Victory in Jesus!

In my downtime this month from OCC, I have been trying to catch up on some reading and set some new personal goals for 2012.  One of the best books that I have begun reading is “Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce Meyer.  So far I have a lot of things underlined and highlighted and I am only up to chapter 6.

While reading I came across a verse that I have read hundreds of times and could probably almost quote word for word, yet it has never spoken to me as it did the other day.  I started really looking at the words and wondering how I could get these thoughts, these things God wants me to think on, really into my head.  You see, our minds are the battlefield.  What we think is what we do and what we say! If God doesn’t have control of my mind and what I think, then how can I expect Him to show through me?  

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

Hmmm, yeah I get that, but what does it all mean?  I decided to dig a little deeper and get out the ole Webster’s Dictionary and pick the words apart. (My preacher friends and professors in college would be so proud!)

Phil. 4:8

true - in accordance with fact or reality; without deviation

noble - possessing very high or excellent qualities

right - being in accordance with what is just, good and proper

pure - free from moral fault or guilt

lovely - delightful for beauty, harmony and grace

admirable - deserving of highest esteem

excellent - superior, eminently good

praiseworthy - laudable, commendable, to recommend as worthy of confidence or notice

So now here is what Philippians 4:8 is saying: Instead of listening to the lies of the world, this is what God wants us to think about - Whatever is in accordance with fact, without deviation; whatever is possessing very high qualities; whatever is in accordance with what is just, good and proper; whatever is free from moral fault or guilt; whatever is delightful for beauty, harmony and grace; whatever is deserving of the highest esteem; whatever is superior or eminently good; and whatever is laudable, commendable, or recommended as worthy of your confidence of notice.

God gives us so much to be thinking about that there shouldn’t be time for the devil to interject his lies.  Is this an easy task?  Of course not, it takes practice. It takes time. It takes grace for ourselves! It takes effort.  Moment by moment; day by day; thought by thought.  Hey, I'm just starting ...  

We have an ace in the hole, though! God knows we cannot do this on our own! He is just waiting, patiently, for us to ask for His help. He want us to be thinking on Him and the things that please Him, for He knows the freedom that awaits us, the victory!  He’s is chomping at the bit to help, to guild, to speak, to comfort, to counsel us.  All we have to do is ask. That’s it! No conditions, no trials, no tests, no hurtles … just ask.

One of the biggest lies that I have discovered satan has been working on me for years and years, since my childhood, has already been shown to me by God through this process.  That is in the area of prayer.  The stronghold that satan has had over me has gone something like this, “Your prayers are not good enough. You haven’t asked forgiveness for your sins enough or in the correct way. Your theology is all wrong so your prayers can’t reach God, He won’t listen. You prayed in the wrong order and your attitude is not perfect. Why bother? You know you’re going to just commit that same sin again so why should God believe that you are sorry and forgive you? You’re not feeling God, so He’s not listening. You are such a mess and so full on imperfections that God just can’t be reached by you. You’re on your own!” 

This has been the conversation in my mind, little by little, since I was a child kneeling every night in prayer with my family.  I remember vividly being about 10 years old or so and having one of those nightly family prayer times.  I said something when it was my turn to pray that my father thought was not theologically correct.  He stopped me mid prayer and lectured for 20 minutes … all of us still kneeling … before I was forced to continue and finish my time “talking” to God.  This happened over and over! I was a child! Why would I want to pray as an adult if I can't do it perfectly?

Thus began the lies of the devil.  Those lies have built up thought by thought since that time.  Satan doesn't hit us, wham, with his lies. He's very clever and he is very, very patient.  He is willing to invest the time it takes, years, to make us ineffective, unusable and unhappy children of God.  I know it will take God reminding me over and over and over to come to Him as a child - not the child kneeling in fear of being wrong - but the child as He created me. He just wants to hear from me. He just wants me to speak to Him and then listen so He can speak to me because He has so much He’s been dying to tell me!!

What lies have you been listening to?

No more lies. It is time to find victory in Jesus. Because, my friends, once you do, once you surrender and start believing in the Truth, satan can no longer follow.  God WILL take us through the door where He alone can reach us! Will we have setbacks? Sure - we are human and we do live in the world. BUT we won’t believe the lie that we have failed! 

Victory in Jesus - not just a song to me anymore.

Learning to Surrender

I love, Lord, how you bring verses to me at just the right time.  You touched me with these three and I want to know why.  I don’t know what you have for me, but I want to follow wherever it leads me.  I’m human, so I will admit that it scares me a bit.  What if I can’t do it? What is I don’t have the words? I am without much courage … but it occurs to me that you haven’t called me to serve you because I’m so amazing, but because You are.  All I have to do is show up and be obedient and have a willing heart.  Will I make mistakes? Yep. Will I stumble? Yep. Will I have periods of doubt? Only if I give satan purchase and remove my focus on You.

