Be astonished!

photo credit to my amazing Central Drop-Off Team Leader--Kit Zinkosky

It's the last day of National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child. All around the country this scene is playing out as filled trucks are getting ready to transport millions of precious shoeboxes to processing centers to be inspected on the next leg of their journey to boys and girls all over the world.

NCW is hard. It's always a hard week--physically, emotionally, spiritually. We who have been through this for years have come to expect that. Even with all the extra prayer support the struggle can be real.

This might seem like a leap, but I was a childbirth educator for 19 years and I find some analogies between NCW and childbirth. Most of the time childbirth is hard. It's exhausting and scary and filled with unknowns and struggle. But...at the end of it you get the prize--a baby!

And when we all watch those trucks pull away we feel a little of that sense of wonder you feel when that baby is placed in your arms. Ahhh...it's amazing to be part of a miracle, isn't it?!

I read this verse this morning and it seems so appropriate for the final day of National Collection Week:  "Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days--You would not believe it if you were told." Habakkuk 1:5

Be astonished! Wonder! God is doing things we may never get to see on earth through these simple but powerful boxes. Yes, it's hard. We get beyond tired but it's not without purpose. It's the good tired that mixes with exhilaration.

God is doing something in our days--and we GET to be a part of it.

Oh, and by the way...we prayed all year for 42,000 boxes and God gave us...

This number includes the 22,048 packed at our packing party in September. We are so blessed!

It's November!

It's November! In two weeks we'll be in the thick of National Collection Week. It always kind of sneaks up on me. As I told Lisa, my regional manager, yesterday on our phone call, "Every November I think--okay, we just need to get through National Collection Week and then next year we'll try to do it better."  Then before I know it we're at the NEXT November and I'm saying the same thing.

I'm a perfectionist by nature. I think my desire to want to do it RIGHT is rooted in pride. I'm praying through that.  The bar is set pretty crazy high in our Operation Christmas Child world with lots of 'things' to work on--encouraging $9 shipping donation for each box; encouraging better quality boxes that are a 'regular size' (not too big and not too small and well-filled); recruiting more drop-off sites; getting those drop-off sites to be missional (with stuff like decorations and refreshments and games and...all while basically LOVING each person who brings in a box AND keeping an accurate count of boxes and getting as many as possible in a carton and loading trucks safely with enough volunteers.

Not to mention recruiting volunteers and equipping them and developing them and leading them. Working to develop team unity (in-here goals) while prayerfully harvesting as many shoeboxes (aka Gospel Opportunities or out-there goals) as possible.

It's a lot.

When I think of it all sometimes I get overwhelmed. Maybe I shouldn't admit that. The big question is: Is God calling me to do this?  Because if He is then He will always make a way. He promises to "equip (me) for every good thing to do His will, working in (me) that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ." (Hebrews 13:21 ASV)

I was challenged to pray through that question this week and I am asking Him to make me willing to be obedient whatever the answer.

Because...it's November!

Growing Faith

How quickly I can forget.  This morning I was reading some of the miracles of Jesus and noticed how He focused on faith. "According to your faith will it be done to you," He said to the men who were blind, and their sight was restored.  I thought that over as I prayed afterwards and asked God to build my faith.

But...as I said...how quickly I can forget.

I expected a truck delivery this afternoon with pallets of hats, visors, water bottles and sunglasses for our 2020 shoeboxes. Instead, I was surprised with a call at 7:20 telling me the delivery would arrive at 8:30. By God's grace my husband was still home and offered to delay his work day to go with me to unload.

I wasn't prepared for the amount of cartons we unloaded from those seven pallets, and I wasn't prepared to see how much space they consumed in our storage container.  I forgot my prayer about building faith and started to sink into discouragement.

To make it all worse I realized I can't lift those cartons of baseball hats the way I could even a couple years ago. I've neglected any workouts over the past year (other than walking and slow running) which certainly doesn't help the issue, but I think some of it is just the loss of muscle mass that comes from hitting 67.  Doubt started to sweep in like winter waves as I asked myself, "Can I keep doing this? Can our team of basically old and/or disabled people keep doing this?"

Before long the sides of the container were filled leaving only a narrow path down the middle. The baseball hats need to be taken out of their cartons and re-boxed/consolidated to make more room so they had to stay along the side rather than be stored in the back.

