Ted E. Bear

In the midst of National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child we are all busy tallying numbers and comparing them to the big goals we've been praying for during the entire year.

We measure our progress by cartons packed and trucks sent.

But it's good to step back and remember the meaning of ONE BOX.

Pictured above is one of the 100 boxes I packed at home this week, and its anchor toy is a cute stuffed bear that has special significance.

Back in June our local newspaper published an article about our hunt for new stuffed animals for shoe boxes.  It resulted in a flurry of calls that sent us running all over town collecting donations.  It was exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time.

Many of the calls came from older folks who had just a few precious animals they'd collected.  It was tough to make long drives to pick up one or two at a time, but these folks were excited to donate.

The bear in the box above came to us as the result of one of those phone calls.  The donor called and asked us to pick up her donation at the golf course where her husband works.  One of our team members made the trip there, persisted in finding the employee, and drove the long drive to a maintenance office where this lone bear sat in a bag with a tag on it that read, "Ted E. Bear -- to be picked up"

So he was picked up.

And he sat on the microwave stand in my kitchen for 5 months.  He missed the big packing party in September and somehow was still sitting there this week, patiently waiting his turn.

And this week was it.

He was packed into a box with a radio and some fun fillers, school supplies, and hygiene items.  And tonight that box was packed into a carton at the collection center--ready for the next leg of its journey to a 10-14 year old somewhere in the world.

I'm praying Ted E. Bear will be a special emissary of God's love.  Because for that one child it was worth the drive to pick him up.  It was worth the time to finally pack him in a box.  It was worth it to make a $7.00 shipping donation online and it was worth the trouble to drive the box to a collection center.

It's all worth it for ONE MORE CHILD.