So find me willing and obedient and present; and thank you, Lord, for the journey and the teachable moments along the way, even before I take the first step.


Ps. 10:17 - "Lord, you know the hope of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them."
Prov. 8:17 - "I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me."
Rm. 10:14 - "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"

Just .... WOW!

Ok, so I am not often awestruck by people that I meet ... not really.  Not the fainting, wet your pants kind of thing ... usually, but today was certainly an exception!!

I am in Atlanta, Georgia working at the Operation Christmas Child Processing Center inspecting and, of course, praying over and touching as many boxes as possible, before they are put into cartons and forwarded to 5.8 children around the world.  My brain does not hold the words that would be necessary to give you the feelings, the atmostphere, the relationships that make up the Processing Center!  It is an experience like no other and is one that must be felt in person!

So today we are just processing our little bodies away and we realize we've worked for three hours and need a lunch break, and, of course, the bathroom! So I'm standing in line at the ladies room (ok, really, why is it we can send men to the moon but we can't build bathrooms in buildings to accommodate the fact that we, as girls, pee a LOT???)  Anyway, so I see a man walk by and I think, "Oh wow, that was Randy Riddle."  Nah, it can't be. Why in the world would Mr. Third only to Franklin Graham, Mr. OCC himself, be in Atlanta Processing Center?  A few minutes later, no lie, my mouth falls open and I turn to Debbi ... "Holy crap! That IS Randy Riddle!!!"

We have lunch. Go back to the line and on my way I ask Kate.  "Did I really just see Randy?"  Sure enough, not only is he in the house, but so is Jim Harrelson ... Mr. SECOND man to Franklin Graham and even bigger Mr. OCC!  Ok, now I'm really in awe! 

I kid you not, 30 minutes later, this is what happened ...

I did actually keep my pants dry, but it was not easy!  Ok, all humor aside, let me just tell you that Randy and Jim are the most humble, down to earth and fantastic men! They clearly have a love and passion for Operation Christmas Child, and even as important, for the volunteers.  They did do the usual "hi, how are you", but stood talking with me for over 20 minutes! Right in the middle of the Processing Center!  My respect for these two men just skyrocketed to a whole new level ...

Anyway, so obviously it was a very good day here in Atlanta. I'm tired, blissfully so, therefore you'll have to excuse this crudely created post, but ...

It would only be topped by Franklin Graham himself ... there just wouldn't be any dry pants ...

Hope for the Hopeless

It is time for one of my favorite things to do every year ... PROCESS!  No, I don't mean something as lofty as sitting with my coffee and contemplating life, but working in the Operation Christmas Child Processing Center.  There are 7 across the U.S. and this year, we are headed to Atlanta, Georgia.

Though I love the activity, the work, the travel, the companionship of 1,000 other volunteers as obsessed (uh ... passionate) about OCC as I am, that's really not what is on my mind this morning, just hours from leaving for the airport.  I am thinking this morning about being hopeless.

We live in a country with such abundance.  I've been in several conversations just in the past week about what it is to be in need.  I like to think that I can grasp what it is to be needy, to be truly hopeless, but I cannot, and neither can you!  I hear excuse after excuse from people every year about why they don't pack shoeboxes for children who live in some of the most forgotten parts of our world.  "We have so much need here in the United States."  "There are so many children here in our own country that we need to help."  Yes, those things are definitely true!

What I am talking about is true hopelessness.  There are children, 3, 4, 5 year olds, living on their own because their parents have died of AIDS; 12, 13 and 14 year olds out on the streets, or in garbage dumps, scrounging for food for themselves and their families because war has completely ravaged their village and there is nothing left; children of all ages who are sick themselves from diseases easily cured by antibiotics here in the States, but a death sentence in Africa, living out their remaining days in a "hospital"; tiny boys and girls in orphanages who have been left, and are unloved -- with no solution for any of these circumstances. No government program; no church doing a "mission project" to help; no community raising money to meet the need ... hopeless.

I received this verse in an email this week:  Psalm 10:17, "Lord, You know the hopes of the hopeless. Surely You will hear their cries and comfort them."  God knows where every shoebox is going - every single one!  He has a plan for how the needs of each single child will be met.  Will the items in the box change the physical circumstances of these children? No, of course not.  But God will use those items to bring hope ... HIS hope.  Just knowing that, finding comfort in that, the peace that comes from knowing HIM, is what will change each child.

Hopeless to hopeful.  Wow!

Pray for those of us traveling today.  Pray for each and every single shoebox we will process in the next few days.  Pray for hundreds of thousands of little boys and girls who KNOW the definition of hopeless, that they will meet my Jesus in their shoebox and find freedom, peace, love and HOPE in Him.