And...what to do with the water bottles?  The cartons they were shipped in are falling apart. That's the problem when you look for the cheapest prices--you get dirty, dilapidated cartons. They also shipped the caps separately so they will need to be put on. Are we going to put something in the water bottles? We could stuff them with beanie babies but we don't have enough of them yet to fill all 3400. Meanwhile, they take up every last inch of storage space in that container. Did I mention we won't be packing them for almost another year?

Then I remembered--I asked God to build my faith. Well, I guess He has plans for that.

We finished getting the cartons shoved into the container and I headed off to meet with Kit, our new Central Drop-Off Team Leader.  Did I mention I am woefully untutored in the needs of the logistics network and lost my Logistics Coordinator this year?  I mean--I have more questions for poor Kit than I have answers.

As we talked I got teary. I felt bad for spilling my emotions on her when she really needs support. But as I prayed through my tears I told God I AM trusting Him--trusting Him to figure out what to do with these water bottles; trusting Him to figure out what else we should buy and when; trusting Him to find the strong arms we need to move these cartons and load these trucks; trusting Him to grow the faith I need to even keep trusting.

"So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ."--Romans 10:17 ESV  Let me hear the word of Christ. Let me listen. Because...I really need to grow faith.

Through It All

As I write this I am listening to Phil Wickham performing on the Dove Awards sing "Jesus Christ our living hope..."  And today I was reminded of that living hope in a poignant and beautiful way as I attended the celebration of life service for Val, the godly husband of one of my high school friends.

I wish I'd had the opportunity to know Val better in person but I got to know him through his wife Ginny's posts when we reconnected a few years ago on Facebook.  And when Val was diagnosed with multiple myeloma Ginny started a Facebook group called "Through It All" to keep their deep prayer network up-to-date on not only Val's condition but on the progress of what they came to call their 'disease ministry' to other patients.

I have to say I hate visiting at funeral homes. I do it, of course, but I hate it. On the other hand, the older I get the more I enjoy attending homegoing services for brothers and sisters in the Lord who have gone to be with Jesus.  These precious times are reminders of the glorification that awaits each of us who has that "living hope."

This service was especially beautiful. Each person who spoke had one main goal--not to glorify Val's life but to glorify God and to give a clear gospel presentation and invitation to anyone there who needed to make that decision to trust Jesus to forgive their sins and give them assurance of a place in heaven for eternity.

The celebration was held in the same pavilion at Camp Judson where the couple were married 43 years ago.  It's been cold the past few days in Erie but this afternoon was clear, warm, and brushed with a palette of fall colors--a gift from God for sure.  So much like the October day nearly 5 years ago when we celebrated my mother's life.

"Two Hands" by Love Song and "The Wedding Song" by Paul Stookey were performed today with guitar accompaniment--just as they had been at the couple's wedding. Amazingly, the lyrics were perfect for this occasion also.

And the goal remained true through every part of this celebration--always pointing us to Jesus. There were Bibles and "Steps To Peace With God" booklets prominently displayed and we were encouraged to take them for ourselves or to share with someone who needs to know Jesus and His love.

Val and Ginny's four children are all living for Jesus and their testimony of their father's impact on their lives was both challenging and inspiring.  I continue to pray God will give me opportunities to make an impact like that.

It's impossible for me to sit through a service like this and not wonder what kind of legacy God is challenging me to leave when He calls me home.  What can I do now to share God's love and truth with people around me who need to know it?  How can I prepare now to make sure my own funeral will be a celebration that points people to Jesus in every way?

The faithfulness of God was celebrated in a huge way today. There is no doubt that through it all--the mountains and the valleys of life--God is sovereign and good.

So let me ask you the question: if you died today do you know you would be in heaven? There is no more important question and no time like now to be sure of your answer. If you're not sure, please go to peacewithgod.net to learn more...

Because nothing in life is more important than knowing that through it all you have a living hope of living in heaven for eternity.

Mercy not Justice

Mercy vs. justice. Sadly, I admit most of the time I want mercy for myself and my failures while at the same time seeing the mistakes of others with an eye for only justice.

I've been thinking about that a lot over the last two days as I've been praying for mercy. A couple of weeks ago I found out we had out-of-town company arriving the day of the packing party so I decided we needed to replace the mattress in our spare bedroom.

