operation christmas child

it's the 3rd week of november so that means it's national collection week & we're super excited to be taking part again in operation christmas child, a project of samaritan's purse, a world wide christian relief & evangelism ministry led by franklin graham. the mission of operation christmas child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the good news of Jesus Christ. people all around the country are filling shoe boxes with small toys, school supplies, hygiene items, candy & other gifts. these boxes are then delivered to needy children around the world. since 1993 more than 85 million boxes have been delivered to children in over 130 countries across the globe! this year mommy said we could pack 2 shoeboxes each... whoo hoo! livi picked to have her shoebox delivered to a little boy & little girl aged 2-4. i picked 2 girls aged 10-14 because she will be my friend from afar. so off to the dollar store livi & i went, livi picked out puzzles, markers, notebooks, a my little pony, dolls, bracelets, hats, mittens, a book,  tooth brushes with toothpaste, a ball, lots of toy cars, monster truck, a wooden toy train, abc's flash cards & candy cane lollipops. she had the best time ever, knowing how she was giving someone a christmas that they might not have had. i picked out a journal with cool pen, a slinky, silly putty, toothbrushes with toothpaste, cool hairbrushes, hats, a stuffed elf, a barbie, fancy pony tail holders, headbands, sunglasses, socks, hello kitty coin purses, bouncy balls & candy cane pop rocks! we also made cards & signs to put on top of our shoeboxes so the children receiving them would feel even more loved from us!

 on monday after school we took our boxes & some friend's boxes to livi's old school (shady oak) to drop them off since they collect them every year. when we got there we went to their prayer garden we prayed over our boxes. we prayed that they would arrive safely, that the children would like their gifts, be able to use them & to feel really really loved! we're really excited because an email will be sent to us in january or february with the delivery location of our shoe boxes & hopefully the little boy & little girls who receive our boxes will write to us to tell us about where they live! last year our boxes went all the way to the peru... wow! this is such a wonderful way to celebrate the meaning of christmas & we're so happy we got to work on this project as a family.  this is our fourth year doing this & i know we'll be a part of it for a very very long time! if you would like to know more about operation christmas child please click here, there are tons of children that a shoebox would mean the world to them... never underestimate the power of a simple gift!!!