Shoe Box

Ok. You just bought a new pair of shoes and now you need to get rid of the box. But before you do that, think about that single shoe box. Now, imagine 100 of those shoe boxes. How about thousands? Millions? Now imagine every single one of those thousands and thousands of shoe boxes filled to the top with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items like soap and toothbrushes. Now imagine that every single one of those boxes, each and every one, will go to a child who won’t otherwise get a Christmas present this year. Children in need who don’t have things like pencils and toothbrushes. This has been the goal of Samaritans Purse with Operation Christmas Child every year since 1993 and I am so proud to be a part of it for so many years.

For as long as I can remember I have packed at least one shoe box a year with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items for kids all over the world. I remember that I would often have one special box every year. One box that would be for a girl about my age and it would have some items that I pick out special, things like rubber ducks or knee high socks. Things that I really enjoy. Then I would write a letter introducing myself to the little girl who would receive my box. Sometimes I would even get a letter back! In addition to this one little box I would pack dozens of others. Ever since I was little I have been amazed by how good it feels to know that I had a part in bringing joy to children all over the world!

Last year I helped pack 82 boxes, this year I had a part in packing 108  boxes. One hundred and eight smiling children! And that will only be a small part of the eleven million Operation Christmas Child hopes to get this year! It amazes me every year that God can use me here, right here at home, to make such a difference for a child, or a hundred children, in another country!

I look forward to packing boxes every single year. And I look forward to the day when I can pack boxes with my own children. It is a wonderful experience that means so much to those doing the packing, those who deliver, and those who receive them. And it all starts with something as simple as one single shoe box.

 

If you want to join in on this wonderful event there is still time! The week for pickup is November 16^th to the 23^rd. This week! Just fill a box and get it to one of the pickup spots. Or you can plan to do them next year! You can find out more information on their website www.samaritanspurse.org I know, I’m starting to sound like a commercial, but this is just such an amazing event that means so much! It has become a tradition in my house, maybe, if it isn’t already, it will become a tradition in yours too!

Have you ever packed a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child? Tell me in the comments!

 

Cinderella

“Your voice is as beautiful as you are”

I was at a party and my sister and I had just finished playing some music around the bonfire. That was when this twenty year old guy came up to me and gave me this complement.

“Your voice is as beautiful as you are”

I have had guys do things for me before because they thought I was cute. Young waiters going out of their way to make sure my meal is as enjoyable as possible, the young guy collecting carts at Walmart going out of his way to come get mine so I don’t have to put it away myself, I’ve even had a guy at school ask for my number once, but never one so brave as to complement me as this one had. It intrigued me.

Once I got home I started trying to figure out who this guy was. I looked all over Facebook trying to see if I could find him. Not because I wanted to date him, not because I wanted to be friends with him even, simply because I wanted to know the identity of the guy who called me beautiful. I felt like Prince Charming searching for Cinderella. But this guy was certainly not my one true love. So what was I doing? That was when I came across this quote.

“Don’t spend any time this week chasing after a guy. A Godly man will pursue you when the time is right.”

I didn’t need to be Prince Charming; I was supposed to be Cinderella. I know we all have this problem, guys and girls alike. We’re all searching for our one true love when what we should be doing is living our lives as God wants, and then, when the time is right, that one true love will come. When the time is right I will know who I’m supposed to be with. When the time is right he will come to me and we will live happily ever after. I know this guy was probably just hitting on me because I was the only girl his age at the party. Or maybe he really did want to get to know me. I may never know. But either way, I will wait. I will go back to my life after the ball and my prince, whoever that may be, will come to me when the time is right; when God prepares him to do so. There is time to be patient. There is time to wait for your happily ever after. Because in this world, the magic doesn’t wear off at midnight.

Fall is Beautiful

As the air becomes crisp, the water is too cold to swim in, and the leaves begin to change, we begin to dread that winter is on its way and summer is over. But why must we think so far ahead? What is wrong with right now? Yes, summer is gone, winter is on its way, but fall is here now, and it is beautiful.