"... how can they believe if they have not heard, and how can they hear if no one preaches ..."
(Rm. 10:14)

Use me, Lord, to preach, so every child will hear, and every child will believe!!!!!!

Grateful Praise

Thank you, Lord, for your provision during National Collection Week! Thank you for good friends, safety of those bringing shoeboxes, generous hearts that packed boxes and for the record breaking response here in Northern Kentucky this year!  I ask, God, that you are already preparing the 14,886 hearts that will hear about Your hope, Your peace, Your freedom, Your love because the people of Northern Kentucky sacrificed for 14,886 children they'll never meet this side of heaven.  I ask that these 14,886 "seeds" fall on fertile soil and that your harvest is ABUNDANT!

I come to you today with grateful praise for the power you have shown in the last few weeks.  I am grateful to you, Lord, for binding satan along the way and for reminding me that YOU are in control and already know what is coming!

"Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord."                 Ps. 150:6

"The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him."           Ex. 15:5

As the trailers pull away from our Collection Center in Alexandria this morning, and as another OCC year comes to an end, I am very reflective.  Yesterday, my dear friend and "sister", Debbi, reminded me that God has blessed this area and my team in so many, many ways.  That we have been praying all along that God would have us send the shoeboxes He purposed for us and that He needed from us.

So, in the spirit of Gratefully Praising God this morning, here's how He has worked in us this year:

• 14,886 Gospel Opportunities - a 7.8% increase over 2010 (13,810) and 1,076 more shoeboxes and also a new all-time high record for NKY!
• I still have two groups of Collection Center paperwork to enter into the database, but already we added 5 new community groups and 18 new churches participating in OCC for 2011!!!  That already blows our goal away!
• We added 5 new team members with the potential of 2 more already in talks
• We added a Media Coordinator, a Prayer Coordinator and will most likely add a Community Relations Coordinator after the first of the year!
• We added a new County for our area - Gallatin County, and
• A new Relay Center for that new County - Warsaw Baptist Church, and
• An energetic and full out fun lady to Coordinate that Center - LoraMae Sullivan (you'll see more of her in 2012, I predict!)
• We saw a few churches across our area break unbelieveable shoebox records:
• Walton First Baptist - 160 in 2010 to 511 in 2011!
• Latonia Baptist Church (Go, Doris!) - 500 in 2010 to 605 in 2011 - out of her house!
• Oak Ridge Baptist Church - 1,074 in 2010 to 1,533 in 2011!
• Calvary Baptist Church - 12 in 2010 to 145 in 2011!
• Team unity and organization.  In 2011 this group of people working at multiple purposes and separate and apart really came together in their love of this ministry and grew as a family that loves each other and is excited to see one another when we get together!
• We were fortunate to increase the speaking opportunities in our area:
• Churches
• TV appearance for Doris and myself!
• Latonia Small Business Association
• We were able to have booths at several community events:
• The anniversary celebration of Potter's Ranch
• The Pumpkin Festival in Warsaw, Kentucky
• The Fair in Gallatin County (where we picked up our RC!)
• We had record attendance at our Countdown Event in September!  We increased attendance over 2010 from 114 to around 140 for this year!
• We sent out 309 letters during Affirmation Campaign saying "thank you" to churches, community groups and individuals who participated in OCC for 2010!
• We had 8 of our team members attend our annual Connect Conference - training in all things OCC!
• We had our first annual Prayer Walk (Drive) to every Relay Center and our Collection Center.  We prayed for NCW as well as the other ministries and staff at each location.

I dare someone to say we didn't meet our goals!  We not only met them, God blew them away!

Satan - 0

God- 14,886 and counting!!!!

Yes, we had a lot of adversity this year in our personal lives ... family members passing away, illness, some turmoil in our Regional Office, tough work environments and circumstances, etc., but God blessed over and over and over again even in the midst of those distractions!  

God wins! He is faithful.  We serve a mighty and powerful Savior! 

He deserves praise for all the things that were accomplished in Northern Kentucky for 2011.  For HE is the reason we serve; reaching children across the world for Jesus is our purpose and our goal!  

I can't wait to stand before my Lord and be surrounded in 14,886 faces that are there with me because Northern Kentucky heeded God's call to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Mt. 28)

Rest up, everyone! 2012 is just around the corner and this tired mind is already awhirl with ideas!!!

Love to you all and THANK YOU for all the sacrifices, the time, the talents, the shopping, the wrapping, the packing, the working in collection to make the 14,886 Gospel Opportunities possible!

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  I Thessalonians 5:18

Wherever He leads ...

I have a lady in my church that has been offered an opportunity to write her story of her journey with OCC for a money saving website.  It's an amazing opportunity for her and it got me to thinking about my own journey, and that of my church, in this ministry.  It's good, I think, to look back at times and see where God has brought me so that when I am down in a valley I can remember that He never left me and He won't at that time, either!  So here goes ...

