Happy New Year!

 I read this in an online devotion yesterday and could relate, and thought maybe you could too.

We stand on the threshold of a new year – a new beginning! If you are like me, you face 2012 with mixed emotions. Personally, I am thrilled that I survived 2011! There were certainly moments when I wondered if I would. I am so excited about a fresh start, a brand new set of days overflowing with new dreams and unmarked possibilities, but I also know this year is crammed full of the unknown as well as a giant or two. If I am brutally honest, I have to admit the unknown fashions a pocket of fear in my heart where questions and doubts thrive

The good news is what lies ahead is no surprise to God. In fact, He has already been where we are going. That reason alone empowers us to face every tomorrow with hope, knowing whatever touches us passes through His hands, with His permission. It is not God’s plan for us to dwell in fear or for fear to rule our lives. He has already set in motion the defeat and fall of every giant we will ever face. Our responsibility is to step through our fear, facing every giant in God’s power and with His promises. The Holy Spirit will guide the path of His truth to its destined mark, taking down the giants lurking in each tomorrow.

He is the same yesterday, today and forever! The days ahead are saturated with the memory of Goliath’s fall and trust in Almighty God, the Giant Killer. So then, girlfriend, I ask you, what is there to fear? Happy New Year!

May 2012 be fillled with Health, Happiness and Blessings!
Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Superstore Pencil Crayon Blowout!

Superstore is clearing out the PC Green brand on pencil crayons.  24 for .50 cents!!  The lowest I've ever seen.  And if you divide them between 2 boxes that's .25 cents per box.  Last week when I checked they were $2.50 per box!  What a nice surprise.

If you missed the deadline to pack a box. You still have time to pack a box online:)
You can pick age and gender and add a personal note and upload a picture!
Why not bless a child today.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Boxing Day Sales

There are a few good Boxing Day Sales.

Canadian Tire
5 pack of KIS plastic shoe boxes for $5.99.
I've bought these before and they are good and strong.

And if you spend $60 you receive a $15 gift card.

Wal-mart
30 piece Rubbermaid Easy find Lids Set.
Containers are always a great addition to a box, and something which is greatly appreciated.
Barbie Princess or Fab life $5.00 each.

Superstore
1/2 price off selected toys.

I'm hoping there will be more unadvertised deals instore.

It's not too late..

Packing Party 2011

This post is long over due!  Sorry for the delay.

This was our Sunday School's second year packing boxes.

And my first year heading it up.

Last year we packed 75 boxes.  And this year our goal was 150.

Each Sunday we put an announcement in the bulletin about specific needs.

One week it was soap and wash cloths, the next week toys.

This seemed to work better than just asking for general donations.

Heading it up was an act of faith.

When we started in Sept we had no money to spend. I had been buying all year and had donated everything left over from packing my boxes at home.  But it was not nearly enough to fill 150 worth. So we trusted that God would provide.  And provide he did! Every week we would recieve donations in our donation box and also monetary donations.  And amazing deals were also placed in our path.

But how much do you need for filling 150 boxes?

Somethings were easy.  150 boxes= 150 toothbrushes, wash cloths, soap, school supplies,bags of candy etc.  But fillers were the challenge.  But we wanted to make sure all the boxes were full.  As each child will only recieve one box in their life time.

We set up the night before.  And thanks to the help of someone wonderful friends, a great husband and our kids, 2 1/2 hours later we were done.  All that was left to do was to pray.  Pray we had enough, pray that the kids would have a great morning filling boxes, that our kids would see it is better to give than to receive and pray for the precious children who will be receiving the boxes.

Sunday morning came.  And everyone was excited to see our fellowship hall filled with goodies to pack.

(Sorry the pictures are so yellow.  I edited them and now that I uploaded them they're yellow again.)

One of the best things we did was to give each child a shopping bag, to put their items in.  This was easier than carrying around their box, and they didn't have to go back to their box right away.  Which made things go a bit faster.

We had specific items that they had to include in their boxes.  And then the toys, jewlery, clothing, they could pick whatever they wanted.

And we ended up with boxes that we overflowing! 

Someone donated these wonderful pairs of shoes.  We had each child put their name into the draw for which ever pr of shoes they'd like to win for their box.  The kids thought this was fun.  They didn't know it when they were putting their name into the draw, but they won a small prize as well.

