A Packing Party I'll Never Forget

Last Friday I was honored to be invited to The Mustard Seed to assist the Seedsters in packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. 

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect being this was my first time to visit The Mustard Seed, but I was greeted with smiling faces and hugs all around. 

These mentally challenged adults were eager to pack shoeboxes, and in fact, I did very little assisting and a whole lotta admiring.  The staff was great, and the entire packing party was very organized. 

I had to leave before the group photo was taken, but here's a picture that was e-mailed to me of all the Seedsters and their shoeboxes. 

Thank you Elizabeth, all the staff members that helped, and especially the Seedsters for participating in Operation Christmas Child!  May you be greatly blessed!

Our Weekend In Atlanta

This weekend the above-pictured group from our church were volunteering in Lawrenceville, GA, at the Operation Christmas Child processing center.  This picture was taken the last night after we had worked five hours.  We were tired.  But we managed to smile for the picture.   

On the second night, these four ladies folded over 1100 Operation Christmas Child shirts.  And the crazy thing is they enjoyed it!  By the way, the girl who looks so *happy* in the back was boasting an Ole Miss lead, but...ahem....it wouldn't last. 

And here's our menfolk working hard.  Well, they had been working hard anyway. 





 I learned a few things on this trip.  First, when you decide to drive downtown Atlanta on a route you've never taken before, be sure and look for the signs pointing you in the right direction instead of looking at the skyline, Olympic flame, etc.  You can get going in the wrong direction fast.   

Second, The Varsity is a great place to eat.  If you are ever in Atlanta, try it out.  The experience is one you'll not forget. 

Third, and perhaps most importantly, I learned (again) that I love Operation Christmas Child.  Along those same lines, I learned (again) that I love serving Christ alongside my brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Thanks for another great trip!

What A Great Weekend!

We had a great Thanksgiving with my family.  It's always great to see all the family together in one place. However, I am worried about some of them....they were getting up at 3 a.m. on Black Friday to go shopping.  How do you drive anywhere at 3 a.m.?  I would love to hear how the shopping went if any of you would like to comment (since I now know you occasionally read but never comment).


Even though I wasn't up at 3 a.m., I wasn't far behind.  I was getting up at 5 a.m. to head out to Atlanta, Georgia, to volunteer in the processing center for Operation Christmas Child.  If you've read any of my previous posts, you know what this is all about. 


We had a group of 8 people from our church go to volunteer, and we couldn't have had a better trip.  God blessed us with safe travel there and back and for that I'm thankful.  While there, we worked 8 hours over two days in the processing center.  I enjoyed it a whole bunch, and I think it is safe to say everyone else did too. 


Other than working in the processing center, we had fun visiting a local mall, eating together, and just hanging out together in the hotel.  I am already looking forward to next year!


So without further delay, here are some pictures of our time in the processing center......

Our Thanksgiving Plans

Thanksgiving is almost upon us.  Who keeps speeding up time?  That's what I wanna know. 

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I think I like it because of its "Christmasy" atmosphere, (family, food, time off from work), but without the "Christmasy" commercialism. 

After spending Thanksgiving Day with my parents and extended family and eating way too much food, Brad and I will drive the hour back home.  Without our kids!  But there's a good reason -

This year Brad and I will be joining several others from our church to travel to Suwanee, GA, to volunteer in the Operation Christmas Child Processing Center (see last post).  Brad and I were able to go last year with a different church, but we are super excited about going with a group from our church this year. 

We will leave early Friday morning (but not as early as some of you will be in Wal-Mart!), work four hours on Friday evening and four more hours on Saturday.  It is amazing to walk in a huge warehouse with shoeboxes almost wall to wall.  As we've heard many times, it's a way to be a part of something bigger than one person could ever do by themselves. 

Unfortunately my kids are not old enough to work in the warehouse and won't be for a while.  You have to be 13 years of age in order to work.  Gogurt really wishes he could go, but he has to wait a few more years.  And Poptart has to wait a lot more years. 

Please pray for our safe travel there and back. 

May your family have a great Thanksgiving this year.  And remember to take a moment and thank God for all your blessings.  Because without Him, where would we be?

A Long Journey For A Little Box

I hope by now everybody has heard of Operation Christmas Child. If you haven't, where've ya been?

Let's go on a journey with a shoebox:

Shoes gets bought. The shoes are taken out and the box is thrown into the back of the closet.

November comes. You see or hear of something that reminds you it is time once again to pack a shoebox for a needy child. You dig in the back of your closet to find a shoebox. And there it is.

You load up your children and head to your store of choice. You buy a toothbrush/toothpaste, soap/washcloth, combs/brushes, crayons/coloring book, gender- and age-appropriate toys, and anything else you think will fit in the box all the while talking to your kids about the one waiting on the box.

Where do you think she lives? Is it hot weather or cold weather there? Will these socks fit? How will we know if this little pink princess shirt is the right size?

You bring all your goodies home and pack the shoebox. Wrap it in pretty Christmas paper and you're done. Your family gathers and prays for the child who will receive this box.

Collection Week. The week before Thanksgiving. You take your shoebox to a drop-off location. They receive it and pray over your box again. Then they place your shoebox in a carton with other shoeboxes and when the carton is full, they tape it up and place the shipping label on the side.

The carton containing your shoebox is then taken to the nearest Collection Center. The carton containing your shoebox is placed on an 18-wheeler next to lots of other cartons containing lots of other peoples' shoeboxes.

The 18-wheeler travels to a Processing Center. There, hundreds of volunteers will open each carton, reach in, take out one shoebox at a time, organize them into gender and age groups then re-carton them accordingly.

During this process, every few minutes, someone will come over the loudspeaker and tell everyone to stop working, pick up the nearest box, hold it tightly, and pray along with them for that particular box. Look! Someone is holding your box!

The cartons will be held there until loaded onto airplanes, etc. and taken to their final destination. (This is undoubtedly the most adventurous part of your box's journey, but unfortunately I have not personally witnessed this, yet.)

When at their final destination, the cartons are opened and one by one the shoeboxes are taken out and handed to eager children.

Look! That little girl is opening your her box! And she absolutely loves it! And now, perhaps for the very first time, she will read about God's love for her.

All because you packed a shoebox.

P.S. The little pink princess shirt fit perfectly.