7 Quick Takes Friday - because its easy and I should blog!

1 - I'm a little frustrated about the mission trip. Fundraising is hard. I didn't realize how difficult it would be, how time consuming, how... involved. I also wasn't expecting such a negative reaction from some people, not about fundraising, but just about us going on a mission trip. We thought this out, we prayed, and when people question that it is frustrating, especially when they bring the kids into it. I guess I was expecting more excitement and happiness over this, I mean we are going out to serve God and the church! That IS exciting! Right? I know God is working, I just don't always know in what way. So I'm working hard to hand over this stress to Him, and just get my own issues out of the way.

2 - Will is a super picky eater. Like, REALLY. This kid will starve himself for days if there is no food he wants, and then binge eat when we finally have something he thinks isn't "disgusting". I mean, that can't be totally healthy right? And um, part of this trip to Mexico is going to be all about being thankful for what we have, not complaining, and accepting what God provides us with. I can see 4 year old picky pants having huge problems with that. I think its good we notice this now, because we can start to work on this heart issue now, before the trip, to prepare for it. I also think that us being in Mexico over Thanksgiving is a bit of a sign in and of itself. I truly can't think of a better, more meaningful way to spend this Thanksgiving, than in another country, living more simply, serving others, and recognizing how much we truly have to be thankful for.

3 - On a non mission trip related note, I'm having skirt/pants issues. Its something I have to pray about in regards to modesty and what God is calling me to do. I go back and forth on this issue so much, and I have had periods of time where I have only worn skirts for a time, and I'm just not sure where I stand with it and where God is leading me at this point. It's a very fine line, for me and where my tendency to sin seems to lie, in vanity and not being loving in my responsibility to respect myself and the body of Christ, but also vanity and pride in a different way of seeing myself as "better" or more "religious" because I am wearing skirts. So, lots of prayer happening in that regard.

4 - We've all had a bit of a cold around here, so we have been taking things easy this week. Its nice to be kind of lazy and lounge about as we rest up and get better, but its also kinda awful because I feel really unproductive and kinda gross. As much as I dislike getting up super early in the morning and sticking to a schedule, it really does work for our family, and it really does make me feel better and do a much better job at staying rooted in prayer and living out my vocation in a Christ honoring way. Crud. Well I guess that just answered the debate going on in my head if I really needed to get up at 5 A.M. on Monday or not. That would be a yes. Coffee anyone?

5 - We are trying to be better about what we eat, and how we treat our bodies. After all, it is the temple of God, the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts, and I think its important to treat ourselves in that way, and for me to teach the kids that. This ties in with modesty that I have especially been working with Abby on as she gets older, but now I realize that its so much more than just that. Modesty is about how we love others, how we love ourselves, and even more importantly, how we love and honor God. We also honor God by showing our bodies the reverence and respect that we should by taking good care of ourselves. This is such an important thing that we have neglected in some ways, and we need to refocus on that.

6 - Joy! Its my word this year. Its a long process. I'm working on it. This song helps me on a lot of days, and during the bad moments of some days my mind and heart linger on the first verse.

"This day God gives me strength of high heaven,

sun and moon shining, flame in my hearth,

Flashing of lightning, wind in its swiftness,

deeps of the ocean, firmness of Earth."

Wow. So we may be a one car family, so my kids might not be in dance or 10 sports or dressed in the most fashionable and pricey clothes. But God is so taking care of us each and every day, and each and every day we are blessed with some amazing and beautiful gifts all around us. So in those bad moments, I feel the wind brush my cheek, and its a whisper from God. I plant my feet firmly on the ground and feel the awe of creation and the connection I have to the beauty God created, and to all the people who have come before me. I see the sun, moon, and stars, and I realize it is all so much bigger than me and this moment, that it is eternal and always. I think of the sea and the majesty that is there, how deep and vast it is, much like the love of God for us. I see lightning flashing as clouds gather and even though it can be scary, it is powerful and beautiful, and I tremble in hope at the beauty that comes through after a storm. I see the gifts I have of food on the table, clothes on our backs, the love from each other, the flame in my hearth I suppose, and I feel God's presense in my home, in this little space, such a great amazing awesomeness here with me in these little details comforting and loving me. And I know its ok. And I feel joy. It is there.

7 - That was deep. So this won't be. I really would like a brownie. Delicioso!

Our Journey - A Synopsis

 The RCIA team at our parish asked Adam and I to be part of a small group of speakers at Mass this past Sunday. We were asked to share about our journey into the church, and to share a "Good Shepherd moment" that we had along the way, that showed us that God was guiding us into the church.

Adam and I agreed, although it was a bit daunting and we were dreading speaking in front of everyone just a bit! I think we kind of blocked it out until right before we had to go up there, so it wasn't too terribly stressful. We did put a lot of work into our talk though, because we didn't want to mess up and we wanted to try and do our journey and the RCIA program justice.

