The holidays are upon us, there is no denying it. And I'm the kind of person that's thrilled about it and has already been planning, shopping and thinking about how we want to celebrate this year. For our family, one of the ways we start off the holiday season is my contributing to Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse. I have happily shopped for and filled shoe boxes since I was single and the tradition has carried over to now doing it with Haven.
Last night I laid out all my supplies that I've been accumulating for the last several months. Yes, this year I got smart and have been buying small toys and school supplies all year long so it wasn't such a daunting task all at once. I was thrilled to see that I had almost everything I needed. We hit the stores in need of a few more items and the boxes that we needed to fill. Three stores later we had all we needed.
This morning Haven and I laid everything out and proceeded to fill our boxes. We had so much fun! We talked about why we were doing it and about the kids who were going to receive these boxes. She was so thoughtful and such a great helper, counting out candies and making sure each box had a comb, soap and a toothbrush. When we were done she wanted to put some of her toys in the boxes, too. We decided that sharing some stickers would be a good compromise. I love her little innocent heart and how much the Lord uses her to teach me things.
OCC is also near and dear to us because we got to see first hand the way these simple boxes blessed kids lives when we were in Namibia serving with Christ's Hope International. CHI was asked to partner with OCC and coordinate one of their delivery parties which meant signing up kids to receive the boxes. While we actually had to leave before the boxes arrived, though we got to help coordinate this huge event. We know that these boxes make a difference in kids' lives.
National Collection Week is November 17-24 for the shoe boxes. I hope you will start off your holiday celebrating by packing a shoe box this year!
Last night I laid out all my supplies that I've been accumulating for the last several months. Yes, this year I got smart and have been buying small toys and school supplies all year long so it wasn't such a daunting task all at once. I was thrilled to see that I had almost everything I needed. We hit the stores in need of a few more items and the boxes that we needed to fill. Three stores later we had all we needed.
This morning Haven and I laid everything out and proceeded to fill our boxes. We had so much fun! We talked about why we were doing it and about the kids who were going to receive these boxes. She was so thoughtful and such a great helper, counting out candies and making sure each box had a comb, soap and a toothbrush. When we were done she wanted to put some of her toys in the boxes, too. We decided that sharing some stickers would be a good compromise. I love her little innocent heart and how much the Lord uses her to teach me things.
OCC is also near and dear to us because we got to see first hand the way these simple boxes blessed kids lives when we were in Namibia serving with Christ's Hope International. CHI was asked to partner with OCC and coordinate one of their delivery parties which meant signing up kids to receive the boxes. While we actually had to leave before the boxes arrived, though we got to help coordinate this huge event. We know that these boxes make a difference in kids' lives.
National Collection Week is November 17-24 for the shoe boxes. I hope you will start off your holiday celebrating by packing a shoe box this year!
