to die so we can be adopted. The beauty of the kingdom of God is that it's a family with a loving Father who has adopted a whole bunch of orphans.

And that's not even the end of the story! You see, just in the same way that everything Ivey and I have now belongs to Rodee, all that God has and is, we now have access to. While I'm writing this my son just knocked on my bedroom door and asked if he could have a pop sickle from the freezer. I responded, " of course you can, I already told you that you could all have a pop sickle, just get it." We forget sometimes that as sons of heaven we all have access to Gods freezer and its full of amazing treats!  Since Rodee has been in our home medical doctors, therapists have been blown away by his progress. One of the most premier Dr's in our region stood up and began saying to my wife that Ivey is a miracle and what she is seeing in Rodee's life is nothing short of a miracle. We had a neurologist break down in tears bc he didn't expect Rodee to ever be anything more then a vegetable. One day in a separate court room in front of a different judge my wife stood up holding Rodee and told his story. The judge broke down in tears and the court reporter stopped what she was doing, stood to her feet and started praising the name of Jesus, giving glory to God!

Rodee is a daily display of Gods miraculous power and love at work. He is already a famous little boy that preaches the Gospel of Christ in ways most of us never could. I am just so very thankful that we said yes to that phone call. My wife always tells Rodee that he was our big surprise, and that is because he is our gift from God. She says that you never tell someone the gift your about to give them, you just surprise them with a blessing!  Rodee is definitely our blessing! 


I found these pictures of Rodee on line before he was abused. This is him soon after he was brought home from the hospital. Precious!

Here he is later, Im not sure how old he is but he is eating with his mouth. This is something we are currently working on. We have to feed him through a G-tube in his belly.

Here is Rodee a little older, he must be close to 1yr old in this shot, this is about the time he was shaken. In this pic he is sitting up and eating candy!

Heres a pic I found of him before we got him in his wheel chair after the abuse. 

Here Rodee is now after he has been in our home. This is such a significant picture because the Dr's said he would probably never gain the use of his fine motor skills and he may never be able to use his fingers and hands. I guess Rodee is proving them wrong again. Gross!

And Here is Rodee sitting up on his own. This picture was just taken last week. He is defying all odds and making incredible progress. Thank You Jesus! And thank you to everyone praying and loving on this little guy!

On The Plane

I haven't written any new entries recently because I've been super busy! Imagine that, a father of six being busy. This time I'm actually busy writing songs in the studio for my upcoming worship album. I have basically locked myself in the studio with Will Reagan, Brandon Hampton and Andrea Reagan for the past week. We have been sifting through choruses from our Tuesday night worship nights. This was only made possible thanks to the diligent efforts of Lucas who has recorded every Tuesday for the past year. We have also been going through songs I have written in the past and have even written new songs spontaneously in the studio! 

Every Time I have recorded an album in the past, it has proven to be a journey. Sometimes its a very exciting and fulfilling journey, while other times are difficult and draining. With this album being primarily a worship album I am approaching It very different from my last album. My heart is to stay true to an intimate encounter with the Lord while still having tons of fun! 

It seems that for the most part we have limited our worship experience to be very intense and serious. Which, don't get me wrong, I love intensely intimate moments in worship. However, from the perspective of a husband and father,  if I limit my intimacy with my wife and children to only serious and intense moments I am doing them a great disservice. I become a stick in the mud! My kids would be like; loosen up dad! 

I feel like sometimes this approach to worship comes from our view of who God is. If you don't know him as a fun, loving father, but instead only serious,  you will limit yourself to how you draw near to him. God tells us that eternal pleasures are at his right hand! I'll even go as far to say that God created us for pleasure! 

As a father I want to tickle, carpet-wrestle, and dance in the kitchen with my kids more then anything else! I do all the other stuff like feed, clean, and provide for my children because it must be done, and it's important. However, the joy of losing an hour or two chasing kids through the house with a creepy ski mask from Will Reagan, a Christmas gift, is priceless! It not only brings pure pleasure to my heart but it fills my children with confidence and security and acceptance like no other way can. It's the joy of just being a child and being fully accepted by your father. Also, as a father, I fully take on the responsibility of loving my children through their weaknesses and disciplining them, but it's so we can get back to having fun, and pursue our dreams! 

My wife and I have a saying in our home; the purpose of discipline is so we can all just have a good time. We train our kids to understand that the reason we want them to obey is so we are able to trust them. We want to be able to trust that if we go to the beach they will listen and not run off and drown in the ocean. And once we trust them they are given more freedoms to enjoy fun things in life. Like going to birthday parties or break dance lessons with a friend. Or going to the ice cream shop with KK, one of their nanna's. The truth is as parents,  if we can trust our children to be obedient then we are free to lavish the gifts of life upon them. This is what our Heavenly Father desires to do for us.