We often spend our time thinking about the past or the future, never the present. What we said in the past, what that person did, what our future will bring, but all too rarely what we are doing and who we are with right at this moment. I myself am guilty of this, I know. My future is a daily conversation recently. Either that or thinking about what I did in the past, regrets, or wishing I was younger. But that's when I know it's time to get a new perspective.

Yes, the past and the future are important. But so is right now. This exact second only happens once in your lifetime. If we spent all our time behind us or ahead of us then we would never see what’s here now. We need to enjoy the people we are currently with, not busy making plans with someone else. Stop spending our time worrying about what tomorrow will bring and just enjoy whatever today has to offer.

When I find myself stuck in the past or stuck in the future, I know it's time to step back and look at the big picture. That is when I climb a mountain and look at the sea of those red, orange, and yellow leaves that fall is so famous for. There is nothing like climbing to the top of a mountain in the fall to gain a new perspective on life. Seeing all that land, the lakes and trees and the big open sky. I realize that there is this huge, beautiful world we live in and we don’t have to see the whole thing at once. Enjoying just a little bit of it at a time is ok. And if we don’t stop and take the time to enjoy it while it’s here, as fall is a very short season where I live, then it will be gone and we would have missed it. A lot can be missed if our heads are stuck in the past or the future and not the present.

So, I challenge you to take a break from looking at the past and the future, but to look at the present moment for a while. Climb a mountain and admire God's creation as it is right now, today, this very moment. Because fall is here. And it is beautiful.

 

Butterfly

“When God pushes you to the edge of the cliff, trust him fully, only two things can happen, either He will catch you when you fall, or He’ll teach you how to fly”

I don’t know where or when I heard this quote. I don’t know who said it. But I do know that it has made an impact on my life. I am at a point in my life between childhood and adulthood. It’s a place I don’t like to be. I don’t want to grow up. I say I have the Peter Pan Syndrome. But that is a story for another day. Right now let’s focus on learning to fly.

The time has come again when the Monarch Butterflies start to make an appearance. I remember when my sister and I were little we would go out and search the milkweed for monarch caterpillars. We would put them in jars and feed them leaves and watch them grow. Then one day they would create their little green and gold trimmed cocoon and would just hang there for what a couple impatient little girls would think was forever. Then their cocoon would become almost clear and we could see those orange and black wings inside. Finally they would break out and stretch their wings. We would open the lid and watch as they dry their wings on the edge of the jar and eventually fly away. As I watch the butterflies flutter around in the goldenrod today I started to realize that we are kind of like butterflies. We are cute little caterpillars who eventually go into their little cocoon and begin to transform. We decide who we are, who we want to be, we start to prepare for our future. Then, when the time is right, we break free and fly away. We might fall the first few times, but we get it eventually.

But what does this have to do with the quote?

“When God pushes you to the edge of the cliff, trust him fully, only two things can happen, either He will catch you when you fall, or He’ll teach you how to fly”

This year has been a year of preparations for me. Taking time off from school to decide what I want to do, getting my braces on and hopefully off, getting my driver’s license. I’m in my cocoon, figuring out who I’m going to be, preparing for what is to come. A cocoon most might consider I’ve been in a little too long… A few weeks ago I went on a trip that helped me see what my future holds just a little clearer. It also will help me better prepare myself for what that future will hold. It was the beginning of my breaking out of my own little cocoon.

Soon I will find myself on the edge of the jar, ready to try to fly. Honestly, it scares me. And I might fall. But I must trust that if I do fall God will catch me. Or, if the time is right, He will teach me to fly. And He will do the same for you. If you are in the same place as me, standing on the edge of that jar, hesitant about spreading your wings, maybe it’s time to make the jump. Don’t be afraid to spread your wings and fly.