Coupons and Things..

New Website!

2011-01-16T00:12:00.002-06:00

Check out my new website for couponing and cooking: www.savingwithshauna.weebly.com

Couponing 1/12/11: Saved over 70%!

2011-01-12T22:28:00.003-06:00

It's a GREAT week at Publix... if you're store isn't out of everything due to all the snow/ ice in the south that is keeping the trucks from delivering to the stores. I lucked out and was able to get most of everything on my list, but I think it's because I went first thing this afternoon! I am floating on couponing cloud 9 as I have broken a personal record of saving! It also helped that I had over $40 of coupons applied. Here's how I did:

Total Spent: 36.06

Total SAVED: $67.04

1 Box Cheese It's (B1G1): $1.60
1 Box Uncle Ben's White Rice (B1G1 & $0.75 coupon): $0.25
2 boxes of Keebler Cookies (B1G1): $3.49
Publix Coffee (penny item): $0.01
1 Bag Tyson Chicken Patties (B1G1): $3.30
2 Boxes Jimmy Dean D-Lights Sandwiches (B1G1 & $5 coupons): $0.99
2 boxes Power of Fruit Bars (B1G1 & 2 $1 coupons): $1.39
2 32 oz. Coffeemate liquid creamers (B1G1 & 2 $1 coupons...just noticed a ring up error I will have to get fixed: 1 creamer rang up as 2 for $2.50 and the other as 2 for $7...): $2.75 (SHOUD have been $0.25 each w/ coupons)
1 pkg of Breaded cubed Steak: $3.07
1 pkg Pork Chops: $3.88
1 pkg NY Strip Steak: $8.39
2 pkgs Stayfree pads (2 $1 Publix coupons, 1 $1 man. and 1 B1G1 man. coupons): $0.45
Trash bags: $3.49
2 Maalox Advanced Liquid medicine (2 $5 man. coupons): FREE w/ $0.02 profit!
2 boxes J & J First Aid to Go Kits ($2/2 Publix coupon & $2 man. coupons): FREE w/ $1.06 profit!
2 Sundown Vitamin D (1 $6/2 Publix coupon (forgot to bring this coupon...another fix), 1 $3/2 coupon): $2.98 (will be Free w/ $3.02 profit when I get it fixed tomorrow!)
Publix Hot Dog buns: $0.97

So, how about I'm really glad I'm blogging all of this because I wouldn't have caught the mistake w/ the coffee creamer and the lack of a coupon on the vitamins?! So, when I get these things fixed tomorrow, my fixed total should be $27.81 with $75.29 savings! Good day, but I need to start watching the screen when everything rings up so I don't leave the store with those mistakes!

Couponing 1/6/11: Saving money while eating healthy...

2011-01-06T16:39:00.003-06:00

Hey Friends!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. To tell you the truth, I haven't been couponing much lately. Shane and I got a deal through Groupon a month ago to try Medical Weight Loss Solutions for 4 weeks. Basically they put us on a STRICT (in my opinion as I love my carbs and junk food) diet, gave us Lipotropic injections weekly (amazing stuff: it's vitamin B6 and some other vitamins in a shot form. It helps your kidneys speed up the fat burning process and as a result increases your metabolism), and they weighed us weekly to view our progress. Long story short (and 10 lbs lighter ;-) ), I couldn't just buy whatever was on sale. I had to eat very lean meats, only certain kinds of veggies, and little to no carbs. Not to say I didn't save any money through my Publix shopping; I did save almost 50% each week.

Well, I finished my sessions with MWLS on Tuesday, but started working with a personal trainer this week so I still have to watch what I eat. This is a pretty good week to shop at Publix for those of you like me. Here's how I did:

Total Spent: 27.24

Total SAVED: $29.33

3 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pastas @ B1G1 & 1 Ronzoni Lasagna noodles (not b1g1) (2 $1/2 coupons applied): $2.69 (BTW, the Ronzoni wheat pastas have a lot less calories than the Mueller's wheat pasta!)
2 boxes Keebler crackers (B1G1): $3.89
1 box 100 calorie packs of Chips Deluxe (B1G1): $1.60
1 Box Duncan Hines Brownie Mix (not on sale; not healthy, but I cannot make it through a diet w/ out splurging a little ;-) ): $2.59
1 bag FlatOut bread (B1G1 & $2 off coupon when you buy ground beef): free w/ $0.55 overage!
2 boxes Vitamuffin Tops (B1G1): $4.49
2 bags Publix deli meat (supposed to grab the 2 for $5 ones but we did not): $6.79
1 lb ground beef: $3.90
2 carts of egg beaters (B1G1 and 2 $1 off coupons): $0.79
1 gal Milk: $3.59

And as always, I also applied a $5 off $25 Save-A-Lot coupon to my total purchase. I've had them try to not take my Save-A-Lot coupons before just because it's not that popular of a store around here, but once I tell them where the closest one is (in Alabaster next to the thrift store), they'll take it. By the way, that Flatout bread is AMAZING! It's got less calories than regular bread, and Shane and I used them tonight to make the best burgers ever! I highly recommend them :-)

Menu Ideas using Couponed Food: 11/8- 11/11

2010-11-12T22:25:00.003-06:00

Hey Friends! In case you were wondering, I did not go grocery shopping this week. I just don't have enough room available to stock up on anything else in my fridge and pantry, plus I was not intrigued by any of the deals in this week's Publix ad. I may or may not be shopping next week, depending on the deals, and will be out of town for the following week.

Anyway here's what I cooked this week using the ingredients I've purchased since I started couponing:

Monday:

Chicken Marsala:

- Chicken: $2

- Macaroni Grill Dinner Kit: $1 (on sale w/ coupons at Target a while ago)

Publix Italian Salad Mix: $2.50 (2 for $5 2 grocery week's ago)

New York Ciabatta Bread: $0.91 (50% off w/ coupons last grocery week)

Total: $5.41

Fed 4

Tuesday:

Tortilla Soup:

- Chicken: $2

- Chicken Broth: $1.25 (b1g1 last week)

- Can tomatoes: on hand (stocked up in August from sale and coupons)

- green chilli's: $1

- corn tortillas: $1

- Kraft Cheddar Cheese: $1.31 (deal after coupons 3 grocery weeks ago)

-Seasonings on hand

Sopapillas:

- Left over Flour tortillas from last week’s tacos/sopapillas: on hand

-veggie oil & honey on hand

Total: $6.56

Fed 4

Thursday:

Chicken Parmesan:

-Chicken: $2

- Progressive Bread Crumbs (free after sale and coupons at Publix last month)

- Kraft Mozzarella Cheese: $1.31

- Jar Barilla Sauce: $1.29 (B1G1 2 weeks ago)

- Barilla noodles: $0.69 (B1G1 last week)

Green Beans: $0.14
1/2 box New York Garlic Bread: $0.46

Total: $5.89

Fed 3

Menu Ideas for 11/1 - 11/5 2010

2010-11-05T09:26:00.006-05:00

I have way too many groceries to not be cooking! Here's what I have made this week:

Monday:

Breaded BBQ Chicken

- 2 Boneless Chicken Breasts (divided into 4...they were huge): $2

- Shake N' Bake: $0.90

- BBQ Seasoning: on hand

Chicken & Broccoli Noodles (Knorr sides): $0.65
Cole's Garlic Sticks: $1
Publix Waldorf Salad Kit: $2.50

Total: $7.05

4 Servings

Tuesday:

Teriaki Chicken

- 1 Chicken Breast cut in strips: $1

- Knorr Teriaki Lomein Pasta Noodles: $0.65

- Seasonings: On Hand

Total: $1.65

2 Servings

Thursday:

Tacos

- Old El Paso Soft & Hard Shell Taco Dinner Kit: $0.44

- 1 lb Ground Beef: $1

Black Beans & Rice: $2 (picked up at store w/out coupons or sale...don't remember the name of the package)
Sopapillas

- Flour Tortillas (from dinner kit)

- Veggie Oil, Cinn. Sugar, Honey: On Hand

Total: $3.44

4 Servings

Couponing Week 6

2010-11-04T08:57:00.004-05:00

Welcome to my freezer. It is packed FULL of food I've purchased since couponing. It is so full that I had to duct tape it shut- no lie! I even tried to remove the ice bin, and rearrange everything, but it is still too full to shut on its own!

I didn't do really well this week at catching the best deals. Frankly, this week's ad had nothing that interested me. I almost just skipped a week of grocery shopping since I don't need anything, and I still feel like I should have. The only thing that really saved me were those 2 $5 Publix gift cards I received from Kellogg's in the mail, and a $5 off Food Giant competitor's coupon (which my cashier debated on taking, but I'm glad he decided to accept it).

Total Spent: $38.05

Total Saved: $67.12 (including gift cards)

5 boxes New York breads (50% off and $3.20 coupons): $4.55
2 Boxes TGI Fridays snacks (on sale & $3 coupons): $5
2 Digiorno Pizzas (2 for $10): $10
2 boxes Pillsbury Holiday Cookies (3 for $6 & $1 coupon): $3
2 boxes Toaster Strudels (B1G1 & $1 coupon): $1.45
1 box Cream Puffs & 1 box Eclairs (B1G1): $5.59 (oh I feel fat by just listing these...)
6 64 oz Gatorades (3 for $5): $10
2 jugs Louana Veggie Oil (2 for $5 & $1 coupon): $4
Barilla Thin Spaghetti (B1G1): $0.69
Publix Oatmeal (penny item): $0.01
2 boxes College Inn Chicken Broth (B1G1): $2.49
2 can Green Giant Green Beans (B1G1 & $1 coupons): $0.29
Glass Plus Cleaner (B1G1 & $1 coupon): $0.25
Scotch Packaging Tape (B1G1 & $1 off): $0.75
2 boxes of Publix Diet Coke (2 for $5): $5

I apologize for being such a fat kid this week. It didn't help that I went to the grocery store HUNGRY and in a hurry. I don't apologize for the fat kid stuff I bought that I got a good deal on with coupons, but I definitely didn't need to buy Eclairs and Cream Puffs.

