Warmth in the Polar Vortex

We are in the midst of what they are calling a Polar Vortex.  Much of the country is dealing with subzero temperatures.  Here in Erie it is -9 degrees this morning with a wind chill of -33 degrees.  So school is canceled!

I get to decide how to spend these hours when I would normally be at work.  I choose to spend them staying warm and also thinking warm.

One of the things that warms me most is thinking about the generosity of so many who contribute to our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.  Pictured above is a big bin of Beanie Babies that were donated to me this week by my friend Denise.  It warms me to think of what a blessing they will be and the warmth they will bring to boys and girls who may never have owned toys before.  I'm getting ready to sort them and bask in that warm feeling.

I also decided to check the concordance in the back of my Bible (admittedly it's a scanty concordance) to look for some verses about warmth.  Of course there's the one in Ecclesiastes 4:11 "if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone."  Lots of practical survival wisdom there.

But I also found an interesting verse in Haggai 1:6 that a challenge for us in our materialistic society, "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to be put into a purse with holes."

The prophet goes on to explain that because the people have had cold hearts and neglected God and His work they can never be warm or satisfied.  He calls them to repentance and a return to the Lord.  Very good warming advice indeed.

The best image of warmth I found are Jesus' words in Luke 13:34 when He says with grief, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!"

Now there is the place of warmth--under the shelter of His wings.  I want to cozy up there today.  Will you join me?

90% Off and 100% Sure

Well, I think the after-Christmas finds for Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes here in Erie, PA are pretty much over.  And pretty pathetic.

Last year I got several thousands cups and bowls at WalMart for about six cents each at the after-holiday sales.  This year?  Nada.  Not one.

Today our one lone Target store finally went to 90% off on Christmas items.  They had some LED flashlights I'd been watching.  A few days ago they had one side of an aisle filled with them.  At 90% off they would have been 30 cents each (with no batteries) but today as I rushed into the Christmas section at Target there were NONE there.

I heaped a bunch of 10-cents-each Christmas stockings in my cart, thinking I could make tote bags out of them as suggested on the Clip With Purpose website.  As I prayed and thought about it I reconsidered and put them all back. I really don't think I would have followed through with the project.

I found only a few items and was in line at the check-out when I saw an acquaintance in front of me had two of these cool NFL tote bags containing fleece blankets in her cart.  I asked her if there were more and she told me where to find them.

At last, Lord--a bargain worth finding!  I got 17 of these sets for $1.69 each and will divide up the tote bag from the blanket to bless two children.  The blanket will need a box that is slightly bigger than a GO box but they will work.

As I wrote in my last post, I really have very little for next year's shoe boxes at this point.  That is really unusual.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I had trouble starting my car this morning.  And when I got to the check-out at Target I discovered my main credit card was missing.  I thought it might have fallen into my cart and searched all my bags for it to no avail.

The neat this about this is that I saw the Holy Spirit at work in my life because I stayed calm.  I reminded myself that car issues and credit card losses are "first world problems" that are really just annoyances.  To see this in my life was a big blessing.

Eventually I realized the last time I used my card was at a restaurant on New Year's Eve and I was able to go there and pick it up.  Praise God!

My husband went to several stores to try to get the car battery checked and decided the lines were too long--so the verdict's still out on whether it starts tomorrow.  It wouldn't start on Thursday morning at all and I had to get a ride to work with my neighbor.  Deep breath.  First world problem.

For years I've watched God provide for these shoe boxes in different ways.  One avenue of provision would end and I'd see God provide something new.

So, the 90% off sales may be disappointing this year but of this I am 100% sure--God has a plan here and He is in control.

Ring In The New

The Bible commands us to "rejoice always."  I certainly wasn't perfect at obeying that command in 2013 but there was plenty to rejoice about.

Last night I couldn't fall asleep so I spent some time reading over some of my journal entries from 2013.  By now I should be used to God's provision but I never take it for granted.

On 1/18/13 I wrote, "I was praying again last night as I tried to fall asleep for God's provision for these shoe boxes this year.  Father, I can't see how You'll do it yet, but I'm waiting on You to fill these boxes and do what only You can do."

And, of course, He did.  He provided all the items we needed to pack 22,491 gift-filled shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child at our community-wide packing party.  Then He blew past our area team goal of 45,000 boxes to give us  an unprecedented 47,604.

I have reveled in these miracles for some weeks now and pondered them in my heart.  

I have also rehearsed God's wonderful goodness in my personal life and the lives of my family.  Two of our daughters became engaged this year and one was married.  Our youngest also finished her residency and started private practice as an obstetrician/gynecologist.  We helped my mother celebrate her 100th birthday.  And I watched our faithful God get me through the hardest four months of my work career.

Now, though, it's time to ring in the new.  New year.  New goals.  New faith.

