Random Metal Pick-Up

Trav and I were approached a week ago {after leading THIS service at church} by Jim G. He asked us if we could stop by his house and pick up his aluminum pool cage for recycling. 

On 1/5, Canning President Kates and I headed to Jim's house without knowing what we were getting ourselves into. Once we found Jim's house (don't ask!!! I am horrible with directions and copying down information! LOL!), we realized that this pool cage was a bit bigger than what we could fit in the truck. 

Jim got out a hammer, Kates and I pulled the screen apart, and we figured out a way to make everything fit in the back of our truck. It didn't take long before everything was disassembled. ***Actually, it looks like I didn't do anything because I was taking pics! I promise I helped a bit with the deconstruction:)

Kates and I were unsure of what we should do next: we could either 1) keep everything in the back of the truck until later in the week or 2) head to the recycling center. We picked dropping off the goods at the recycling center:) 

NOTE:: This was the FIRST time I've been to the recycling center alone/without Trav and this was the FIRST time I backed up the truck for something like this {don't ask about this either!!! I hate driving the truck! I hate backing it up even more! LOL!). 

Kates and I were really shocked at the amount we recycled today--- I didn't even have time to text the Canning Crew for guesses! However, Trav sent us a message saying he thought we had 200 pounds of aluminum. LOL-- we let him win since he was the only player in this guessing game:)

Total pounds recycled today: 114

Total pounds of "random metals" recycled for C4C as of 1/5: 267 pounds!!!!

THANKS so much, Jim!!! Cans4Christ is doing awesome!!! Keep collecting your cans and random metals:) 

Kates and I decided to "check" the C4C trailer in the church parking lot since we haven't emptied it for two weeks. Good thing we did because this trailer is PACKED! Literally! Guess we will have to stop by the recycling center again this week:)

There were several bags sitting outside the trailer...we stuffed them inside the best we could! HOOOOORAY for so many bags and cans!!!

JWP, Compassion International, and FAC/Cans4Christ

Last month, Trav and I lead worship alone one week. There's a lot of planning that goes on for a service-- sermon topic, song theme, special song ideas, videos, dramas, lights, media requests, ushers, connection cards, communion, offering, welcome/prayer/meet and greet, and so so SOOOOO much more! 

I went to our regular meeting for worship planning and discussed with the group my plans and ideas. Pastor Bob was preaching this week, and he really liked my suggestions. One in particular that he encouraged was sharing more about Cans4Christ. 

The STORY: Trav and I sponsor a child through Compassion International. His name is JWP. He is 10 years old. We correspond back and forth letting him know what's going on with us and sharing pictures of our dog/etc. 

I told Pastor Bob that I wanted to inform the church that Cans4Christ is being prayed for by a 10 year old boy in India! Trav and I shared our story during this service {picture below}. I think our congregation enjoyed seeing his picture and hearing part of his most recent letter. 

I love love love JWP and how he prays for us! I also love how God is using Cans4Christ!!!! 

A Late Christmas Present for Cans4Christ

On 1/4 Trav and I headed north to Venice to take my bike in for repairs (I needed a new tube in the back wheel). Since it was on the way, we stopped by Poppie's house so we could visit and exchange Christmas presents. 

The STORY: A couple of weeks ago, Poppie texted both Trav and I asking us what we wanted for Christmas. We never know what to ask for so we told Poppie not to get us anything. He was very persistent- texting us back and forth really late at night! LOL! As a joke, Trav told me to text him back and say that we wanted a "spider web" for the truck so  nothing will fall out when we take cans in. We really didn't think Poppie would know what this "web" was so we sent the message and didn't think about it again.

Here's one of the bags that we got from Poppie. It says, "Now you can be safe with a load". 

Inside this bag was......