On a different note, I want to introduce all of you to something that might be just as good as couponing. It's a company called Angel Food Ministries. They sell good food for CHEAP and you pick it up at your local churches/ schools once a month. They are a Christian company, but I really love the fact that when you pick up your food, they don't try to save you. You just drive over, show your receipt, pop your trunk, they load the boxes of food, then you're good to go! There's also no limit of food you can buy, and the more people that purchase from them, the cheaper the food gets! If you've ever been to my house for dinner, there's a good chance I cooked you something I purchased from Angel Food, and you liked it! They've also got complete Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners!

Check them out: www.angelfoodministries.com

This Week's Menu and Great Buys

2010-10-28T16:15:00.006-05:00

I confess I only cooked one meal for dinner this week. It's been kind of a crazy week, and I've also got a bunch of restaurant coupons that expire on Monday, so we've been eating out a lot. Here's the one meal I cooked on Tuesday:

Spicy Beef and Sausage Ravioli:

- 2 bags Ravioli (purchased on sale w/ coupons last week): $5
- 1/2 Jar Ragu (B1G1 w/ coupons applied a couple of weeks ago): $0.73 worth

Sister Shubert Rolls: on hand
Green Beans: $0.70

Total Cost: $6.43
Fed 4 Adults

On a different note, I wanted to share with you some sweet deals we got on a couple of BIG purchases this month. We got into a wreck in July that totaled our Fusion. We ended up coming out of it with a chiropractor bill and a BIG settlement check. We were struggling with what to do with the money. We saught the advice of family and friends- half of them told us to be wise and pay off some debt, and the other half told us we should just spend it because when would we have this kind of money again? Well, we took both sets of advice. We paid off a credit card, and we took the rest of the money and "blew" it, but in a very smart way...

Purchase #1

Shane bought a new drum set. He has been teaching for over 5 years now, and has yet to own some nice music gear. He had 2 drum sets at one point this summer, but they were not very good kits. He sold one of them and the other is being rented by one of his students. So, we decided it was time for him to get a drum set that he liked and that was better than mediocre.

So, he shopped around and found a Gretsch set through Musician's Friend that he really liked that was on sale for $650. Before he made the big purchase, he emailed Musician's Friend to inquire a little about the set, and ended up getting a response that the one he wanted was sold out. Shane emailed the guy back and asked that they would at least give him a coupon for his next purchase since they were advertising something they did not have in stock. They agreed to give him a 5% off coupon. In the meantime, he emailed Gretsch and asked if they knew of where he could get this drum set he loved that was sold out. Well, they told Shane they made very few of this one set he wanted, and that according to their records, Musician's Friend should have at least 1 left in stock and Shane should have them look for it. Shane asked, and they found the 1 left in the back of their warehouse. So, Shane bought it and said, "Here's my coupon!" So, he ended up getting this sweet drum set worth over $1000 for $600 shipped!

Purchase #2

I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do with my part of the extra money. I always buy clothes in these kind of situations, but I wanted do be different this time. I wanted to purchase something that I would enjoy like Shane does his drums. I went with new cookware. When we got married, someone gave us Caphalon pots and pans (that were on our registry, and I am VERY thankful for having them the last 3 years), which are top of the line in the cooking world. Well, they were the non-stick kind, which I have decided that I hate and are not good for me to own because I will never spend the time handwashing that stuff. Through so many runs through the dishwasher, the non-stick stuff has come off and rusted. I cook a lot so it's important for me to have some decent cookware.

I noticed in the Bed, Bath, and Beyond ad this week that if you buy $300 of Caphalon products they give you a $50 gift card. I also found the set I wanted: Caphalon 13 Tri-Ply Stainless Steel piece set of pots and pans for $399.99. I also had a 20% off coupon to BB&B, so I went in last night and made my purchase. Well, not only did I get the set and a $50 gift card for $320, but they also threw in a Caphalon Dutch oven (worth $140 on it's own) for free! So, I got $590 worth of stuff for $320, plus a $50 gift card, and the pots and pans have a lifetime warranty! My omlet this morning has never tasted so good and come out so perfect. :-)

Not only have we been able to take our stretched dollars from Grocery money and buy more things, but we have been able to stretch our stretched out dollars! I don't think Shane and I have ever been able to have so much food on our table, give so much away, and buy ourselves nice things as much as we have this semester! It's because of GOD, and partly Shane doing well in the job world (because of God), but I feel a huge contributor has been coupons (it's a God thing I got into coupons so I it's really all from God)! I really look forward to calculating my costs vs savings for groceries after a year of blogging about them.

Are you convinced to coupon yet?

Couponing Week 5

2010-10-27T14:59:00.004-05:00

I have broken a new personal record! I could kick myself in the pants though because I received 2 free $5 Publix gift cards in the mail last week and completely forgot to use them this trip! But I might print off more coupons and return to Publix this week, so I'll have to remember to use those gift cards then! Details are as follows...

Total Spent: $28.62

Total Saved: $60.83!

2 25 oz bags of Tyson Anytizers (B1G1 & $2 coupons): $6.99

2 Contessa Green Cuisine Meals (B1G1 & $4 Publix coupons): $3.99

2 bags Publix Salad Mix (2 for $5): $5

2 boxes Coles Bread Sticks (B1G1): $2.79

2 boxes Starbucks Ice Cream (B1G1 & $1.50 coupons): $2.29

2 bags Lenders Bagels (B1G1): $2.09

25 oz bag Beggin' Strips (B1G1 & $4 competitor and man. coupons): $1.50

Taco Bell Dinner Kit (B1G1 & $1 coupon): $0.35

Publix Peanut Butter (penny item): $0.01

Barilla Pasta Sauce (B1G1): $1.29

2 boxes Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta (B1G1 & $2 coupons): FREE!

2 boxes Cascadian Farm Granola Bars (B1G1 & $4 coupons): FREE!

bananas: $1.99

So, it was a good week! The better I get at this, the harder it is to wait for the next week's sales ad to come in. It's like Christmas every Wednesday for me!

Couponed Menu Ideas for 10/18-10/22

2010-10-22T22:25:00.000-05:00

Here are the meals I made this week based on food I purchased for cheap through sales and coupons at Publix the past couple of weeks.

Monday:

Manicotti:

- Manicotti Shells (got at Walmart, no sale): $1.50

- 1 lb Ground Beef: $3
- 1/2 Big Jar Ragu (B1G1 a couple weeks ago): $0.73
- Mozzarela Cheese: $1.31
- Ricotta Cheese: $1

Cole's Garlic Bread (2 for $3 last week w/ coupons): $1

Dunkan Hines Brownies:

- Mix: $0.99
- Eggs: $0.10 worth
- Veggie Oil (on hand...we'll say it's free)

Total Cost: $9.63

Fed 3 with PLENTY left over

Tuesday:

Meatloaf:

- 1 lb. Ground Beef: $3

- Brown Sugar, seasonings, ketchup: on hand

Macaroni and Cheese:

- 1/2 box Mueller's Elbow Mac (B1G1 last week w/ coupons): $0.37

- sauce and seasonings (my secret recipe): on hand

- 1 bag Kraft Sharp Cheddar (on sale with w/ coupons last week): $1.31

1 Cole's Garlic Bread Mini Loaf (Sale w/ coupons last week): $1

Salad (sale w/ coupons): $1.73

Total Cost: $7.41

Fed 4 Adults w/ left overs

Thursday:

Wanchai Ferri Mongolian Beef Skillet Meal (B1G1 a few weeks ago w/ coupon): $2.49

PF Changs Sweet and Sour Chicken Skillet Meal (sale a few weeks ago w/ coupons): $3

Uncle Ben's Whole Grain White Rice with Veggies (sale w/ coupons this week): $0.75

Nestle White Chocolate Chip Maccadamia Nut Cookies (sale w/ coupons this week): $0.60

Total Spent: $6.84

Cooked Enough for 4 Adults

This was another great week of complete family meals for under $10 each. Thursday night's meal was the least favorite though. I decided that when it comes to Chinese food, I should just leave it for the restaurants. I thought the Sweet and Sour Chicken from PF Changs was surprisingly gross, which my mother liked more than the Mongolian Beef. When Shane came home for dinner and saw the chinese food, he decided he would rather eat the left over Manicotti from Monday night. So, i'll probably end up throwing away the chinese food. I need to find a way to use up the big dish of left over mac n' cheese from Tuesday tonight!

Couponing Week 4

2010-10-20T15:53:00.003-05:00

This was fat kid week at Publix, but get who FINALLY saved more then she spent? This girl, yeah!! Here's how I did:

Total Spent: $51.25

Total Saved: $57.70

2 Bags Buitoni beef and sausage ravioli (2 for $7 & $2 coupons): $5
2 big boxes TGI Fridays Chicken Quesadillas (b1g1 & $1.50 coupon): $7.50
1 small box TGI Fridays Cheeseburgers ($2 coupon): $4
2 bags Nestle ready to bake Cookies (b1g1 & $2 coupons): $1.29
1 Tombstone Pizza (B1G1): $2.87
3 Fun Size bags on Mars candy (B1G1 & $2.50 coupons): $12.50
2 bags Lay's Kettle Chips (2 for $5): $5
2 boxes of General Mills Cereal (B1g1 & $1.20 coupons...just noticed one box did not ring up as b1g1 :-/): $4.27
Pepperidge Farm Cookies (B1G1 & $0.75 coupon): $0.95
1 bag Knorr Pasta Sides (B1G1): $0.65
2 boxes Uncle Ben's Garden Veggie Rice (2 for $3 and B1G1 coupon): $1.50
Arnold 12 Grain Bread (B1G1 & $1 coupon): $0.95

I know I said last week that I was only going to the store this week if items were free or close to free, but I couldn't help myself. I did however configure my grocery list so I would have to save more then I spent, and I am one happy camper because of it. I do have to confess that I had to start stocking my groceries in my mother's fridge and pantry because I really don't have room for any more food! I am really looking forward to my grocery experience in two weeks because the Food World here in Pelham is going out of business and I should be able to get a lot of stuff for ridiculously cheap. I plan on going the day before they are scheduled to shut down so I can get the BEST deal possible!