In 2001, my friend, Angie, and I were teaching MissionKids on Wednesday nights.  I can't remember now if this was our first year teaching or our second, but we decided it was time to clean out the classroom.  As with any church, there are rooms that seem to become the collection sites of anything that doesn't really have a home and there were 2 huge cabinets in our classroom that had become such places!  Armed with large, heavy duty trash bags and lots of energy, we attacked the room!  It didn't take long to fill our trashbags with junk and our hair with dust, but the job was about done.

We were down to the last shelf or so and we found a brochure.  It was green and red with a photo of a child holding a Christmas present.  The brochure was titled "Operation Christmas Child".  Hmmm, we thought, we need a Christmas project for the kids.  As we read the brochure, God began tugging at our hearts and we knew this would be an easy and fun missions opportunity for the kids - a great lesson in giving back!

Today I cannot remember what we packed, what we wrapped or even how we got the job done, but I know we packed 138 shoeboxes.  Talk about excited!  So, we had such great success the first year, why not do it again!  Year after year we would gear up for Operation Christmas Child in the fall and year after year God blessed our kids, our congregation and, of course, us!

Angie and I were fortunate that first year to be invited to take part in a trip to Boone, North Carolina to the Processing Center where many of the shoeboxes in this part of the United States end up for inspection.  I look back now in wonder at two ladies hopping a bus at 6:00 in the morning only knowing each other and not even knowing each other all that well!  We had no idea what God had in store for us on that trip!

To this day I cannot describe what we saw when we walked through the doors of that Processing Center.  Enormous posters lined the walls and hung from the ceiling - all smiling faces of children hugging their shoeboxes; the "smiling faces" song that was popular for OCC that year playing over and over until you just couldn't hold back emotions any more.  God was definitely in that place.  I can remember Angie and I turning to each other, eyes wide, as it started to sink in a little that we had "stumbled" into something fantastic!

Our first job at the Center was not glamorous.  Of course, we were so excited, we just didn't care!  We had the arduous task of sorting and boxing through the inappropriates - glass, liquids, food and chocolate, war toys, etc. that are removed from the shoeboxes and replaced with more appropriate items.  All items that come out of these shoeboxes are put to use in other places, but they must first be sorted.  Not an easy job or easy on the back.

I can remember the first time we were allowed to walk up to the inspection table and reach behind us and pull out a box from the bin and open it up and inspect it for some of those inappropriates!  Between the awe and wonder of what God was doing right there in front of us and that heart tugging song playing over and over - WE WERE HOOKED!  And ... we've never looked back.

A few years later God led Angie to another church and I lost my OCC partner, but she was with me when God started something amazing in our hearts and I have missed her every year since.  But over time, God brought other people in our church to work alongside me in this ministry and it has grown into something that doesn't even resemble what it was that first year we packed 138 shoeboxes.  This year, 2011, we will pack over 1,500 shoeboxes!!  Actually, that is not the truth ... GOD will pack that many shoeboxes - that many Gospel Opportunties to share His Son with children all around the world.

Creating that many "seeds" to be used by distribution teams in over 100 countries around the world, to 8.2 million children who are the forgotten, the children trying to live in some of the world's darkest places, would be enough, but, again, God had other plans!

In 2008 while delivering our shoeboxes to the Collection Center, the Coordinator at the time turned to me and said, "Have you ever thought of doing more? Have you ever considered being a Relay Center?"  I have to stop and give you a bit of background.  God is so funny!!  While driving to the Collection Center that day, I turned to the lady who was with me and told her how I felt God was leading me to do more with Operation Christmas Child but that I didn't know what.  I told her of the desire He'd placed in my heart to take a step of faith into something that He'd been preparing me for.  So, you can just imagine the look on my face just a few moments later when the comment, "Have you ever considered ...." was uttered!  I love when God answers us so loudly and so immediately.

Of course, I couldn't say "yes" fast enough!  So in 2009 Oak Ridge became a Relay Center for OCC and I it's coordinator.  So very cool, but, you guessed it, that wasn't all.  That spring I was also given the opportunity to become the Church Relations Coordinator for the Northern Kentucky area team of OCC.  There was a lot of paperwork and organizing, both right up my alley!

I enjoyed Church Relations very much through most of 2010, but in the late summer of that year, God began talking to me again.  This time about leading the NKY team! Me? Lead? Surely there is someone a lot more qualified to do such a thing!  But, by January 2011, I was Area Coordinator of Northern Kentucky and I wouldn't have traded this past year for the world! I am the luckiest of girls because I have now 17 other people who love OCC, who love Jesus, who love the children around the world whom they'll never see, as much as I do, and we work tirelessly together to spread OCC through 7 counties in NKY!  I've met and worked with some of the most amazing people and cannot wait to see what God does through this opportunity to serve in the next year!

