Operation Christmas Child

My friend Kelli recently asked me if motherhood was all I imagined it would. I laughed. I can honestly only think of one pre-Georgia memory of what I thought it would be like. When she arrived she blew away any preconceived notions of parenting. After all, she was much cuter than I imagined and had much more personality than I thought a baby would!

As Kelli and I were talking, I began thinking of the things I want to share with my children, the traditions, and the activities that will shape their ideas of the world. Then I started getting excited when I realized that it is shoebox time and time for Georgia to pack her first one!

Shoeboxes are part of Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse and a Franklin Graham organization. Each year people fill shoeboxes with toys and other gifts for children around the world. Samaritan's Purse delivers the boxes, along with the Good News of Jesus to children who otherwise would probably not have Christmas. The boxes are designated as either boy or girl, and contain goodies for the age range selected.

I first experienced shoeboxes when I was in college. I had so much fun shopping with my girlfriends and seeing all the gifts brought in on Box Sunday! Shopping with Georgia this week was great, too. When she smiled big at an item I was considering, I just thought about a little girl somewhere else in the world smiling too when she opened her box. Interestingly, shoeboxes have been a goodwill activity since WWII when American children sent shoeboxes of goodies to children affected by the war. Soldiers delivered them as they ended occupations. I heard firsthand from a Holocaust Displaced Child (meaning she was taken from her family and hidden within another family during the war for her own safety) how much that box meant to her. The smile on her face as she described the box to my students brought tears to my eyes.

If you want to pack a box, click on the link above for details and a drop location (if, like me, your church isn't participating). This year the boxes need to be delivered the week of Nov. 17 so they can be shipped, so now is the time to get your shopping on!