A CARGO NET!!!! Hoooooray! Poppie actually got Cans4Christ a "web" for hauling cans in!!! Now we def. can be safe when going to the recycling center--NO MORE bags or cans falling out of the truck and onto busy roads!! THANKS, Poppie:)

Inside my bag were 12 bungie cords!!! We needed a set of these for Cans4Christ too!!! Poppie really did a great job with gifts this year;) 

And here's a pic of Poppie opening up our gifts--we always give him gifts with a "chicken" theme:)

We headed to lunch and Lowe's afterwards. At Lowe's, Trav found 2 cans!!! We threw them in the back of the truck and went about our business.

While driving back home on I75 {going about 70}, we heard noises from the truck bed. Yup! Our cans flew out! We probably should have used our new cargo net:) LOL!

Santa On A Bike....and Canning

On 1/2 Trav and I went on a quick bike ride. We wanted to drop off some Christmas gifts to the Cans4Christ Canning President Kates and Princess Tami (the books shipped a week ago but just arrived at our house today! OY!!!). **Delivering these gifts made us look like "Santa on a bike"! LOL! 

Before we left our house, I checked how far we have traveled on our bikes. We bought our bikes on Dec. 26, 2011 and last year we rode about 500 miles!! That's not bad considering our bike trips are "stop go stop go stop" so we can pick up cans. LOL! 

Our bike trip today was just around our neighborhood. And surprisingly we found SEVERAL cans alongside the road! 

Miles: 3.55
Bags collected: about 3/4 of a bag

2013 Goals for Cans4Christ

1/4/13

As the new year starts... Cans4Christ has reflected on the past year (actually only 10 months). We have come up with some goals for our blog and ministry. 

Cans4Christ Blog Goals: 

• Scheduled posts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday-- it's best for our followers to know when we will be posting (I will do my best at this goal!!)! **NOTE: I can only post if there is something to write about...hopefully we will have crushing parties, recycling routes, and recycling center trips to tell you about on a weekly basis! :)
• Up-to-Date posts-- I've received some feedback about how "behind" I am on posting events/etc. It's easier to post if I have material! LOL! However, I cannot be behind like I have been! 

Cans4Christ Ministry Goals: 

• Frequent updates at church-- I would love to speak about our totals or events monthly.
• Compromise-- Trav and I need to work out a schedule that fits for collecting cans and recycling.
• Volunteers-- we really need to find more volunteers that would help collect in NP or take cans to the recycling center.
• FAC Recycling Day-- Kates and I have talked about having a recycling day at the church quarterly....details need to be worked out.

I am overwhelmed with the success of our first year with Cans4Christ. I never thought this is how big we could get or would be!!! I look forward to seeing the recycled totals grow!! I also am excited to see where God takes us in 2013! 

Photo Credit

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  

A Blessing and Praise Report

1/3/13

We have two more posts from 2012 that we wanted to share with you....today's post really caught the Cans4Christ crew by surprise!!! 

The Story: Monday nights we have a regular route. Sometimes Kates and I stop by houses that we've never collected from before and ask if they would like to donate their cans to C4C. One Monday we met Gail (another Christian who agreed to let us take her cans weekly!). The next day I saw Gail in the grocery store. We chatted and talked about C4C and about her family--I found out that her husband had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Stomach Cancer. I told her that we would pray for him and stop by her house regularly. We did just that and chatted with Gail whenever we saw her outside or if she came to the door. Fast forward about a month-- while collecting cans from Gail's house, we met her son. He chatted with us and informed us that he worked at a bread warehouse and could donate bread to our church. We told him that would be wonderful and gave him our flyer (with contact info). Fast forward to Christmas Eve 2012....

The Blessing: I received a text at 7:30am (a bit too early for me but I still responded! LOL!) from Wayne, Gail's son. He let me know that he had a TON of bread for our church and that he needed me to pick it up today. 

I was soooooo excited that I started calling around and getting things ready-- this was the perfect day for our church to pass out bread/etc. because FAC usually does a special event for Christmas Eve. This was our 6th year having a service and music down at Laishley Park in Punta Gorda-- outside! We have had over 3000 attend this service before! PERFECT-- we could pass bread out there! 