So, my own ministry has gone through a lot of changes, but so has the ministry at Oak Ridge.  God has brought people in and out, but each person has left their mark.  2012 will bring more changes, but good ones.  We have a lady in our church who has a heart for homemade items that some of our older members, who can't do as much of the shopping and the wrapping and the physical labor that goes into a project of this size, can do so they leave their mark on these shoeboxes.

God has brought another lady along to form a relationship with a local clothing store that has graciously agreed to keep shoeboxes coming our way all year long!  She picks them up, keeps up with the count and makes sure these boxes get wrapped for the fall when we start filling these gifts.

God has brought a small group of ladies that love to shop and find the best deals - even the free items - to make sure that we had not just a quantity of boxes, but a good quality of boxes!

God has taken a group of women in our church that didn't know each other very well and made them into a team - a team that loves reaching children for Jesus and loves serving the Lord all while bonding together as Sisters in Christ.

Last year when I took over leadership of the NKY area team, God brought my "sister", Debbi Mallory, to take over coordinating our Relay Center!  She is an amazing asset to the team and a dear friend to work closely with me!

I don't know where God will take this ministry He began so many years ago at Oak Ridge Baptist Church, and in the hearts of two lowly MissionsKids workers, but I'm ready for what He has.  "Wherever He leads, I'll go. I'll follow my Christ who loves me so. Wherever He leads, I'll go!"

I just want to serve my Savior in the way He calls me.  If I'd been called to be a packer of shoeboxes, a seed-maker, I was honored.  But He wasn't finished with me yet and He wasn't finished with Oak Ridge, either!

As I've said a lot lately, I'm a very, very lucky girl!  Don't you think???

Mid-Week Recap

Things have been so nuts lately, that I haven't had much opportunity to sit down and collect my thoughts and write.  Not because there has been nothing to say, but because there always is!


I have been very fortunate in the last week or two to go around Northern Kentucky to different churches and be a part of packing parties and events.  It is always neat to see how each church promotes this ministry and puts their shoeboxes together.  I usually steal at least one idea from each one and take it back to my own church!  Trust me, nobody minds, because they steal from me as well!

I have a lady, Doris, who is part of the congregation at Latonia Baptist Church.  She is also on my full-time ministry team serving through Church Relations.  She is an incredible woman and opens her house every year to Operation Christmas Child.  Now, Latonia Baptist is no small church, but instead of storing, sorting, wrapping and packing supplies for their shoeboxes in their church, they do all this work out of her house.  Last year I was able to get a look at her setup, which was incredible, but this year I was asked to actually help pack some of her boxes! What an opportunity.  For two weeks out of the year, every surface in her house, except her bed, is covered in supplies for the shoeboxes.  Her stove and kitchen is covered in stuffed animals. Two of her bedrooms are divided into boy and girl and covered in toys, soap and toothpaste, stickers, underwear and socks and all kind of other things. Her living room in set up for 2-4 year old boxes and finished boxes. Her dining room is where I stopped for candy and putting my label on my boxes!  


Here are a few photos to show what I mean:

The boy bedroom.

Doris (on the left) in the girl bedroom.

Completed box central!

Ms. Doris and her church packed 605 shoeboxes out of her home this year!  Way to go, Doris.  It is always such a privilege to serve Jesus and the children of the world with this dear lady. I have grown very fond of her and cannot wait to see how God uses her in 2012!!

My next stop last week was to Beaverlick Baptist Church where Kenny and Sue Richerson are Relay Coordinators.  They are, like Doris, full-time volunteers for OCC and a lot of fun, too!  In the past their church has taken home shoeboxes and brought them back filled or they've had a small group come in and fill a few boxes.  This year Sue opened the packing party up to the church and wasn't really expecting very many people.  Take a look at what God did:

It is hard to tell from my photo, but there were 27 people packing shoeboxes!

This beautiful lady stood at that spot for 2 hours bagging school supplies.

Kenny and Sue and a very happy AC!

Beaverlick packed 126 shoeboxes in this one night!  I heard a lot of comments about how much fun people were having and that they'd like to do this again next year!  Hey, serving God IS fun!!!

My last two packing parties were at my own church on Saturday.  Scott High School has a National Honor Society type club that wanted to do something for OCC.  They came to the church and I put them right to work wrapping up supplies and filling candy bags!  They were cracking me up asking when they would get to pack some shoeboxes, but I told them they had to work first! It was great getting to share about this amazing ministry with a whole new generation of volunteers.  Here they are:

 

And last, but not least in any way, was the final packing party and wrap up of the shoeboxes in my own church!  I am very blessed to attend a church with fantastic, Christ following ministers who fully support Operation Christmas Child!  We work on shoeboxes all year long and God has blessed us abundantly!  This year we were able to put together 1415 Gospel Opportunties so far and it's not because of anything I did or we did, but what GOD did!  

