Just A Shoe Box

We are sittting in the examining room waiting to see the neurosurgeon. And all of a sudden I remembered that I hadn’t mentioned Samaritan’s Purse Shoe Boxes this year. I know there is only about a week left to fill one and get it turned in…so please, please, please consider filling one for an orphan around the world.  When Dw and Emmy were in Uganda the first time they went to a rural orphanage out in the brush.  When the kids saw them arrive a couple of the kids ran and got their boxes, given to them through Samaritan’s Purse.
Dw and Emma could hardly talk about the tattered boxes that still held a few broken little things but still treasured by these little ones who had nothing!  We are committed to helping in any way we can….would you consider putting one or more together??
Here is the post I started a few weeks ago, the box es are now full and ready to turn in. I am not too savvy with posting from my phone so I will attempt to put the link to Samaritan’s Purse Shoe Boxes in the comments.  If I am unable could one of you sweet bloggy friends do that for me?? Thank you. xo
I am
A couple of weeks ago the kids and 
I decided to work on our Samaritan’s Purse Shoe Boxes.  
Each year we stuff the same number of shoe boxes as kids we have in our family.  Emma and I had been shopping and had found all kinds of wonderful things….adorable shirts, polka dot wash clothes {for the two girls we are doing boxes for}, toys, school supplies, candy, gum, coloring books, crayons, soap, tooth paste, tooth brushes and more!
So this particular day we laid it all out and worked to put it all together.  We wrote a letter for each box.  We put a picture of our family in each as well. We told the recipients that we were praying for them.  

22 thoughts on “Just A Shoe Box

  1. Fun! I just posted about this on our blog too. It's one of our favorite Christmas traditions to do as a family. The kids love choosing all the treats for the boxes! 🙂

  2. I love Operation Christmas Child! Our guests from Uganda who are here through Samaritan's Purse are excited to go with me to volunteer to stuff shoe boxes, plus helping us put ours together too. 😉

  3. Oh! I love doing this every year! Last year, I did 6 boxes, but wanted to do more this year, so I did 10 this year. I hope I can do more next year! I just love doing this and imagining the excitement of the child who receives them. My little boy gets right into the action, even giving up a new toy for a little boy "who doesn't have any toys!" Warmed my heart!

  4. We have our packed!!! We usually do the number of shoes we buy through the year. This year though Amaya (6) decided to raise her own money and made enough to make 37 boxes including the cost of shipping 🙂

  5. This is my second year doing OCC shoeboxes. Wish I had known about it from the start!! This year I helped my 5 year old niece, Breana, put her first shoebox together. She was so excited to make one after watching the OCC videos. THEN I told her about how Amaya(see above)made Christmas tree ornaments to sell, and made enough money to make 37 BOXES- "Hurray 4 Amaya"!! Breana decided she would save the money in her
    Smiley bank, collect more coins throughout the year, and spend it next year for "lots of boxes!" (her idea!) Trust me, that Smiley bank will show up at birthday parties, Christmas, Easter dinner, you name it – she'll get her "lots of boxes" done! I love watching a child's face when they realize they are doing something really special for another little boy or girl. Their eyes light up . . . they simply know it's right.
    So whether you do one box or a
    hundred, the Lord blesses these kids with each and every one. Plus they all have the opportunity to learn about the love of Jesus. The perfect Christmas gift!
    Thanks for getting the word out!
    Abiding in Christ, Beth

  6. We had a Shoebox Party in our Mission Friends class last night! Another mom and I teach preschoolers and kindergardeners about different Missionaries around the world. We packed about 10-12 shoeboxes, and one of them we will track as a class and see where it goes!

  7. I volunteered at a collection site a number of years ago which was a wonderful and rewarding experience. During my college years I admit I forgot about OCC, but this year (my first year out of school/with a job) I heard an ad on the radio for OCC and the great memories came right back. I was excited to get involved again and was also happy to see my church do a collection for the first time this year. I turned four boxes in yesterday at church and am so glad to see others here getting into it and packing lots of boxes. I look forward to continuing to donate to this great cause in the future and hope to inspire others to get involved too!

  8. I love love love this ministry…and not just because my husband works for Samaritans Purse!!!

    It's such a tangible way to be involved in something that makes such a big difference in the lives of children all over the world!!

    Thanks for posting this 🙂

  9. we love doing this, too! i am REALLY challenged by the commenter that said they do as many as pairs of shoes that they buy each year. REALLY…that is awesome! way to be accountable AND make a difference.

    i love that we are tracking ours online this year to see where they end up. may each child know how very much they are loved by Him.

  10. We just did this as a church activity this past weekend. (Although I'm not sure if it is the same charity, it is the same idea, "Love in a shoebox") We had 400 boxes prepared and raised over £1000! Now that'll put a big smile on anyone's face!

  11. I'm posting this the day of, but on a blog post the day before since you don't have a post up yet for today…..HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! I hope it's the best you've ever had!!!! You deserve it!!! Thank you for being a blessing to me and so many other people!!

  12. I sent a box a few years ago. I loved doing it. I wish I had more money (and more time) to do more. I'm actually posting about this on Monday to encourage other people to get involved.

  13. my mom and I and my sister did 45 this year! we shop all yr long and make as many as we can. one yr we made 178! it's so fun. and then after halloween the candy goes on sale for 75 % off and we really stock up!! our FAVORITE thing to put into boxes is clothes and SOCCER BALLS!! my mom sewed about a dozen little girls sundresses for our boxes this year. this yr we have TONS of toys left but ran out of soap, facecloths, crayons ect so we'll save the toys for next yr.

  14. This is our first year as Relay Center Coordinators for Operation Christmas Child. We've been filling boxes for years and love the ministry so when the position became available we jumped at the opportunity! Yesterday was the first day of collection week. We went to church to pack up the boxes that were delivered and were amazed to see over 400 boxes! My 7year old said it was a miracle! I hope that more and more boxes come in this week. We deliver them to a bigger city in our state on Sunday! It is such a blessing to be a part of this wonderful ministry. My children are learning so much and I love that!

  15. Thanks for posting about Christmas boxes, Linny. Our family has been filling them for years, but it never meant as much as last Christmas (our first Christmas with our daughter /kid#3 home). We were blessed with some photos of her growing up at her orphanage and in one of them, she is opening a OCC box. These boxes go to REAL KIDS in REAL countries who REALLY need to know about Jesus who loves them very much.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>