How do you pack a Samaritan's purse?

Yay! It's one of our favorite times of the year - Operation Christmas Child Box time! It is always our first project of the Christmas season - and it's a good one! 

WHAT?? You don't know what I'm talking about??? Well, glad you asked ;) 

I am happy to tell you all about one of the easiest, simplest, most meaningful ways to jump start Christmas! And it's going on this week. Hurry... you will want to head over to Samaritan's Purse (see the button in the right hand side of the blog and at the end of this post). Many churches take part in this project, but you can also participate on your own.

Samaritan's purse, you might have guessed, is a ministry who draws its name from the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told this story to stress the need to show compassion and assistance to desperate need wherever we find it. After telling this story of how a Samaritan helped the man that everyone else ignored, Jesus told his listeners "Go and do likewise."

Samaritan's Purse has been around for 40 years, seeking the lost and hurt and desperate to provide food, shelter, medical care, assistance, relief during disasters, Gospel teaching,  and even giving children Christmas presents!

Here's where you come in! Operation Christmas Child delivers boxes of lovingly packaged presents to children all over the world living in poverty. After you pack your box, and drop it off by the end of this week at a local drop off location (and they are everywhere - check the website), your gift will be on its way to a child who will likely receive his/her only gifts from you. The child will also be offered written Gospel materials in their native language, and in many places, be able to attend a Bible program through a local church.

Grab a shoe box and start shopping (actually the plastic shoe boxes work well and are a bit larger). Decide if you are shopping for a girl or boy, and what age group (2-4, 5-9, or 10-14). Be creative and don't stress out your bank account. Take your kids with you - we have done it every year and my teens still love it. It is a great way to teach the skill of giving to others first (before getting your own gifts). Wonderful toys that children love can be found at dollar and discount stores. Children who receive these gifts love toys but also need and love to get toiletries, clothing items, eating utensils, and candy. They are grateful. Hard for us to think of getting excited about getting socks or a new toothbrush...but I guess we would, if we didn't have any.

Click on the Operation Christmas Child button at the right or below and read all the directions about what to pack and what not to pack and how to send. You will need to send your $7 postage with your box, or you can pay online - if you do it online, you have the added bonus of being able to track your box to see what country it lands in!

What an easy way to share the love of Christ, the childlike wonder of Christmas, and teach your children to "Go and do likewise."

Let my life be the proof..

To say that I am uncomfortable with some of the comments that have come my way lately is an understatement.

People are so kind and say such kind things but I do find myself uncomfortable with the adjectives they use to "praise" me and my family. Those of you who have adopted or done anything big for God (ie: something that seems CRAZY to the world) might understand what I am talking about. Please don't get me wrong. I appreciate the sweet comments and praises for being - kind, dedicated, self-sacrificing, patient, loving, generous, amazing, etc...

BUT...

Although I and my family might have moments of each of those personality traits, we are no more those things than someone else...on our own. ANY of those things that you think you see or think we are - I just can't take credit for.

The credit is all God's. ALL - EVERY BIT - ALWAYS.

The other day I was STRUCK by a song. Has that ever happened to you?? The words are straight from one of the most popular, well-known, and dare I say - overused (not sure scripture can ever be overused but...) scripture from the Bible.  1 Corinthians 13. The love chapter. 

Like you, I have read this chapter many times, heard it at countless weddings, and even had to nervously read it from the pulpit a few times. Yeah, yeah, we all know...it's about love. But in the car the other day I was really hit by the words in a whole new way. This chapter is not just about how to live a life of loving the special people (our spouses, our families) in a nice way. Our lives should show Christ's love always, and in all we do and to everyone we encounter - every day, all the time. Wow. This is not about being a super great person who is nice.

(Yikes, I have a long way to go...really...)

This is love. And this love isn't easy. It can be uncomfortable, hard, tiring, challenging, boring, irritating, long-suffering, painful - but also joyful, rewarding, and fun.  

And when we really show it, we are allowing God to come through us to another. Then maybe those descriptives above will be seen more and more in our lives. (Not just what people think we are because we have chosen to follow God on a unconventional project!) Proof that He is who He is and what He is - LOVE. 

(Just reread this and I feel I should put a disclaimer here at this point: I realize I am not stating any novel or profound new meaning of this chapter. Just suffice it to say that what I love about God's word is how it meets us at the moment we are hearing or reading it and speaks fresh each time when we are really listening). Hearing this song convicted me that the words my friends and family are saying about me (and my family) need to be REALLY what I am more and more and more. That if I am really heeding God's word and allowing Him to change me and my life, then those descriptives above will be more accurate more of the time. Let my life and my actions, be the proof of His love. 

Here's the song...enjoy...(I found several versions/videos on youtube but this one I particularly liked!)