God has been working in an amazing way here in Northern Kentucky.  In the hearts of the full-time volunteer team that keeps the ministry operating and growing in these 7 counties; in the hearts of Project Leaders in the area churches who felt the call to participate again this year and even increase their numbers; in the volunteer spirit of the communities and businesses, schools and even hair salons across our area to take part in something that is completed a world away.  

I've believed for some time that God is preparing us for a new Great Awakening, a world wide revival of His people, and that He is going to do this through the children of the world!  These young hearts that He is already speaking to that will be receiving one of the shoeboxes we are preparing and collecting this week here in Northern Kentucky.  I believe God will raise up passionate preachers out of these shoebox recipients; that churches will be planted and souls won for Christ; that families will be restored through the mercy and grace of our Savior; that God's Kingdom will grow and that the harvest will be great!

I told someone not too long ago that I cannot wait to be face to face with my Savior and be surrounded in the fruit that comes from these seeds that we've created and sent!  

Keep packing my friends!  National Collection Week continues to be amazing and goals are being met and surpassed all around us.  We are praying for 15,000 shoeboxes out of our area, not because of the number, not because of any efforts on our part, but because and only because of what God is doing in His people in Northern Kentucky!

See, told you, I am the luckiest girl on the planet!!

Beautiful Feet

Wow, this has been an incredible week ... following an incredible year!
Day one of National Collection Week was outstanding here in Northern Kentucky! God has been very busy multiplying all over the place. 
If you have been putting off packing your shoeboxes, now is the time! We will be collecting them through next Monday.
I will have more to post later, but for now I leave you with my very favorite Scripture:
Romans 10:14-15
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?  As it is written:  "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
Don't you love that? From one beautiful pair of feet to another, keep the boxes coming!

The Watched Pot ...

Most of the things I write about are Operation Christmas Child related - it's what I do and who I am - but on this rather dreary Friday morning, I have the funniest story. Let me begin by saying that if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at???

After I took Lauren to school this morning I was trying to decide what I would do with my day. It's cold and overcast so going out didn't sound appealing. Cleaning house is one of my least favorite activities, so I easily talked myself out of that! I decided it was the perfect day to watch movies and wrap shoeboxes in the living room floor. (Oh, ye of little faith. You thought I wouldn't sneak OCC in here somewhere!) But first, I needed some breakfast. Now, those of you who know me, know I am not a breakfast person. I have been told six million times by my Yoda Dana to eat breakfast every day and I'd feel better and have more energy. But, alas, my head is extraordinarily thick! This morning, however, I was actually hungry! A hard boiled egg sounded perfect.

I went to the refrigerator and, sure enough, we have eggs - 8, in fact. Lauren, my daughter, loves hard boiled eggs, so why not just cook all 8! I prepared the pan with salt and the eggs and filled it with water, turned on the burner and got the cooking process started.

Here is where I goofed. I got distracted. I started reading email, sending email, responding to questions about OCC, getting some paperwork completed for my Regional Office, etc. I was just in the living room, but, as these stories always go, I needed something upstairs on the desktop computer. I am extremely ADD on a normal day, but lately with so much going on, I'm exceptionally so!

Yeah, you can see where this is headed ...

I had been upstairs for at least 20 minutes when I heard a loud sound downstairs! Emma, my golden retriever, heard it too, of course, and was up like a shot ready to defend her territory and it's mistress, if necessary. I figured it must've been the cat doing something he's not supposed to, when I heard the sound again - louder this time! I also realized that the cat is still outside and Emma and I are alone in the house ...

So downstairs we run and it's then that I smell a weird, pungent, nasty burning smell. Then it hits me ... I was boiling eggs for my breakfast! So I run into the kitchen fully expecting fire when I see boiled egg carcass all over the kitchen! And when I saw all over the kitchen, I mean all over the kitchen! I even found egg parts across the room by the coffee pot!

What was I to do? I started laughing at the ridiculousness of what I had done and realized I am truly in need of some time management (and perhaps it's time for a discussion with my doctor about my ADD)!

Yep. I now am well versed on how to make egg bombs, should you ever need that information in the future. I will say, though, that the eggs are some very hard boiled, but quite tasty with a nice smoke flavor - at least the ones that "lived" are.

So, the moral of this story? The watched pot may never boil, but the forgotten pot will certainly explode!!

He Has Made Me Glad

As I write this, I am spending some time on my hammock trying to relax - watching the clouds, listening to the wind in the trees blowing the dying yellow and orange leaves ... that's right, be jealous!  But as I try for the elusive relaxation, I am also contemplating this past week.  It's been a tough one for me, especially the last few days.

