2 Years!

Two years ago today we posted this...

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Eating Beneath Our Means

A new blog and a new project! We thought that a new blog would be a great place for us to share some of the exciting things going on in our newlywed life together! To kick it off, we are sharing our experience with you as we live for a week, eating out of a box. No, it's not pizza, or a happy meal, but a Children's Hunger Fund Food Pak.

These small boxes cost about $25 to fill and provide nutrition and hope for families in need. They are designed to supply meals for a family of four for about a week. We did make a few adjustments to ours (we aren't quite a family of four...although sometimes we eat like we could be) but none the less, we are challenging ourselves to eat beneath our means. Not only will this give us a chance to experience a small taste of what these families go through, but it will also free up some of our budget so that we can help provide some of these Food Paks through CHF.

It's going to be different, that's for sure. And it may be bland. But hopefully it will help us put in to perspective the amount of money we should be spending on food and simplify our eating habits.

Here are the rules:

1. We only eat food from the Food Pak- breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, fourth meals, etc.
2. No eating out.
3. We only drink water.
4. We pray daily thanking God that He provides for us in abundance and for the families who live on less than what we are currently eating.
5. We don't grumble and complain...even if we are hungry when we go to bed!

Here is the CHF Food Pak grocery list and the items we purchased:

• two canned meat products 12 oz: tuna and chicken
• 1 bag or box of rice 16oz: enriched, long grain, white rice
• 1 bag of pinto beans 160z: Goya's frijoles pintos
• 1 bag or box of pasta 16oz: twirls!
• 2 small cans of tomato paste or sauce: 1 sm can paste, 1 can cream of broccoli soup
• 2 canned green vegetables 14oz: green beans and mixed veggies
• 2 canned fruits: mandarin oranges and peaches
• 1 bag of salted nuts 6oz: raw Spanish peanuts
• 1 small box of crackers: saltines
• 1 box of granola or nutritional bars: crunchy granola bars variety pack
  
  
• Possible additions: peanut butter (check!), soup 12oz can (broccoli cheddar), trail mix, refried beans, cooking oil, dried fruit (apples and cranberries). We also added oatmeal.


• And...we added tortillas...this is Texas, ya'll!

So, stay posted! Frankie is coming up with the recipes and tomorrow we start cookin! :D

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Can someone really live on something like this?

That is a question that we asked two years ago and it started the craziest and most fun two years of our lives!

It took us to the question,

How can we change the way we are living so that we can help others?

and now,

What else can we do with our lives and careers that will have a huge impact for the people that are suffering in this world?

Two years wasn't very long ago, but it was a totally different path we were headed down...we were just settling in to a nice apartment, a great job, a fancy new school...and after two years, we're back in San Antonio where we feel called to love and serve, called to community, and to continue living our lives to love others. No job, different school, bumming off parents as we try to make our savings last...not complaining here, it's just different.

So, what is next?!

Two years of trying to change the lives of the people that we see as suffering has completely changed our own. I am not sure where we would be if we would have continued with our lives without taking the time to think about our first question. This blog and the things we do through it have connected us in ways that we didn't know existed. We both have learned the passion that we have to serve daily and how much we can accomplish when we work together. Our hearts have grown in so many ways and we are so blessed to have all of the opportunities that God has given us as we seek more of Him. We are so grateful for all of the memories and great friends that we have made along the way. Thank you for your continuous support of our projects and our blog! We press on because He is worth it and we hope to inspire you with how God is working in our world and how he wants all of us to be a part of it. :)

Wordless Wednesday: CHF Ugly Christmas Sweater Party/ Volunteer day

Memorial Box Monday ~ Camp Eagle

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 theIsrealites to use those stones as a memorial; that every time 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 have been blessed this summer to be able to spend time together volunteering and joining our church in the activities that they have been doing. One of the things we got to join in on was Camp Eagle with the middle school students.

Not familiar with Camp Eagle? The website says "...it is a unique and fast-paced week of summer camp for groups, jam-packed full of outdoor adventure activities." And they are not kidding! The best part was the journey that the students took to recognize and tell their stories and to have the chance to align them with God's plan. With the students, the leaders were also along for the ride. We didn't know what the plan was, we didn't have a schedule, we were out of the loop the whole week and it was sweet!