I hope that you all have a good week grocery shopping and save lots of money! Btw, if you have kids, you should have them stop by my house for trick or treating on Halloween. I have SOOOO much candy to give away! Shane and I are also thinking about having a Halloween party. Let me know if that sounds like something you'd be interested in attending, and we'll plan it!

Weekly Menus Using Couponed Food

2010-10-14T18:56:00.005-05:00

Southern Savers posts every week a couple of menu ideas based on the sales items at Publix, and I think it's a great idea; so much so that I decided to start filling you in every week on what I'm serving for dinners based on what I'm buying. Here's this week (Starting Tuesday since I already told you about the Chicken and Orzo soup served Monday):

Tuesday, October 12 2010

Baked, breaded Pork Chops:

- 3 Boneless Pork Chops: $3 (I buy meat in bulk at Sam's)
- Shake N' Bake: $0.90

Publix Chicken Flav. Rice: $Free (got it on the last buy theirs get ours deal)
Zucchini Casserole:

- 2 Zucchini: $1.50
- Onion: $0.20 worth
- Ritz Crackers: $0.10 worth
- Cheese: $free (used mom's)
- Eggs: $0.12 worth
- Milk: $Free (used mom's)
- Butter: $0.10 worth (of one of the jugs I got for $0.39 2 weeks ago)

Rolls: $1.24 (divided bag of them up between this and Thursday's dinners)

Total Cost: $7.16!
This meal fed 4 very hungry adults

Thursday, October 14 2010

Jambalaya:

- Zatarain's Jambalaya Rice Mix: $0.75
- 1 Chicken Breast: $1
- 1/2 lb Cajun Sausage: $2

Rolls: $1.24
Salad Mix: $1.45

Total Cost: $6.44!
This meal fed 3 Hungry Adults (supposed to have 6 servings worth, haha)

I'll go ahead an conclude this week's with those 2 meals, and update with more depending on how much I cook this weekend (which is usually next to none). Other than couponing, I live frugally by eating dinner with my mom 3 nights a week and splitting the grocery bill with her. This saves the both of us a TON of money, and it's nice for me to have someone to eat with at nights, since Shane works until 8 or 9pm every night. On Tuesday nights, my mother's boyfriend comes to eat dinner with us and makes a little contribution. I actually made money off of this Tuesday's dinner!

Coupon Experience Week 3

2010-10-13T15:13:00.004-05:00

I really thought that this week would be the week that I actually saved more than I spent. Not so, and I was disappointed, until Shane made me realize just how MUCH food I've been getting every week for a very low price. My cart is filled up to the max every week, and I don't think I ever spend more than $60 for it all. In fact, I have so much food stocked up, that I think next week I will only be buying stuff if it is free or close to free because I don't need anything! I also signed up for an Upromise Publix card today, which will give me money towards my student loans every week I buy groceries there, so I'm pretty excited about that. Anyway, here's how I did this week:

Total Spent: $52.46

Total Saved: $44.91 ($15 worth of coupons included)

Here's the breakdown:

- Publix Chocolate Almonds (Penny Item): $0.01

- Bag of Nestle Crunch (B1G1): $3

- 2 Gal Publix Drinking Water: $1.58

- 3 Gatorades (the big jugs: 3 for $5): $5

- 2 bags of Cape Cod Kettle Chips (2 for $5): $5

- 2 bags Ritz Toasted Chips (B1G1 & $1 coupon): $2.39

- Mueller's Elbow Mac (B1G1): $0.75

- 4 Zataran's Dinner Box Kits (B1G1 & $1 coupon): $3

- Duncan Hines Brownie Mix (B1G1): $0.99

- Publix and Planter's Honey Roasted Peanuts (Buy theirs, get ours free deal) $3.19

- Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce (B1G1): $1.18

- 2 Box New York Bread (2 for $5 & $0.80 coupon): $4.20

- Klondike Bars (B1G1): $1.80

- 5 things of cheese: 2 Phil. Cream Cheese, 3 bags Kraft Shredded Cheese ($5/5 coupon, $2 Target coupon, & $1 Publix Coupon): $6.55

- 2 Bags of Salad (B1G1 & $0.55 coupon): $3.45

- 2 Cole's Garlic Bread (2 for $3 & $1 coupon): $2

- 1 Pineapple (on sale): $2.99

My shopping deals this week were good, but nothing amazing to me. I do look forward to all the Zataran's meals I will be making within the next month. Speaking of meals, I made homemade Chicken and Orzo soup last week with Coffee Cake for dessert, and I realized it was the first meal I've cooked from scratch where I had purchased everything (minus the chicken and veggies, but I got those for cheap) on sale. The total cost was around $8 and it fed 4 HUNGRY adults! I look forward to more meals like that!

Anyway, I hope some of you are reading this and being encouraged to start couponing. If you are pro-couponers already, then I would appreciate your feedback and where you see I could improve on my deals. Thanks for reading!

Couponing Experience Week 2

2010-10-06T15:55:00.007-05:00

I stole this pic from a Kroger ad. Apparently they have a card that all your coupons can go on now, instead of carrying and handling all your different coupons? Cool idea I suppose, although I like to throw all my coupons I'm going to use at the store in an envelope and surprise the cashier after she rings everything up! This also keeps the people in line behind me from getting pissed off :-)

Anyway, here's how I did this week. I'm not as impressed as I was last week or the week before, but I got some stuff I wasn't planning on getting and didn't have coupons for. I'm striving for the day where I can save more than I have spent. One lady commented on Southernsavers under the Publix ad this week that she got $120 of groceries and spent $40. I'm hoping for that day soon.

This week I spent $83.43 and saved $49.26 (16.73 of that was coupons) Here's the Breakdown:

- $25 Itunes Gift Card ($5 off Winn Dixie Coupon) $20

- 2 Gal. Publix Drinking Water (not on sale) $1.58

- 4 12 packs of coke (buy 3 get one free) $12

- 4 Powerades (b1g1) $2.50

- 2 Boxes Keebler Crackers/Snack Sticks (b1g1) $3.89

- 2 Jugs Swanson Chicken Broth (B1G1) $2.59

- Progresso Bread Crumbs (b1g1 & $1 off) $Free!

- Helman's Mayo (B1G1) $2.35

- Ronzoni Orzo Pasta (B1g1) $0.70

- Nabisco Munch Pack (B1G1) $3.00

- Publix Coffee (Penny Item) $0.01

- 2 cans Campbell's Chunky Soups (sale $1.29 each & $2 coupons) $0.58

- 3 cans Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup (3 for $5, didn't bring my coupons :-( ) $5

- Oscar Mayer Carving Board Turkey and Ham Deli Meat ($4.29/each Applied $2 man. coupons and $1 Target coupon) $5.58

- 3 bags Pillsbury Ready to Bake Cookies (3 for $6 and $1.55 coupons) $4.45

- 2 Gal. Publix Ice Cream (2 for $6) $6

- Kraft Montery Jack Cheese (no sale) $2.99

- Squash Zucchini (sale for 99 cents/ lb) $1.31

- Fresh Green Beans (sale for 99 cents/lb) $0.66

- 2 bags Thomas Bagels (b1g1 & $1 coupon) $2.99

So, not as good of a week as it could have been, but I'm very excited about two of the meals I'm making using the stuff I bought this week! I'm making that Party Chicken in the Publix ad this week (go to Publix and try it...it's real good!), and Chicken and Orzo soup. Shane will be happy because I haven't really been cooking since I started couponing since most the the good deals I get are on those frozen skillet meals and mexican food. I'm also looking forward to making something with the Zucchini squash I got!

Couponing: The Experience!

2010-09-30T09:05:00.005-05:00

So, I've had some people that have shown interest in learning to coupon, and others that have asked me to teach them (or their wives, haha) to coupon, but since most of you aren't sure if you're interested enough to sit down and learn it, I thought I might entice you by sharing my grocery list total/details with you every week. This will also be a way for me to keep track of how I'm doing with it.

When reading these, keep in mind that I have only been couponing for 5 months now. The key to couponing is to be stocking up on items on sale that you need/use (most items go on sale every 6-8 weeks) and I have just gotten established with saving/using coupons and knowing the rules to couponing in stores.

For reference, B1G1= Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal. I put in red what my favorite deals were.

At Publix yesterday, I spent $38.08, and saved $31.91 ($10.16 of that was coupons). Here's the breakdown:

2 Gal. Drinking Water (not on sale) $1.58
Shake N' Bake ($2.35 - $0.55 coupon) $1.80
2 Large Jars Ragu ($3.55 each: B1G1 & $0.60 off 2 coupon) $2.95
1 Can refried beans (didn't grab sale & no coupon) $1.25
2 Jars Pace Chunky Salsa ($2.79 each: B1G1 & $0.60/2 coupon) $2.19
3 Bags Knorr Pasta Sides ($1.29/each: B1g1) $1.94
2 Bags Lays Kettle Chips (not on sale & never on sale but Shane likes them) $6.58
2 boxes Martha White Muffin Mix (on sale for $0.75 & $0.70 each coupon) $0.10
1 Bag Dove Candy (again, not on sale, and I wish Shane would have spotted the Nestle B1G1 deal before grabbing them) $4.29
2 Boxes of Old El Paso Dinner Kits ($2.89 each: B1G1 & $1 each coupon) $0.89
Krusteaz Cinn. Crumb Cake Mix (2.59: B1G1) $1.30
Loaf White Sandwich Bread ($1: Publix Penny Item) $0.01
2 Loaves Natures Own Bread ($3.49 each: B1G1 & $0.75 coupon) $2.74
2 things of Country Crock Spread (1.99 each: B1G1 & $0.80 off each coupon) $0.39
1 Can Pillsbury Grands Cinn. Rolls ($3.49 & $1 off coupon) $2.49
1 Bag Bertolli Skillet Meals ($4.99 & $1 off Target coupon) $3.99 (I could have waited for the Manufactures $1 coupon in this coming Sunday's newspaper but didn't.)

So there you go! Some of these items I didn't even need, but I was getting such a good deal I purchased them anyway. Anyone need butter? If you're wondering why there's no meat, or anything to prepare dinners on this list, I have everything I need for dinners this week from the last few grocery trips this month. You should also know that Publix doesn't ever put their meats on sale; when it's about to go bad, they donate it to local charities. So, I buy and stock up on my meats at Sam's. I also usually buy milk at Sam's because it's only $2 a gallon there.