Forever changed...

I've had a blog post floating around in my head for weeks. As I have said a few times before, I am not a writer. I wish it flowed from my heart and head to the keys on this computer, but it doesn't. Here goes...

I am blessed. I have been blessed beyond measure with good health, good parents, great childhood, enough money, college, jobs, healthcare, marriage to an amazing man, children, a beautiful home, wonderful memories, and then more children. I live in a free country and a beautiful town. God has been incredibly gentle with me. He has walked beside me through the darkest days after losing my father tragically, through the heights of marriage and birthing babies, to the last few years of struggle and joy as our family has wobbled while trying to find a new normal with the addition of our girls.

All the trials and moments have been proof of my God's mercy and faithfulness, His love and kindness, His discipline and guidance. I fail miserably some days, yet He picks me up and lets me start over, each and every day. He forgives my stubborn ways, my sometimes quick temper,  my rough edges - and He is smoothing them out with His forgiveness and love.

The greatest blessing of my life is knowing the truth, asking Jesus into my life and knowing that following Him is the only way to real life and real joy.  I want my life to be used by Him and for Him and to point others to Him. I want my eyes and heart to focus on the things that truly matter to Him - a hard thing to do in a materialistic world that says "it's all about me." I actually made the decision a long time ago that I wanted my life to matter in God's eyes - no one else's. That I wanted to do big things for Him. That I wanted our family to be a light in this world of so much darkness.

     Having four children in a 6 year span and homeschooling them all seemed my "big thing to do for Him." Raising my children to know and love God, to learn His Word, has been my full time job for the last 13 years. It has been a journey - exhausting and rewarding in a way I will never be able to explain - the words fail me. The memories and time with my children has been nothing short of fantastic. I will never regret our call and decision to follow God down the homeschool path and for the years we have spent learning and growing together.

And then came adoption.

Our adoption  - the decision to follow God down a path that seemed crazy and ridiculously expensive and overwhelming to some. It seemed crazy and ridiculously expensive and overwhelming to us. Jumping off a cliff (and believe me, that is really how it feels) is scary and "lump-in-your-throat" terrifying and also the most beautiful and awesome thing ever. To know God in a whole new way sounds too trite to explain it. To see God do miracles for children who are forgotten and abandoned half the way across the globe and to work out details and money needs and travel and ... the list goes on - this is to see a side of God that I could never have seen before.

Jemila and Kulate the day after they entered the orphanage in 2008

The girls on Jemila's 8th birthday 2012

Our God is about adoption. He loves children and longs for us to help orphans and widows. This is where His heart is and to be a part of that is just not like anything I can even express. To now see our girls bubbling with excitement over something they just learned, or giggling as they ice skate, or drawing pretty pictures, or singing praises in church - well, it's a feeling I can't even explain. To think that God used me and my family in some way so powerful to set these little girls in a family with love and the knowledge of Him, well, it is just too much for this challenged writer to put down here.

I am forever changed.

It is hard to look at life the same now. The things and ways I spent my time in the past seem empty and unnecessary. My priorities have changed and the things of this world do not entice me in the way that knowing and being a part of what is close to God's heart does.  Going to Africa shook me up and put me back together in a whole new way. Life will never be the same.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

("I am happy that I am me and I am happy that I have a Mom and  I have a Dad" - Jemila)

This blog post can be found on Deathbygreatwall.com as part of a link up to adoption stories. Head over there to check out some other wonderful adoption stories!

A whole lotta love...

I must admit I have been a bit of a Pinterest addict lately. It's a little like impulse buying: see it - like it - want it - get it - have it. Well, you don't actually get "it" but you will forever have the link (directions, recipe, printout, or whatever) so that "someday" you will get around to making it, sewing it, cooking it, doing it, printing it, etc. So it sorta feels like "buying" it...it is a bit addicting, I must admit.

Valentine's Day is a holiday that I love - I love red and hearts... and of course, I love "love." Nerd. Ah well. I enjoy candy hearts (a little too much I am afraid) and making valentine cards with the kids is always fun.

So this year, I had a wonderful Pinterest bulletin board of all sorts of fabulous foods, decor, crafts that fit with Valentine's Day and I was determined to DO them! So we decided to share a little love with our wonderful Lifegroup (are you a part of a Lifegroup or small home group through your church? It is a wonderful thing!).

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We decorated with Pinterest inspired balloon strings and made heart shaped crayons (those required a bit of work on the little girls' part throughout the week) and gave out little bags of crayons and candy hearts!  It was so fun and a great way to tell our friends how much they mean to us!!

The girls had fun making their valentine cards for school friends and it was fun talking about what love means for family, God, friends.

Until the next time...