We had them fill out About Me Papers which you can find on the OCC Canada website.  They are great papers which the kids had fun filling out.  Next year we will have the kids fill these out at home, because we were really tight for time.  And with the younger ones, which was probably at least 1/3, couldn't do it on their own.

Once the boxes were filled, About me pages added, with pictures.  We closed them up.  Note to self, bring more rubber bands next year:)

Then we had the kids carry as many as they were able.

And the parents/volunteers carried the rest up to the front of the church, at the end of the worship service.

Where

Pictured below is our Sunday School superententant announing that the kids had just packed 196 boxes.

(We were quickly trying to count them, as they walked up.)

Everyone was extremly excited!

He also said that each box required a $7.00 donation. And we had spent all our money on filling the boxes. Believing that God would provide the donation money.  And he asked the congregation to help ship the boxes.

Then our pastor prayed over the boxes.

What a wonderful time of prayer it was!

Here is a group shot of our team!

We couldn't have done it without the church support,

the volunteers and the kids packing! 

A huge thank you to everyone!

And here are all the boxes after my mom and I went thru every box to make sure they all contained the "essential" items, and nothing unsuitable. 

In the end we packed 199 boxes!

And within 15 minutes of our church service being over, we had enough money, to ship them all!

To God Be The Glory!

I'd love to hear your shoe box stories!

Story After The Box

Collection week is over.

But this is a just the beginning of their journey!

I saw this video and loved it!  And had to share it with you.

Please continue to pray for each shoe box that it will arrive at the processing center safely.
That the shoe boxes will get to the right hands of the child.  And they will be accept Jesus as their savior.

Collection Week is over.  But the work continues. 
Check out these pictures that Theresa Brereton posted of the OCC warehouse in Cambridge, Ontario.

Look at these smiles!

Just think... YOU can bring smiles, just like this, to a child, by simply packing a box!!!

Plum Coulee Drop off

Just a reminder, if you live in the Plum Coulee area, you can drop off your boxes at the Tree Lighting ceremony tonight.

Check your Local Christian Book Store.

Check out your local Christmas Book Store. They usually have neat pencils, erasers, yo-yos, cars- that say Jesus loves you!   I also found pins on sale for .25 cents that say Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

Greyhound depots

Can't find a drop off location in your area?  Try a Greyhound depot. 
Many Greyhound depots and stops accept filled shoe boxes. In certain communities there is no Operation Collection Center so the only option is to send the boxes through Greyhound. Greyhound transports the boxes for free. However, some of the smaller Greyhound stops can only take a limited number of boxes at a time.

It's not too late to pack a box!!! Get your kids involved, go shopping, have some fun, bless a child!

National Collection Week Starts Today!!!!!!!!

You still have a week to pack your boxes!

You can find a Collection Site in your area by clicking here.

Last year 640,714 boxes were packed in Canada and almost 8.2 million were packed world wide! Help them reach their goals of 750,000 in Canada and 8.5 million worldwide! Each box makes a difference!

Source OCC Canada

Canadian Tire- sissors

The deals keep coming!  Just in time for collection week.

3 pack of sissor for .71 cents at Canadian Tire.

I'm guessing this is good until Thursday.

I opened up a pack and they're good quality.

Walmart Clearance.

Walmart is clearing out boys hats, they come in packs of 2 for $1.00.  The price was marked at $5.00 but I thought it was worth asking if they were marked down further. And they were $1.00.  Score!
Boys shorts and pants were on clerarance for $1.00.  I only found smaller sizes for 2-4 boxes for this price. 
They were also clearing out spoons.  3 for .50 cents.

Anyone else finding good deals these days?

I just got back from shopping.  And it warms my heart to see and hear people shopping for Operation Christmas Child!!  I am also excited when I go into a store and see that they have yet again run out of shoe boxes to hand out.  Praying that we meet our goal of 8,000 boxes for this area.  And 8.5 million worldwide.  (I need to double check that last number)

Check out this blog and see what the Falk family has packed in their boxes!

.89 cent Plastic Shoe Boxes at Home Depot

Home Depot has .89 cent plastic shoe boxes.
Check it out here

Great deals are all around us.

