Toothbrushes and T-Shirts

This little girl in the Dominican Republic is delighted with her new toothbrush. I put a toothbrush in every box and the ones I've been using are fair but not great and cost 12 cents each with shipping. I've always wished I could put a higher quality toothbrush in each box, but so far the cost was prohibitive. On Saturday God provided as only He can. A Christian guy who runs a resale business and buys large lots of items offered to sell me beautiful Oral-B toothbrushes. I was able to get 12,000 of them for this year's boxes for 12.5 cents each--just a bit over what I usually pay for cheap ones. God cares about the teeth of all those little ones who may have never even owned a toothbrush.

Speaking of toothbrushes, giving a child his or her own toothbrush may help to save his or her life. In some developing countries (where the HIV rate of infection in the population may be more than 50%) whole families share one toothbrush. Not having to share can save a child from contracting a deadly illness.

God just keeps bringing in a harvest of items to pack boxes. Our clothing item total is now up to 7,416! I found that Dollar General has a lot of short-sleeve T-shirts that are 90% off that some stores still have in with their regular summer clothing. If you're near a Dollar General, check in the boys' clothing and if you find any T-shirts that have a $5.00 price tag (no blue dot on them) they will probably ring up at 50 cents. The new ones in stock are $6.00 so they must be clearing out the $5.00 ones. If an employee tells you they're not on sale, politely ask them to check the price on the cash register to make sure. You may net yourself some nice shirts. Since last week I went back to stores I'd already been to and got several hundred more items.

The winter gloves and hats at Dollar General are 70% off right now so that's a pretty good deal, but I'm holding out to see if they go to 90% off soon.

I praise You, God, for the blessings of this week--for T-shirts and toothbrushes--and for your promise of total provision. You are always more than enough.