My desire with this album is to have, in addition to serious moments, some of those joyous moments. Moments of just dancing around like a child in the kitchen and being chased around by our wild and crazy dad. Right now I have no idea what to expect from this album, but I'm having tons of fun following the Spirit! 

I'm at this very moment on a plane headed to California to lead worship in Victorville Ca at The Gate Church and then to Pasadena to lead for the Wilder Conference. I am super excited! In addition I am meeting up with Brock Human and Charles Jones in LA to work on more songs! God is awesome and in control of this album! I would appreciate your prayers during this season of creativity! And my wife would appreciate your prayers during her week of being a single parent!

Uh oh, it's time to power off electronic devises and the stuardist is heading my way! Don't want to wreck the plane! Peace!

My New Album 1

I wanted to talk a little about my upcoming album in todays blog. In order to do so I have to talk about the United Pursuit community because thats where the music comes from. The greatest part of living in Knoxville are the people I call family. I have never been a part of anything so alive. I have never found such acceptance and love in any church, ministry group, or club. The way you know if your truly living in real community is if the people around you aspire to see you succeed in your calling and destiny as much as their own. Also, if you are inspired to lay down your own dreams to see others living out theirs. 

Unfortunately many ministries and communities don't operate in this way. They have a leader with his/her vision and expect those that attend to find their purpose in supporting that vision. The problem is that this does not look like family at all. In this model, if your called to anything other then the leaders vision, you really have no place. As a result one of two things occur; you either squelch your own calling or you leave. 

I am very thankful to be a part of a community that truly lives and loves like family. Family is the only institution in the earth where love abounds. Love doesn't abound in business or politics, however, many churches operate within these confines. 

I started a journey around 6 years ago. I asked the Father what His Kingdom looks like? I quickly found out, to the best of my knowledge, there aren't very many books on the topic of the Kingdom of God. Additionally, when I'd ask someone about it they would just kind of give me the look like; "you mean you don't know?"

 I have come to understand over the years that the Kingdom of God at its very core is a family. It's a great big, loving Daddy God and all his children. Like I said, it's the only institution in which love abounds. There are so many orphans in our world; children and adults alike that don't know their Daddy God. And God wants a functioning family operating in the earth because every orphan longs for family. Every orphan desires one thing, and thats to belong to a family! Family is the model which the church should operate.

As a father of six, five of which are adopted, I am daily laying my life down. I sacrifice my time, energy, and pursuits to see my children equipped, trained, healed and loved. They each have a unique design and intricate makeup. The way God made them to perceive the world is individual and beautiful. I count it an honor to patiently steward each life God has entrusted me with, and I love it when they succeed. In a family the child is never responsible for the fathers success! Sadly so many ministries rely on numbers of attendees and money and praises of people to gauge their success. 

So you might be asking what this has to do with my album? I am just so moved to have such amazing brothers and sisters like Will and Andrea Reagan, Nathan and Brittany Fray, Brock Human, Jake LeBoeuf, and Brandon Hampton who are taking time out of their own crazy lives to help me with my next album. Yesterday we spent time together dreaming and mapping out a plan on how to accomplish this! They are getting behind my songs because they see something in me that they want to share with the world. They know me, they know who I really am, and that's what they want to share. As an artist This is incredibly encouraging.

When you have talent in this world there always seems to be someone ready to capitalize off your abilities. Wether it's record labels that take so much and give so little, or Christian leaders hoping to add warm bodies to their congregation. I am set free by the family around me that is purely motivated out of love. They long to see my dreams fulfilled and the Spirit of God flood the earth. 

My hope is that everyone can experience the depth of relationship only family can give. And that each person would find themselves as a son, brother, daughter,sister, mother, father,etc. because in doing so you are building the Kingdom of God. You are building the only institution in the world that truly provides healing for the orphan. This is how caring for the orphan becomes the purest and most undefiled form of religion James 1:27. Because It brings the church back to its purest and simplest design. The design Papa God longs to see the church return to; family

This is what it looks like when a family decides to love an orphan broken and a abused by the world. This is my son Rodrigo, which means: "famous power." Because of being shaken and thrown across the room at 1 year old he was left with cerebral palsy. All the experts and Dr's had no hope for Rodee to become anything more then a vegetable. When he first came to us 1 yr and 2 months ago, he was blind and unable to even hold his head up. He could only make unintelligible sounds. Now Rodee can see, communicate with several words, and with the help of a walker take steps! He has already exceeded every expectation of the medical world and we plan on much, much more to come!.....And his smile!