It's one week until Collection Week!

How exciting!  I finished up my boxes at home yesterday.

I just had to add my notes to my boxes.

Now I'm getting ready for our packing party on Sunday.

And I need to finish shopping for that.

And God always provides.

You never know where you are going to find a great deal.

Check online.

In our area we have a swap/buy on Facebook.

A friend sent me a message with a heads up on these this morning.

I just bought these 7 bags of brand new balls.

With 50 in each bag  for $1.00 a bag!

Thrift store are also another favorite place of mine.

Last week I picked up these puppets.

There were 16 in the bag, plus 2 other big pieces of new felt. 

They need some eyes, which we will attach yet, and a mouth. 

 But they were 16 for $1.00!

It's also great to have friends looking out for deals for you.

I'm thankful my friend sent me a message regarding the balls.

Friends can also be a great resource:)

Shoe Box Blitz in New York!

Did you catch them on Good Morning America? 
There is a Shoe Box Blitz going on in New York today.  Looks like it's a big party!
If you're on fb check the Operation Christmas Child fb page and Clip With Purpose fb page.  Lots of pictures and fun stuff going on!
Pray that even more boxes are packed and that it may bring people in New York city to Christ.

Here are a few videos from the day.

Add coloring pages

Add coloring pages to your box.  Every Sunday my son comes home from Sunday School with a coloring page.  He's not much into coloring so he adds them to our pile to add to our boxes.  You can also buy a coloring book and carefully cut the book apart and add the pages to your box.  Or there are a lot of sites online that you can print coloring pages from.  Just google coloring pages or Christian Coloring pages.
This is one of my favorites.

Immeasurably more than we ask of imagine!

This morning I prayed for great deals on shoe box packing items.  My boxes are done but I was asked to head up our packing party at church.  So on our small budget I asked God to let the money go far!  And God exceeded my expectations.  We drove to a different town known for their great thrift store. And great it was! I found  a few sets of brand new beads for .50 cents each.  And each set I was able to divide and will go into 2 boxes.  So .25 cents for beads for girls! And a whole bunch of other stuff, which I can't remember at the moment.  2 bags full for $8.00. 
Then we went to Fields.  This can be hit or miss.  But today it was great!!

They are clearing out Fruit of the Loom underwear.
3 prs of underwear for $1.00!  I have never seen underwear that cheap.  And it's good quality too.

And they were clearing out shoes/sandals.  All these were for a $1.00 each!  The lady asked if I was buying out the store:)

They were also clearing girls shirts for $1.00.

This verse kept running thru my mind this morning.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20.

Thank you Jesus for wonderful deals!

If you live in Southern Manitoba and are looking for pencil sharpeners, as Dollarama in our area is sold out, the dollar store in Altona has 6 pencil sharpeners for $1.00.  And also 3 pencil sharpeners for $1.00.  They also have marbles and a lot of other items that Dollarama is sold out of.

Happy Packing!

Sew a simple skit!

Chantalle Falk posted this on fb. It's an great project. 

Sewing simple little skirts out of bandanas is too much fun!

1 bandana for the front, 1 for the back, sew up the side seams, create a casing for elastic, add elastic and you are done! No hemming or finishing of seams required!

Thanks Chantalle!

About Me Page from OCC Canada.

Wanting to include your kids in writting a letter? 
Why not print this About Me page from Operation Christmas Child Canada, and let them fill it out.
Color it and decorate it.  Make it special.

Giant Tiger

I stopped by Giant Tiger this week and they had some items which were good value.
10 prs of socks for $5.00.  5 prs of girls underwears for $4.00 or 10 prs ofr $7.00.  They were also clearing out some of their school supplies.  I picked up some duotangs for .05 cents.  I'll put my loose leaf I purchase at back to school into them.

Envelopes.

If you're writting a personal letter and put it in an envelope.  Please do not seal it.
At the processing center, the volunteers will remove any money or OCC donation envelopes and put everything else back in the box -- but if the envelope is sealed it's not as easy for them to know if it's a letter/card or a donation.
Source OCC Canada

Free T-shirt

Offers like this do not come around very often here in Canada.

Buy specially marked Post Cereal-  Honeycombs, Shreddies, Alpha-bits and Sugar Crips.