Always looking for the best deal I bought one online through sears.com where I found a deal that offered $150 in Shop Your Way points with a $300 purchase. I chose the mattress and added a few items to make sure my purchase came to $300.  I was to receive the points in 10 installments of $15 each week, and I planned to use those points to purchase the ball pit balls pictured here. We used them in our 2-4 year old Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes at our packing party and even used some as extra fillers for older children when those checking the boxes at the end of the line found empty corners. 

I received my first $15 installment two weeks ago and then...nothing. I did some checking online and found I had only been awarded an offer of $15 for making a $100 purchase instead of the $150 for a $300 purchase.  Confused, I scrutinized the order and saw that when I made the final purchase I used $4 in existing points I had and that took my total just below $300 before tax was added. I decided to call Shop Your Way anyway and see what they said.

And I prayed. I told God I deserved justice. I'd made a mistake. But I asked Him if maybe I could have mercy.

Between yesterday and today I talked with seven different customer service representatives at both Sears and Shop Your Way. The convoluted conversations and run-around I had are too long to detail here, but I see now how God was using all those delays to get me to just the right person.

Today I talked with someone who finally took responsibility to look at my order (while I waited on hold) and then declared, "Yes, I see the problem. You used your points and that made your total fall below the $300." Yes, I did that. Justice meant I wasn't entitled to that $150 in points. That's what I deserved.

BUT then he said, "But don't worry. I will give you the points. I will add them to your account now." MERCY!  I deserved justice but I was blessed with mercy and $135 in points to spend.

I called my sidekick Pam and we strategized the best way to use this mountain of mercy.  I placed the order and now have 1200 ball pit balls coming our way for future shoebox packing. 

I'm so incredibly happy with this paltry little piece of mercy, and that makes me think of the incomprehensible mercy Jesus won for me with His death on the cross and the mountains of mercy poured out on me day after day by God's loving hand. 

Couldn't I give JUST a tiny bit more of that mercy to others as I go through my day? 

Fighting the Good Fight

It's funny how expectations can frame your experience. Because our packing party goal for this 11th year dropped down to 22,000 from last year's 30,590 I honestly thought this year would be a breeze. I anticipated a nice slow day and was even blessed to be able to have a full-circle speaker, Mariya Snizhko, come to share her story. I even anticipated we'd finish packing boxes early and be cleaned up and ready to leave before 4:00.

But I was wrong...

I should have known it could be more difficult than I thought when the Christian Life Academy students on Friday morning packed only half the number of boxes they packed other years.

I should have known it could be harder than I anticipated when our total at the end of Friday night was....

instead of the 10,400 we'd packed at the end of Friday night last year.  I knew we were packing more slowly (something that was actually one of our goals) but I didn't realize just how slowly.

I have to say I slept better this week than I have during any other packing party week I can remember. On the whole our team was amazing and worked so, so hard.

We ended Friday night with a whopping storm but Saturday morning dawned with clear blue skies. Our final Jericho prayer march around the building at 8:20 that morning was sweet--the easiest part of the day!

When we began our opening in the worship center there were only about 25 people. I prayed early that morning about whether we should have Mariya speak at the 9:00 opening so we didn't have to stop the line at 11:30 as we planned but the decision to wait was made easy when I saw how few people were there. In the opening I talked about Austin Drakulic's life and explained we were dedicating this packing party to his memory. I explained Austin's relationship with the Lord and challenged those who were there to have that saving relationship with Jesus too.

The packing began at 9:20 and by 10:00 we were only at...

When we stopped the line at 11:25 to usher everyone into the worship center to here Mariya speak we'd only packed...

and, truthfully, I was a bit alarmed.  I started praying earnestly for God to somehow bring us across the finish line that day. Mariya did an excellent job of sharing her story and how important that simple shoebox was in her life. At the end of her talk I prayed for her and for us and told God something like this, "You are the One who called us to this. We're trusting You to finish it."

After a short pep talk we started the line moving again. Someone asked me, "What will you do with all these boxes if you don't get them filled?" Good question! And I had no answers.

The lines kept moving around and around. By God's grace we had more volunteers than I ever remember having in the afternoon: many more than in the morning for sure. And I'm sure that's the result of God answering the many prayers of friends.

