That’s why it’s important that we practice love intentionally. Our love starts to look more like God’s when we stretch its boundaries—to the lonely, the imprisoned, the homeless, the hungry, and the thirsty.
We hope this Advent season has prepared you to Love All: your family, the hard-to-love, and the overlooked in your community. We also hope you will join us in demonstrating God’s boundless love by loving people who desperately need safe drinking water, and with it living water, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for sharing a bit of your Advent season with us. We hope it has been one filled with all the hope, joy and love that God placed in a manger more than 2,000 years ago.
Wishing you a joyful, peaceful Christmas, Your Living Water Family
This is our favorite part of Advent Conspiracy and Christmas! We love to love! It's fun and fulfilling. It's what we were made to do. You and me, us, all of us. We were made to love - God and our neighbors. So what better time to remember and celebrate that purpose than for our Savior's birthday?!
And if you believe that the love shouldn't stop when the presents are unwrapped, join us on a journey of love. Next year we have come up with a theme that will take us through the steps of "Living Simply to Love Others". One theme, 12 months, and a whole lot of LOVE!
Remember that this isn't just a Christmas thing... Advent Conspiracy doesn't have to end with the season. There are so many ways to worship fully, spend less, give more, and love all, year round!
This week's theme [Give More] is coming at just the right time. Realizing that we are almost a week away from Christmas and we had not bought any gifts we went out shopping... walking around the store looking for something that would show our love to ones receiving them. Not the way I like to shop by the way... I like to know what I am getting for someone before we leave the house and not rush into buying something that could be meaningless and thoughtless. In fact my favorite type of shopping is shopping for things that I can use to make gifts with.
I remember one Christmas when Taylor and I were dating but living in different states we made a plan that for that year we would get each other 10 gifts, but the catch was that we had to make most of them and then the rest couldn't be more then a few dollars. I remember making a door hanger and buying socks and I remember receiving a box of rice crispy treats. The gifts didn't really matter, it was the love that we gave with them and truly the thought that was counted. Taylor knew I loved rice crispy treats and I knew she loved frogs so most of the gifts I got her had frogs on them. Plus seeing each other for the holiday was also nice.
I guess what I am trying to say is that the real special gifts are the ones that connect us and those are not always the kind that fit under the tree. Spending time on something can be so much more valuable then spending money. So this year give more and by taking time to find the things that make the holiday really special.
Here is a little song to finish this thought out... take it away guys!
Just watched this video and was so excited to see Pastor Chris Seay at Ecclesia! Man, we miss our Houston church. Check out the video and read below as we continue to conspire together and spend less.
Shopping is filled with a sense of promise. We’re promised comfort, status, better looks, happiness and joy, but do those promises really deliver? And what do they have to do with the promises of Scripture? If you’ve ever felt like we might have lost the point when we turned the birth of Christ into a season of frantic shopping, you will appreciate the second pillar of the Advent Conspiracy: Spend Less.
Spend Less isn’t about being a Scrooge. It’s about being free to celebrate Jesus. We hope you will reflect on the birth of Christ with us, and celebrate the fact that because some believers Spend Less, hundreds of thousands of people around the world are being blessed with safe drinking water, offered in Jesus’ name.
Like they said, you don't have to be a Scrooge to spend less. Try just giving one less gift. Try spending a bit less than last year. Try and make that list a little shorter. As we all conspire together it adds up.
We are forgoing extended family gift exchanges this year for starters. At about $20 per trade x the two of us x three families... that saves about $120! From gifts that aren't really needed to gifts that can mean hope and life for some one in real need. We will spend time with our grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and spend the money where it really counts. How are you conspiring to spend less this week?
Advent starts today! We are so excited to be in this season again as we continue to figure out how to get back to the basics of Christmas. How to celebrate in a way that honors our King, our Immanuel and not stuff. Week 1 with Advent Conspiracy focuses on worship- "Worship fully." But also being conscious of what you are worshipping... are you worshipping the baby Jesus born unto us a Savior? or are you worshipping shopping? checklists? business?
We hope you share your thoughts as we go through this journey of Advent 2011 together! How will you choose to worship fully this week?
Here's a quick vid and devo from [AC] to get your worship juices flowin.
Christmas begins with a baby born in a manger. He changed the course of the stars and turned fathers’ hearts to their children. The heavens sang his praise as angels sang glory to God in the highest and on earth his peace. Shepherds praised God and traveled to Bethlehem to see him. Magi journeyed from the East to worship him. His mother treasured these things in her heart. They called him “Immanuel”—“God with us.” He proclaimed his presence to the end of the age.
What we do unto others, we do unto him.