I love shopping at Publix because they:

1) double coupons that are $0.50 or less (7 of my coupons totals above were doubled)

2) take competitor's coupons (Target included at my store and there are a lot of Target coupons available online!)

3) take one Manufactures coupon and store coupon per item

4) don't require you to buy 2 items when they are B1G1. It'll just ring up as half off each!

If you are interested in couponing, visit www.southernsavers.com. This is where I learned to coupon, and the website makes it really easy! You can create your grocery list on the website based on what's for sale at your store, then under each item, it tells you what coupons you should have, or if it's a printable coupon, it lets you click on the link to print it.

TOP 20 THINGS I MISS IN EL PASO, TX

2010-09-12T22:20:00.027-05:00

TOP 20 THINGS I MISS IN EL PASO, TX

1. CHICO'S TACOS

My cousin Cassie and I would like to give Chico’s Taco’s a slogan, “It’s all about the experience.” No one can really experience El Paso, until they’ve tried Chico’s Tacos. This is a cheap fast food restaurant on the east side of town. It’s greasy, you don’t know if the meat is cow, cat, or human, it makes you feel terrible after consuming it, but it’s delicious and worth it.

2. DESERT AND ROCK YARDS

Funny Story. When Shane and I moved into our townhouse here in Pelham, AL, we were estimating what changes we would have to our utility bills going into a bigger place than our small apartment. I told him we needed to remember to water the yard so our grass would grow, and that would up our water bill. He thought it was so funny, he called his dad and told him the story (Shane’s family is from Louisiana). Needless to say, I found out you don’t have to water the yard to get grass here because it rains enough to make life greener here in the south east. Well, this is not the case in El Paso. People in El Paso have to water their yards to have grass, and if they want to conserve water, they have rocks put in their yards. I kind of miss seeing this.

3. FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS

I miss the mountains. If you look at the picture closely, you see some red dirt that in the middle of the mountain, and it’s kind of in the shape of a bird. The first high school I went to (Coronado High) got their mascot from this. They’re the Thunder Birds, which sounds like the lamest mascot ever if you didn’t know about the mountain.

4. BYLER’S HOUSE DURING HALOWEEN

If you have ever traveled down Belvedere Road on the west side of El Paso, chances are you have taken notice in an old white truck parked on the side of the road with “Jesus Saves” spray painted in blue on the back of it. This truck belongs to the Bylers, and I have seldom seen it anywhere else but parked on the side of the road by their house. Anyway, the Bylars are the coolest family ever, and their favorite time of year is fall, and favorite holiday is Halloween. They deck out, and it’s the best place to stop for anyone in the neighborhood on Halloween night.

5. MAGIC PAN

The Magic Pan is my favorite restaurant of all time. It’s kind of a girly place. It’s a little restaurant and shop tied together, and this restaurant has the perfect food for the perfect atmosphere. They serve soup/ sandwich kind of stuff (gourmet and delicious) and you have the choice of sitting inside or outside in their garden patio area. At one point in time my mom and I were coming in every Saturday for lunch, and had a the same waitress every time, whom eventually stopped asking us for our order and just brought what we wanted to us within 5 minutes of us sitting down. I love this place so much I wish I could influence them to set up a restaurant here in Birmingham

6. THE GREENERY

Oh, the Greenery. Think of any muffin you would like to enjoy. The Greenery probably has it, and it’s delicious. They, like the Magic Pan, are a soup/salad/sandwich kind of place, but they also have a really good breakfast selection.

7. CASA JURARDO

Casa “Jurardo” is hard to pronounce for my family, so we refer to this delightful restaurant as “Casa J’s.” Their salsa is my favorite, which is why I brought it into my “Top 20” list.

8. AVILA’S

There are two Mexican restaurants that are owned and operated by the same family have been around for years, and years, and years and they are Leo’s and Avila’s. My family, and my family’s family used to go to Leo’s on a regular basis, but then my family soon discovered their family’s other Mexican restaurant Avila’s. I would come with my family every Friday night to eat dinner at Avila’s. Not only do I love the food, and the free sopapillas, but what I really enjoy about this place is when I walk in I feel like I’m at my family reunion. Most of the staff has been there since I was an infant, and I delight in seeing everyone when I come visit.

9. THE MEXICAN STORE THAT'S BEEN “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS” FOR 3+ YEARS

This is probably Shane’s favorite thing about El Paso. There’s this Mexican Store in the mall that has been supposedly going out of business for probably 3 years now. Their stuff is fairly cheap, and Shane loves to pick up his El Paso souveniers here.

10. MARIACHI BANDS

Ok, this is obviously not a pure El Paso thing, but how often can I see Mariachi bands in Birmingham, AL? I remember seeing a mariachi band play at the first high school I went to during our lunch break. How many people can say that in the southeast?

11. JACKSON'S

There’s really nothing super special about Jackson’s, other than they are a local restaurant that has been around for years, and are really delicious. I like their burgers. And everything on their menu.

12. TAX-FREE GROCERIES

Enough said.

13. THE FACT THAT I LIVED IN TEXAS BUT WENT TO SCHOOL EVERYDAY IN NEW MEXICO

Where else can you go to TX, NM, and Mexico in the same day?

14. BLOWING UP 4^TH OF JULY FIREWORKS IN THE DESERT

Cause we don’t have to worry about forest fires.

15. THE WALKING TRAIL ON RESLER DR. WHERE THE CITY IS TO YOUR LEFT, AND DESERT AND MOUNTAINS ARE TO YOUR RIGHT

16. THE FACT THAT WHEN IT RAINS, IT FLOODS

It’s obviously not cool for the semi truck in this picture, or any of the houses that get damaged, but it’s fun when you’re a kid and you get together with your neighborhood friends and basically swim in the street. There’s no real drainage for rain because I guess it doesn’t rain often enough to justify it.

17. SCORPIONS IN POPSICLES

Not an El Paso original, but not something you would see…definitely not something you would see kids eating here in Alabama.

PUTT PUTT GOLF, ADVENTURE ZONE, AND BOB-OS.

I thought it was normal for people to have several places in their local town to play putt putt golf, go cart, and archade games, but apparently not.

19. THE CITY LIGHTS

You can’t see that when there are trees everywhere. The star on the mountain is pretty cool too. I miss seeing that.

20. COWBOYS AND RODEOS

I think any man that puts on a cowboy hat looks way hotter than without. Maybe that’s the Texan girl inside of me, but yeah.

FREE WRITING!!!!

2010-09-07T19:27:00.002-05:00

So, we haven't blogged on here in a while, and I want to blog about something, but haven't decided what yet. Sorry I never continued my last post in January, but I'm no longer interested in the subject and it's not important enough to continue. I will say we did do as we said (invited our neighbors over for dinner and giving stuff away kind of things) and the updates are our neighbors were not interested or "too busy" to come over for dinner, but we might watch a football game this semester.

On to my new subject. Since I couldn't find a topic to write about, but really wanted to write, I decided to free write. My English teacher in high school had us free write sometimes and I loved it. All it is is writing what you're thinking and not stopping until a timer or something goes off. So, here it goes!

I have to pick up Shane at 8:30 I think so I have about 30 minutes to type. I'm sitting on the couch next to my mom and her boyfriend. My mom's boyfriend started coming over on Tuesday nights to eat my dinner I cook, and I allow it because he pays me, which means more free groceries/ food for Shane and I. The boyfriend is an alright guy, but still too awekward to talk to him. I cannot spell awekward. It's amazing that I passed English classes in high school and college because I suck pretty hard at spelling and grammer. I love food. I love cooking and eating, but I've been sick for the past 48 hours, which makes me sad because I haven't been able to enjoy my meals like normal. Shane says that if I didn't worship God, I'd worship food. It's true. Good thing I love God because if food was it for me i'd be fat and lonely. I've been watching this show lately called Cake Boss and it's pretty awesome. It's about this bakery in New Jersey and this Italian family owns/ operates it and makes these amazing and intricate cakes but they're so good they charge $1000 to $2500 for each cake they design. They're so cool though that I'm thinking I really need to start learning how to cake decorate. I'm really interested in it, but I am very subborn and try to learn things on my own without asking others to help me. If you see that I am interested in doing something, and you're good at it, you should teach me and make me learn. I went to a sewing class that taught me how to use my sewing machine, but because of that all I can make is ghetto placemats. I'm so stubborn about learning it on my own that I haven't asked and I have some people wanting to teach me, but I just don't ask. I need to work on that. Anyway, cakes are so cool and it looks like fun. I want to play with fondant because it looks like it's as fun as playing with play-doe. I hear it doesn't taste as good, so I figure i'd cover all my cakes with buttercream frosting and then lie the fondant over that. That way people can enjoy the cool designs on the cake, but peel them off and eat a delicious cake. I also notice they do this in Cake Boss. I would like to go to New Jersey and ask them to teach me but I understand from their online reviews that you have to wait 3 hours just to buy an $18 cupcake. I think it's worth it though. I also want to design cupcakes. Man there's so much I still need to do. I need to learn how to make stuff that's more complicated then placemats, and how to design cakes. Then I'll have passed my own housewife class I have designed for myself. You know when I lost my job last year and we decided I should become a housewife, I was really scared and afraid of what people would think and say about me. I had and still have people think/ say stuff about me that I feared would happen, but I don't care about that anymore. I'm learning that the people that are saying/thinking stuff don't know me well enough to be doing that, and I know I'm doing what God has called me to do, so think what you want, but I'd be dumb not to follow God's will for my life. It's funny how when I really want things and don't get them, how i'm better off without them in the end. Shane and I really wanted this '05 Murano from this car dealership here in Pelham that was souped up (leather seats, back-up camera, sunroof, adjustable/saved drivers seat, etc) but the financing just wouldn't work out (I am talking about this car because our car was totaled in July and if you've ever had your car totaled, you know how quickly you have to get in a new vehicle). Anyway, we found this Murano before our rental was taken from us and we didn't get it. I cried all day. We went to Carmax that evening and they had a blue Mazda CX-7 um...lost my train of thought because I'm watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition. This show is soooo cool. Anyway, so the CX-7 worked out and it's an '07 with 33k miles whereas the Murano had 90k miles. So, God knew what He was doing when He wouldn't let us get that car. This show is so cool, oh no....Mark (the mom's boyfriend) just started singing "I wanna be a cowboy baby" by Kid Rock. Ok, so this show is so cool. Anyway, we're at a comercial. I can't spell. I am sitting next to my mom and her bf to make sure they don't start making out. Gross. I only have 10 minutes though. Ok. What I love right next to food is traveling. We're trying to decided where to go for our Anniversary this coming year. We go out of town every year during our anniversary, because, why not? I think it's the best time of year to vacation and get away from distractions. For our honeymoon we went to Destin (I LOVE Destin and am so glad the oil is gone from the beach!). Our 1st year anniversary we went on a cruise to Mexico. Our 2nd we went to Disney World. The last one was Vegas. This year I think we want to go on a cruise, but I think we want to try out Royal Caribbean this year instead of Carnival. But I don't know. We'll see. Ugh, stomache's starting to hurt again, but there's only 5 minutes left. Something I wanted to blog about was missionaries and why we think they need to live in poverty. But, I came to the conclusion that if we think they need to live in poverty, then we need to live in poverty because we think we're doing missions everyday. So, there ya go. Stomache hurts, but i've lost 3 lbs since yesterday! I would like to keep it off as I am trying to lose 30 lbs, but I would like to do it in the healthy way. I'm the fattest I've ever been, which I guess isn't so bad since i'm not obese, but I've never lost 30 lbs before. But, we have an excersize bike sitting in our living room and it's been helping a lot, especially since that's where we spend the most of our time when home. I've been like a hampster with that bike; just constantly on and off. Other than my stomache problems, I've been feeling better and energetic with that bike. I need to start dancing to my Zumba dvd's, but I need to do it when Shane is not there because he makes fun of me. 1 minute left. Oop! Times up! Good night to all!

