Operation Christmas Child Packing Party!!

Last weekend, I had a packing party for Operation Christmas Child (OCC). I've had a few requests to write about it, so here you all are.

For those of you who haven't heard of OCC, it's a project put out by Samaritan's Purse where you take a shoebox, fill it with a variety of simple items and ship it to their head distribution center, where it is taken to countries all around the world. The boxes are given to kids ages 2-14 who don't have anything, and many of whom have never received a Christmas gift. All of the children who receive a box have the opportunity to hear the gospel message, and also are able to attend a 12-week discipleship program called The Greatest Journey.

My birthday is in January. I decided to have my birthday party a little early though, so I could have an OCC packing party for my birthday! I had six girls come, and everyone brought stuff to put in the boxes. I got a lot of donations for the boxes too. People at my church, and a lot of our friends gave us items and supplies, and I even got shoeboxes donated from one of our local shoe stores! :) My goal was to pack 160 shoeboxes, because I'll be 16.

We managed to collect 160 boxes and over 20 bags of supplies... almost 3,000 items. :) We had four tables in the front rooms of our house, and set up a sort of assembly line. First, you grab a shoebox, then move to the supplies tables. We had all of the items sorted out into categories like clothes, toys, school supplies, etc. Walking around the two supplies tables, you could pick out what you wanted to put in your shoebox. There were certain items we had that we actually had enough of to put in each shoebox : a washcloth, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a pair of socks, a pencil set, a comb or hairbrush, and we had almost enough bars of soap for every box.

We started our party with watching a couple of video's from OCC's project resource DVD, and then we prayed for the party. Then we got to packing! We packed for about 2 1/2 hours, then we took a break to have cake. After that, we packed for another 2 or so hours, until we ran out of supplies! :( We completed 108 boxes. After we'd finished, I gave everyone a prayer bookmark from OCC, and a certificate with their name and how many boxes they'd packed.

We made sure all the boxes had a picture and a letter in them, then we loaded them all up into our trunk, so they would be ready to take to church the next morning. Our trunk was quite full! (: When we'd finished loading them all into the trunk, we gathered around to pray over the boxes, and pray for the kids that would be receiving them.

The next morning we were able to take all of our boxes to church, and put them up on the steps at the front of the church auditorium. We still have to make some more if I get the opportunity, and I'd love to, given the chance. I'm still not giving up on that 160 goal. ;)

If you've never made a box, I encourage you to give it a try! You can find all the information you need on OCC's website. It is a true blessing for the child who receives it, and it's a blessing for you too. The most important thing you can do is pray for the boxes. Pray for boxes that you make, and pray for all the boxes that others will make. Pray for the children that are receiving these boxes, and that they would come to know Jesus as the Savior.

If you are an experienced box packer, why not try hosting your own OCC packing party? It doesn't have to be for a birthday or any other special occasion, just do it for fun! It's really simple, and a lot of fun for everyone involved. You can find all the information you need, and order party supplies, from their website. (If you want or need more ideas on how to host a packing party, or how I hosted mine, please contact me! Leave a comment or email me : gymnasticslover4444@gmail.com . I may do a post about hosting a packing party later.)

How are you getting involved this Christmas? Are you packing any shoeboxes, or maybe hosting your own party? Leave a comment and let me know. :)

The Waiting Place: by Eileen Button

I hate waiting. I hate waiting a LOT.

In fact, I can't really think of anyone who LOVES to wait. Truth is, we wait all the time. Wait in lines, wait for our food to finish cooking, wait for appointments, wait for good things, wait for bad things.

But what if we stopped having such a bad attitude about waiting, and started to embrace it? Yes, actually learn to appreciate the time we spend waiting. Why? Because God can teach us a lot while we're stuck in the waiting place, if we could only learn to sit tight, open our eyes, and listen.

Eileen Button has filled this book with her experiences in the waiting place. Each chapter is a single essay covering one topic, one "waiting place". The essays range from big things to small, the life-changing to the simple, every-day things. Waiting for a sign, waiting for a miracle, waiting for the mail, waiting for a birth, waiting for a death... these are things all of us wait for at some point or another. Eileen Button provides a new perspective on each of these places, in a simple, honest yet humorous manner.

The Waiting Place captivated my attention and opened up my mind to a new idea of the joy, yes, joy of waiting. It challenged me to look beyond the temporary inconvenience that waiting often causes, look past the pain and discomfort, the wondering, the uncertainty, and look for the rainbow. Look for the lesson. We're not going to be stuck in the waiting place forever. But while we are, we might as well take advantage of it.

"I am absolutely convinced that some of the most beautiful things happen if we are willing to quiet our hearts, lean into the waiting place, and listen to what it tells us. When we do, we will often be astonished by what it has to say."
                    ~ Eileen Button, The Waiting Place

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”