Jon & Sherry Rivers are the morning hosts on Positive, Encouraging KLOVE radio!
What happens if Lexi wakes up, say at
5:00am, during the show?
(Jon) This is
the almost unbelievable part [laughs]. There will be parents who will
say, "It's not fair!". Sherry tell the
story...
(Sherry) God's hands were so all over this
thing, from the very beginning of our adoption journey. We have been
blessed with a baby who's an incredible sleeper. She goes to bed at
nine every night and she sleeps. I think since we've had her, there
have been two times when she woke during the night. And those weren't
even work nights.
We have a monitor that allows us
to see and hear her from the studio...
(Jon) It's a
night vision camera, so it can be pitch dark and we can see her like
it's daylight.
(Sherry) There have been one or two
occasions where she woke early, and she just comes on the show with us.
She's just with us and part of it. Moms and dads certainly understand
what's going on. That's real life.
I think that 's so natural and a
God-honoring touch to the show, when we hear your affection. It's not
entertainment; it's part of your
life.
Can you share your spiritual
background?
(Jon) I was raised
agnostic. I came to know Jesus through the witness of a lot of friends
when I was in my twenties. In 1976 I came to know Him as Jesus, as my
friend Jesus. As my savior.
We had an odd
upbringing; I could have spun off in any direction because I was set at
zero. We never really had any spiritual input. My mom was a Christian,
but she wasn't allowed to tell us much about it because my Dad was so
evil and agnostic. Like so many of us are, I needed to be brought to my
knees. The seed that was planted by friends needed to spring forth and
rescue me at a desperate time in my life.
(Sherry) I
was raised knowing about Jesus, and became a Christian at an early age.
I've always known about Jesus. I was blessed, even in
college, to be surrounded by strong Christian women and then I was
blessed with this Godly man. We want to raise this child in a
Christian-filled home like I was blessed
with.
While
you were dating, was that a deal breaker? Did you both need to marry a
Believer?
(Jon) Well I quizzed Sherry
an awful lot. I wasn't willing to marry a
non-Christian.
(Sherry) We talked about it a
lot.
(Jon) Sherry was raised in a home where Jesus
was always present. I wanted to make sure there was a time in her life
where she consciously made the decision. That was
paramount.
Amen.
(Sherry) It may have
been a quick courtship, but that would have been a first date
discussion. And I think it was, at that Mexican restaurant
[laughs].
How
do you guys get spiritually fed?
(Jon)
We have bible studies and we're blessed with friends who are pastors
and teachers who visit our home. We're at a turning point — probably
next weekend — where we're about to resume our regular church
attendance and introduce Lexi to the church
experience.
What's it like to have all these Christian artists in your
home?
We
treat them like they're our next-door neighbors; we just hang out.
Michael W. Smith flew in a couple weeks ago, spent the night with us.
Despite the fact we had a Christian icon in our house, wearing a Camp
David jacket — since he's a personal friend with the President of the
United States — he was just one of us. It's all pretty much eating and
talking.
(Sherry) On every Thursday, our local
auction barn has a plate lunch special. We even took Michael to the
sale barn for a plate lunch [laughs]. He loved
it!
(Jon) The truth is these girls and guys are just
people. And they want to be treated just like people. And when they're
here, this is like a retreat; we really are in the middle of nowhere
out here. I think they like that.
If we were to peek in your CD player,
what music would we find?
(Sherry)
Newsboys, Devotion; Todd Agnew, Reflection; Leighton Howerton, Dyed in
the Wool.
(Jon) You'd find, ColdPlay, because I want
to stay on top of what the world is doing — even though it's
disappointing [laughs]
(Sherry) He's gonna tell you
what he thinks [laughs]
(Jon) You'll find every song
we play on KLOVE, or a portion of it, because we're constantly
assembling music tests, and listening. We try to listen to every CD
that comes in.
(Sherry) Uh oh. I see on the monitor
Lexi just popped her head up. [laughs]
Every day
I'm amazed and blessed by God's goodness. As I look at this child and
the miracle of adoption. God is so good.
(Jon) And
there are thousands of these little babies waiting right now, to be
loved and taught about our Lord and Savior. At two years old, already,
without being instructed, Lexi will not eat or go to sleep without
praying.
What it comes to is go with God; obey God.
Even when you're weeping at the age of fifty-something
because He's told you to go to China and get a baby girlv
...
(Sherry) Wait a minute, I'm not over fifty.
I'm a long way to fifty!
[laughs]
(Jon) ... still go with God. Remember
delayed obedience is
disobedience.
Copyright © 2007 Growthtrac.
Jon and Sherry
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