By 2:30 we were only 1.5 hours away from the official end of the packing party and our total stood at

It was hopeful but still SO FAR AWAY from 22,000. I wondered if it was a lack of faith or wisdom in planning that had my mind spinning with thoughts of what to do with 6,000 assembled but unfilled empty shoeboxes.

At 3:00 with one hour to go our total stood at

Amazingly, we the packing picked up speed in the afternoon. I think once we got to the bags of smaller beanie baby-sized stuffed animals it didn't take so much rearranging to fit things in the boxes. Plus, we still had a good crew of volunteers and that really blew me away. God's goodness was just so evident even as the idea of reaching the goal looked bleak.

When 4:00 came--the scheduled end of our packing party--our total stood at roughly 19,000 boxes. I yelled for the packers to stop for a moment and gave them the news...if we could keep packing for an hour just maybe we could bless another 3,000 children and make our goal. The crowd yelled their desire to "keep packing" and so we did.

My prediction that we could finish in an hour didn't materialize, though. At 5:35, over 1.5 hours AFTER the packing was supposed to be finished our total was at 

and it seemed we would still fall short. I can't praise those hardy volunteers enough, though. It was tempting to just quit at this point, even though the halls were still filled with boxes. But those shoebox packers wouldn't give in!!!  Some of us started cleaning up around them but they just KEPT PACKING!  At one point we ran out of stuffed animals and thought we'd have to stop but then I remembered a few bags of donated ones that were in my car. So volunteers quickly examined them and found they were good to use and KEPT PACKING!

FINALLY, at 6:15--over 2 hours after the scheduled end time--we realized we didn't have enough items to pack good boxes and knew it was time to stop. There were still a hundred or more folded boxes in the hallway and I had no idea if we'd met our goal.

I walked out to the truck and got the total number of cartons on that last one. Thankfully, the last boxes we packed filled a carton. There were 328 cartons on that 4th truck and 350 in each of the first three.

As that group of intrepid, steadfast, never-give-up packers looked on I used my phone's calculator to get the total number packed. I was amazed to see this number come up as our final total...

Yes! Thank YOU, God! At 11:30 that morning I didn't think it could happen. At 2:00 that afternoon I didn't think it could happen. Even at 5:35 that afternoon I didn't think it could happen. BUT GOD...

We asked people this year to do three things:

1) Pack neatly to show love
2) Pack the boxes full but don't OVERfill
3) Pray over your boxes

I think they listened! And I think we realized doing those three things takes more time. We're praying our goal of 22,000 well-filled boxes was met and, if so, it's because GOD showed up for us.

Our team motto this year was Numbers 11:23 "Is the Lord's arm too short?" and the answer to that rhetorical question is a resounding NO!  Thank You, Lord, for packing these boxes with Your mighty right hand.

I just heard from Patti who was in charge of registration and the donation can that $307.43 was donated toward the cost of shipping these boxes. We've received about $8,700 so far and will keep praying for God to meet that need. Patti said one little girl told her, "I don't have much" but she did give everything she had. We're praying for more willing givers.

We think back to Austin Drakulic who came to every packing party work day, even while going through chemotherapy, and worked tirelessly to make jump ropes and school packs. Austin fought the good fight and we think he would have been proud of all the shoebox packers yesterday who fought the good fight in his memory.

Friday Fling

Whew! It's after midnight and I'm only half way through checking and sorting some of the stuffed animals that were donated today. A bunch more are still in my car as I listen to the storm raging outside and I likely won't get to them until after the packing party.

Today flew by in a kind of blur. This morning I tried to put the new sheets I'd just washed on the bed as I get ready for out-of-town company to arrive on Saturday only to find the full size sheet set had a twin size fitted sheet in the package (thanks, Kohl's.)  Quickly ordered online for in-store pickup.

This morning we hosted Christian Life Academy students to kick off the shoebox packing. I think this is the 7th year they've made the 1.5 hour trip each way to pack boxes with us. We encouraged the students to slow down and pray as they packed, and they did a great job ending the day with 1,963 boxes packed.

Packing more intentionally and having more items available is, however, slowing down the process. Last year the students packed twice as many boxes in the same amount of time.  Here's the thing: I want it ALL. I want nice, full boxes packed intentionally with thought and prayer...but I also want a LOT of them and I want them FAST. Yeah...I've always had a problem with realism.

In the afternoon we all regrouped a bit. I went home to do more cleaning and when I returned the building looked great. My team may be small but they know how to work!

