Two Feet At A Time

Every Thursday after school I've been making the trip to Gabe's--a local discount store--looking for shoes on sale for our Operation Christmas Child boxes.  But every week they remained too pricey for me and I began to despair that they would ever reduce their prices as they had in previous years.

Yesterday He answered my prayers and I was thrilled to load my cart with 37 pairs of nice sturdy shoes for $1.00 a pair.

Getting 37 pairs of shoes doesn't seem like much when I look at our goal of 23,000 boxes to be packed on October 4th.

But they mean that 37 children with 74 feet will be blessed.

Thank You, Lord, for these and for the other 22,963 blessings that are on the way.

What's The Plan?

I just realized it's been too many days since I posted here.  Sometimes days run into one another and that's how it's been lately.  My Operation Christmas Child journey creeps on but I don't always think about it much.

We had one day off from school this past week and one late start because of sub-zero wind chill temperatures.  So I've had time to think about OCC but in many ways I feel like I'm running into the wind--the way I felt when I ran last Monday.  I was running forward with all my strength but it felt like the strong wind was pushing me backwards.

The weather has kept me from getting into my outdoor storage container to inventory, organize, and store anything.  I need the boxes that are in there in order to stash the items I've been purchasing.  Not that I've found much to purchase yet.

There were the cute hats at Children's Place and the pencils we found at K-Mart (packs of 10 pencils for .25 each) and the 77 stuffed animals I got at the thrift store last Saturday when the weather broke and the temps climbed into the 20s.

But overall--my 2014 shoe box stash is pathetic.

Our church is involved in a Bible-reading series called E-100 and we are reading and studying together the essential 100 stories of the Bible over 20 weeks.

I've been blessed over the past two weeks as I've read again about Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.  God had a plan for each of them.  Sometimes, as in the case of Noah's ark, the plans were very specific.  Sometimes, as in the case of Abraham, God kept His people waiting for years and wondering when His plan would unfold.

No matter what, though--God had (and still has) a plan.

And I know He has a plan for these 2014 Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes here in Northwestern PA.

And just what IS that plan?  

I don't know...but I know the ONE who does and next year at this time I'll tell you all about it.

Counting Blessings

Yeah, I know I should probably be better organized than this.  I do record my Operation Christmas Child shoebox items purchased in a notebook throughout the year, but when it comes to the receipts I just shove them into an Operation Christmas Child GO box until it's income tax time.

On this cold and snowy Saturday I decided it was time to tackle the tabulation chore.  As I sorted through the stacks, circling the total on each receipt I was reminded of the blessings God provided...

Every pencil.  Every pair of shoes.  Every box of crayons.

I try to save every receipt, so there were many with a total of $1.06--from those trips to the cash register with 4 boxes of crayons for .25 each.  I was reminded of all the helpful cashiers and store personnel and all the friends on Facebook and the OCC Extranet who provided tips for where to find bargains.

Then I went to the Oriental Trading, Office Max and Dollar Days websites and checked my accounts to print receipts I was missing.  Again I saw how God used so many different avenues to bless me through the year.

I'm glad for the chance to work on this project today because I so needed the reminder of God's goodness.  The God who provided so well for these boxes in 2013 is the same One who will provide all we need for 2014.

Because He is faithful.  He is good.  He is more than enough.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

That's Hats

I've been lamenting not being able to find many nice items for this year's Operation Christmas Child party.  Today I got a tip from an Operation Christmas Child project leader in my area about hats on sale at Children's Place in our local mall.

I then checked online and found a 25% off printable coupon from Children's Place and tucked it into my pocket when my husband and I went to walk at the mall tonight.

Well, along with a little exercise we also got some upper body workout when we carried home the three bags containing 118 of these cute hats.  They were marked with retail prices of up to $12.95 each (there are quite a few different varieties) and are selling for .99 each.  With the extra 25% off coupon they were only .74 each and I got an extra 5% off for using my Children's Place credit card.

Even better was the wonderful conversation I had with the cashier who was excited to hear about Operation Christmas Child.  She openly shared about her stay at a faith-based rehab facility and we praised God together for her 8 months of being clean from a heroin addiction.

Hats off to a great night!

Goals Surpassed / New Vision Cast

Yesterday we had an amazing online celebration via Simulcast from Operation Christmas Child headquarters in Blowing Rock, NC.  The big reveal of the 2013 totals left no doubt that God did immeasurably more last year.