A Talk with a random person at Wal-Mart… (Part 1)

2010-01-25T19:03:00.000-06:00

So, Shane and I were at Wal-Mart last night when we bumped into an employee who looked familiar to both of us. I shouted “Hey!” to him when we made eye contact, thinking he was giving me a look back like he knew me…turns out we never met before (I think Shane and I are just familiar with seeing him around Wal-Mart) but somehow he got into a conversation with us about the Bible and Christianity. He started by asking, “So…Baptism is what gets you saved, right?” I laughed inappropriately and said, “Uh, no.” When I realized how offensive I was, I explained that some Christians believe that, but I feel like the Bible more proves that it’s a denial of self and relationship with Christ that brings one to salvation. He disagreed and went on to give me all these verses (quoted) about being baptized with water that gets you saved (he pulled them out of context but I will explain later in my next blog). After Shane and I showed disagreement, he changed the subject and went into talking about how there are so many churches in the Birmingham area and none of them seem to be doing any ministry. We actually agreed with him here, and got into a conversation about how we’re in the Bible belt and people here go to church because they always have and feel like it’s what gets them to heaven. Let me also add that no one will admit to this, but will say that it’s an obligation and to those who stop going they will say, “If you stop going to church now, you will never come back,” as if they fearfully think if you drop out of church you will lose Christ. Anyway, after talking about all of this, dude at Wal-Mart gives us his church business card and asks us to come to service on Sunday.

At the beginning of our conversation, I was glad to talk to the guy, thinking that he was not a Christian, but I thought he had started reading the Bible (since he had all those verses in mind). At the end of the conversation, I was just angry. First of all, why the hell would you complain about not hearing of churches doing ministry in our area, then give us a card to your church? I’m sorry, but I have never heard of your church before (there are hundreds of churches in the Birmingham area) and think that if your church was doing some awesome ministry, I would have heard about it by now, right? As frustrated as I was about him handing us his card, I realized that most churches in the area are like this. I’ve had PLENTY of church members tell me about how awesome their services and church ministry are (so please don’t comment and brag to me about your church here) and ask me to come check it out… but none of them have shown genuine concern for me. And it’s not just me. I have several friends and acquaintances that have experienced the same frustrations. If your church is doing awesome ministry, people outside of the church should know about it experientially. You shouldn’t have to tell people that your church does awesome ministry. They should see it and experience it. Talk is cheap. Sorry I just went on a rant, but I just wished we all as Christians would practice the first two commandments, “Love the Lord Your God with all your heart,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” These are the two most important commandments and for some reason they are the hardest to follow. Might I also just complain about myself and confess I am always talking about how I want to go out of my way and care for others, showing them the love of Christ, but I am more talk then I do. I’ve been trying to do the “Love your neighbor” literally and find ways to care for them and build a relationship with them. The best way I know how to show love is through cooking and giving. So, I have been cooking/baking food and bringing it to my neighbors and was feeling pretty good about it. I know the family next door on a first-name basis and have been talking forever about having them over for dinner. I have told some friends about this, and one of them told me the other day, “I pulled a Shauna and had my neighbor over for dinner last night.” Ouch! I had been talking about it so long that my friend had beat me to it, and actually thought she was just following after me! Christ says, “Whatsoever you do to the least of these, you also have done for Me.” So my dear friends, what are we doing for Christ? Are we trying to get Him into our church (wanting his tithe money more than anything) or are we bringing Him food when He is poor? Are we complaining about His rebellion during our church services, or are we loving Him unconditionally? I confess I am guilty of all of this and I need to go out and just do. I am going to make my first step in changing this attitude of mine and go invite my neighbors over for dinner!

Update on us, our lives, ministry opportunities, etc.

2009-09-10T13:53:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone! Sorry we haven't updated this in a while! Anyway, here is what is going on....

I (Shauna) got laid off from my job in June. Shane and I have been praying about what I should do now, and here's how it looks: I am still doing the housewife thing and I LOVE it. I spend my days cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, practicing cake decorating, and I think I'm about to take up sewing and learn to make my own clothes. So, I really want to be the 50's kind of mother/wife. Both my parents (and Shane's) worked full time when we were growing up, and it was hard on us (they rarely were able to go to my games, concerts, award ceremonies, etc, and not to mention how hard it was finding a ride from someone else home every day!), and we don't want that for our kids. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents and feel like they were the best they could be! I want to cook my family amazing dinners, help them with homework, and I'm even toying with the idea of homeschooling them. All this to say that I think I'm going to take this year and build up my home economic skills and get ready for my kids to come into the world (don't worry, I'm not pregnant yet!).

Shane is still working at Hunter Street as a teacher and worship leader for Route 56. As all of you know, we had a financial scare (if you will) this summer, and we found ourselves getting worried again when 20 out of 40 of Shane's students dropped before the fall semester started! Nevertheless, God had been showing us and bulding our faith in His provision. Shane started teaching at First Baptist Pelham on Fridays, and it seems to be making up most of what he is losing financially at Hunter Street (plus it's closer to our home!). Either way, we are surviving and growing in our Faith. Let me just say that we do not want the American dream. We want to be neither rich, nor poor. We want to have enough to live on, and give extra to others in need. Pray that God would continue to hold us accountable to this.

We mentioned in a previous blog that we had to postpone our trip to Israel. E3 has applied the funds we received to the '10 trip. The exact dates have not been determined yet, but I will let you know as I receive updates. Thank you all for your prayers and those who gave. I will be sending out a letter soon with more details.

All of you faithful blog readers also know that we are praying about what ministry(s) we are to be involved with. We are still praying about missions, but we have some local ministry updates:

The first update we have is about something we started up this month we are calling, "Worship Jam" The way it works is we have people come over to have dinner (me and my friend Liv cook), then we hang out in the living room and worship in song together. Those who play bring their guitars, drums, shakers, etc) and we just leave it open to whomever wants to choose and lead a song. Anyway, it is going really well. The first night we had 4 or 5 of us, and this last Sunday we had 11 and 2 kids! We are doing it every other Sunday night, and all are welcome! Shane will have to tell you all more about this in a different blog, but we are toying around with starting a house church, and it might come out of the Worship Jam.

The second ministry we may be involved with is through First Baptist Pelham. We have been attending a small group with them, and they are about to kick off a twenty something ministry. They are looking/praying about a building (right across from our house) that would work well for this. This will basically be a place where anyone in their 20's and 30's can come and hang out, worship, and even each lunch at a coffee shop inside. If all works out, Shane and I will be helping this ministry. I love to cook/bake so I hope to help with the coffee shop. Shane is volunteering to lead worship, and offer to teach Theology, Bible Studies, and maybe Hermeneutics? Anyway, nothing has happened with this yet, but all of us in the small group are excited and ready to help!

That is all the updates we have now. Look for a blog in the near future about the house church idea and thoughts on Christian community. Thank you again for your continued prayers and support!
-Shauna

God Provides

2009-07-15T12:23:00.010-05:00

I have never really been one to trust in God's provision. I know. I know. That sounds awful. I believe in it and when I look back over the last few years of my life I can definitely see that God has been working out some cool things. But to trust in it? I mean really trust in it? To wholeheartedly believe that there is no way apart from God for something to happen and actually believe that He will do it? Sure, I believe in that for salvation. But to believe that God actually takes care of physical needs? I can't say I've ever really been to that point. Until now.

This blog has been an amazing opportunity for us to share our thoughts on trying to live as Jesus did, our prayers, our needs, our day to day life, etc. But over the past week God has really outdone himself. Twice in the past week we have been given large checks. We have been praying for God's provision and to really see the Christian community at work and we have seen it! We really struggled with Israel and whether or not God wanted us to go. We knew that we needed to go somewhere and do something, but weren't quite sure what it was. We signed up for Israel knowing that if God wanted us to go then He would provide the money. The money wasn't there and we took that as a sign that God did not want us to go. But then we had a few days of soul searching. We are willing to be used and open to what God lays before us. Why is He not using us? If he owns the cattle on a thousand hills why could He not come up with $7000 for us to go to Israel? Maybe He doesn't want to use us. Maybe we misread His intentions...