Again this Christmas babies will be born in ramshackle homes. Herod will not try to kill them, but their drinking water will. Again Jesus will turn our hearts to children. We who still hear angels will journey to see Christ in the least of these. Our camels traded for drill rigs, we will bear the gift of life: clean drinking water, offered in Jesus’ name. Mothers will treasure these things in their hearts. This is full worship.
Worship derives from Old-English words meaning “worth-ship.”
What we give worth to is what we worship: possessions, God, shopping, children, money, Jesus. We worship all the time. Advent is a time to consciously direct our worship towards Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. A time to worship fully.
Christmas is getting closer, and if you don't believe us just take a walk into your local grocery or retail store. And just like everyone else, we too, are getting ready for the season.
For us, getting ready for Christmas looks a lot like....
Working with our church to get local Angel Tree wishes passed out and Haitian orphan shoe boxes distributed. Taylor was there yesterday setting up.
CHF Toy wrap is also on the list and the email was sent on Saturday to sign up for this this year!
Within minutes we (myself, my sister, and her boyfriend) were signed up to ensure our spot. Taylor has class on Saturday mornings this semester (something that she declares she will never do again) and will not be able to make it.
We are also figuring out what we will be doing as a family this year. CHF and Food Banks seems to be at the top of our list.
Don't forget about our Toy Closet! We still have to find what we will be doing with all of the toys we have collected this year.
So many things to do... We also plan on coming out with another TaylorFrankie Christmas List this year to share some ideas of gifts that give back. :)
Last year we made a video as a part of a contest that showed how we did Christmas differently for Advent Conspiracy. Take a look and let us know what you plan on doing this year for Christmas.
So last week we went to the premier of the 58: The Film. For those of you who don't know what 58 is, it's a global initiative to end extreme poverty through acts of true fasting (Isaiah 58).
Isaiah 58
1Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
2Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
3Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.
9Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
11And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
13If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
The movie featured different stories of families from Ethiopia, Brazil, India, and Kenya. Each one telling of the daily struggles they face to survive.
One lady with four children lived in a part of the world that hasn't had rain in five years. She lives in a hut that is so bad that her husband left because he couldn't live there anymore. She collects sticks along with her oldest daughter to sell to have money for water and food. But as they collect more and more wood she has to travel farther and farther away from home, all while being 7 months pregnant.
Another story told of a man who works in a stone quarry. He works there to pay off a loan he took from the quarry owner. He is paid very little and when he is ill and cannot come to work his wife and children have to take his place. The physical work is making him sick, but to rest and heal he would get into more debt. He knows that he will die paying off his debt and so will his children and his children's children, all for the $600 that he owes.
Another story of a women who brings home discarded produce from a dumpster that she cleans and sells for money and what is not fit to sell she feeds to her own family. And another of children that are so far from hope that they have even given up on expressing their dreams because they know they will never come true.
Story after story of heartache and extreme poverty, but in the midst of all of these stories there is some good news.
Some 58 Facts
Think ending extreme poverty is impossible? Think again. Consider the following facts:
Over the past eight years, the number of kids dying from measles has declined by 78 percent.
Twenty-two countries have cut their malaria rate in half in only six years.
In the 1990’s the number of children dying from preventable causes dropped from 40,000 to 33,000 per day. In 2008, that number decreased to 24,000. Today, it is 21,000. In one generation, we’ve cut the number of children dying from preventable diseases almost in half!
The number of children dying before their fifth birthday has also decreased even while the number of overall births is increasing.
In less than ten years, a third of children who couldn’t afford to go to school now can. And literacy rates are rising worldwide.
The spread of HIV has been curbed. New HIV infections have been cut 16 percent globally.
Two hundred years ago, the average life expectancy was about 30 years. Today, many of us have a life expectancy of 75 to 80 years.
In the same 200 years, we’ve gone from over 90 percent of the world’s population living in extreme poverty to about 1.4 billion people there as of 2005 (the latest census numbers). That’s still way too many people. But here’s the good news: In 1981 52 percent of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. By 2005, that number was cut in half down to 26 percent: All in one generation!
How can you help? What is 58 doing?
You can give yourself. Fast one thing. Make a change in your life to make a change in the life of someone else. Live Isaiah 58...
1) Pray. Align your heart with God’s over the suffering of the poor and seek His vision for the unique possibilities of our time. 2) Choose your fast. Commit to go hungry. You might simply forgo a meal, commit to a regular fast, or choose to give up something other than food. There are countless ideas and options. 3) Invite friends to join you or join an existing group to fast together. Grow your church, your fellowship group or other group of friends by fasting together. Sharing this experience with others will be valuable on many levels. 4) Offer whatever you have fasted for the benefit of the poor. If you saved $10 by not eating a meal, give it to help end extreme poverty. If you fasted from television, give that time to advance the cause or learn more.
