Christmas In April and Resurrection Rolls

Ho, Ho, Ho...the air temperature was in the 'teens' here in Erie, PA today and the ground is covered with a blanket of white snow.

I feel like it's Christmas in April--and not just because of the snow.

I got a great donation of nearly 200 handmade stuffed animals from our team member--Pam Suter.  Each one took hours to make and so much love was stitched into them.  I can just picture the joy they will bring.

Pam also donated a couple of bags of filler items, some colorful handmade scarves, and even three perfect little blankets.

I also received two more bags of toys from a generous little girl and boy to add to the collection.

Best of all, I had a great visit yesterday from Leigh Fisher, my Operation Christmas Child Regional Director, who took the time to drive across the state to listen to me and cry with me and pray with me.

Last evening the three coordinators from our area team sat around a table with Leigh and me and we talked about some of the problems and 'roadblocks' that keep our team from functioning optimally.

Have you seen the recipe for Resurrection Rolls?  To make them you need a tube of 8 crescent rolls and 8 regular size marshmallows.  We dipped each marshmallow in melted butter and then rolled it in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (I used equal parts of brown and white sugar.)  Then we placed each marshmallow (representing the body of Jesus--or, in our case last night, those seemingly giant challenges) inside one of the crescents of dough and made sure it was totally encased with all the edges sealed.

Then we baked them in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes and...those giant marshmallow 'problems' disappeared leaving us with yummy 'empty tombs' that symbolized God's power that raised Christ from the dead and still is available to us today.

As we discussed the pros and cons of hosting our 6th large Operation Christmas Child packing party this fall it became clear to all of us that we need to move forward in faith.

We don't know where all the items will come from or how they will be financed.   What we do know is that though there have been challenges this year we have not seen God firmly close a door on this packing party venture.

So, as a team, we move ahead.  Again.