Linny at A Place Called Simplicity started Memorial Box Mondays.
"In Joshua 4 Almighty God tells the Isrealites to collect stones and set them as a Memorial to remind them of God's power and provision. He then tells the Isrealites to use those stones as a memorial; that everytime they see them to tell their children and their children's children the stories over and over again, continually reminding them of God's faithfulness."
To read the full idea and an introduction to Memorial Box Mondays go here and read Linny's "How about Memorial Box Mondays? aka We will remember..." post.
We are excited to share with you our story about the very first few objects that will go into our memorial box! But first, we need to give you a little background... Once upon a time, about seven years ago, a boy met a girl in a small town. They grew in love with each other. They had family and friends and great fun. But after a few years, he went away to college and she to Florida. The two remained together but in different states. Finally the day came when the two would live in the same state once again- no more long trips and no more missing birthdays and other special events. They were soon engaged, married, and looking for a place to live… and this is where the real story begins.
Deciding where we would live after we got married was a big decision for us. Taylor had a job with the church and was going to school. Frankie had just got a raise and that promised them a more stable lifestyle. We both had family in San Antonio. But, we decided on Houston as a way to be a little more independent and to start our own lives. That was decision number one.
After a while in Houston, and months and months of driving back to San Antonio for the weekends and birthdays and benefits and such, we started to miss what we had. We grew at Journey and started to get involved with CHF. These were things that we were having a hard time doing in Houston. We found a church in Houston, and we love Ecclesia, but it didn’t feel like home. We joined a small group too, but even that felt like it was missing something. So after one and a half years we thought and prayed about moving back to San Antonio. We talked to elders and parents and God… and after talking to our apartment complex (because we would have to end our lease early) we felt like it wasn’t the right time. Decision number two.
Here we are three months later. The end of our lease is coming up, Taylor is about to finish her spring semester, and we find ourselves asking the same question. Can we go home? We’ve prayed and prayed and prayed. Our parents prayed. We went to meet with elders at Journey to pray. Where were we supposed to be? What is God calling us to do? We met with schools about transferring; we met with bosses about leaving. Neither provided a quick and easy answer, but only more options to consider. Houston is so good to us- one year left of school and a job that again offered another raise to stay- an easy choice from most people’s point of view. But, we really felt like our hearts and all of our time and efforts were being invested in San Antonio and a move there would be a leap of faith, with a change of degree plan, finding a new job, and a place to stay. This would come to be decision number three.
We finally felt like we were ready to commit to a decision and then a few ideas made us unsettled. So back and forth and back and forth and finally we decided to fast until we found an answer, a clear sign. So we prayed and fasted (along with Taylor’s mom) for the morning. For lunch we met up at a museum that we like to visit for a walk and some talk and to see how we were feeling. When we arrived we were tempted by a street vendor selling tacos…but we continued to fast… We started in a new exhibit, then walked to a small chapel, then to another. Lots of talk and quite a bit of frustration later, we were walking back to the car pretty sure knowing the decision we were going to make but still feeling a bit uneasy. With our decision made, we feasted! And those were seriously the best tacos ever!
So here we were scared and excited (not at the same time, one of us was actually scared and the other was so excited) and we had to part ways, digesting all that had just happened (and those delicious tacos!). This is where our Memorial Box Monday objects come in… We prayed on our way back to the office for God to confirm that this was the right decision. (Others were also praying that we would be confident in our decision once it was made and have peace once we decided.) We shared a Coke with our tacos although Taylor drank most of it, since Frankie knew he had some sweet tea at the office. So once he got there he popped open a bottle and smiled. God knows exactly what we need to see and when we need to see it. On the inside of his tea cap was a unique quote just like every other bottle of Granny’s Sweet Tea, but this one spoke directly to his heart- “Spend more time on what makes you happy”. That was it. The sign that he had been waiting for, a confirmation. But HE doesn’t just stop there because that same afternoon as Taylor was enjoying a little piece of chocolate, she also received a little confirmation on the inside of her wrapper. Dove wrappers seem to always have something witty to say as well, but this one spoke straight to her heart- “Go where your heart takes you”. Just what we each needed to see when we need to see it.
So decision number three has been made, and if it wasn’t worth telling you about we wouldn’t be posting this. Can you guess where we will be living by the end of April? San Antonio here we come and we are excited to see how God will use us in our new/old home town! There is so much more to this God story, little bits and pieces that we will hold dear to our hearts, but for now we will place our tea cap and Dove wrapper in our memorial box to remind us of how God always hears us and provides in His perfect timing.
"Spend more time on what makes you happy."
"Go where you hear takes you."
