Only 6 more days--Hurry!--Grab a Shoebox

ok, so all y'all know that this summer I was looking for ways for my kids to get involved serving others.....I read about this next opportunity and I thought, "VOILA! Perfect!". The kids can totally do this and yours can too!! It doesn't even cost a lot of money. First you need a shoebox. I got one for Spencer and one for Natalie. I had a couple in the top of my closet from my teaching days when you save anything cardboard. (I just took about 20 cardboard egg cartons up to Natalie's school last week to donate.;)) If you don't have one, you can buy one of those plastic ones at the Dollar Tree.:)

Back to the story....So I went to the Samaritan's Purse website. It is called Operation Christmas Child. Get this..... 8 million children from around the world received shoeboxes last year and since 1993, the organization has sent boxes to over 130 counties....Here is their mission statement: To demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

What do you have to do you ask?.....Well, it's real easy and this is the part where you can involve your kiddos.....You take the kids to Dollar Tree and have them pick out items. Have your kids pick out toys, toiletries, school supplies, candy, and anything your child would like to have. They have a complete list of recommended items. I have to tell you....Besides my wonderful finds at Dollar Tree, Target has Slinky Jr.s in their dollar bins, and Michaels has all kinds of goodies for $1 and $2.  I asked my kids to pick out Christmas wrapping paper. (We had some left over from last year.) I wrapped the box and had my kids arrange all the goodies in the shoebox. You can even print out a label online and track your box to see what country it ends up in......I had each of the kids write a note in their box to the child that would be receiving it and we all prayed over the boxes and the children. What an awesome ministry and a great opportunity for the kids!! So easy and fun. Lastly, this afternoon I took them to our local drop off station....very close to my house. The people were so friendly there. It was great! We'll definately add this to our family traditions for years to come. I had to show a couple of pics.

Happy Shoe Boxing!

Oh....I almost forgot. One last thing.....The boxes have to be dopped off by Nov. 22nd. You can enter your zip code online to find the drop off site closest to you! :-)

With Much Love,