So I thought the best thing to do, since we weren't able to get a video or anything of our talk, would be to just give a "transcript" of our talk here for you all. I hope you enjoy!


Good Shepherd Witness Talk,  April 21, 2013
Adam and Kelli Taylor

Adam:

Thank you, Father Pat, for giving us the opportunity to speak.

I’m Adam Taylor, and this is my wife, Kelli. We were asked by the RCIA team to share with you our experience going through RCIA and how God called us into the church.

Our journey is a little different than most, as our family converted from a Protestant faith all at the same time. In short, we took advantage of the RCIA program for adults and for children, as well as the baptism program, all at once. As one of our friends said, “That’s a whole lot of sacraments.”

I’m going to hand this over to my lovely wife to start us off.

Kelli:

We decided I should share first since I sort of drug our family into this whole experience. Adam and I came from different Protestant faiths and have been exploring our faith and searching for a church since we were married over 10 years ago. Through my step family  and the prolife movement, I was first exposed to the Catholic faith and to praying the Rosary, which began our journey towards the Catholic church.

It reached a point in our search, where I felt so torn about the direction we were headed, where I was unsure if continuing to look into Catholicism was where God was leading us. I went to Mass alone, and before it began I silently begged God to please just give me some sort of sign or acknowledgement that he was calling us to begin RCIA. As soon as my prayer ended, the processional hymn began, and it was a song that I had fallen in love with several years ago.

Many of you may be familiar with it, the song is called “The Summons”, and the first verse begins –

“Would you come and follow me, if I but called your name?

Would you go where you don’t know, and never be the same?”

The moment I heard that song, I knew that God was answering my prayer. I was actually so surprised by the immediate response, that I blurted out, “Are you kidding me?” and apparently I said it very loudly because I got quite a few stares from the people who were sitting  around me.

This moment assured me that we were being led to the Catholic church, even though at the time my husband was not so agreeable to this idea, but that is his story to tell you. Adam…

Adam:

Not being agreeable is a generous understatement. To be completely honest with all of you, I was pretty angry. At that point in my faith, I was of the opinion that no Christian “denomination” had a correct doctrinal belief, and worst of all, much of the Catholic faith specifically wasn’t based in the Bible and was hence “made-up”. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be in a made up pseudo Christian faith that has so many hoops you have to jump through to even become a member. RCIA lasts HOW LONG? Months?? What a roadblock to faith!

After a lot of spiritual debates with my wife, I came to the conclusion that I needed to attend RCIA with her, to make sure they didn’t fill her head with a bunch of nonsense. After my first few RCIA classes, I was wonderfully surprised to learn that most of the Catholic faith that I considered “made-up”, was actually based on scripture. God worked through RCIA to show me that many of the Catholic “roadblocks” as I called them, such as confession, intercession, and the church traditions, were in reality gifts and sacraments from God to have a fuller and more complete relationship with Him.

My “Good Shepherd Moment” came during an RCIA retreat where I heard the verse that was actually our Gospel reading last Sunday – I’m sure you all remember it right? In John 21, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him, and tells him three times to feed his sheep. At that moment, I was convinced of the primacy of Peter, and I knew that I was absolutely supposed to be Catholic.

Kelli:

Throughout RCIA, our entrance into the church, and these weeks since, we have continued to see God’s guiding hand through many coincidences and connections. We look forward to continuing to discern God’s will for our family, our vocations, and our service in the church, through growing in our faith, partaking of the sacraments, and staying founded in prayer.  

We are so thankful for the RCIA team here at Saints Simon and Jude for guiding us into the church, for the wonderful childcare workers the church provided for us and who took such amazing care of our children during our RCIA classes and retreats, to our dear friends, who for years helped pray us into the church without our knowledge, and especially to our sponsors, who walked alongside us as we came home.

Adam:

Thank you all for allowing us to briefly share our experience with you, and we ask that you please pray for and continue to offer support to the people who are currently in the RCIA program. Thank you.

 

I thought since I mentioned in the talk we gave about a song that spoke to me, The Summons, that I should share the song with you here. I hope it blesses you!

¡Buenos dias!

Another thing we are doing in preparation for our mission trip, is to start learning some basic Spanish (hopefully). There are a couple of programs we are using right now to work on this.

One of them is Duolingo. This is an app for my phone which I have just started using. I've done quite a few lessons already though. I really like this app, because it doesn't just teach vocabulary, but it works on actually speaking it. Plus it has a microphone and recording feature where you have to repeat words and phrases to work on your speaking and accent. This is my favorite tool we have used so far!

The other way we have been learning, is online through Live Mocha. This has also been a good way to learn, and I really like how it has videos of people having conversations. It really helps to see the way the language is really used. I have not done as many lessons in this, and while this is free its a little more of a pain because you have to earn points by reviewing other people's submissions in order to keep from paying a fee.