The basic shoe box goal for the United States was set at 7,200,000 boxes with a challenge to pray for a "God-sized" goal of 7,400,000 boxes.  We prayed for that 7.4 million boxes countless times over the year but I was over-the-moon amazed to hear that total of 7,541,468 boxes.  WOW!

The international goal we lifted up to the Lord throughout 2013 was 9.8 million but our God moved again beyond our prayers to give over 9,950,000 boxes worldwide.

After the shouts of praise ended and the tears of joy were wiped away, it was time to think about our new shoe box goal for 2014 here in Northwestern PA.

In 2013 our goal was 45,000 boxes and God surpassed that and gave us 47,604--a 17% increase over the 40,376 from 2012.

In yesterday's Simulcast,  Randy Riddle, Domestic Director for OCC, encouraged our teams to think of at least a 10% increase which would be just under 52,500 boxes.  I gulped as I thought of that huge number.

Then last night as I prepared the agenda for tonight's Operation Christmas Child area team meeting I calculated what our total would be if God blessed us with a 12% increase (53,316) or even a 15% increase (54,745).  And I gulped harder.

Fast forward to tonight's team meeting.  With wind chills hovering near zero degrees, there were only four of us at tonight's meeting.

We did a Bible study on how to live a life characterized by 'breakthrough' by looking at David's life and listened to part of an online message by Chip Ingram.  Then we looked at what God has done for our team over the past seven years as we discussed our 2014 shoe box goal.

Terri pointed out that God gave us a 17% increase both in 2012 and in 2013.  She pulled out her calculator and quickly pronounced that another 17% increase in 2014 would yield a total of 55,697 boxes in 2014.

All four of us warmed to the idea of a goal of 55,700 boxes.  How can you not love a goal that has a perfect '7' in it?  That goal's not definite yet but a new vision is certainly cast.

And to think that yesterday I gulped when I thought about 52,500.

Method In Unity

I don't know why writing these Operation Christmas Child thank you notes has been such a chore for me this year.  The last few years I just dived in and got them done, but this year I've had to push and coax myself--and not very effectively either.

I'm so grateful for Heather, our Church Relations Coordinator, who has been writing the bulk of them.   Praise God for her tenacity!

I really am grateful to all these churches and groups.  As I write each note I mentally deduct the number of boxes they contributed from our goal--thinking what it would have been without their participation.

I am also amazed anew as I write these notes that God blessed us with 47,604 boxes...because many of these churches had a total of 30 or fewer boxes.

Which makes me reflect on how God uses each of us and each particular church body in the overall work of His Kingdom.  I think of how many God used to make up our total here in northwestern Pennsylvania alone and then ponder the millions that were used to bring in the harvest nationally and internationally.   It's mind boggling.

God has a method for getting His work done and, by His grace and His design, it involves all of us who call Him Lord.

And it involves us working together in that unity that He so loves.

Speaking of method...and unity...I mailed 78 notes today and 21 of them went to United Methodist churches.  Three of them were for First United Methodist churches in different towns.   To be fair, there were several First Baptist and First Presbyterian churches, too.  Guess they missed that verse that says "the first shall be last," because there weren't any Last United Methodist (or Baptist or Presbyterian) churches.

One of the things I love most about Operation Christmas Child is seeing hundreds of churches in our region working together to bring the gospel to people around the world.

After all, that's God's method.  Unity.

Joy and Strength

I love it when God brings a certain theme into my life.  This morning I was reading Nehemiah Chapter 8.  In this passage Ezra was reading to the people from the law of Moses and as he read (all day!) the people began to mourn and weep when they realized they had not been obedient.

Then Nehemiah said (vs. 10) "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord.  Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

Strength.  How I need and want that.

I love that Nehemiah called the people to celebration of God's goodness.  And he called them to share with those who had nothing.  And he called them to find strength in joy.

This afternoon I went to the Operation Christmas Child volunteer website to read the latest devotional there.  Interestingly, the devotional theme was the same verse: Nehemiah 8:10.

God is calling me anew to learn to rejoice throughout my day and find strength in that joy.  Even as I grieve over my sin, my leadership shortcomings, or my unmet goals, I can rejoice that Jesus' blood covers all those failures.

Operation Christmas Child gives us a chance to share with those who have nothing and to find the joy of the Lord in that.  And in that joy we will find the strength to do this again in 2014.

New year.  New Joy.  New Strength.