A group from Allentown arrived around 4:00 and I enjoyed spending some time talking with them. Then we shared a "last supper" together before doing our Jericho prayer march.  Before long the guests for our packing party started arriving and we had a small opening/instruction time in the lobby before commencing the packing.

There was a good, orderly flow to the line. Boxes were certainly well-filled and many were difficult to close and needed to be rearranged--another thing that slowed us down.

We stopped the line at 7:30 to go into the worship center to hear from our full-circle speaker, Mariya Snizchko. What a joy to be reminded how God can use something as simple as a box of crayons to bring an amazing blessing. This is the first time our area has had a full-circle speaker since 2011 and she was worth the wait.

We filled the first truck (5,600 boxes) a bit before 8:30pm and by the time we ended at 9:00 were were at 5,936.  I've been praying this evening as I sort animals and asking God (to borrow a line from "Facing the Giants") to help me "praise Him if we win and praise Him if we lose," because I'm just not sure how we'll get 16,000 more boxes packed tomorrow.

BUT "we walk by faith and not by sight" so I don't have to see how it will happen. I just have to trust it will. Box by full, prayed-over box we'll keep blessing children one by one.

Thursday Throttle

It was full throttle ahead this Thursday as busy workers arrived early to continue folding boxes. This task was finished in record time as the last boxes were folded at 11:30 am simultaneously by Kelly and the team of Rose and Kathy.  The question is: how many boxes do we really have folded? I ordered 22,400 but I THINK we received 22,200.  We were supposed to have 22,500 labels if there were really 500 on each roll, but I counted 398 labels left over when all the boxes were labeled. So...it's still a mystery until Saturday afternoon.

In retrospect, all the volunteers probably should have just gone home after lunch while we regrouped and decided on a game plan for further packing. Instead we ended up having this impromptu mini packing party without being really prepared for it. But boxes did get packed and I guess that's the point after all. 

And there were a few minutes of fun in the middle.

Two of the trucks arrived in the late afternoon and we discovered our truck driver's wife was a shoebox recipient as a child in the Philippines.  How fun!  The other two trucks will be on site tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day and I guess we're ready. Sort of. But ready or not we're full steam ahead again in less than 12 hours. 

Wednesday Wondering

I'm wondering...is it really only Wednesday? The packing party prep is moving forward faster than ever. Today we got two more truck deliveries of items stored off-site. First the pod containing stuffed animals that were stored in Kit's living room all year arrived.  We're talking a couple hundred bags of stuffed animals.

We wanted to get the pod emptied ASAP and get the truck driver back on his way so a brigade of volunteers quickly hauled all the bags and lined them up along the walkway to the church. Then, once the pod was empty we carried them all inside and placed them in the appropriate areas. Whew! Big job done.

In the afternoon the semi with seven pallets of water bottles and safety sunglasses arrived. I said out loud, "Who ordered so MANY of these things?" I think we have way too many water bottles for this year's boxes so we stored 2/3 of them in our storage container. It was hot, the boxes were heavier than I anticipated, and I was really glad to see that last pallet unloaded.

The volunteer pool was smaller in the morning except for the hour when we had 18 students from a local high school join us for part of their 9/11 Service Day. During that time I had a great time talking with a young student who was sitting by herself and told me she's new in her school. She wants to come back on the weekend and I pray she can do that.

In the evening things really picked up and we filled not only the gym and youth rooms but another classroom with box folding volunteers and by the end of the day we had nearly 20,000 boxes folded.  They are two rows deep in the halls and 3 rows deep in the youth room and classroom. Crazy!

In the evening we did our daily Jericho prayer march around the building and it was sweet to have so many youth with us.

I'm glad we don't need to wonder if God hears our prayers and we can't wait to see how He's going to answer them in the days ahead.

Tuesday Times

This was another packed-full day. It started in the attic at 6:45--hauling bags of stuffed animals out and pitching them down the attic stairs to Jim who carried them to the driveway.  By 8:00 Myron arrived with the truck to transport them to Grace.

Meanwhile I headed to Target hoping their notebooks would be 90% off...only to find all their school supplies had just been pulled for salvage. So mad at myself for missing that opportunity to get more nice fillers.  Booked back over to Grace where we started the box folding once again. We're all getting faster at the process.