What 58 does is they partner with organizations like Living Water, Compassion, Hope International, and many more. They ask you to pick your fast, pick your cause, and make a difference.
Here is the preview for the movie that we saw. Please visit the 58 website and read more about what they are doing. Global poverty is curable and it can happen now.
Ooops...we missed one. Only 5 days in and we missed one. Does is help that we spend our Mondays volunteering?! ;)
So tonight we have a Twitter Tuesday to share and a newly released video!
Twitter is a constant encouragement to us. We follow writers, pastors, friends, and organizations. There are many tweets weekly that really inspire us. Here is what is on our minds today.
It seems like stores start marketing Christmas earlier and earlier every year... so Advent Conspiracy is at it, too! They work to advocate on behalf of the real celebration of Christmas - our Savior born in a stable, who came to Earth out of love for sinners. And for His birthday we usually buy a bunch of pretty meaningless gifts. AC tells the story of what Jesus might really want for his birthday. Watch the video to get a hint! :)
Introducing, Advent Conspiracy's all new (err...updated...) Promo 2011!
Twitter is a constant encouragement to us. We follow writers, pastors, friends, and organizations. There are many tweets weekly that really inspire us. Here is what is on our mind today.
@advntconspiracy: Kingdom change always begins with loving those who never thought they were worth the kingdom.
Even though Advent Conspiracy is about changing the world through Christmas, they still speak out throughout the year to encourage us to continue what begins each year at Christmastime. It makes sense rather than just showing up again next year without living it daily and it's a helpful reminder of why we make the changes we make.
This tweet came in this morning and just struck my fancy. It's different than what's been being said lately and I actually had to read it a few times through before I could start thinking about it. But once you begin to understand it, it's pretty self-explanatory. In order for His kingdom to come and His will be done, we must love those He loves aka "those who never thought they were worth the kingdom". Those who feel so certain that they are not worth God's love are the ones who need His love the most.
I'm going to keep reading this throughout the day in order to really understand it. But here's a music video that I think helps. And we can all take comfort in the chorus.
But don't you know who you are, What's been done for you? Yeah don't you know who you are? You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade.
We wanted to share this great video by NextGen Charity of Scott Harrison, founder of charity:water, talking about his story and how charity:water started and has grown. It is a little long but worth watching. If you helped sponsor the well last year then this will give you a good look at what you are a part of.
We just wanted to say Merry Christmas! Here is the video we made for the Advent Conspiracy contest. This shows how we have spent our Christmas this year. :)
Merry Christmas to you and yours from Taylor and Frankie!
Toy Land moved from our living room/dining room/bed room, to our truck, then to an apartment complex down the road as we delivered all the wrapped gifts to some neighbor families who have recently relocated to Houston from afar. We were overjoyed to be able to take these gifts and meet the families who were receiving them! They invited us in for soda, juice, and cookies, and we got to sit and visit with some of the children, moms, and dads. We shared the story of the candy cane with some, the reason for gift giving and Christmas with others, and the rest we simply shared the love of Jesus as neighbors, as new friends. For most of these families it was their first ever Christmas. We are so glad we got to make their transition to America a little bit kinder and their Christmas happy. :)
We weren't able to take pictures or videos with the families for their protection, but here is a snippet from the kids who also had fun meeting some kids from other cultures and handing out candy canes. :)
Such stinkin cuties! So proud of these little elves who walked with us for hours visiting family upon family with such little complaints. I hope that this time was a blessing for them as well, as Mom continues to teach them what it looks like to love as Jesus loves.
Thanks to Dad for helping us get all packed up at the last minute and to Mom and the little elves for helping us deliver! And thanks to Ecclesia church and our new friend Nicci who introduced to all these wonderful families! It was a beautiful experience!
Last Saturday was the Children's Hunger Fund Banquet in San Antonio! It was so much fun to see everyone that we have been blessed to meet through this blog- CHF staff from California, staff here in the Southwest office, new friends, and even an old friend from high school! The venue looked great and the food looked delicious! We say that it looked delicious because we were so nervous that we could hardly eat a thing. And we were nervous because a few months ago Fred Martin, Communications Director of CHF, called to ask if we would accept the nomination for the Widow's Mite Award! This award is given each year to a young person or persons who do a lot with a little, like the widow in Mark 12:41-43. What an honor!
