It was this story that touched my heart and moved me to tears…
“I’ve never gotten a gift like this before,” said six year old Pov. “I like the stuffed animal the most,” she added, pulling the stuffed gorilla tightly into a hug. With an unstoppable grin on her face, Pov carefully looked through the contents of her shoe box stopping to inspect a pencil case filled with pencils and erasers and pens. “I will use this for school,” she said. “I like it so much!”
So this year our family decided to get in on the action and pack a shoe box present to bless an underprivileged child through Operation Christmas Child, an initiative by Samaritan’s Purse.
Here’s what we did…
I found an empty shoe box
Covered it in wrapping paper
And start filling it with presents!
Apart from toys, gift suggestions also include clothes, personal hygiene items like a toothbrush or comb, and pencils, erasers, exercise books and stationery items for school.
Nathan also offered his favourite football softie toy. However I was already having trouble squeezing all the items in, so I said he could hang on to it. But I helped him draw and colour something nice to put in.
Final count of all the presents (this will be a bit of a squeeze)
Something to love ~ a little puppy soft toy
Something for school ~ crayons and notebook
Something to wear ~ a T-shirt and a pair of shorts
Something to play with ~ matchbox cars and bouncy balls
Something for personal hygiene ~ a toothbrush
Something special ~ a water bottle and a story book
It didn’t really take a great deal of effort to put this little box together. But just imagining the look on that mystery child’s face light up at the sight of these gifts is enough for me.
Related links and resources:
About Operation Christmas Child
Samaritan’s Purse International
And if you’re not based in Australia, here are some other options you can check out for blessing a needy child this Christmas:
World Vision Singapore Life Changing Gifts for Needy Children
World Vision Malaysia Gifts of Hope
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Linking up to
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That looks like a very meaningful gift. For this year's Christmas, I'm also looking for ideas to make it more meaningful instead of making it a commercialised season of just gifts and giving.After all, this is the season to remember the greatest gift of all :)
ReplyDeleteAgree, Susan. Sometimes Christmas is so commercialised with all the toys, candy, lights, music etc... it's refreshing to do something different to get back to the original meaning of the whole season
DeleteI love this post, and I like the idea of this event.
ReplyDelete^_^
DeleteThanks Denise. If you have a chance to do something like this, you should... it's very rewarding!
What a thoughtful way to gift. You're right, just by imagining the smile at the other end, is enough.
ReplyDeleteAmen. This is a situation where I definitely understand how it is more blessed to give than to receive.
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