Packing Party Eve Revisited

Today is Packing Party Eve--again.  But they're not my Operation Christmas Child packing parties.  I'm not responsible or in charge.  Tonight my only job is to pray and I'm taking that seriously.

This is my favorite time of my Operation Christmas Child year.  It's too late to be feeling guilty about not making phone calls or doing more to promote the project.  It's just time to pray and watch God bring in the harvest.

But for a lot of my Operation Christmas Child friends around the country this is a big weekend for packing parties.

I'm excited to travel a couple hours south to volunteer as my friend Jim Urban and his team pack 12,000 boxes.  I can't wait to share their excitement as God shows up again in amazing ways.

A few more hours south of that will be another 12,000 box packing party at Shannon Krater's church and over in Maryland Jeff Mauler will be working with a team for the second weekend in a row to add another 7,000 to last weekend's 7,000+ packed shoeboxes.

Down in Florida my Facebook OCC friend, Sindia Perez, is trusting God to do something I can't even imagine.  Sindia was given a great donation by a church TWO DAYS AGO with instructions to buy items to pack as many shoeboxes as possible at a packing party tomorrow.

I would be so overwhelmed by that challenge, but Sindia stepped right up and made her 48-hour plan and now she's watching our awesome God meet her every need.  She's planning for 850 shoeboxes but I'm praying for 1200 and waiting to see what God will do.

In my own area, Meadville Alliance Church starts their first-time packing party at 10:00 am tomorrow with the goal of packing 400 boxes.

Won't you pray with me for these (and other) packing parties that are happening around our country.  Each of those boxes represents one more precious child who will know God's love.

This is the kind of Packing Party Eve that I live (and pray) for.

Reminiscing

Hurricane Sandy has come and gone with no effect on my immediate area except enough rain to keep me from running all week.  So many in our Mid-Atlantic region, though, have not fared so well and we continue to pray for them as they trust God to meet all their needs.

For me, today was a day for looking back; a day for returning to the elemental reason I got involved with Operation Christmas Child in 1995; a day to remember the joy of packing a box and knowing it will go into the hands of a child half a world away and bring him or her joy.

My OCC Church Relations Coordinator, Heather Rogers, was the first person to join our area team when it formed in 2007.  Even before that we had been packing shoeboxes together for years.  

Today we teamed up again to pack boxes in the Wesley Church basement the way we used to do before we started having large packing parties.  One by one we chose the right items to fit each box--carefully matching the size of the stuffed animal or clothing item so that each box was well-filled but not overly full.  

And while we worked we talked.  She encouraged me and gave me perspective on some of the problems that have plagued me recently.  The routine work was both mundane and marvelous.  

Better yet, we had a private concert by the Wesley Praise Band who were rehearsing in the sanctuary above us.  "10,000 Reasons/Bless the Lord" and several of my other favorite songs blessed me in new ways.

I was overwhelmed with emotion as I remembered the encouragement of our former pastor, David Streets, who always got excited about Operation Christmas Child and once asked, "I wonder how many shoeboxes it would take to fill the whole church?"  As tears came to my eyes, I told Heather, "I don't think we would have had this team or kept packing thousands more boxes if it hadn't been for David Streets."  

I remember 2008--the last year we packed all our boxes at Wesley Church--when we had 7,272 boxes stacked all over the church.  They were in pretty much every spare space we could find on two floors of the building and you know what?--no one complained about it.  Instead, people were excited.

Carrying the boxes up and down the stairs (what we've always called a shoebox workout) made us hungry enough to go to Wendy's for lunch--another thing we used to do back in those days when we packed 100 boxes or more nearly every week all year long.

This day was a joy and a balm to my soul.  Something to remember.

On the other hand, if all we did was pack boxes like this we wouldn't be able to bless as many children as we can bless by involving the community in a large packing party.  That's something to remember, too.  

Boxing It Up

It's a dreary rainy Saturday so I decided to clean my house in an unorthodox but effective way.  I gathered all the stray shoebox items around my house and actually packed them into 10 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

These are the first I packed this season.  Four weeks ago we had our huge packing party, and even though 21,106 were packed that weekend--not one of them was packed by me.

So today I went back to the basics and lovingly put the bags of candy, the soap and crayons and toothbrushes into those boxes.  I hugged and prayed over those special dolls with the sweet faces I'd been saving and excitedly packed the baseball glove with the Disney baseball.

Sometimes I can almost forget what drew me to this ministry in the first place.  I'm getting ready to speak at a church tomorrow and folding boxes and praying over the upcoming National Collection Week and the Chick-fil-A promotion.  And in the midst of all the busyness I forget that it all started with those three shoeboxes I packed in 1995.

I forget sometimes that it's not about making the goal of 40,000 boxes for Northwestern PA or 800,000 for the Mid-Atlantic region or 6.5 million in the US or 9.1 million worldwide.

It's crazy, but I can forget sometimes that ONE box goes to ONE child with ONE soul.  I really needed to pack those ten boxes today and remind myself again.

On the other hand, when you get all those boxes together they bless millions of souls one at a time and we need to pray that God will bring in those millions--one by one.

Hurricane Sandy is predicted to hit our Mid-Atlantic area soon--an area that is poised to collect 800,000 or more shoeboxes just two weeks from now by God's grace.  We know that God is sovereign but we also know that He commands us to pray.

Those boxes are getting boxed up and they need to be collected and sent on their way.  Will you pray with us that nothing, including a 'storm of the century', will interfere with this important ministry?

Bigger Than Life

Today the UPS truck dropped off a huge package from Operation Christmas Child.  I opened it to find a new (read large--4 foot by 4 foot) display board with bigger-than-life pictures of children right there in my living room.

