The Answer

Why?

On the street I saw a small girl, cold and shivering in a thin dress,

with little hope of a decent meal.

I became angry and said to God,
"Why did you permit this? Why don't you do something about it?"

For a while God said nothing.

That night He replied quite suddenly,

"I certainly did something about it.

I made you."

Please look at this web site to see the difference one person can make.

http://www.isomedia.com/homes/awin/CCF/Why.html





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Who is it?

Have you figured out who my "True Love" is?

Hint: We celebrate His birthday and we get the gifts.

That's right! It's Jesus, the giver of the blessings listed below and so many more.

My Twelve Days Of CHRISTmas

On the FIRST day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…A child free from bondage*

On the SECOND day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…Two “Pirates” plotting**
…And a child free from bondage

On THIRD the day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…A Three year old baby elephant.***
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage

On the FOURTH day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…Four walls for a family in crisis*
…A Three year old baby elephant.
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage

On the day FIFTH of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…The Five from the Texan “Wild Bunch”**
…Four walls for a family in crisis.
…A Three year old baby elephant.
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage

On the SIXTH day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…Six shoeboxes for OCC*
…The Five from the Texan “Wild Bunch”.
…Four walls for a family in crisis.
…A Three year old baby elephant.
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage

On the SEVENTH day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…a Seven year old wishing for a Bible****
…Six shoeboxes for OCC
…The Five from the Texan “Wild Bunch”.
…Four walls for a family in crisis.
…A Three year old baby elephant.
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage

On the EIGHTH day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…Eight sponsor children*****
…a Seven year old wishing for a Bible
…Six shoeboxes for OCC
…The Five from the Texan “Wild Bunch”.
…Four walls for a family in crisis.
…A Three year old baby elephant.
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage

On the NINETH day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…A Nine yr old “Explorer” in Carolina**
…Eight sponsor children
…a Seven year old wishing for a Bible
…Six shoeboxes for OCC
…The Five from the Texan “Wild Bunch”.
…Four walls for a family in crisis.
…A Three year old baby elephant.
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage

On the TENTH day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…Ten boxes of school supplies to Afghanistan******
…A Nine yr old “Explorer” in Carolina
…Eight sponsor children
…a Seven year old wishing for a Bible
…Six shoeboxes for OCC
…The Five from the Texan “Wild Bunch”.
…Four walls for a family in crisis.
…A Three year old baby elephant.
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage


On the ELEVENTH day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…an Eleven item meal for a needy family****
…Ten boxes of school supplies to Afghanistan
…A Nine yr old “Explorer” in Carolina
…Eight sponsor children
…a Seven year old wishing for a Bible
…Six shoeboxes for OCC
…The Five from the Texan “Wild Bunch”.
…Four walls for a family in crisis.
…A Three year old baby elephant.
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage

On the TWELFTH day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…
…Twelve writing buddies*******
…an Eleven item meal for a needy family.
…Ten boxes of school supplies to Afghanistan
…A Nine yr old “Explorer” in Carolina
…Eight sponsor children
…a Seven year old wishing for a Bible
…Six shoeboxes for OCC
…The Five from the Texan “Wild Bunch”.
…Four walls for a family in crisis.
…A Three year old baby elephant.
…Two “Pirates” plotting
…And a child free from bondage


*Samaritan’s Purse http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

**Nephews and nieces of the heart

***David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

****Salvation Army Angel Tree child

***** Child sponsorship programs through:
Compassion International http://www.compassion.com/
Nosim Maasai Mission http://www.nosimmaasaimission.org/
Kenya Kids In Need http://www.galileeschool.org/
His Hands For Haiti http://www.hishandsforhaiti.org/

******Through Army friends sponsoring a school

*******Pen pal programs through:
Compassion International: http://www.compassion.com/
Pen Pals For Kamashi:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Penpals_For_Kamashi/
Zion Children’s Home:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/zionchildhome

It's The Thought That Counts?

It is said that “it’s the thought that counts”. And it’s usually said when an act is done or a gift is given that is totally fouled up, rushed, ill-prepared or otherwise insufficient.

“It’s the thought that counts”.

Oh, really??

Over the past 4 weeks I have processed two gift-giving projects that have had many people participating. Both projects have had extremely specific written rules on what cannot be given and how the packages were to be prepared.

In other words, a semi-trained monkey could have done it correctly.

I have processed almost 500 parcels to date and only about 10% have done it right as far as what’s inside, how it’s packed and when it’s to be turned in. And I have seen some very disturbing “gifts”. Highly used (stained, torn) clothing, broken toys, huge bags/boxes that were nearly empty, items that were on the “NO” list and therefore had to be removed, and so on and so on.

It’s the thought that counts?

If that is the case, I’d really like to know what certain people are thinking. Were they thinking? Are they just dumb and don’t get it? Are they arrogant and think the rules don’t apply to them? Are they brown-nosers who are trying to make folks think they are a big spender as they carried it in?

But just as I’m ready to go screaming into the night, I will come across a parcel that reminds me of why I fool with this in the first place. A box that is so lovingly prepared that you know that the sender really cares about this person far away who will receive this gift. A person they don’t even know, yet much time and thought was spent to make a perfect gift.

THAT is the thought that counts.

Time to pack the boxes!

Today was box drop off day for the Christmas Child shoeboxes. This year we collected 345 – 6 of which were mine.

We made it a bit easier on ourselves this year. Instead of stuffing hundreds of individual shoeboxes of all shapes and sizes into our truck and Brenda’s van, we rented one of those small U-Haul trucks. And we got some cartons from the drop-off point to put the shoeboxes in. Twenty three cartons on a dolly were easier to deal with than all those little boxes!

Himself and I had our “packing party” last night. After some hot chocolate and a donut, we sorted the items we’d collected thru the year. For the shoebox we use a boot box size plastic container. This year, instead of lining them with wrapping paper we lined them with extra large bandanas. The bright colors are festive and there is absolutely no waste as every part of the parcel can be reused many times.
To the box we added a new T shirt, a cap, some toys (kid meal prizes, cars, ball, etc), hygiene items (toothbrushes, tooth paste, soap, tweezers, nail clippers), a pair of ‘cool’ sunglasses, music makers (a plastic recorder and a harmonica), school supplies (paper, pencils, sharpener, erasers), hard candy and a couple small stuffed toys. And it was topped off with a Christmas card and a photo of us.