Sobey's Gift Card

Starting today (February 28th) until March 2nd, if you spent $100 at Sobey's, you get a free $10 Sobey's Gift Card.  While Sobey's mostly carries groceries, they also carry some items that could go in a shoe box: bar soap, toothbrushes, hard candy...  So if you're in the habit of shopping there anyway, why not make a point of stopping in this weekend, stocking your pantry and picking up a free gift card that you can use towards shoe boxes?!

More Dolls

Tracey from my Shoebox Committee at church found these dolls at Dollar Tree.  I like them because their outfits are modest.  I have seen other cute dolls similar size but their outfits were fairly skimpy.  These dolls are great because you can comb and do their hair.  That was always my favorite part of playing dolls;)

Prison Shoebox Distributions

Saturday, January 11th we were able to go into the Mazatlan prison and do 2 Shoebox distributions. One was for the guards children, and the other one was for the prisoners children. We had very specific rules.  Which included no cameras or cell phones.  That day of we found out that we would be allowed one camera inside the prison.  We were so excited to be able to capture this time and to be able to share our experience with others.

 It is a mens only jail.  The couple from our church work closely with the prison and go in weekly.

 

Here we are getting instructions and also hearing amazing stories of how God is working in the prison. 

The first distribution we did was for the prison guards children.  It was so important for them to be there to hear truth!  We were told that the guards worship death and make packs with the grimm reaper.  Just thinking about it makes me shiver.

Isaiah 55:11 So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

We pray that the seeds that were planted will continue to grow! And relationships with our Creator will be built.

The awesome youth team doing their drama.

Explaining that the greatest gift is not clothes or a trip but Jesus Christ!

 Our Canadian group plus the youth group from Mazatlan doing a skit together.  Even though there was a language barrier, friendships were made.

Time for the boxes!  

 

These boys could hardly wait to open their boxes.

Group photo time!

Helping open the boxes.  That tape is really strong!

It was neat to see the mom's getting excited about what was in the box.

After this we moved into the heart of the prison for our second distribution- this one was for the prisoners families.  Saturday is visiting day.  And children are allowed into the prison.  Which opened the door for us to do the distribution and allowed us to bring our children along as well.  What an amazing opportunity for everyone!    

 

My husband had planned on going into the prison during the week, and I had planned to stay back with our boys as no children were allowed.  And then the possibility of a distribution was mentioned earlier in the week. And I am so thankful that God opened this door.  All the distributions were special.  But the one in the prison was where we felt the presence of the Lord the most.    

 

We walked through a long path with chain link fence on both sides of us and barbed wire on top. There were prisoners on the other side of the fence.  Most were all friendly. A lot of them looked hopeless.  And then we came to a large open area which had a soccer field and a large open aired  gazebo type building. This is where we would be doing the distribution.

 

 

 Here we had a time of worship, for the prisoners and their families.

This lady looked so incredibly sad. Here we had the opportunity to bring hope not just to the children, but to the parents as well. 

 

 To see the prisoners lift their hands, sing and worship God was amazing!  God is doing a mighty work in the church that is in the prison!

The youth preforming their skit. 

The skit had some funny parts and it was fun to see everyone having a good time.  Laughter is a beautiful sound.

 

Isn't she cute!

Group photo time!

 

To see joy in the children's eyes as well as the parents, was beautiful. 

 

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

 

So thankful for this amazing opportunity.  I have had people ask if we felt safe.  We felt complete peace taking our children into the prison and while we were in there we felt very safe.  We felt God near to us. Especially in the heart of the prison.  And we pray that others were touched by the hand of God as well.  We pray the truth told in message, song and skits were seeds that will grow into a beautiful relationship with the one true God! And that the hopelessness will be replaced with the Hope of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Kids Tableware from Ikea

These cups,bowls and plates from Ikea are something I have bought for years - for my own kids as well as for baby gifts.  I love the bright colors and the price is right too.  $1.99 for a set of 6 cups, bowls, or plates.
I have recently started adding the cups to my Operation Christmas Child Shoe boxes.  At .33 cents a piece, they're perfect.



Another idea would be to include some of this flatware.  An 18 piece set is $1.99.  That makes a set of one fork, knife and spoon .33 cents.

One of the great things about these items is that they would suit either gender and every age category.   Perfect!

Dolls

I had been praying for Dolls after seeing so many girls eyes light up when they received a doll.

  And Friday at Dollar Tree I these dolls for $1.25!

Stickers!

When scrapbooking became all the rage, back in the day, I was into it big time.  I think I spent as much time shopping for supplies as I did actual scrapbooking.  So I accumulated a lot of "stuff". 

I have since moved onto digital scrapbooking, which doesn't require me to store anything other than my computer.  And I like that.
But I also still have a lot supplies left over.  And some of those supplies are perfect for shoe boxes.  Like stickers!

I haven't gone through everything yet, but here's a small pile that I've started.  I don't plan on using any partial sticker sheets, only the full ones.  And these animal ones are perfect!
I'm thinking that there's other scrapbookers out there than have stuff to purge.  I know I saw a large box of supplies donated to my local thrift store a few weeks ago and I bet there's more out there!  So keep your eyes open!  Or just look in your own closet.  ;)

DIY Melted beads

There are so many great DIY Projects out there.
   I came across this today on The 36th Avenue Blog

I have never seen or heard of melting beads.  It looks easy, but sounds like a project for Spring when we can open the windows.  But I am looking forward to trying this.

Has anyone ever tried this project?  Did it work?

DIY Soap Pouches

Thank you Vanessa for sharing how you made 25 soap pouches out of one bath towel!

What an awesome project!

You can learn about it here.