Generally Blessed

Today was one of the days I wait for--90% off at Dollar General on summer clothes and shoes. I made it to 8 stores today and was blessed with 444 clothing items for Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. Now I'm sorting and bagging the bounty.

For the first year that I can remember, I don't really need these items to meet my goal of packed boxes for the current year so I'm trying to decide where to store them.

Should I start taking stuff to the loft at Grace Church in hopes of having another giant shoe box packing party next year? Should I take it to the basement of Wesley Church and keep packing boxes throughout the year?

In the midst of these questions I've been doing a lot of speaking for OCC. Last night I was in Albion to speak to the Lions Club's auxiliary and ended up getting lost in the country. I hate country roads--especially at night. They're so creepy and dark and lonely. By God's grace I didn't get attacked by an ax murderer but it felt like I might. Tomorrow I'm headed back into the country again--down to Seneca, PA. Sunday before last I was in Guys Mills (country again) and this Sunday I'm off to Clintonville--which I'm SURE is in the country. Creepy. But I'll drive to the ends of the earth (or at least what seems like it) to beg for more shoe boxes to be packed.

Enough of this. I'm off to sort sandals and think about how to inspire country folks to pack more shoe boxes.

I really am Generally blessed.

A Great Number

My Bible reading yesterday took me to the first chapter of Numbers where I was reading about the census God commanded them to take of all the men over the age of 20 who could fight for Israel. When I got to verse 46 I read, "The total number was 603,550."

It just made me stop and think of what a perfect total number of Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes that would be for the Mid-Atlantic region this year. We've all been praying for the goal of 600,000 anyway--so why not up it to 603,550? What a great biblical number. Just think of 603,550 gospel opportunities touching 603,550 children who could then fight to take the gospel to others. Of course I had to grab my calculator to check and I found it's just a little over a 15% increase over last year's Mid-Atlantic total.

Also, I noticed how the numbers in Numbers chapter 1 are counted as a total from those of individual tribes just as ours will be a total from area teams--we'll have our own little paraphrase of this chapter. It gave me a new appreciation for the idea of all those numbers in the Bible.

Just thought I'd share that I have a new prayer goal--603,550.