If you were there to hear our speech, we were actually speechless... we fumbled with note cards, and tried to look out at people with lights in our eyes, and nervously recited some of what we had written a few hours ago. And half way through it hit me- the last time we were in the same room as David Robinson, he was on stage being recognized and congratulated on behalf of Oak Hills Church for being inducted to the NBA hall of fame, and were we just beginning to learn about CHF. This time we were on stage right before he was (actually David Robinson couldn't make it but he was still being recognized as a Children's Champion Award Recipient and accepted via video) along with a group of other really incredible people doing the work of God and showing his love so beautifully. And it wasn't us- it was God that did that, He is the only one that could do something so big from something so little, and all I could say was "I don't know why we are here". Because in my mind we are just Taylor and Frankie, we live in Houston, we enjoy spending time with family, we like to take pictures and blog, and we just aren't people that can do big things. (And this is also why we stick to blogging, because when we lose our words we can always come back to it later. ;)
So even though we felt really good about Saturday night, and we made people laugh, (and we were told that we did an awesome job!), we would like to share with you what we really had prepared to say in acceptance of the Widow's Mite Award!
*roll introduction video...
*cue Chris Sue (thanks for the great intro, new friend!)
*walk toward beacon, Charif Martin :)
*take place behind podium, facing 650 people...
We would like to thank Children's Hunger Fund for the great work they do for children in need around the world, and their wonderful staff- they make it so easy and so much fun to serve! We also want to say how great it is to see so many people here supporting CHF. Our families are also here and we want to thank them for supporting us through all of our adventures and for teaching us how important it is to love others. We want to also thank Oak Hills Church for sharing their vision with us of loving our neighbors.
We first heard about CHF at the Oak Hills Church Bigger than You service. We saw the video and we were moved but we weren't really sure what we could do. We decided that if CHF was giving these boxes to families in need we were going to see if they really worked. We switched our food budget for theirs and began to eat from the Food Pak. We started to blog about our experience and the need really became real to us. We knew that the need was big and we had to do more.
Tonight, we want to encourage you to do something. If you feel moved to try what we did then go for it! If you want to do something else then find something that your are passionate about and that you can share with your family and do it. Don't be afraid to do something. Set a goal, make a plan, put it to action, fill your heart with dedication, and God will take it from there. God will make it big. No matter how small it may seem to you, it will change someone else's life and yours! To God be the Glory! Thank you!
After comparing pre-speech notes and reflecting on our actual speech, we really didn't stray too far from what we had planned to say. And we share this with you because we don't just want to encourage the people in that room, but we want to encourage you readers, too. You come here and read about what we are doing, and it would bless us so much to know that what we do moves you to do something too. We can't do great things on our own, but with God we can do so much!
We were in the company of truly incredible people that night...
~David Robinson, founder of the Carver Academy. He has a big heart for children and is a great role model and example of how to love God and to show love in your community.
~Michael and Carol Hart, founders of Zoe International, and our new heroes. These are two of the most beautiful people we have ever met. They spoke with such passion for their ministry and love for God.
~Carlos Pimentel, Executive VP of Esperanza International. Carlos also did a great job sharing his dedication to helping others. We were honored to be recognized with him.
~Donnie Laurence, First VP of Investment Officer of Nebens/Laurence Wealth Management Group. He and his wife are great supporters of CHF as he promotes them throughout his organization.
Great people were recognized, but God was the one who was really honored that night. Here are a few pictures from the evening.
Amy was there!
Frankie's special guests, Chita and Juan!
Frankie's mom, Olga and sister, Kathy
Kathy, and Frankie's step-mom, Rose and dad, Gilbert
Taylor's dad, Bryan and mom, Tina
Jesse Reyes, of CHF Southwest. He took care of us that night, told us when we were going on, and showed us around. He was a big help and also goes to Journey Fellowship! Thanks, Jesse!
Mike Richards, Regional Director of CHF Southwest
Charleen! Of CHF Southwest
Francis Chan!!! (host of the evening)
Antonio Giuliano
Don't know why but I like this photo!
That's better... Fred Martin (CHF Headquarters.), Dave Philips (CHF President and Founder!)
The whole group!
And the award!
(View all honorees introduction videos at chfus.org to learn more! You'll be inspired, no doubt!)
This weekend is the CHF Children's Champion Award Celebration Banquet in San Antonio!!!
To be honest, our families actually decided that they were going before we did! It is so great to see them so excited about this event and to support a great organization! What could be easier? You buy a ticket, get dressed up, and enjoy a dinner and an evening with a group of wonderful people- all supporting a wonderful cause! So easy that we actually filled up a whole table of 10!
So if you want to come out and be a part of a great night, I think you can still register here.
If you can't make it, we will be posting a few photos from the night.
