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.

Again, Of Course

God did it again.  There's no question that these Operation Christmas Child packing parties have stretched my faith in ways like no other, but year by year I'm learning to trust Him more and more.  I don't want to ever take these miracles for granted but I want to expect them more and more.

Last night we had our first youth packing party and 70 teens joined by about 30 adults finished packing 3,483 boxes in about 2 and 1/2 hours.  It was a time of blessing and a good chance to get ready for the larger crowd this morning.

Here is George, the truck driver who came to deliver our second truck this morning.  He was scheduled to arrive around noon but instead he came at 10:30 and decided to wait until the first truck was more full before he pulled it.

When I talked to him at 11:30 there were 379 cartons on the truck with over 8500 boxes.  George told me there was no way we would need a second truck.  He said we'd never get enough boxes completed to fill the truck by 4:00.  I respectfully told him he was wrong.

And he was.  By 1:20 the truck was filled with 675 cartons containing 15,525 boxes.  I told you so, George.  And we were on to the second truck.

We had several visitors who drove quite a distance to our packing party and I was totally (and pleasantly) shocked when Will and Amy Shaw, my fellow Mid-Atlantic OCC Area Coordinators, drove in from Philadelphia!  They left at 3:30 am and were leaving after the packing party to drive back home.

I am amazed by their sacrifice and only wish I could have spent more quality time with them.  I was also blessed by a visit from Dennis Henry, OCC Prayer Coordinator, who drove from Columbus, OH to be here and spent some time praying with our team's Prayer Coordinator, Linda Bennett.

Amy Gibson drove in from Cleveland and even brought over 100 great balls to use as filler items.  This was a great blessing, because I spent much of the day trying to ration the filler items and wondering if we would run out of them before we got to 20,000 boxes.

All day I sensed the prayers of the many that I knew were supporting us from around our region and even from around the country.

God sent us more volunteers than ever before--about 650 without counting team members and volunteers who didn't sign in at registration.   The line moved steadily all day at an even pace and I actually enjoyed myself as I floated around from box folding to stocking tables to opening boxes.

Ironically, the only thing I didn't do all day was pack a shoe box.

I thought I had ordered 22,000 boxes, but I'm ashamed to admit that when the pallets arrived I never actually counted the cases to see if I received them all. I just assumed I had them.

When I was informed that we only had 14 cases of boxes left I told the volunteers to stop folding them because I assumed that meant we had 20,600 boxes folded and I didn't want to have folded boxes remaining when we ran out of items.

Imagine my surprise 15 minutes later when they told me the lines had stopped because there were no more folded boxes.  How could that be when we'd only packed 18,500 boxes.  I was totally confused but told them to quickly start folding boxes again.

It was only 3:00 and we had only packed fewer than 19,950 boxes when we ran out of white boxes.  Now what?

I got the attention of all the volunteers and asked them if they wanted to stop or try to use our red and green GO boxes and they began chanting, "Red and green.  Red and green."

So we grabbed some cartons of GO boxes and started wildly folding again.  Meanwhile we scoured around for every plain shoebox we could find and pack.  It was the crazy chaos I'd been hoping to avoid by ordering extra boxes in the first place.

Still, the volunteers hung in there and the crazy thing was that now we had tons of filler items that never seemed to diminish.  The boxes were better filled than ever.

We'd scheduled the packing party to end at 4:00 pm and when that time came we still had boxes full of T-shirts, plenty of all the basic items (except soap) and many, many fillers.  We did run out of stuffed animals but had enough teeny Beanie Babies to keep going.

But we made the decision to stop at God's amazing total of 21,106.  I did feel bad about putting all those items back into the container when there were still boxes to fold and room on the truck but...

We stopped and held out our hands toward the truck to pray together over those boxes.

There were some "if onlys"--if only I'd counted the boxes when we received them was the biggest one of those.  If I had, then maybe we would have had at least a few hundred more boxes on that truck.

Still, it was the greatest packing party of all.  And still the wonder of God's goodness was just as fresh and marvelous.

Because He did it again, of course.

'Twas The Night Before The Packing Party

The Night Before The Packing Party

It’s the night before the packing party and all through the church

Our team scurries onward in desperate search

Of folks to fold boxes and set up the line,

To get items ready and make things look fine

So we will be ready for each volunteer

Who comes to pack boxes and spread lots of cheer.

Elizabeth’s working to organize all,

With lists that she’s checking for needs big and small.

While Kristin’s strategic in getting the youth

Excited in serving and spreading God’s truth.

There’s Terri who’s working to make things look good

And pushing herself more than anyone should.

While Heather shares years of experience here

And digs in to ‘bring it’ for still one more year.

And Kathy feels like she’s relaxing in bed

While visions of shoeboxes dance in her head.

Like a well-oiled machine, the team moves in synch,

And then comes the pause when we all stop to think

Of what God has done for us all through the year

That’s brought us to this point as we all stand here

And ponder His goodness and pray for His will

And wait now, expecting,  for miracles still.

Surrounded by prayer we are ready to move,

To pack all those boxes and once again prove

That He is enough to supply every need,

To fill every box and to grow every seed.

And now we’re prepared to just trust in His might,

We’ll see you tomorrow.  For now, it’s  goodnight.

ps--and if you're coming to join us tomorrow, won't you consider bringing a donation to help pay for shipping our boxes?