We had an average of 15 volunteers at any point in the day and finished by 9:00 tonight with a total of just over 8,500 boxes folded.

We also spent some time trying to figure out how to get 16 boxes in each carton. The schematic OCC sent with the packing party information calls for putting four on the top of the box in the above configuration BUT it doesn't work with the new boxes--not even close.

Finally Amanda figured out another configuration that works. I think we'll put the row of 3 upside down and the single one rightsize up. It's going to be interesting to see how this works out in the stress of the packing party. 

We all enjoyed the fellowship of sharing lunch and dinner together and my favorite parts of the day came from great conversations I had in the morning and in the evening with two friends each of whom lost both parents in the past year. Talking about God's goodness in the midst of suffering was so meaningful.  

There's more going on than just folding boxes and it's really kind of beautiful. 

Monday Moves

Here we go again! It's packing party week! Here's the truck with our 27 pallets of cartons and flat boxes, and it's hard to believe in just a week, Lord willing, they'll be pulling the four trucks of packed boxes on their way to Charlotte.

The truck arrived bright and early this morning but there was a snag when we found several pallets had been turned upside down when loaded by the shipper. This meant we couldn't get a pallet jack under them and THAT meant we had to hand offload several pallets of cartons of boxes. It took nearly 2.5 hours to complete the job of pulling all 27 pallets into place but our stalwart workers did it!

Here's the cartons sitting out waiting for us to empty a pallet so we could re-palletize them to move them with the pallet jack. It's an old saying for our shoebox team but still true..."Who has more fun than we do?"

After the unloading we tried to make sure we had everything we ordered. I think we came up two cartons of boxes (200 boxes) short. Maybe God didn't want us to fill those? And we're hoping we have all the cartons we need because some of them are ones that have been used before and aren't in bundles. God knows that, too. 

Meanwhile, there was lots of moving going on today. Jim and Myron took the truck to Pam's and loaded the 400 boxes of school packs she packed in her home and got them back to the church. Then they got the many boxes of stuff that Joe and Karen were storing in their home. 

AND the box folding got underway at about 1:00 pm and we folded until 4:30.

Here's the hallway of the church before we started placing boxes there. You won't see it look this way again for another 5 days! We got 864 boxes folded in just 3.5 hours today with 10 volunteers. I was pretty excited about that.

Then we headed out to Kit's house where the bulk of the stuffed animals have been stored in her front living room all year. Our crew transferred them from her house to a donated pod in her driveway that will be transported to the church on Wednesday.

And somewhere in there Ellen went to Walmart, found pencils on sale, and bought almost 10,000 for our 2020 boxes. Gotta shop those sales!

Tomorrow Myron will have the truck here at 8:00 am to get the stuffed animals out of our attic and spare bedrooms, then at 11:00 the guys will go to another warehouse site that donated space to us to pick up water bottles.

We're actually ahead of last year! Praising God for all these Monday moves.

Craig Groeschel-Bend The Curve (learning from the recliner)

This is how I felt about the prospect of attending the Global Leadership Summit this year. I've attended each year for quite a few years now and usually scribe my notes on this blog. But, like my grandson Auggie in the elevator (above picture) I'm feeling pretty fragile and wasn't sure I was up for any more conviction in the leadership realm.

So I chose to stay home and save the registration fee to use toward shipping our Operation Christmas Child boxes.  But an email in my inbox offered the opportunity to watch Craig Groeschel's opening talk free online, and you know me--I can't resist free.

Despite my trepidation Craig's talk was actually quite encouraging and our Operation Christmas Child team has been practicing some of these principles for years. So...here are my notes...

Bend The Curve -- Craig Groeschel

(First some oft-repeated GLS sayings)--Everyone wins when the leader gets better. Leadership is influence. How you lead others matters more than you can imagine. Leaders can learn from anyone. You are not here by accident. I know for certain you want to get better.

Each of us does cost/benefit analyses all the time. Does the cost justify the benefit? So many leaders think better always costs more. We assume that investing more brings a better return; yet, over time investing more may bring a diminishing return. More does not always mean better! Here are two basic principles:

**GETMO (Good Enough To Move On) -- Look for the greatest level of return based on time, money and resources invested. (We are constantly doing this on our OCC team!) Perfectionists often care too much. Perfection can be the enemy of progress. The pursuit of excellence will motivate you but the pursuit of perfection will eventually limit you. If we spend more on something (time, money, resources) we are making a trade and something else may suffer.

