Yesterday my husband and I spent a couple of hours in the Operation Christmas Child storage container (the Ark) doing some inventory and reorganizing. It amazes me that God's already provided almost 15,000 clothing items, 14,500 toothbrushes (leftovers from last year) and 4500 filler items. There's enough paper for 4100 boxes, but only 360 bars of soap and 900 bags of crayons. We're still a long way from the goal and even the goal is still unofficial, but we're off and running.
Already the stuffed animals have been arriving. There are 600 in The Ark now. Today I got another donation with 105 more usable animals. So now we have 700 ready to go and about another 100 or so waiting to be washed and readied.
Sometimes I wonder how many stuffed animals there are in our city. Have we come close to tapping out our sources? I think not. I think there are still thousands of lonely stuffed toys waiting on shelves for the chance to be sent to children who will love them--children who may have never owned a toy of their own.
I work in elementary schools and I dream about having stuffed animal drives in my school district so students could all contribute, if they desire. Although, it seems like this might be more successful in middle schools or high schools because elementary-aged children have so much trouble parting with stuffed animals.
So I dream and wait and wonder how God will fill The Ark this year, because I have no doubt He will.
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