A few decades ago I threatened the next time I had to complete a form and list my occupation I was going to write "picking up". All I did was pick up kids, pick up toys, pick up my husband.
Fast forward to these retirement days and I think I'd now list my occupation as "hauling". I move things around from place to place and hand them off from person to person.
Today, for example, I loaded the car with 31 bags of stuffed animals and a mix of assorted cartons of clothing and shoebox filler items. After doing some Operation Christmas Child team paper work and sending off a few emails, I spent time gathering and packing items for an OCC display table at an event on Sunday.
Then I headed to Christine's house. Bless her heart--she and her family have graciously become the repository for stuffed animals. I handed off the 31 bags of animals and the bags of supplies for the event table. The back of the van wasn't clear for more than a few minutes. Then she handed-off to me the leftover boxes and items from a small shoebox packing event she spearheaded at a local Christian camp this week.
Next I headed for the storage container. Upon opening it I found a lovely little pile of crushed soap boxes that had toppled over, got them restacked, and starting hauling the rest of the cartons from the car.
What a blessing when several people arrived in answer to my Facebook plea to take cartons of soap home to bag...and not 1 or 2 each, mind you. One saint alone took 23 cartons of 116 bars each. Another took 15 and another 14. We had to calculate the number of bags to give each person and do a quick instruction on how to stack the bagged soap so it will all fit back into the cartons for easier storage.
I also loaded five cases of crayons for another faithful 'bagger'.
Finally I stashed another 20 cartons of soap in my car so I wouldn't have to drive all the way to the container the next time someone wants it. (by the way, there are still 160 cartons left to be bagged--hint, hint)
Moving 72 cartons of soap (total of 8,352 bars) and 31 bags of stuffies (total of 1,675 animals) filled out my hand-off and hauling quota for the day.
Really glad we decided to stick with the minivan.
Kathy, I am an avid reader of your blog and relay your stories to others all the time. This week I experienced one of those "provisions" that God so graciously sends. On the way to pick up pizza one night I had an urge to stop at Dollar Tree. I remembered seeing a FB post from someone about finding Web kind as the item of the week. My store didn't have them and as I started out the door with an empty basket, one of the cashiers, Sheila, who has helped me load hundreds of flip-flops and toothpaste, called out to me and said she had never seen me leave without buying something for shoeboxes. I laughed and told her I had been looking for the stuffed animsls, but I thought I was too late. She smiled and said their shipment was coming on Friday and if I got there at 9 I would be sure to get some. I had already asked for Friday as a vacation day from work so I was waiting at the door when they opened. Sheila was there but told me they had not received very many and they were limiting everyone to 2 of each animal. I was disappointed because I really wanted 100 to do all of my 2-4 boxes, but happily bought the ones I could and had a chance to tell several folks in line about OCC. I decided to call the Dollar Tree in the next small town to see if they had webbing and they did so I headed 15 miles away. The next store did not have any restrictions on purchases so I loaded a cart full, leaving some for other shoppers, and got 120 webkins. Had plenty of time in line to talk about OCC with staff and customers. There was another store about 15 miles further so I headed there and got 178 more! All because God provided me with a much-needed vacation day and a great tip from Sheila about those webkins!
ReplyDeleteThat sure WAS God's provision. How wonderful! What a mighty God we serve!
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