Kates and I met up with Wayne in the afternoon and literally loaded up the truck! It was packed with donuts, cakes, muffins, and breads. We ran out of room! Bags and trays of bread everywhere! 

I wish I would have thought about getting a pic of the back of the truck--it literally was filled to the top of the cab with trays and bags of bread/cookies/donuts/etc. OH MY! 

The Praise: While we were loading up the goodies, Kates and I talked with Wayne about different things. I asked Wayne how his dad was doing with his chemo/radiation treatments. I was shocked by the news that we were given---Wayne's dad had finished treatment and went for a check-up this past week. The doctor said that there is NO EVIDENCE of cancer!!!!! There is only one reason---JESUS healed Wayne's dad!! Praise the LORD!! 

I cannot even explain how thankful we are to Wayne!!! Our church family and guests were sooooo blessed! And I was sharing Wayne and his dad's story all night-- it def. brought tears to our eyes!! I have to give credit to God for putting C4C in contact with Gail....whose son contacted us....and donated so much to our church.... on the most perfect night!!! God orchestrated it ALL!!!! 

These pictures were taken before our service/event---we had about four tables FILLED with goodies to pass out!!! THANK YOU, Wayne!!!!

Please continue to pray for healing for Wayne's dad, as well as praising the Father for this miracle!!! 

Happy New Year, 2012 Recycling Recap, and Yelling

1/2/13

Happy NEW Year, Cans4Christ fans!!

We have a quick recap of our last trip to the recycling center in 2012 to share today. This trip was on: 12/21/12.

Today was Trav's day off....but I made him work for C4C! We started with our Friday route and then headed to the recycling center for one of two trips today. 

We had to wear our masks because we hadn't emptied several bins of cans---the were super gross!!! 

Trav and I talked about heading down to the recycling center with some lunch for the staff as a gift for their kindness and help this year. We rushed loading the truck and headed to get sandwiches/etc. for the crew. It was about 11:40 when we pulled up to the center...only to find the following: 

THE DOORS WERE CLOSED FOR LUNCH! We were late by 10 minutes! I called their phone (thinking that they wouldn't answer) but they picked up! HOOOORAY! I explained to them who were were and what we wanted to do. The worker agreed to come outside and meet us--- when she walked out, she explained that she knew exactly who we were and asked if I was the one who always took pictures for the blog! LOL! We were so excited that we were able to drop off their lunches! 

Since they wouldn't open up for another 20 minutes, Trav and I decided to drive to the church and load up the cans in the C4C trailer. We thought we had enough space in the back of the truck for those bags as well. 

We got to work packing the bigger bags with small bags and loose cans. Who knew this trailer could hold so many bags!!???? LOL! 

And then it came time to put on the straps....Trav freaked me out by stepping along the edge of the truck bed to secure the bags. I don't like to yell at Trav...but when it's windy and he's walking on the edge of a truck, I don't feel bad about yelling! 

We had just a big enough load that we only had to tie down three extra bags. No big deal because we do this all the time! So off we went to the recycling center--for the second time today:)

Not more than a mile down the road, we heard a noise. A noise we had heard one too many times before....a large bag had fallen off the truck and landed in the middle of 41 (at one of the most busiest times of the day and year!!)!!! 

Look closely--that big black spot is the bag. The smaller black spot is Trav running to get the bag! 

Trav ran to go get the bag (and he had to run pretty far to get it!)! Praise the Lord that there weren't many cars on the road behind us--we were the last to go through a stoplight!

We readjusted the bags and strapped everything down again. And for the second time today I had to raise my voice at Trav! He decided to jump on the edge of the truck AGAIN--this time his back was to the busy road! DANGEROUS! He better never do that again! 

Once we got to the recycling center, we unloaded the truck. Here's a pic of bag that fell off--not bad for falling and rolling across the road! 

Total pounds of aluminum cans recycled today: 151

Total pounds recycled for C4C as of 12/21: 2,688 pounds!!!!!

Congrats everyone!! Cans4Christ is doing awesome!!! Keep collecting your cans and random metals:)