**BTC (Bend The Curve) -- Look for better quality for equal or lesser cost and invest resources for the most return.

1.  Think INSIDE the box -- the problem with outside-the-box thinking is unlimited possibilities with too many impractical ideas to sift through.
  Constraints drive creativity leading to innovation. Ask yourself "Where do you have tension?" and let your constraints be a motivating force.

**"I believe you have everything you need to do everything you're called to do!"

**"God guides by what He provides. God also guides by what He withholds."

Embrace your limitations. If you had everything you want you might miss what you need.

2.  Burn the ships -- When you don't know if you can endure, eliminate the option to turn back. COMMIT with no option of retreat. Don't give up! (This is what we do every year when we decide to do another large packing party.)

If you're older but you're not dead, you're not done! (okay, then...)

Tell me what you're called to do and why it matters. It you COMMIT to the "what" and are CONSUMED by the "why" you'll figure out the "how". (by God's grace!)

Craig said, "I have the same voices that tell me I'm not good enough. I was turned down for ordination and cried all the way home. Every time before I speak I take one big step forward--stepping out of my doubts and into my calling.  Some of you are one step away from leading your organization where it should go. Don't obsess about things that don't matter. Don't retreat. Solve problems. Meet needs. Offer hope. Change the world."

And, for free, I got one of the best GLS messages ever. Amen!

Aromas

Okay...this might look like just a jumble of letters--as jumbled as my thoughts lately--but they do spell a word. Can you see it? REVIVAL...

Our church has had a summer of revival. In addition to the regular Sunday sermons there have been four special worship nights dedicated to seeking the work of the Holy Spirit in a new way among us. This is a new venture for our church but one that's certainly been an amazing journey.

Nearly two months. I think this is the longest I've gone without writing a blog in many years and maybe the longest ever since I started this blog back in 2009.

Somehow it all seems so uninteresting--so much of the same stuff.  I mean, who wants to keep hearing about all my leadership woes and seeing pictures of cardboard carton after cardboard carton lined up in the storage container. It just gets old.

It's been old to me, too.  Lately there's been a lot of going through the motions without much joy. And there's also been a bunch of wrestling with ingrained sin issues that just feel so heavy.

So tonight I stood in the dimly lit worship center and felt that weight pressing down on me. There was nothing to do but go to one of the designated prayer team members with my tears and my truthful  feelings of anger and weariness.

I'm so grateful for the prayers of that sweet woman who let me sob on her shoulder while she prayed over me. Then, as she prayed, she anointed my forehead with oil. There's something so soothing about that fragrance that permeates everything.

Kneeling later by my seat I was still bathed in that aroma--a sweet smell that makes me not want to wash my face. It still surrounds me as I write this.

Can you even imagine what it smelled like when the woman anointed Jesus's feet with oil? I'm not an essential oil person but I can sure see (or maybe I should say smell) the attraction.

The aroma is just a symbol of the anointing of the Holy Spirit but I need that reminder--that sweet fragrance that surrounds me reminds me that He surrounds me, too.

Maybe I'm just a wimp because despite all the years I've been trying to lead a team and despite all the CONSTANT training I've been given this leadership stuff is still just so hard.  Tonight, though, the burden got a little lighter and the aroma reminds me that I really am surrounded with "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."

It's the aroma of revival.

Tanzania Outreach #1–Seeing

This afternoon we rode about a half hour over bumpy roads to reach our first outreach event at the Evangelistic Assemblies of God Church in Morombo, Tanzania. Pastor Kennedy founded the church 7 years ago and now more than 200 children attend. We were set to distribute 150 shoeboxes to encourage these children and show them God’s love.

When we arrived the children were waiting very patiently in their plastic chairs and as the program began a choir of children blessed us with two beautiful songs. “We welcome you...” they sang. Girls in frilly dresses and boys dressed in their best (some in little suits that showed wear) sat quietly as the gospel presentation was given. Many around the room stood to pray when they were invited to receive Jesus.

Then our team moved to prepare to distribute the boxes.  This was a surprise to the children and some seemed overwhelmed by the whole event. They lined up obediently by age groups (girls on one side of the room and boys on the other) and one-by-one came up to receive a box and a copy of “The Greatest Gift” in Swahili. When all had a box the famous 3-2-1” countdown was sounded and children began to open their boxes with a range of responses.

