November 18 (2 weeks from tomorrow) is Awaken's deadline to bring in Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. We finally got around to doing our last night. While my mother-in-law watched Adalyn at home, Emery, Jenn, and I hit up Wally-World. Walmart is a killer place to go for shoebox gear because they have lots of small, cheap toys so you can jam those boxes full of killer stuff for the kids. We had a budget in mind, but as you'll find, you can easily get carried away while shopping. We ended up spending double what we had in mind. Oh well. It's worth it. Once we got home, we took the giving a step further and had Emery choose almost new toys out of her own toy box to include in the shoe boxes. She was stoked to give of what she had to "nother boys and girls."Every year, Samaritan's Purse (run by Franklin Graham) ships millions of boxes around the world to kids who barely have anything. It's a hands-on way of sharing Christ with them, because they come in the name of Jesus. Many cities and churches around the world who receive shipments of these boxes put on big Christmas crusades with singing, dancing, performances, games, as well as the shoe box distribution. They're able to share the Gospel - the true meaning behind the boxes - then hand them out. As any of you who are parents know, when someone reaches out to your kid, they reach out to you too. These gifts don't just effect the kids, they preach to the whole family!
If you want to learn more about OCC, here's some info from their site.
Bring your boxes into Awaken by Wednesday, November 18, then we'll take them to the local drop-off center to be shipped out. Make sure to include a donation of $7 for each box to pay for the shipping costs. You can also donate online this year, through Samaritan Purse's EZ Give program. If you choose that route, your box will be equipped with a bar code that will allow you to track where your gift ends up! Super cool! Enjoy.
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