Friday night I was fortunate to be at the Walton First Baptist Church packing party for OCC - their first ever!  I have had a lot of fun getting to know their new Project Leader, Debbie, and have enjoyed watching and feeding on her passion for this ministry.  WFB has packed about 150 or so shoeboxes for the last several years.   Debbie wanted to do more - a God-sized goal.  So she set their church goal at 500!  After what I saw and felt in that church basement on Friday night, 500+ will definitely be coming out of that congregation and we will have many years of partnership ahead!  It was such a pleasure to share more about OCC with these lovely people and to help them visualize what their efforts mean to God's Kingdom.  Thank you, ladies! I had a blast and my excitement renewed.

Now, here is where I allowed myself to climb into that nasty mud-filled pit!  I don't think I go into a time of depression on purpose.  I truly think at the time that I'm walking along just fine and then WHAM!  But that is not realistic, is it?  Satan doesn't want me happy; he doesn't want me serving the Lord, but complacent, ineffective, wallowing and focusing on myself.  Well, then he has been very pleased with me the last few days!!

A few years ago we had a particularly great retreat and one of my team members turned to me and said, "Okay, start watching for that ole' devil to attack!"  She was right. It wasn't even 24 hours before he did.  I forgot that this time and shifted my focus on self for just long enough that my joy over what God did Friday was cut short.

It's so easy for us to dwell on the rough things going on in our lives:  bills to pay, loved ones that are sick, difficulties at work, crazy schedules ... we can make it very easy for satan to worm his way in and whisper, "Hey, yeah, those 500 shoeboxes were great, but ... "  I listened to the BUT ... so today is a new day -

Satan wants me weary, distracted, ungrateful, unfocused, sad, lazy and burning the candle at both ends. That's how I was yesterday, but not today!  Today God has given me victory over those negative things.  Today I am on my way to resting in His promises to never leave me. Today I am focused on Kingdom building.  Today I am grateful for where I am (especially this sunny deck and hammock!).  Today I am organized and productive.  Reminds me of that children's song ...

"I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart.

I will enter His Courts with praise.

I will say this is the day that the Lord has made.

I will rejoice for He has made me glad."

So hang in there with me! Rejoice in the day He has made ... no matter what that day may look like!

Finally, Proof of the Rocks in my Head

I love God's sense of humor!  There are times when I look at all that is going on and wonder how in the world so much can happen to one person!  This past week has been one of those times ... Let's go back to Monday ...


So many of you know that I've been battling vertigo for a few months.  It comes and goes with no warning and I've even taken some medicine for it.  Have you ever been car sick?  It's similar in feeling except I sit still in my living room but that living room is not sitting still!  So I finally had enough and made an appointment to see my doctor.  


I am very fortunate to have a general doctor who takes the time to listen when I'm uncomfortable; laugh when I fail miserably to explain what I'm talking about; and just takes it in stride when my explanations require gesturing wildly with my hands.  Anyway, so he has me sit on the table, turn my head to the left and allow my body to fall back.  It felt like I'd taken a turn on the tilt-a-whirl ...


So my doctor stands back, walks to sit on  his stool and says, "You've got loose ear rocks."  I have what?  Yep, you heard it right. I have loose ear rocks.  Only me ... apparently we all have a sack of crystals in our ears that talk to the brain about all things balance.  Once in a while some of these "rocks" get loose and float around in the inner ear confusing the brain, thus making you dizzy!


There you have it - scientific evidence of what we've known all along - rocks in my head!!!  It did make me think later that God is not only very funny, but very creative.  How in the world anyone can look at the human body and believe this all happened by accident is amazing to me.  God has made me wonderfully, loose ear rocks and all.  


So, that was my Monday ... I'm headed to physical therapy for the ear rocks, which I am certain will not be embarrassing in the slightest.  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday roll in and out without too much difficulty; just all things wrapping and packing shoeboxes! 


Friday is the perfect day to go work with my little sister on shoeboxes.  While on my way to meet Deneese at the church, a car pulled out in front of me and I slammed into it! No one was hurt, but my car took a pretty decent lick.  By that evening, Chad's car had a check engine light on and it stalled on him!  It was just one of those weeks.  As I writ this, I still have rocks in my head and 2 cars in the shop!


HOWEVER, in the midst of one thing after another, God taught me some things, too.  This week our church packed 270 shoeboxes - this many boxes packed with only 7 people!  I also saw something recently that changed my perspective for this year's boxes and was a great reminder of what it is that we are doing.  Get this:  1 box = 1 child = 1 soul.  What an amazingly simple Word from the Lord about what Operation Christmas Child is all about!  It's about bringing children to Him. Not just the children who receive this little gift, but the other children and adults that are a part of the lives of the children!  So instead of making sure each box is stuffed to the gills, I'm about numbers this year.  Just think:

500 boxes = 500 children = 500 souls 

1,000 boxes = 1,000 children = 1,000 souls

15,000 boxes = 15,000 children = 15,000 souls

So yes there are really nutty things that happen in my life; sometimes it feels like all at once, but I'm working to not forget what this time of year is all about! Here in Northern Kentucky our goal is 15,000 shoeboxes.  They're not just boxes to me anymore; they are souls to each for Jesus.  Souls of children who have no hope, no peace, know no love ... but that is what we are giving them in our gifts!  