I think that God is preparing us. I don't think we're ready now for whatever God is calling us for, but He is shaping us and molding us into the people we need to be (more on this in a later blog). How do I know that God has not forsaken us and still has a plan, even though the funds for Israel weren't there? We have been struggling with bills this summer. With me not teaching until August and Shauna getting laid off we didn't have the money that we needed and we had to trust God. God has given us more in the past week through generous friends, extra students, etc., than we were able to raise for Israel! But maybe you're reading into things Shane. Can you really discern all of that about God just because of money?

The money is a side factor. It really is. There are a million ways that God could have taken care of our bills this summer. Should I put stock in myself? I've had more summer students than ever! And I picked up a side job at a warehouse downtown three days a week! But we were still left needing. God choose to take care of us by leaving us to depend on Him and others. It's a very uncomfortable place to be, but God has shown me much in a very short period of time.

Here are a few highlights:

1) We are SO unworthy of all of this. I look at people that are needier than we are. I see people that love God more than we do. I hear of people that are serving God more than we ever dreamed. Yet God is taking care of us. People are choosing to support us. There's no way to explain people giving a flip about Shauna and I except for God. We're just normal people trying to figure out what it means to follow God and love people. And honestly? We stink at it. But we press onward knowing that for some reason God is keeping our heads above water.

2) We have been very flippant with our money in the past. Our flippancy (wow spellcheck didn't pick that up, I guess it really is a word!) with our money has not caused our current status, but being where we currently are and looking carefully about how our money has been spent has really gotten us thinking. We horde stuff and spend money on stupid things. We're not alone. You probably do it too. But we're rethinking that. We're starting to sell off a lot of our stuff (starting with DVDs, Musical Stuff, and my car) and making sure that we are wise about future purchases.

3) We are also thinking about our income, especially after seeing people give away their money to support us. This is what we are called to do. We are fighting hard to get our bills down and increase our incomes not so that we can have more, but so we can give more. We are saving lots of money on food because Shauna is cooking every day. We've cut out superfluous spending. We're selling things to pay off our debts. Why? Because we believe that we have been given much so that we can give to others. But wait a minute. You don't have anything right now. You're depending on God for your bills. Exactly. We are trusting that God has brought us here to show us something and that He will lead us out of it stronger and more fully equipped to bring glory to Him.

So to those who haven given and prayed for us, we thank you. God has used you to meet our physical needs. But more than that, He has used you in ways that go far beyond the physical needs that we have. He has used you to be an example to us as to what we are supposed to be and what loving God looks like. We pray that we can be examples to others in this way.

-shane

P.S. Feel free to leave comments on our blogs!

Christian Ignorance

2009-07-09T22:47:00.003-05:00

So, i was having a conversation on facebook this evening about God, theology, philosophy...you know, all the fun stuff. Towards the end of it I realized what I was really up against: Christian Ignorance. No, the people I was talking to weren't ignorant. But, I think they may have thought that I was. Not because of anything I said. Simply because I am a follower of Christ. Which made me think...what the heck is wrong with us?

I think that most Christians today are viewed as shallow, ignorant, stubborn. Honestly? I agree with the view. Two things should jump out of that list: ignorant and stubborn. We are very certain today about the very little that we know and will argue to the death thinking that we are somehow furthering the cause of Christ. I can't be certain, but sometimes I think that biblical illiteracy is higher now than it was in the dark ages before the reformation. When did blind faith become such a highly regarded token of Christendom? I think the church fathers and reformers would shudder at the vast amount of knowledge that is available to American Christians and the small amount of Bible and Theology that the average Christian knows.

In a desperate attempt to 'win as many souls for Christ' as we could, we watered down the Gospel to a point where it consists of a simple prayer and trusting in Jesus. What about repentance? What about surrender? This goes from children's ministry to Sr. ministry to worship services. We are afraid to offend people and we are afraid to turn people away. The amazing thing about the gospel and the cross is that it is both beautiful and offensive. And it MUST be both. Have we forgotten Luke 18 and the rich young ruler? Jesus cared enough about the man to tell him the Truth and not alter the truth to 'win him to the kingdom'. Imagine the good that an energetic, rich, religious ruler could have done for Jesus' cause! We often think in similar terms. May we speak the Truth as Jesus has, not to turn people away but to show them true love.

So, what do we do? I think we have to make Christianity hard again. And by hard I mean Biblical. Jesus has some very bold commands about being a Christian and being a disciple. We have regarded these as optional. What happened to, "Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me."? I think that we must challenge people with these hard truths about surrender and repentance. I think that people are looking to be pushed for something deeper. I know that our youth culture is. Won't we lose and offend people? Yep. Jesus did.

-shane

Christian Community

2009-07-06T00:56:00.002-05:00

God has given each of us gifts. Some are teachers. Some evangelists. Some have the gift of hospitality. Some are leaders. These are spiritual gifts. We use these in Christian community to edify other believers and glorify God. But what about our other gifts? What if we used those to build up people and glorify God.

I've had this thought for a long time, and I couldn't sleep tonight because it popped back into my head. This isn't original. At least, I don't think it is. Here's the concept. Each of us has certain talents and abilities. REAL, practical talents and abilities. Here's an example using fictional characters:

Bill is a mechanic.

Susan cuts hair.

Frank is a carpenter and general handyman.

Jill is an excellent cook.

Laura can sew.

Brian is good for some manual labor.

Etc, etc....

So, what if we start using these talents to help each other out? What if Laura's car breaks down? Bill helps her out. Frank needs a haircut. Susan steps in to save the day. Bill needs his backyard cleared out and a fence built. Frank and Brian tag team and get the job done.

You can think of it sort of like a huge barter system if you like. The idea is that everyone has something tangible to contribute and through these tangible contributions we can meet a lot of the needs that we have and help each other out. But what if we take it a step farther?

Luke is an elderly man that can no longer take care of his yard. Brian and a few other guys come to help him out. Luke has nothing to offer, but we are able to meet his needs just to show him the love of Christ and that people actually care in this world in a real, tangible way. Jesus often met peoples physical needs before addressing their spiritual needs. Why do we so often try to shove the gospel down people's throats while they are hurting with physical needs?

So here is my proposal: I would like to try to put together some sort of community. A list of people that are willing to help each other out. After we get a list of people willing to help, we can start to compile a list of needs (both within our community and outward). If you would be willing to try something like this, please let me know! Leave a comment here or email us at shaneandshauna@ymail.com. Once it gets going I'll composite some sort of listing or website and we can all get together for some food and hang out.

Shauna and I will start. Shauna may add some stuff later, but we can:

-Cook, Bake

-Clean (inside homes, yardwork, etc.)

-manual labor (any sort of work that doesn't require a 'specialty')

-teach music

-teach bible/theology

-organization (filing, sorting through things..)

I really hope that this takes off and that we can be used. I think one of the cries of our generation is a need to be used and to be a part of something bigger than yourself. I don't think we are as selfish and self-centered as most parts of this culture would lead us to believe. We want to make a change. Make a difference. Help people and do something different. Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

-shane

2009-07-05T23:17:00.002-05:00

We spent the majority of last week fasting and praying over Israel, our finances, and life in general. I'm not sure if it's just part of being in your twenties or if we're at some odd point in our lives right now, but we constantly find ourselves questioning everything about our lives and trying to decide if there is more out there. We've been married for two years and we've still got a lot to figure out about life. Although we didn't accomplish all that I had hoped through fasting/praying, we did come a long way. I had hoped for us to draw closer to God and for this to be some, big pivotal moment in our lives. It wasn't, but Shauna started journaling her prayers and I've prayed more than I've prayed in a long time. We also drew closer together through this united effort and have begun to break a long running food addiction. So, did we accomplish everything we hoped? Nope. But here are some things that did happen:

1) We prayed for God to make it clear whether or not we are supposed to go to Israel. Specifically, we prayed for $3000 in our e3 account by today. We knew that this was an impossibly big number and that only God could bring about something that colossal. We did not receive $3000 in our account, but we got an email from an e3 staff member on Thursday that provided us a way out of the trip. So, we have decided to postpone our trip. We do not know where or when we are going, but the money that was donated is in an e3 account with our name on it to be used for a future trip. Our friend, Robert Hope, is leading e3 trips every few months so we are looking forward to partnering with him in the future.

2) We paid our July rent. This may seem like a given for some people, but money has been tight here. With Shauna not working and summer lessons being so flexible, for the first time we have found ourselves worrying about our bills. We honestly didn't have the money for rent yet, somehow, it turned up. While we appreciate the people that donated through this blog, your donations are going to our e3 account and not our bills. Money is going to be tight until mid-August when teaching picks back up, but we are learning a lot by having to trust God for the money.

3) I (shane) have been listening to a lot of David Platt sermons via podcast lately. (What else am I going to do in a warehouse all day?) I've really been convicted of a lot of things, but our finances have been one of them. We don't live lavish lives. We don't have a big house, fancy cars, or really nice things. All in all we lead a pretty simple live. But as I started looking around at how much surplus we have and don't use, I have really been convicted as to how we spend our money and the resources that God has entrusted to us. For one, we have decided to set a cap on our income and give the rest of it away. For instance, if we decide that we can live on $3000 per month then we will live on $36,000/year. Anything over that will be given away. One thing that is hindering us in this is our debts. We were really good about credit cards for a long time, but through it all away over a few dumb purchases of things that we 'needed'. So, we decided to start selling off things to pay off our debt and free up our finances. In the near future, we plan to sell my (shane) car, our Wii, a bunch of DVD/VHS, guitars, music gear, clothes, etc. We have decided to live simply and not live above our means. To roughly paraphrase Platt, maybe God has given us unsurpassed wealth in this country not to lead lavish life styles but to lead the world in unsurpassed giving. You can expect to hear more from us about this.

4) It is hard to have a relationship with God. It really takes work! Like I said earlier, I'm not sure if this is part of being in your twenties or something bigger, but I'm really not satisfied with the nominal Christianity that I see and live. I want something different. I want something real. We don't really know what that looks like, but we're working to figure it out. From talking to various people, I know that we aren't alone in this pursuit. Somewhere buried under all the WWJD bracelets and Christian self-help books is a real God and we are looking for Him. We struggle and fall a lot more than we succeed, but I hope that forward motion and desire counts for something. Lately it feels like we're constantly on the verge of something, but never quite there.

