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.
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