As I look back, I see that at this time in 2013 God had already provided thousands of items for our boxes.

That's not the case this year.  The storage container is nearly empty.  I haven't found any great deals--neither online nor at after-Christmas sales.

So I wait for God to do a new thing.  I don't know how He will provide for our shoe boxes this year--only that He will.

I don't know how many boxes God will give us or even what our goal should be--but I know that our unchanging God has new mercies for us in 2014.

Ring in 2014--a new year of blessings.

Emmanuel--God With Us

Lots of Operation Christmas Child questions swirl in my head on this Christmas  Eve morning but I'm trying to put them aside for awhile.

I've been staring at the lighted Christmas tree, pondering what it meant for Jesus to become Emmanuel--God with us.

Are you having family problems this Christmas?  --  Jesus knows about that.  His family thought He was insane.

Are you having leadership problems this Christmas?  --  Jesus knows about that.  His team of twelve had a hard time following Him.  They often didn't understand the crucial concepts He tried to teach them and in His hour of greatest need they abandoned Him.

Are you having financial problems this Christmas?  --  Jesus knows about that.  He didn't have worldly wealth, didn't have a home, didn't have a budget for His ministry.  Yet He understood the sufficiency of full dependence on the Father.

He always had enough.

Emmanuel.  Enough.

Incarnation

As we gear up for our big family Christmas celebration this weekend, I know time will fly by over the next few days.  My daughters are coming from New York City, Chicago, and the Pittsburgh area to be home for a short holiday visit.

When they leave the actual days of Christmas will be pretty quiet, I think.  My plan is to spend more time reflecting on the incarnation--God becoming man.

A friend reminded me of a poem I wrote a few years ago.  I can't remember exactly when.  I dug it out and wanted to share it with you.

Incarnation

Just six or seven pounds of baby flesh

Rests whimpering in swaddling clothes this night.

Who could have guessed his wrinkled skin would mesh

Majestic God with frail mankind's plight

Embodied in that tiny God-man there

With pursed lips searching, looking now to feed.

Sufficiency released, He grasps for care

Identifying with our human need.

The voice that first spoke breath into a soul

Now gurgles, swallows with contented sighs.

Almighty, awesome, ageless One still whole

Empties Himself, obediently lies

In human arms, His flesh to ours pressed tight.

Emmanuel--our God with us tonight.

--Kathy Schriefer

Ho, Ho, How?

Tonight we had a meeting of the team that spearheaded our large NWPA Community-Wide Operation Christmas Child Packing Party.

This was the 5th year for our packing party and as we debriefed the event we talked about how each year brings new challenges.  We can make notes about ways to improve for next year and then when next year comes we find out things have changed--different boxes, different items, different volunteers.

So we sat and casually planned a date for next year's party--tentatively October 4, 2014.  We added up the total of boxes packed over the past five years (77,989) and realized that if we pack just 22,011 more we will go over 100,000.

Yet at this point our storage container is nearly empty.  There are some leftover cartons of paddleball games and a few cases of pencils.  Oh, and there are 39 cases of donated paper.

Still, the thought of collecting enough items for 22,011 boxes sounds a bit daunting.  As we looked back over the last five years tonight we saw the changes and the challenges but we focused on the one thing we KNOW.

The only thing we know is that our omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God NEVER changes.  He is always good, always faithful, always enough.

He has the next 22,011 boxes already packed.  He knows how.

13 for More Than Luck

Last week was quite a ride!  We had our Operation Christmas Child celebration on Monday night at Chick-fil-A but our total was only tentative.  As I related in my previous blog we left there on Monday to go receive more boxes at the collection center.

As I was doing my Bible reading on Tuesday morning I began to think about the fact that the truck wasn't pulled yet and that some boxes were still being delivered from an outlying relay center that morning.  Then I thought about some extra shoe box items that had just been donated.  Then I decided to get up and try to fill some more boxes.

I had a half hour before I had to leave for school so I had to move quickly.  I started with 9 boxes and then decided to do 4 more.  And, of course, I had just enough of everything.  Every item I had was used to pack into those boxes.

This year, more than any I can remember in recent history, I feel like I "left it all on the field" when it came to packing boxes.   Every box that could have been made by Tuesday morning was made.  We have lots of paddleball games and pencils left in the container but that's about it, and for that I'm grateful.

I dropped those 13 boxes outside the collection center on my way to work on Tuesday morning.  One of those "drop and run" folks you hate.

It was Wednesday before I got our final total this week.  And the final total is--

47,604

We prayed all year for 45,000 and God gave us 47,604.  Just because He can.  This is 7,228 more than last year and a 17.5% increase.

I had some family obligations this year that kept me from giving OCC my full attention.  I don't know if I did all I could have or should have this year in leading our team.

But this I know.  

God is good.  God answers prayer.  God can use us in spite of ourselves.

No luck needed.