-----------------

We got some slack from a few people about 'panhandling' and asking for money through our previous blogs. Let me clear something up. This is a blog. The goal is for us to tell whoever is listening about what is going on in our lives. Right now, this is what is going on in our lives. We are trying to figure life out the best that we can. Part of missions is raising support and building a team of people that believe in what you are doing, whether they support you financially or not. A blog has been a great way to keep people updated on that. Our lives are dedicated to ministry and missions and we're still trying to figure out exactly how that works and what that looks like. I make no apologies for asking people to support (through finances, prayer, or otherwise) our ministry efforts if they believe in what we are doing. As for our bills, we are being honest about where we are right now. We aren't looking for handouts. We work hard and support other friends and missionaries. One of the things I have been really considering, thinking, and praying about is community. Somehow we have lost that over the past few years and everyone is looking out for numero uno. As Christians we cannot live this way and say that we are following Christ. We are united.

The moral? Support us. Don't support us. Doesn't matter. But support SOMETHING. Believe in something bigger than yourself. Believe that maybe there is something more important than what's in your checking account, what kind of car you drive, and how big your house is. As we begin looking into our finances more we will update you with some ministries, missionaries, and people we feel are worth supporting. Right now, check out Robert Hope. He and his family are missionaries with e3 and we are proud to support them. He was in our wedding and I've been in a band with him for a few years. He's a gifted musician and worship leader and a great speaker and youth pastor. God is definitely using him and his family. I believe in him and what he and his family are doing: http://big-berto.blogspot.com/

-shane

Day 3: Seeking God's direction

2009-07-02T10:20:00.003-05:00

Today is the final day of our fast. On Tuesday, we prayed that God would provide for our finances. Our income this month is significantly less than our bills, so we begged (and are still asking) God to provide the funds to pay our bills. We asked God to provide us with $900 in our checking account to pay rent today, and He did! Shane is also expecting a check today from one of his students, which will go towards our car payment. We still need another $150 to pay our car bill, and money to pay our utilities, debt, and rent for August. We were convicted yesterday by the amount of stuff we have around our house that isn't what we need or use, but is worth money. We decided we are going to go through everything, and sell what we don't need and give it to "the poor". We are asking God to give us what we need, and that we would be willing to give away whatever extra income He provides.

Yesterday, we sought God about our mission trip to Israel. We asked Him to make it known to us if we are to go. By doing so, we asked Him to provide us with $3000 in our E3 account by Sunday. Shane has been talking with the Administrative Assistant with E3 about that what if's. We were freaked out a couple of weeks ago because she said whatever money we didn't raise, we would have to give her a credit card to pay for the remainder of the trip. Well, at that point we only had $500 in our account and we need just under $8000! Yesterday, she emailed us saying that she could get a refund for our tickets already purchased, if we cancelled with her today. I emailed her back asking for her to wait until Monday for my response so we can see if anything happens between now and then. The good thing about E3 though is if you back out of a trip, whatever funds you have raised can be used for another E3 trip that year. So, we are praying that God would make CLEAR to us if we are to leave for Israel in three weeks. If not, we are asking Him to show us which mission trip we are to go on. There is also another team going to Israel this time next year that we could possibly join. Please pray that God would show us what to do! I have to admit that I am pretty discouraged by the thought of not going to Israel this year. Shane and I tried to go on a different mission trip to Mexico last year, but also didn't raise enough funds. The real crappy part of that is we had to call everyone that did give and ask if they wanted us to mail their checks back or destroy them. Those that wrote us checks for Mexico have not supported us for Israel. What will that mean for the next mission trip we try to go on?

Today, we are praying for God's direction in our lives. We had discussed the possibility of becoming missionaries, but really don't know what God wants. We both went to Bible College because we knew we wanted to devote our lives to ministry. We do know that being at Hunter Street Baptist is where God wants us right now, but with it being such a HUGE church, we are having difficulty fitting in. Shane is set up and doing well leading worship for Route 56, but I haven't found my place there yet. We are praying that we would find the right Sunday School class, and be able to minister there together. We are also seeking to get more involved with the kids in Route 56. On another note, I am no longer working, and Shane is teaching private lessons full time. Shane and I both desire for me to be a stay at home mom, but we weren't planning that for another year or two. We are asking God to show me what I am to do in the meantime. I do enjoy being the Betty Crocker wife, and my spiritual gift is Hospitality, so we are praying I find more opportunities to use that. Shane just needs to know what he is to become. He is taking classes with Berkley and Liberty University this year, seeking out a Master's in Theological Studies or Worship Ministries. With Berkley, he is taking classes to make him a better teacher. We just need to be comfortable with where God has us right now, and that He will direct us and form us into whom He wants us to be.

Please continue to pray for us. If you wish to donate for our trip or toward or July bills, you can click on the "donate" button on the right, enter the amount, your credit card number, and submit. We are very thankful and grateful to those of you whom have given to us already. Thank you for loving us, your support, and prayers. May God bless you have you have blessed us.

Day 2 of Fasting and Praying...

2009-07-01T09:57:00.002-05:00

To recap, Shane and I fasted yesterday over our finances. We asked God to provide us with $900 in our checking account tomorrow for rent, and $3000 in our E3 account by Sunday for Israel. Last night we received a check for $100 for Israel, and $20 for our bills. Praise God!

Today we are praying that God would make it clear if we are to go to Israel. We want Him to either make that door WIDE open, or SLAM it shut! I'm feeling like He wants us to go, since we received more money for it yesterday, so we are planning a couple of fundraisers. I am going to throw a tea party in Mid July. I'm not sure if I will be charging a certain amount at the door, or will just ask for donations, but if I could get 60 women in my home (I have enough room for all the tables) to pay $10 each, there's $600! Shane is doing a fundraiser for men and its going to be a poker tournament. We were thinking we would have everyone start off playing in groups of four, and the winner of each table plays in the final round. We were going to charge $10 or $15 per person to play, which would all go to our trip. We will have a gift card at the end for the winner.

Either way, we need God to confirm we are going to Israel, and He is going to have to provide the money. Shane and I don't even have enough to pay our bills, so if we meet our goal, it will only be because of God, and Him working through you all.

Please continue to pray for our finances and Israel. Pray we would have $900 in our account by Thursday to pay for rent, and that God would provide the money needed to pay the rest of our bills, as well as provide us with gas and groceries. Please also pray with us that we would have $3000 (half of the money needed) in our E3 account for Israel by Sunday.

If you would like to make a donation toward Israel or our bills, you can click on the paypal link on your right, enter the amount you wish to donate, credit card number, and hit submit. If you would like to mail us a check, our address is:

421 Mid Ridge Lane

Pelham, AL 35124

Thank you all again for your continued prayers and support!

Fasting and Praying over Israel and July Bills...

2009-06-30T10:25:00.005-05:00

Today is the due date to pay for our mission trip to Israel, and we only have about $900 raised (we need $7,400). They have already purchased our plane tickets, and said if we couldn't raise enough support, that we can give them a credit card to pay for the remainder due. Needless to say, Shane and I are worried. Our credit cards are maxed out, so even if we wanted to dig ourselves deeper into debt, we couldn't. We still believe God can provide the remainder of the money needed either through others who donate, or even by magically having it appear under our kitchen sink.

We are also worried about our bills for July. As some of you know, Shauna was laid off from her job at SMI. We felt confident the money would be provided when we first heard the news, because Shane had 20 students signed up for summer lessons, and he is making extra income at The Wish Collection. We are worried now though because some of Shane's students dropped, and we have used most of his teaching money already for June bills, food, and gas. If we go to Israel, we will only have $200 or $300 of income. If we don't go, $400.

Here is what we need and are believing God for:

1. $900 to be in our account Thursday to pay July's rent.

2. $300.77 to be in our account by July 8th to pay Shauna's car bill.

3. about $550 to pay for the bills due in the middle of the month (credit cards, utilities, etc.).

4. $950 in our account before August 1st to pay for Shauna's student loans, and August rent.

5. we would be provided with Groceries and money for gas.

Therefore we are doing a 3 day fast starting today. Today, we are asking God to provide us with the money to pay all of our bills, as well as enough money to buy groceries and gas so Shane can get to work everyday. Tomorrow, we will be asking God to show us if He wants us to go to Israel or not. We are asking that if he does, we will have over $3000 in our E3 account by Sunday. On Thursday, we are basically asking God to confirm we are in His will, and also show us if He wants us to go on another missions trip in the fall.

We would like people to fast and pray with us and for us, if possible. Please let us know if you are interested. If you feel God is asking you to donate to our Israel trip or to donate/ provide money for our bills click the DONATE button on the right side of our page.

Thank you for your prayers. We will update you as God updates us ;-).

"And He said to them, 'Which of you who has a friend who will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you fill find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!'"

-Luke 11: 5-13

Thoughts on Evangelism

2009-05-12T00:01:00.003-05:00

I have taken evangelism classes, been through evangelism training, seminars, etc, and always come out feeling like I just got a new sales pitch or that I had to become someone that I am not. Evangelism is not about taking the message and wrapping it in a new shell. It is about realizing that there is more than just ‘a message’. When I think of evangelism the first thoughts to my mind are still negative and entail tracts, door-to-door evangelism, and cookie-cutter ‘presentations’ of the gospel. What bothered me the most about these is that it seemed to be making something simple hard and then repackaging it as something simple. I really believe that if God had intended for us to use a sales pitch approach to evangelism then he would have outlined it in Scripture. What we are given in Scripture is the command to go, tell, teach, and make disciples. What we are not given is how. Evangelism is really quite simple: learn God and His word and tell others about it. What we have done is made it overly complex. There are far too many methodologies about how to do such a simple task. As Americans we love methods. Anything that we can complete in 4 easy steps is something we must try. But, once again, God has not given us a method. Evangelism, like worship, should flow from a heart that is dedicated to God. If we truly love God, our natural response will be to worship Him (tell God about how great He is) and to evangelize (tell others about how great He is).