 A Father will do whatever is necessary to see his son walk again! Your Father God wants the same for you....

The Whole Truth

I am going to do my best to keep this short and to the point. The problem is that I love story telling and that usually lends to many descriptive words. My wife is always asking me to cut the fat. So here goes my lean, mean rendition. 

When my daughter was born 12 years ago my wife suffered several complications during birth. I vividly remember the MD entering our hospital room after an emergency c-section to tell me my wife had a 30% chance and my daughter only  a 10% chance of living through the night. I don't know what came over this scrawny 23 yr old man, I truthfully looked about 17, maybe 15 at the time. But I stood up from my chair and looked the MD in the eyes and said "they will live and not die." By the next morning my daughter miraculously excreted the fluid that had filled her lungs and my wife began to show signs of improvement. 

Needless to say, we were in no rush to run into pregnancy again. And btw, my wife was the worst pregnant woman ever! She did not have any kind of glow like they say. She had more of a scowl! She was sick morning, noon, and night! Her gynecologist said she would prob have the same type of experience if she ever got pregnant again. And us being young, with a 3 pound 10 ounce premature girl made the decision to cut, burn, and tie her tubes.

Fast forward 7 years to when my daughter first started having the dreams. You see, our daughter has always had a special bond with Papa God. I contribute it to those many weeks  she spent in the ICU. We drew comfort from the Father knowing that while we couldn't hold and nurture her, He was. 

We had just moved to Kansas City MO to attend the International House Of Prayer. My daughters time in KC was forever impacting, and in this heavy Spiritual environment she began dreaming. It was always the same dream, she would have to rescue 3 little boys. Theywere always different scenarios, but each time there was one baby boy she would pull from danger. She continued to have these dreams over the next three years. We had already moved to Knoxville TN when she had her most significant one. She saw the three boys, the baby boy was drowning in a creek. She could see a young girl her same age on the other side of the creek. My daughter began to yell for her to help. The young girl just stood motionless. My daughter then reached into the water and rescued the baby. 

My daughter Sofia began begging us to adopt. I remember telling her at the beginning that our lives are perfect and her mother and I have the perfect daughter. I explained that bc we only have one child we could give her everything she wanted. What I didn't know was that she REALLY wanted her brothers and she was quietly interceding in private for her family to grow. 

3 years later her prayers were answered. God had spent time softening our hearts to the idea of adoption. I can't tell you any exact moment when we changed our minds. I think it was mainly observing the abundance of love and fun of two large families; the Paul's and the Craig's. We began realizing the joy and fulness children bring, and we started to trust the Spirits leading. We enrolled in Child Help as an adoptive home and the rest started happening so fast. We told our case worker we would only take up to three in a sibling group and they had to be under the age of 5. 

I had to constantly assure my daughter that we may not get 3 little boys. We may get a little girl, and I silently did my own private intercession for less then 3! The very first call we got after being qualified was for 3 little boys; ages 4, 3, and 1!  We were beside ourselves! And even after the caseworker adamantly warned us that these boys were WILD! We knew, wild or not, they were ours! It wasn't until the boys were in our home for 6 months that we uncovered another piece to Sofia's dream. The boys had a sister the same age as Sofia. She lived in a separate home. Just like the young girl across the creek!

We were so thankful for these dreams! The foster care system can be shaky ground filled with success and great disappointment. Case workers were constantly trying to prepare us for the worst. Out of a genuine and kind heart they would tell us to not get our hopes up, the boys could possibly go back to the parents. But it was to late, we were filled with hope. Our daughters dreams were proof enough that God was in the middle of all this craziness. We knew without a doubt in our heart that these boys were destined to become Ketterer's. They were in fact our sons.

At first we were so naive, and what I've found out is that naivety for the most part is a blessing. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. And let me assure you, it was a battle at times. There were times it got down and dirty. Our children were in the balance, and only a parent can understand what that means. But we were always filled with strength. Heaven was ever present. Many have said to me, "I don't know how you do it, I would be so afraid of getting attached to a child then losing them." My response is always that we will never choose to love when loss is not a potential! What I'm about to say may sound harsh, but i hope you hear my heart in it. The word of God doesn't tell us to love the orphan if it feels good, it simply says in James 1:27 that the purest form of religion is taking care of the orphans. This is what every christian is called to and if you rise to the call you will be filled with strength, love, and anything else you need. I know this from experience. 

Well, I told you I was going to trim the fat, and for the most part I did. Thanks for sticking with me :) My  wife just said "good job babe, short and to the point😉!"

Day 2

This is day two of me blogging and I want to apologize for any grammatical errors up front. I usually proof something I write several times. 

 Ain't nobody got time for that!

