Lots and Lotsa Boxes

Okay, so this is the only picture I could find of the Operation Christmas Child processing center for today's blog.  My husband (he's the one on the right) is posing with Uncle Si Robertson.  I took it two days ago and it's the last picture I took there.  I now keep my phone in a locker so I don't take pictures during the day and, besides, I don't have time.

Today the volunteers were processing boxes that were being packed into sea containers bound for the Bahamas and Haiti.  There are lots and lots of boxes all around me but the only time I have touched one is when we stop working to pray for them.  The rest of the time I am prayerfully trying to figure out how to do the job of getting filler items out for the boxes and supervising "overflow" volunteers in bagging soap or sorting socks.
 
These Thanksgiving weekend days are reported to be the days with the highest number of volunteers at the PC.  Today I had as many as 40 volunteers at a time.  This was a blessing--but one that needed to be managed.

I finally sat down to eat lunch today and after 10 minutes the floor manager came to me and said we were getting another large group of volunteers, so I needed to scoot over to my area to prep more space.  (Note:  This reminded me of getting called out of lunch at school to change wet pants--I think this is a step up from that.)  It's tough to figure out how to keep an area for volunteers to eat lunch while finding space for them to do tasks.

It was great, though, to see pallets filling up with bagged soap ready to bless children.

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to organize my day and all the items.  It's really a matter of prayer because there is no way to know how many boxes will require extra fillers and how the supply will hold out.

I was so blessed that Kathe and Carroll Wagner came today and helped me "uncartonize" filler items and organize them.  God knew I really needed them.  Not sure I would have made it through the day tear-free without their support.

My legs were really failing by the end of the day.  I'm glad for a day off tomorrow and wondering how it will be to keep going for six days in a row next week.  

It seems to get a bit easier each day.  I'm counting on that.

'Cause there are still lots and lotsa boxes waiting to get onto those sea containers.