(Oh, and if you see a black Hyundai out there with his side doors crushed in thinking twice before cutting in front of you, you're welcome!!!)

God Watches Out for Me

I wanted to take just a minute and give you some affirmation that God answers prayers and directs our paths, even when we don't realize it!  As many of you know, I am quite ADD and have to write things down or they don't exist.  A few months ago, I was asked to speak about OCC at the Latonia Business Association.  I wrote it in my book. He sent me a letter.  We were good to go.  Only problem was, I wrote it on the wrong day!  Thankfully, God used a series of circumstances and a friend to let me know the night before the CORRECT day that I was wrong!

No worries, I threw some notes together and was ready to go.  The meeting was a short one as the venue needed the LBA out by a certain time, so I only had a few minutes and spoke very quickly.  Have you ever heard an announcer at the end of a car commercial give all the legal disclaimers?  It was something between that and Minnie Mouse!  Afterwards a lady came up to me and said their church had done shoeboxes in the past but had heard some disturbing things out of the UK about OCC and Franklin Graham, so they quit doing boxes.  Now you and I all know that satan works against Christians and organizations that promote Christ all the time, which I believe is what happened here!

I assured the lady that what she had heard was far from the truth and thankfully I had information to back me up!  So, she took my card and said she'd like to schedule a time to sit down with me and discuss the ministry and the possibility of mending things to the point where they would begin to do boxes again! I was thrilled with the opportunity.

The next day I received a phone call from her.  I assumed it was to schedule a time to visit, but instead she said she'd spoken to their senior pastor and he wanted to do boxes!  She wanted 200 of everything as soon as possible!  What?? Wow, God moved fast! 

A long story, I know, but think of the lessons for us ... what if God had not used circumstances to have my friend attend this meeting and moved her to check in with me? What if I had missed the meeting because of my clerical error?  God had an appointment for me for that particular day. He moved behind the scenes all over the place for something rather simple that now has great Kingdom impact!  Now there will be 200 more children who will hear of His hope, His blessings, His love because of this almost missed moment in time!

God is good. We may not know where He's working, but He is.  We may not be able to see what He is doing, but He is blessing our efforts and as long as we keep HIM as our focus, He will show us great things!!  

Multiplication

When I was in grade school one of my least favorite subjects was math.  I was never very good at it, and to be honest, any time I could get away with it, I tried to cheat my way through! I remember nights of torture sitting with my mother going over and over those multiplication tables until my brain would bleed and I still would not be able to get 7 x 8!

I was reminded of my avoidance of all things math this week.  At Oak Ridge we have a room that is dedicated completely to OCC.  It's not huge and we cram a lot into this little room.  Just about every flat space, and some not so flat spaces, is utilized with unwrapped and wrapped shoeboxes, buckets of soap and toothpaste and tubs all over the floor filled with toys.  Throughout the year we shop and add to our stores so that when October rolls around, we are ready to pack!  Sometime after VBS we go through and get a count of certain items so we know where we are in relation to our goal.

So yesterday I was out in the church basement in our little room counting and the numbers just weren't coming out right!  How could we have that many washcloths? I counted them not too long ago and there's no way my numbers were real!  Then I was reminded.  God is doing the multiplication; I don't have to. 

Every year at some point we leave the natural and enter the Supernatural where God takes over the "math" of OCC.  He always blesses. He always performs some miracle ... some "loaves and fishes" moment in the midst of the Fellowship Hall where OCC supplies and toys are everywhere!  He never fails.  Each October I begin to have those little fingers of doubt. Well, not THIS October!  God is going to have each of us touch, purchase for and pack the shoeboxes He already knows He needs from us.  Just be faithful. Be available. Be listening and praying.

Put away those multiplication tables, friends.  Just sit back and experience the joys of watching God do HIS multiplication.  He never forgets 7 x 8!!!

The Maiden Voyage

I am cracking myself up at my attempts to enter the world of blogging! I am not at all a techy and we have now entered the area OUTSIDE of my comfort zone.  Prepare to laugh along with me but hopefully learn something along the way.

I decided several months ago that there might be things I have to say along this journey with Operation Christmas Child that we can all benefit from.  This will be a sort of written scrapbook, if you will, into the world of full time ministry and OCC, as well as my own thoughts, things God is showing me and other nutty things that seem to only happen to me!

Feel free to poke fun.  I will!