This shocking revelation came to me about midway through the semester. I thought that my problem was that I hadn’t found the right methodology. Or maybe I wasn’t the right kind of person. A lot of evangelists have big personalities. Maybe I needed to be more bold and exciting. In truth, my problem lies within me. Instead of seeking God and letting evangelism and worship flow from that, I have sought methodologies and mentors to show me how to evangelize and worship. If my goal is to learn how to properly evangelize or how to properly lead worship, I will fail. If my goal is to seek after God, then I will succeed in both evangelism and worship because they will flow naturally from a heart that is desperate for God. Honestly, this is something I am still sorting through. God can use all types of people and methodologies. He can (and has) used nonbelievers, and even an ass, to communicate. But, am I really offering God my best? What good is it if I learn how to tell people about Jesus but don’t really love Jesus myself?

There is a constant struggle within me to do what is good and what is evil (which Paul so aptly describes in Romans). How can I evangelize? How will I incorporate it into my daily life? By being real with people, both believers and nonbelievers. What has turned me off about the evangelistic methods that I have seen is that they are dishonest (at least for me). I would never talk to people in such a matter of fact way or use the format that is often used. Over the past eight weeks I have had the opportunity to share the gospel with several people. It has been years since I have really talked to someone about God because I have felt that I am inadequate for the task or too hypocritical. But as I look as Scripture, I see that God uses the broken, the weak, and sometimes even those who were diametrically opposed to Him. It is when we come before God realizing that we, in fact, have nothing to offer that he can truly use us for His glory and His purpose. What irritates me about the methodologies is that each one supposes to be the ‘best’ method or the ‘biblical model’. As I read through the book of Acts I see very different teaching/preaching styles but the same message. There is no ‘best’ method. The ‘best’ method is what works for you and the person that you are talking with at that particular time.

I have been enlightened through my reading on several areas. My wife and I have recently felt a call to missions. “We want to go to the ends of the earth,” we say, “Surely God will be able to use us there!” But we ignore the problems, the hurting, and the needs all around us. Oscar Thompson’s book, Concentric Circles of Concern really challenged me on this premise. If I can not make a difference in the lives of those closest to me, in the time and place that I am now, how can I expect to make a difference in other people’s lives in a foreign country? Why would I expect Person X (a total stranger) to listen to me when I haven’t told my own family about the Gospel? I have been encouraged to start close to home and work my way out, much like Jesus initially commanded. This begins with my family and then finding other opportunities that are in front of my face before I go trotting across the globe to tell others about Jesus. What if ‘to the ends of the earth’ is actually my hometown? What if the people that need to hear about Jesus the most are my own family and not some distant tribe in Africa? Will I still want to answer the call?

I also gained a lot from the basic understanding of Salvation described by McRainey. Surely, I thought, there must be more to salvation than belief and a simple prayer. I knew there was more but could not adequately find the words to describe it. Salvation is encompassed in three things: believe/trust, repentance, and surrender. To be saved, I must believe that Jesus is and will do what He said. I must turn from my sinful ways and I must surrender my will to God’s will. This is what salvation means and the absence of this realization is one of the reasons for my lack of witness. I even learned something from Fay. While l disagree wholeheartedly with his systematic and simple approach to evangelism, he did realize that asking questions is important. When we beat people over the head with a message they won’t listen and will leave with distaste for what we preach. Even if the message is good, if our delivery is bad than we can expect nothing. When we allow people to talk, when we ask probing questions that cause people to challenge what they believe, then we are getting somewhere. Through asking thought provoking questions we allow a persons mind to work and for the Holy Spirit to do a work within them.

So, how do I go about evangelism for the rest of my life? To be honest, I don’t know. I know that right now I have to start with my family. My parents need Jesus more than anyone I know, yet I am much more eager to fly across the world and share with people that I have never met. If there is anything that I have learned from learning it is that the more learning I do, the more questions I have. I seldom walk away from a book, lecture, or class with more answers than questions. I have posed a lot of questions in my reflection of evangelism. The task that now lies ahead of me is to continue looking for answers. Along the way, I will tell people about Jesus. Tell them about this journey that I am on. Explain that I don’t have all of the answers, but I’m looking. I can share what I have experienced. I can share what I have learned. I can share my pain, my love, my joy, and my sorrow. Through my honest reflection of my journey towards God, I pray that the people I meet will be inclined to begin asking questions themselves and begin their own journey towards God.

Shane's Bio Part 1

2009-02-27T10:30:00.004-06:00

I figure that in order for you to care about where I'm going you have to know where I've been.

I grew up in Luling, LA (a suburb of New Orleans). I have two younger sisters. Angie is 21 and is getting married in June. She's at L.A. Tech getting a degree in Primary Education. Dana is 18 and is working on becoming a Certified Nursing Assistant. It's interesting that we've all chosen career paths that help people to get better, learn, and grow. I don't get to see them much, but I'm hoping that as we get older I can hang out with them more.

My parents divorced when I was 7. I didn't have the greatest childhood, but from adversity comes strength. My parents did the best they could and I love them for it. It's only now that I'm starting to see the humanity and depravity that lives inside of all of us. My parents are great people that made some really bad decisions for a while. As I look inside myself, I can see the same qualities. It's very easy to fall into path where you never thought you be, just by making a few bad decisions. Look at the life of David the King. He went from lust, to adultery, to murder. I think selfishness plays a part, but such is humanity in its fallen state.

I was one of those smart kids through school: the ones with all the 'potential' but are too lazy (or bored) to do anything with it. God has decided to repay the favor by giving me tons of students that are VERY similar to me. Touche' God. Around my freshmen year of high school, two awesome things happened. I found God and I found music. I had known both of these before (I had grown up Catholic and played sax in band for quite some time), but they both became more real to me and became a driving force and catalyst for the next stage in my life.

Growing up Catholic, I knew a lot about God but never knew God or that He was possible to be known. I have heard that Catholicism is different in different parts of the country, but in New Orleans it is a cultural thing. You are Catholic, because your mom was catholic. You go to church because it's what you are supposed to do. All in all, the Catholicism that I experienced growing up was very little about God and very much about cultural ties, heritage, and blind ignorant faith. [I'm sure I'll post more on this later, but faith and reason go hand in hand. It does no good to simply say "I just believe" in the face of overwhelming support for something else. I am speaking of Catholicism, but this is true of all Christianity. Jesus is The Truth, right? Augustine said that "All Truth is God's Truth". Therefore, seek Truth and there you will find God. Don't be afraid to look for the answers and ask the tough questions. Blind, ignorant faith does not help you or the cause of Christianity. But I digress...] I left the Catholic church when I was 14. Around this time you are supposed to go through Confirmation, that is a ritual where you confirm that you believe everything that Catholicism stands for. My mom was not happy about me leaving the church, but could understand that I could not openly acknowledge something I did not believe. I did not believe it because I had recently started attending a Bible Church with my best friend Justin Pohlmann. Through him and his family I saw that faith could be real. That there was something to this God that I had heard so much about. I decided to follow Jesus after a retreat where Adrian Dupre, the speaker, gave a very convincing sermon/drama about exactly what Jesus did on the cross and who He did it for. At last I realized that Jesus died for ME. It was personal, and I pledged my life to follow the Man who had given His life for me.

Shortly thereafter, I decided that if I was going to follow Jesus than I needed to truly serve Him. This meant, for me, surrendering to a life of ministry. I wasn't really sure what my calling was, but Justin's mom jokingly (at least I think it was jokingly...hmm) suggested that we should go to Christian clown college. Except we didn't take it as a joke. There really is such a thing. I was ready to spend my life 'Juggling for Jesus'. Luckily, as I mentioned earlier, I also got into music around this same time.

I picked up the guitar when I was 14. My Dad bought me one from one of his drunken friends. I remember looking at it in awe, and when I got it inside and cleaned it out, inside of the soundhole I found cigarette butts, bear cans, mardi gras beads, even a stuffed animal! As crazy as it was, this was the start of my ministry. I joined a band with Justin, his brother Andrew, and another friend, Ryan Kessler shortly thereafter. We called ourselves Tried by Fire, after a verse in 1 Corinthians. Looking back, I thought that I was really hardcore. I wore JNCOs (which I still have) long after they weren't cool, had an embarrassing amount of 'flame' shirts (We were called tried by FIRE, weren't we?), and had multicolored spiked up hair...and we can't forget the bright yellow Jesus shoes (which I still have). I got made fun of a lot, but I figured that that was the price you pay for being cool. In hindsight, I looked really dumb and deserved to get made fun of. You live you learn, right?

I played with a few other bands and eventually decided that I should probably look into youth and music ministry. I had a passion for God, a passion for students, and a passion for music. I looked all around the nation for great Christian colleges: Baylor, Colorado Christian, Moody. But God had other plans for me. I wound up in a small Bible college in the town of Birmingham, AL. This was definitely not where I wanted to be, but it was exactly where I needed to be.

To be continued...

-shane

What we're all about

2009-02-22T23:13:00.001-06:00

Hey Guys,

So, we decided to join the blog revolution. Or something like that.

Shauna and I have been praying about missions and wanted a place where we could put our thoughts, prayer requests, etc. This is that place. As of now, there's not much to it.

A bit of info about us:

I lead worship for Route 56, a preteen ministry, and teach in the Arts Academy at Hunter Street Baptist Church. Shauna is an assistant at Shades Mountain Independent Church. We both have degrees from Southeastern Bible College. I'm working on my M.A. at Liberty University. We've been married for almost 2 years and have an awesome mini-dachshund named Flops. We know that we are called to ministry, but lately have been feeling that this may be overseas. We're not sure if this means that we'll go on one short term trip, a series of short term trips, a longer short term trip (6months-2 years), or spend the rest of our lives somewhere. I do know that we are open.

For some reason I have really had the desire to train pastors and other leaders and work on discipleship. You should know that I've never actually done this. I've never led a youth group, preached, or even taught the Bible formally. I have taught, but all of my teaching experience is in music. So, this is crazy right? Why would I feel called and want to do something that I've never actually done before?

I don't know. I do know that I have a passion for it and that I enjoy talking about Bible and Theology stuff. I'm not the smartest guy that I've ever met. There are tons of guys that I know that know Theology much better than me. I love to learn and I love to help others learn. I really enjoy taking hard to understand concepts and making them more easily accessible for people. Is that enough?

In the future you can look for bios from Shauna and I as well as regular updates and thoughts as we begin this crazy missions life.

-shane