Over The Top

Look at all these kids in the photo just waiting so patiently to receive their Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts. The thing is--there are millions more like them still waiting. Every time I think of that it makes me want to do more to get these 'gospel opportunities' into the hands of children around the world.

Last night we had our first Northwestern PA Operation Christmas Child Area Team meeting for 2011. I was so excited about revealing the total number of shoeboxes received in our Mid-Atlantic region for the 2010 collection season. I just heard it myself on Tuesday and planned a great way to reveal it to my team. I prepared six folders--each containing one of the numbers in the grand total and distributed them to my team.

But before they opened the folders to reveal the number, I asked how many remembered the goal number we'd been praying for all year for the Mid-Atlantic. And how many remembered? No one. Not one. I was astonished in a not-good way. I guess because I was lifting that 630,000 goal up in prayer so many times throughout each day I assumed all of them had been also. When they couldn't remember it I felt deflated and all the 'whoohooos' I felt were gone.

As I look back on that today I realize that I need to wake up to the reality that most other people are living their lives on other levels and not totally obsessed with shoebox numbers like I am. I suppose it's unrealistic to assume that everyone else is praying for those goals enough to remember them.

Still, when we did open the folders to reveal the astounding number of 640,778 (an incredible 12% increase over last year) they were happy. And I know the 10,778 children who can now receive boxes because God took us over the goal will be ecstatic.

Our national goal was 5.5 million this year and God allowed us to go beyond that goal as well.

This is the first time I remember blowing by those goals and it feels so great to see God take us over the top. It's not something I'll forget.