It’s Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child!
I love this ministry. When raising our children, this was an annual tradition. We collected things all year in anticipation of packing boxes in November. Each child would pack a box for a boy or girl their age. It was a great launch to our own Christmas season. As everyone was making a Christmas list, it was good to be reminded that there are children whose only gifts will be those we pack in a box.
I’m continuing that tradition now with my granddaughter – she and I shopped together for a 4-year-old girl. Julia Grace was even persuaded to give up her latest Chick-fil-A board book (a treasured possession) to include in the box. Shouldn’t a real gift cost us something? Shouldn’t there be an element of sacrifice involved if it’s a genuine gift from our hearts?
Our ladies’ Bible study takes a break from our regular study each semester to do what we call a Love Out Loud. Our fall LOL has traditionally been shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Our ladies have such fun packing, writing notes, and then praying over them after we are finished. What a joy to anticipate how God can use such a small thing to do great big things.
You can get a glimpse of our LOL day by clicking on the YouTube link above.
If you need ideas for how to pack, check out this post from a blog I write for:
http://areasonforhomeschool.com/packing-shoebox-like-pro/
As we do this small thing, let’s pray God will bless the child who opens this box and that it would be a key to opening that child’s heart and mind to receive the message of the gospel.
May God bless you and yours this Christmas season and may He use every box that is packed to do “exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ask or imagine!”