Between these two programs, I think we will at least be able to have some basic conversation, and at least hopefully our effort will come across if nothing else. Even Will is excited about learning Spanish, and is working hard!

Howdy Partner

As we begin preparing for our trip, there is a part of it that, while not unexpected, does have us a bit on edge. What is that you ask? Fundraising! For us this is an important part of our trip for a few reasons...

• We don't have the capability of paying the entire cost ourselves.

• Because we are discerning a long term call, fundraising is a BIG part of that, and this helps us see the reality of missionary life in a bigger sense than just going on a trip. We are going to get a fuller experience from the beginning to the end.

• Its important to involve others in mission, because it isn't just about our family going. It's about the church being salt and light in the world. We are able to go and physically be present, but there are others who can't go, and God may be calling them to support missions and love people in other ways. We aren't financially wealthy, but we're wealthy and gifted in a lot of other ways. By involving others and not making this "our" trip, but "God's trip", it brings the church together and gives a visible example of the body of Christ and His church in this world. Its actually pretty amazing.

But fundraising is really hard. REALLY hard. Also for a couple different reasons...

• It feels odd. Really. I think society teaches us to be so independent, that being dependent on the body of Christ to partner with you can be really humbling! I mean, who likes asking others for money REALLY?

• I worry! How are we going to make this happen? And then I realize, oh yeah, we're not, God is. He's got this.

• Its work. And its extra work on top of our normal stuff. Which I think in most anyone's world causes us to initially say, no thanks! But the more we start to work, the more joy we find in it, and in answering God's call in our hearts.

So, as we prepare to begin our fundraising efforts, here is a video from Abby sharing a little bit about our plans.

If you feel like God is calling you to help us financially and be our partner in mission, its actually pretty easy. Here are a few ways you can help us out:

• Host a garage sale and declutter your house, and contribute what you make to our mission.

• We are going to be hosting a bake sale or two in the near future. You can host one of your own to raise money for us, or you can donate supplies or treats and we can sell them at ours. Just let me know if you are wanting to send some treats our way, and I can keep you posted.

• If you want to make a financial contribution yourself or need to get those garage sale or bake sale monies to us, you can do that through our Go Fund Me account. (There is also a box that will take you straight there in the upper right hand corner of our blog). 

• If you are making a larger donation, you can do so in our name through FMC, and its tax deductible. Its goes straight to our mission costs, as long as you mention our name! If you are interested in doing that, just let me know and I can give you the complete instructions.

Yes, Lord, Yes!

Adam and I have never been on a mission trip, so our entire family will be experiencing missionary life for the first time together. The trip we are making is a short term mission and will last from 7-10 days. I am so excited that the Lord led us to FMC, where we can experience this as a family.

I am so blessed and beyond excited (although nervous, I admit) that we get to be a part of this! Today as I was reflecting on our decision to make this trip, and on how God has been opening and leading our hearts, I started crying out of sheer happiness. I felt so silly, but I could feel the Holy Spirit just abiding with me in that moment, and I knew that answering this call to Mexico is where God is leading us right now. This short term trip is something we know God is calling us to do, and right now I don't know if God is calling our family to long term missionary work or not, but I know He has a purpose and plan for this trip, and we are happy to say "Yes, Lord, Yes!"

Here is a video about the mission base in General Cepeda, and just a peek into what wonderful work God is doing through the hands and feet of His church.

In the beginning...

Hello!

Thank you for stopping by our Family Blog and getting to know a little about us and what the Lord has put on our hearts as a family.

We are the Taylor's - Adam, Kelli, Abby, Will, and Aaron.

When Adam and I were married, we really had no idea what the Lord had in store for us. We were young college kids, living a less than Christian lifestyle, struggling with our faith, and living completely selfish and worldly lives. Fast forward 10 years, and we have 3 amazing children, we homeschool, have come home to the Catholic church, daily strive and struggle to carry the crosses we are given with joy (please note the words strive and struggle are very key words here!), and are discerning what God continues to have in store for our family.

Recently we have felt God opening our hearts to teaching and missions work, neither of which we have done outside of our own growing family. In response to God's call in our hearts, we are planning our first short term mission trip, to get a taste of the missionary life. Our family is planning to go to General Cepeda, Mexico with Family Missions Company (FMC) in November, where we will share the Good News of Jesus, serve through work projects, visit the elderly and handicapped, and more.We are thrilled that God is calling our entire family into this missionary experience, where we can all be Salt and Light to the world.

This will be a journey fueled by prayer and the hand of God! Through preparation and planning, fundraising and travel, our family would appreciate all of your prayers as we walk in the footsteps of Christ in service and love, and continue to discern God's will for our family.