Enter your code and they'll send you a free t-shirt!

We just finished a box of Honeycombs and I just ordered my t-shirt.

It says allow 8-10 weeks for delivery.

Now we just started Alph-bits.

So another t-shirt will be coming our way!

Running low on time?

Add a picture with a verse or some encouraging words to your box.

Now's the time to shop for Hard Candy

Now is the perfect time to pick up hard candy!
It's on sale 50% off at most places.

Rockets are allowed this year.
Tootsie Rolls are NOT.
But Tootsie Roll suckers are allowed.

Also remember to bag all candy placed in boxes.

Happy Shopping.

(Source OCC Canada)

Add a game

Kids love playing games.  Why not add a game!  I found these on clearance at Superstore for .94 cents.  The packaging makes it look like it would be too big for a shoe box.  But I bought one for my son.  And its all very flat and fits well in a box.  And he's had a great time playing with it.  And making up other games.  When adding a game remember playing cards and dice are NOT allowed.

Boys box

Another boys box.

Construction paper

Stickers

Crayons

Cup packed with underwear and washcloth.

Pencil case we sewed.  Filled with pens, pencils, erasers, pencil crayons, tape, sissors.

Toothbrush

Star stickers

Soap

Balloons

Cross my son made

Comb

Ring

Trucks

Animals

T-shirt

Flip Flops

Ball.

Candy will be added after Monday:)

I also need to finish writting my boys notes.



Boys Box

I've been packing boys boxes and here's a picture of one.
This one happened to take on a dinosaur theme with yellow and green.
Inside the box...
stickers
toothbrush
soap
crayons
notebook
underwear
dinosaurs to color
dinosaur picture my son found in one of this coloring books,
pencil case, which we made filled with pencils, pens, erasers, scissors,
dinosaur stuffed animal
yellow shirt
yo-yo
tic-tac-toe
cross - made by my son
cars
Need to add candy yet.  Which I'll get after halloween.
And a note and picture.

$7.00 donation

I've had a few people ask me what the $7.00 donation covers.

Here is what OCC Canada says...
What is the suggested $7.00 donation used for?
Thanks to the generous support of our folunteers and corporate partners across Canada and around the world, the Operation Christmas Child project is able to operate yearround based on a $7.00 donation per shoe box.  The donations are used to cover the cost of domestic and international shipping, to provide resources training to our volunteers who organize the collection and distribution of shoe boxes, to equip the local church in distributing countries with resources to provide further spiritual and physical aid, to raise awareness about the project in Canada that encourages people to pack gift-filled shoe boxes and volunteer.  Additional donations are used to cover unespected project costs and to hlep Samaritan's Purse provide additional humanitarian aid to children and their communities.

30 days until National Collection Week!
Have you started buying or packing?

Prayer Guide - Saturday

Pray for God's blessing on everyone involved, in Canada and overseas, in sharing the Gospel through Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.

School Supplies Marked down further at Superstore

All school supplies marked down to .44 cents are now marked down to .24 cents at Superstore!! 

Prayer Guide - Friday

Pray for the international churches as they teach children and families about the Good News of Jesus Christ.
(Source OCC Canada)

Operation Christmas Child Facebook page.

Have you checked out the Operation Christmas Child Canada facebook page.  Lots of great stuff!

You can also follow me thru facebook.   Packing Boxes of Love.

Happy packing.
Tammy

Superstore school supply clearance.

I thought my Superstore had sold/packed up all their sale school supplies.
But this week I found that they had just moved it, back with the other stationary.
BUT it was on the top shelf, not eye level.
I found they still had 10 packs of pens on clearance for .44 cents.
Multi pack of erasers for .35 cents.
Pencil cases .94 cents.

Smile Makers

(Source OCC)

This is one of my favorite pictures!

Look at the big smile on his face.

I have sent these glasses with noses before, but unfortunetly that is not my box.

Anyone else always look at pictures checking to see if that is their box they sent?

This picture reminded me to go out and buy more glasses, to bring more smiles.

I found mine at walmart.  They are usually in the party supply section.

But this time I found mine in the summer clearance, even though they weren't a clearance item.

6 pairs for $1.00.

A small price for a big smiles.