The theme for the week was STORY and at the beginning of the camp we were all asked to find a rock that represented us and our story so far. We were told to hold on to that rock and to take it everywhere we went. Throughout the week we got to tell our stories, decide who the hero was, ponder why we tell our story, and learn how we can tell a better story. At the end of the week we were asked to consider putting our story (rock) down and giving it to God.

When the time came to lay our rocks down I didn't want to give mine up. Not figuratively, because daily I want to lay my life down for God's plan to prevail, but my rock was really cool and I liked how it told my story. But as we ventured out to pray with our groups one last time before giving up our rocks, we sat down in a circle and right there in front of me was another rock. (When we chose our rocks their were literally thousands of rocks around us. There were rocks all over Camp Eagle. Rocks and dirt. But as we found a spot to sit in the grass there were very few rocks around.) This rock was different, too. It was shaped like an arrow! And in the middle of our circle where it was pointing sat a brightly shining lantern. This little rock reminded me why I was letting go of my story- to point to the Light. To live a life that glorifies the God who made me so that others don't have to walk in darkness. Don't tell Camp Eagle, but I picked up the rock! I knew it was for me. I put it in our Memorial Box the day we got back home to remind us daily to lay down the things of this life and to live lives that point to the Light.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Matthew 5:16

Check out our adventure at Camp Eagle!

Back to School 2011 with CHF and Chick-fil-A

It's that time of year again! Time to fill backspacks for Children's Hunger Fund! As an added bonus this year, they teamed up with Chick-fil-A to offer you free food when you donate $10 or 10 items! Wowza!

Just take the 10 items or $10 to any of these participating locations and enjoy a free Chick-fil-A sandwhich!

1. FM78 Chick-fil-A
7010 Fm 78
San Antonio, TX 78244

2. Pavilions Chick-fil-A

27 Ne Loop 410

San Antonio, TX 78216

3. Stone Oak Chick-fil-A
1555 North FM 1604
East San Antonio, TX 78232

Yum! :D

Love Shop and Giveaways!

Wooooohooooo!!

A new adventure begins today! Today we are launching the official Adventures of Taylor and Frankie Shop! And LOVEwater shirts are up for sale! Don't know what a LOVEwater shirt is? LOVEwater shirts are something we designed when we were fundraising for clean water last year. The "O" is in the shape of a water drop to represent the monies donated from every shirt purchased.

Why do we continue to make LOVE shirts? (Other than they're totally awesome?!) Because even in the middle of uncertainty, we know that God created us to help others so that's what we will do! Every shirt brings us closer to solving the world water crisis and with the help of Living Water International we know that the people we are saving physically are also hearing the gospel and learning about the chance to be saved spirituality!

A lot of work went into getting this shop put together but we are so excited and hope that with your purchases, it can help bring clean water to many people in need!

How do you find our shop? Three ways...

1. Click on the tab under our header that says "Shop".
2. Type "taylorfrankieshop.blogspot.com" into your browser.
3. Find a TaylorFrankie Shop button and click on it!

Want to win a LOVE shirt?!

There are currently two ways to win a LOVE shirt... The first is through our blog. :) We are giving one away for our Grand Opening! Here is how you enter:

1. You can "like" us on Facebook.

2. You can link the shop in an update to share with your friends on Facebook or Twitter.

3. You can share a shop button on your blog. (working on this one)

You get an entry for each thing that you do! (Just let us know in a comment on this post.)

The second way to win a shirt is through One Blessed Nest. Just visit Tina's blog and check out the greatness going on over there! (In short, you can buy a beautiful, hand-made bracelet to support a family bringing home a beautiful 7 year old boy from China who is dying of a heart defect.) By purchasing a bracelet or checking out this family's blog, you will be entered into her own drawing for a custom LOVEwater shirt and the bracelet below.

Also, we are clearing out our current inventory and you can pick out your pre-made LOVE shirt for just $7!

After it comes in make sure to send us a photo of you in your new digs so we can share it in our LOVE gallery! :)

Thanks for always supporting us in everything we do.

Love cares more for others than for self. 1 Corinthians 13:4 MSG

Memorial Box Monday - It is "well" with my soul!

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 theIsrealites to use those stones as a memorial; that every time 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.

A few weeks ago, we logged into our blog e-mail account (we don’t get much mail so we don’t do it that often) and we had some mail!  It came from Pastor Fritz, our Uncle in Michigan.  He explained that he had given a sermon during Christmas time about bringing our gifts to Jesus and had mentioned what we were doing for clean water.  But much like blogging, people often come and go, and leave you wondering, hoping that what you've said meant something to someone.    