Some of the tiny ones could not understand and had to be coaxed to open their boxes. This adorable little guy refused to open his box.

Over time the children began to explore their boxes more and we all circulated through the crowd showing them how things worked. One little girl tried to use a glue stick as lip balm so I stopped her and used a piece of her paper to show her how the glue stick worked but, truthfully, it didn’t seem very useful.

It was about 70 degrees outside but a number of children wore heavy coats and/or knitted hats so don’t be afraid of sending winter clothing items.

I was so busy playing outside with the children that I missed being with my team as they prayed for Pastor Kennedy but I heard it was a moving experience. Many mothers were there and it was meaningful to encourage them. I mean, moms everywhere love to hear they have beautiful children!

This beautifully-robed girl wanted her picture taken outside with “the flowers”. Her name is Maryglory—a name as beautiful as she.   And this little sweetie loved carrying her new doll on her back like any African mama. (I have tried to upload these pics 3 times with slow Internet and will add them another day)

Praising God for a wonderful time of seeing His goodness.

Here At Last

After 36 hours of travel (including 3.5 plus hours in Kenya) we made it to Tanzania!  I was a bit freaked out when a local official started to ‘help’ me by filling out the forms for entering the country for me instead of letting me do it myself but I guess he really was just being helpful.

After a great meal we’re getting ready to get some sleep—even though it’s only 2:00 pm in Erie. It’s 9:00 pm here and we are looking forward to a day of orientation tomorrow and our first outreach event in the afternoon.

We were all given beautiful roses by the Leadership Team when we arrived and I have resurrected a journal I have used for memorable OCC events in the past years.  Hoping to have some pictures of kiddos for you tomorrow so check back...

A New Thing

A new thing—my first time writing a blog on my phone where instead of a full keyboard I have these little itty bitty rectangles that I laboriously seek and punch with the middle finger of my right hand. I have a goal to learn to use my thumbs but it’s a far-off goal I fear.

Still I wanted to keep you updated on another new thing. I am stationed in a “park & fly” hotel waiting for a 3:00 am wake-up call so I can begin a trip to Tanzania to see what God is doing there through Operation Christmas Child.

I hope to be able to post some pictures and update you as I go. Right now a policeman is trying to trap a raccoon from the room upstairs from me, but  alas I have no pictures.

And so the excitement begins. Please pray for the children in Tanzania who will soo. Receive these precious boxes and hear of God’s love. No greater excitement than that!

Praying for What?

So much prayer invested in decisions. I have been praying and have asked my prayer team and even Facebook followers to pray for over two months about getting storage space for a large delivery of shoebox items.

I made contacts and prayed. Then I prayed some more. Maybe I should have made more contacts? I was praying God would move the 'decider' in a local company to respond to my request and allow us to store 20 more pallets of items there.

But after two months of waiting and a number of phone calls there was no response. And I guess as the meme above says "No response is a response."

The stock of the items we wanted to order was getting perilously low so we made the decision last Thursday to place the order and have it shipped to our storage container. Well, it's not technically being shipped until June 13th when I return from my OCC Vision Trip to Tanzania.

I've been reflecting on all that prayer and wondering: is it worth it to keep banging on the door of heaven?  Does God get weary of hearing our 'much speaking'?

As I think about this I need to 'talk truth' to myself and remember God not only invites us to 'cast all our cares on Him' but He commands us to do so. Somehow I have to believe He answers--even when it seems like He doesn't. This time the answer was 'no' but that doesn't mean the asking wasn't valuable. And He made it clear to my eternally indecisive self when it was the right time to place the order and trust Him to find a place to store all of those pallets.

The story's not over yet. By God's grace the items haven't shipped yet so who knows? God will either have a better plan or open another window of opportunity.

Meanwhile, my right-arm team member, Pam, had this to say about this big order (and I share without her permission, but, really, what can she do?) ... Pam writes,

As far as storage - 

we can put them in a house, we can put them with a mouse, 

we can put them in a car, we can put them near or far, 

we can put them in a van, we can put them in with Pam,

we can put them on a plate, we can put them home with Kate, 

we can put them on a duck, we can put them in a truck,

we can put them here or there, we can put them anywhere.

And we WILL put them anywhere.  Only God knows.