Operation Christmas Child!

I'm sure most of you have heard of Operation Christmas Child!  For those of you who have not, I'll direct you to Samaritan's Purse, the organization that created Operation Christmas Child, by clicking HERE :)  We've had the opportunity to pack a shoebox for each of our kiddos for a few years now, I looked back at my blog to see if I could find previous posts, and for some reason I can't find any?!  I know I've taken pictures of the shoeboxes every year, so as soon as I find them I'll post them :)

One thing we are always trying to teach our kiddos is to serve others, especially around The Holidays when the world screams it's all about you!  People by nature are selfish, it's our job as parents to teach our children it's not always about them (once they are old enough to understand :).  The older our kiddos get, the more we realize how important this is becoming!  Operation Christmas Child is a tangible way for our kiddos to serve by giving to other children less fortunate.  It also gives us the opportunity to teach them about why we serve and give to others, to be more like Christ in everything we do!  

Each child gets a shoebox for their age & gender, we go to the store (I also pick up things throughout the year we can use), pick up items that they would like to give (age appropriate), pack them up and send them off.  Our girls LOVE picking out items for their "girl"...

Some items we sent were jump ropes, socks, hair bows, lip gloss, stuffed animal, bubbles, markers, pens, paper, small purse and other "girly" things.  

Jack especially LOVED picking out all the "boy" stuff, but not so much when we had to put all the things in the box!  In Jack's box we sent toy balls, cars, stuffed animal, football, paper & pens and other various "boy" things! 

Something new this year to Operation Christmas Child is a way to track your box!  Every year we write a little note & send a picture with our boxes, we've never gotten a response back, but this year we can track where the box ends up!  Just another way for our kiddos to see their boxes are being sent to "real" girls/boy and to remind them to pray for those little girls and boy!

Today starts of National Collection Week, so it's not too late!  I strongly encourage you if you haven't already packed a box for Operation Christmas Child, today is the day!    There are collection sites all over the place, so it's convenient too!  Go to Samaritans Purse for more information and directions!

*******UPDATE**********

Here's a shot of the kiddos in 2008 with their shoeboxes!!!