Well someone was listening to that sermon, but it would take 6 months to find out... Below is the email we found in our inbox. (It's a bit lenghty, but it's worth the read. :)

It is “well” with my soul!
Hey guys, I wanted to share with you a neat story from our church service yesterday. Back in December, for one of my Christmas sermons, I mentioned that you guys where partnering with an organization that provided clean water for those who have none. The sermon wasn't just about the water project, but more down the lines of "bring our gifts to Jesus". Afterwards, our mission treasurer decided to support you and that is where the gift from North Rome came from and for all practical purposes that is where I figured our churches involvement would end.
Move ahead to our service a week ago, and a "Grandma Westgate" came up to me and said her grandson had something he wanted to show me, but he wasn't able to come today, so he would bring it next week.  Fast forward again to yesterday.  I got the church ready to go and went down to get the mail. On my way back up, I was actually opening up your thank-you note, when grandma Westgate and a very smiley grandson turned the corner and said "Pastor Fritz, we saved up this money ($100.19) and it's for the kids who don't have any water"!!! How cool is that! (I always wonder if anyone is listening to my sermons and apparently at least one kid was!) Any how, I guess grandson was there that day in December and was quite moved by the fact that some kids have no water. He had gone home and discussed it with his grandma and she told him that if he tried hard to put a dollar a week in his bank (a converted orange juice bottle) by the end of the year he would have 52 dollars to send to the "well people". Grandma also promised that if he was faithful to it, she would contribute the difference to make a gift of 75 dollars. A week or so ago, Grandma saw grandson adding more change to the bottle and casually asked him how much he thought he had. Grandson is not an estimating kind of kid, so he dumped it out and started counting. When it was all said and done, He had already saved by himself, 75.19! Grandma was so impressed and excited that she gave him the other 25 dollars right on the spot!
And how cool is Gods timing that at the very moment I an opening your thank-you/update, he is coming with more! As a matter of fact I able to hand him the water drop thank-you and a copy of your newsletter so he would know the well is on the way! To cool! Anywho, just wanted you to know how far reaching God's will is, and that your work is not in vain!
Love ya!
Fritz 

It's great to know that something that God has already blessed way beyond what we had imagined is still continuing to glorify Him, but to top it off we had been pretty bad with sending out thank you notes to all of the people that helped us out (6 months late) but God still used it for part of His plan.

And if you don’t think that is cool enough, we have more...  We are here visiting family in Michigan and are going by some sort of scheduled/seat-of-our-pants itinerary.  So when we showed up unannounced at Fritz's church on Sunday he was just as surprised as we were when he shared with his church the same sweet story and also the exchange of e-mails and our newsletter that he had printed in the church bulletin that day! He also delivered a great sermon about offering to God what we have in our hands so that He can do something beautiful, and told the story of Ivan, his grandma, and the juice bottle of change.  Another God thing- putting us at the right place at the right time.  How cool is it that we could be there to hear the story right in the place that it happened? :)

What a beautiful, big-picture story of God's great plan and how perfect His timing is, even when we are waaay late.  To remind us of this, our King's blessings when we serve Him, and this faithful child of God, we will put in our memorial box a ribbon from North Rome Baptist Church's recent 150th Anniversary.
 

Vacation!

Retirement was beginning to become stressful so we are going on a vacation! ;)

We are all packed up- one minivan, two parents, two grown kids, two little kids, and one little dog. And after 24 hours of driving we will be in Michigan! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! We'll be visiting family for two weeks. (Don't worry we will write.)

On another note... (or two...)

We wanted to thank everyone who donated and helped collect supplies for Airmen's Attic. They were so thankful for what we provided them!

Also, we want to wish our friend Adrienne a safe trip home to visit family! She is a member of the PAIS Team and just finished her year at Journey. She has been such an inspiration and encouragement to us and others! The very first thing we did when we moved to San Antonio (literally, we drove here, arrived at 2 a.m., changed, and drove to her house) was help her with a yard sale to buy a plane ticket for her to take this trip and obviously she met her goal with GOD's great help!

Have fun in England, and come back soon!

Next time we write we will be up north, lake side, surrounded by family and friends. Ahhhh. :)