Lots of things in my life seem bigger these days--my job, ministry challenges, and choices to make.   I often think how I could make my life a whole lot easier by giving up on some things.

But then I think about how these seemingly simple gift-filled shoeboxes mean so much more to the children who receive them.  It's a small thing for me to put together a few more boxes but a large thing for needy kids.

I look at the six-inch grin on this boy's face and think of it multiplied by 9.1 million.

And, once again, I get the big picture.

On The Other Hand

We're still 31 days away from the end of National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child but the thing that's keeping me awake lately is pondering 2013 and whether our team should host another large packing party.

This wondering started sometime around mid-summer and is hitting its peak now.  If we're not going to do a party next year then we should give up the storage container and get rid of all the leftover items.

What my regional director and friend, Leigh Fisher, has told me is true--I and my team need to get a clear vision of what God's will is in this.   I want it to be an assurance that will allow us to overcome all the obstacles and the negative comments--an assurance that will keep us going through all the year-round work that it takes to get ready to pack thousands of boxes in one weekend.

I'm concerned that we spend too much time focusing on the packing party and not enough promoting Operation Christmas Child in more traditional ways to our area.  I'm concerned that we don't get enough shipping donations to cover $7.00 for each box we pack.  I'm concerned that the church where we hold the packing party was upset about some damage that occurred to the church because of the packing party.  

If having another packing party in 2013 is God's will, then I know He'll provide the items.  I don't worry about that.

But I do worry about being out of His will and causing problems for other people.  I do worry about leading my team in a wrong direction.

On the other hand, I also worry about missing another opportunity to watch God do something amazing that will bless thousands of children around the world.

I have a lot in common with Tevye in "Fiddler On The Roof"--seeing both sides of the issue.

I'm not sure how to know God's will in this.  On the other hand....

The Last Leg Revisited

In this Operation Christmas Child race we're in the last leg.  There are only 35 days until the end of National Collection Week.  You'd think it would be easy to stay motivated as we near the end, but I find myself in these days prone to feeling tired and unmotivated.

Our large packing party is over and I want to coast but it's not time for that yet. It made me think of something I wrote and sent to my fellow Mid-Atlantic area coordinators a couple of years ago, so I'm revisiting that piece here:

The Last Leg
I just wanted to write some thoughts about Leigh's comment that we're in the last leg of this year's Amazing Race.  As a veteran of 5 marathons (years ago!) I realize that many runners divide the marathon into two halves.  The first half is the first 20 miles and the second half is the last 6.2 miles.  Now it would seem that after you've run the first 20 miles the last 6.2 would be easier.  Not so.   There's a physiological reaction when your glycogen stores are depleted that runners call "hitting the wall" and it often happens at about 20 miles into the race.  Your energy is gone, your body protests, and you can't imagine making it for another 6.2 miles.  If you're like me in this Shoebox Race, you might feel like you're "hitting the wall".   What do you do when you come to that point in the race?  One thing that always helped me was to take the rest of the race step by step.  When I couldn't imagine running even one more mile, let alone 6.2 miles, I would concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.  I would refuse to let myself walk.  I would take one step at a time, and hold on to the next tenth of a mile.  Then I'd do it again for the next tenth.   The other thing that helped enormously is the encouragement of others.  When someone comes up beside you and runs with you it makes a huge difference.  When the crowd lining the course is cheering for you, there's a burst of energy that bubbles up and gives you renewed strength.  We can cheer for each other and run alongside one another and, together, we'll get to the finish line. I love what Leigh has started with sharing praises.  Maybe we could share our requests this way, too, and rejoice in all the answers.  Sharing this race together is the most important way to make sure no one gets left behind and that we bring in every box God has planned for us.  Let's keep sharing and praying and holding each other up until we cross the line on November 19th.  Let's wait on the Lord so we can "run and not be weary and walk and not faint."

44 Days and Counting

It's hard to believe that a week ago right now we were cleaning up from our major Operation Christmas Child Community-Wide Packing Party here in Northwestern PA.  The last truck was pulled on Tuesday and those 21,106 'gospel opportunities' are on their way to the next leg of their journey.

This past week at school was very challenging and joined  by a root canal, a cold, and the death of an extended family member--well, it hasn't been very restful.

So I'm trying to gear down this weekend and take some time to think about why we do what we do.

At last week's packing party I didn't pack a single shoebox.  It makes me sad to realize that.

Because packing shoeboxes is what I love to do more than anything.  As I tried to put away stray items and organize my home a little today, I lovingly looked at the things I've been saving for the special personal shoeboxes I have yet to pack.

There's a pair of brand new work boots (yeah, I know they'll need an oversized box but I believe God has a special young man ready to receive them)--two dolls with the prettiest faces, and a baseball mitt and Disney baseball.

We're praying for 9.1 million shoeboxes to be packed worldwide and I'm praying that each of those will be matched to a child who will be blessed by its contents.

That was my special prayer during last week's large packing party--that every box would have at least one item that the child who receives it will treasure--an item that will let each one of them know that he or she is special and God loves him or her very much.

The work's far from over.  We have 44 days until the end of National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child.  That's just a little over 6 weeks to pray and promote and plead with people to pack boxes.

Today, by God's grace, I got a call from a non-participating church that is picking up materials to present the project tomorrow.  On Monday I'll speak at another church's women's group.

I'm praying for more of those opportunities and I'm asking you to pray for them too.  9.1 million boxes is a big goal but we have a big God.

This is the God who created the entire universe in only 6 days.  Think what He can do in 44 days!

We're counting on it.