 I wanted to let you in on the way the Ketterer house flows at this moment. My wife is blessed with an amazing job where she works for a law firm a few hours from home each day. This has been a huge blessing to us. It enables me to work a whole lot less at the hospital, where I am a bachelor level RN, PRN status, which means I work as needed. Because I go to work very few hours I am able to spend large chunks of time with my wife and children. This gift of time has been amazing during this season of transition from orphan into sonship. the best way to get rid of orphan thinking and behavior is to spend as much time with your father as possible. However, even though I LOVE my family, the draw back to our setup is that I'm always around my wife and children!!!!

Let me explain.....While Ivey's up in her office working I'm packing lunches, fixing hair, driving kids to school, fixing breakfast, loading and unloading a dishwasher 7 times a day, putting Rodee on the bus, taking kids to dr appointments, meeting with case workers, picking kids up from school, changing diapers, cleaning the house, changing diapers again! It's non stop! And you should see how much trash a family this size generates! Ivey, my wife, bribed the trash men with a giant chocolate Santa to take all our Christmas trash from the front yard. I'm serious it looked like Armageddon on our front lawn. We joke about what those trash men must say as they approach our house. Thankfully my wife handles all the laundry! That chore alone would destroy the average person. Thank you Janine for the amazing washer and dryer. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

My wife and I have recently spent so much time together, she said it changed her love language. If you haven't read the book about the five love languages, you need to. But she said that her love languages used to be quality time and physical touch. Now it's purely acts of service! You have to know my wife to understand her sense of humor, we both laughed forever at this. We love laughing! 

Our job as parents of six can quickly become overwhelming. The only way this incredible feat of daily life is possible is because my wife and I are a darn good team. We have discovered our flow. And when a wrench is thrown into the machine, we are quick to adapt. Our unity with each other and the Spirit is key to not just surviving, but thriving. Recently the head of the Knoxville's Department of Children Services paid my wife and I a humbling compliment. She said our home was the best foster family she has in the system. Her words are priceless. 

While the Ketterer daily grind is sometimes grueling. God is always present and speaking and loving on us all. He is faithful to bless us supernaturally with times of rest and amazing vacations! Ivey and I were chosen by WinShape, a ministry arm of Chic-fil-a that focuses on strengthening marriages, to sail through the British Virgin Islands on a Catamaran! I mean, who gets to do that? We were snorkeling by day and dining on lobster tail in the star light! God is faithful to reward those that care for his orphans! He has supernaturally provided over and over again in our lives! 

The rewards of a home jammed pack full of love and excitement is enough on its own. But God never just gives enough, he is an extravagant giver! The overflow of living a life the way we do is that a day doesn't pass that we are not blown away by who God is and what He's capable of. We have the privilege of getting to watch the miraculous before our very eyes, and all we did  was just obey his words; care for my orphans. 

I can't wait to tell you more about all my children and the many miracles we've experienced. Again, I have run short on time, I must tend to the natives! Homework must be done! 

Below is a link to a poem I wrote after we got back from the British Virgin Islands entitled I HAVE SLEPT ON AN ISLAND.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/michaelandivey-ketterer/i-have-slept-on-an-island/10150657552348477

Day 1

Today I have realized I have time again. Time for what you ask? I don't know, to read, write, think, pray. Really, it's weird. You see, with six kids; 1 girl, 5 boys, 3 of which are 3 yrs old, I stay busy. That's why with this newly found "time" I am starting something I've wanted to do for a long time; journal. And the way we journal now-a-days is to blog. 

I've titled my blog The Daddy Blog because, while I write music, paint artwork, "pastor" a community, and work in the hospital, I am first of all a husband and father. And let me tell you, I LOVE IT! To me there is no greater purpose or calling then being a father. Even on the worst, stress-filled day of life, I cannot deny that I am truly living. As a father the word of God comes Alive on a whole other level. The love of our Heavenly Father becomes so real when we realize the truth of his words; that he loves us so much more then we can even love our own children. 

So I'm just going to jump right in. I don't have too much time right now bc I have to pick my son Rodee up from school in thirty minutes and I'm actually writing from the tub. I know you didn't need to know that. I might tend to do that, write about things I probably shouldn't. I am just a little crazy. I mean who else would go from having one perfect daughter to adding 5 more boys in just a year and a half. And who would sign up for triplets! You see what I mean! I'm crazy!

Let me explain. Two years ago we signed up to foster to adopt through Child Help, an amazing organization. The whole story about how God moved upon our hearts to convince us of something so drastic and life changing will have to wait for another time...Or you could just click on the link below..... Oh No! I have to pick up my son from school!

http://www.wbir.com/news/article/246604/2/Family-changes-5-little-boys-lives-through-Childhelp