Prayer Guide - Thursday

(Source OCC Canada)

Pray that God will meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the children who receive shoe boxes, and their families.

Walmart- sponge balls

Walmart is clearing out there summer stock.

There wasn't too much left at my Wal-mart location.

But I did score these sponge balls.

Regular $1.00 each on sale for .25 cents.

Prayer Guide- Wednesday

Pray for the physical and spiritual protection of all Operation Christmas Child staff, volunteers, and ministry partners.

 (source OCC Canda)

Prayer Guide - Tuesday

(source OCC Canada)

Pray that God will provide an increase in shoe boxes so that more children around the world can hear about Christ.

The impact shoe boxes have are huge.  A box can change a childs life, but it also effects the family and the community! Would you consider packing an extra box this year?

HAITI: Reading The Greatest Gift of All, a booklet that tells the story of Jesus, offered to children when culturally acceptable at shoe box distribution events.

Source OCC facebook page.

This picture went along so well with the prayer guide today.

I just had to post it.

Thanks to OCC Canada for posting a link to my blog today!

You can also like my fb page, to stay updated.

Prayer Guide-Monday

(Source OCC Canada)

MONDAY- Pray that every child who receives a shoe box will hear, understand and respond to the Good New of Jesus Christ.

I don't know about you.  But I LOVE seeing pictures of children receiving boxes and learning about Jesus!  Look at the smiles on their faces.  When OCC Canada sent these to me I couldn't help but smile.
I hope they put a smile on your face too. 

This Little Light of Mine, I'm Gonna let it Shine.

Sorry about being MIA.  It was a busy week.  Although all weeks leading up to Christmas probably will be.  The weather has been beautiful.  And Christmas is creeping up on us.  I saw that Shoe Boxes were out at our Dollarama location!  YEA!  That means collection week is just around the corner.

 

We had our Shoe Box kick off at our church this morning. 

 It's great to see 3 and 4 year olds excited about packing boxes for other children.

This afternoon my boys were doing fun fusion.

I'm not sure if that's what they're called but that's what our bucket says.

Anyways my boys were playing around.  And my oldest said, mommy don't look.

And when I could look he showed me he had come up with a cross.

I loved the idea.

And what started out as one cross.  Ended up being a days project for them.

They wanted to make enough for each child in their Sunday School class to add to their boxes.

And then they couldn't stop:)

But the thing he was most proud of was that all the centers were made with glow beads.

So that even in the dark, the cross will shine!

It reminded me that even though this world has so much darkness,

God's light always shines, it never goes out.

And now I have This little light of Mine stuck in my head.

What crafts have you done with your kids that you will add to your boxes?

Prayer Guide- Sunday

I received a Prayer Guide in my Group Kit from Operation Christmas Child.

I had never seen one before.  Or maybe I should say I have never taken note.
On the back side it has the days of the week and then different prayers.
This week I'll be sharing those.

SUNDAY- Praise God for the incredible way that He is working through the church and shoe box gifts to share the Gospel, both in Canada and around the world.

2-4 boy

Wooden people and book - $1.00 - Dollarama

Underwear - .60   - Walmart - 5 Pairs for $3.00 clearance in April.

Visor - .50 cents - clearance can't remember where.

Wooden Airplane - .25 cents - Target clearance after Christmas

T-shirt - $1.94- Superstore summer clearance

Cup - .25 cents - Dollarama 4 for $1.00

Stuffed Animal - .25 cents - thrift store

Crayons -.75 cents - Walmart

Eraser -.18 cents - Superstore 5 pack for .94 cents

Pencils -.05 cents - Superstore 10pack for .10 cents

Pencil Sharpener- .25 cents - Dollarama 4 pack for $1.00

Lose leaf -.04 cents - Superstore

Wash Cloth- .33 cents - Giant Tiger.  3 pack for $1.00

Soap- .30 cents - Superstore.  10 pack for $2.99

Stickers - $1.00 Dollarama

Flip Flops - $1.00 - Old Navy

Toothbrush .20 cents - Dollarama.  5 pack for $1.00

Total $8.59





Shoppers Drug Mart

Marked down some of their school supplies. 

Making your Jump Ropes.

Clip with a Purpose posted a link to making your own jump ropes.

Another Girl 10-14 Box