packing boxes!

Hey guys! Life has been extremely crazy and I've kind of fallen off the blogosphere. I've missed y'all! I just wanted to update everyone and let you know what's been going on with us lately.

I've been working hard at school. And Nate's studying hard and working hard. He took a test the weekend before last to get certified in Business Analysis and passed on the first try which was super exciting! He had put so much time preparing for it and put so much energy into it, so I'm super proud of him for passing.

We're also getting ready to drop off our Operation Christmas Child boxes. I haven't been blogging about this as much as I've wanted because things have been so busy, but we're almost ready to drop everything off now! Our goal was 50 boxes originally. Due to some changes we made in our budget, we ended up cutting our goal back to 25, which we met! We had a lot of help from our family and friends and have managed to exceed that goal! My parents helped us purchase a TON of things to put in the boxes. And our AWESOME friends Ben and Heather contributed two more boxes. And then Nate's mom and sisters filled ELEVEN more boxes. The wonderful Laura and her husband over at unpunctuated life. are also filling boxes for OCC. So even though we had to cut our goal in half this year, we still ended up almost reaching fifty with the help of everyone who joined in the cause! And it was so great to work together with everyone and see everyone help out in their own special way! :)

 

Here I am filling boxes.

And here's the assembly line Nate made!

And here is Chloe "helping out." Really, she's inspecting what's going in the boxes to see what she can sneak back into her crate.

This has been such a great experience and we've learned a lot. We definitely want to do it again and we know much more about how to do things better and more effectively next year. We're really excited about dropping off the boxes so they can make their way off to the children!

I'm going to try and start posting some more. And hopefully I can get another "Thrifting Thursday" post up again this week because I found something AWESOME I want to share with y'all. Hope everything is going well with everyone! Miss you guys!

shoeboxes!

So I haven't posted on our OCC Project in awhile, but I have a short update. We've FINALLY started getting all of our shoeboxes together. We're going to local shoe stores and asking for any extras they might have. By doing this we don't have to spend any money on boxes or containers and we're able to put all our money toward the items in the boxes.

On our first trip, we only got three boxes, but it was still exciting! And super encouraging because the manager told us to keep coming back every few days. And of course, I took a picture to commemorate the occasion.

On another note, the wonderful Laura over at unpunctuated life has joined up with Nate and me in our challenge and wrote a great post about her experiences with Operation Christmas Child and what she and her husband are doing to give this year. You should definitely head over to her blog and check it out! And maybe it'll inspire you to get involved too. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. ;)

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." - Nelson Mandela

what a haul!

Tonight Nate and I were out looking for some stuff to decorate the new place when he decided to see if there were any toys on sale for our Operation Christmas Child project. Sure enough, we found eight frisbees and nine kaleidoscopes on super clearance! So now we've officially started getting our boxes ready. And we're pretty excited. :)

It was pretty awesome to find this stuff on such a great deal because we have a budget to stick to and we want to do as much as we can to help as many kids as we can with that money.

Have you found any great deals lately?

Our Uncomfortable Giving Challenge!!!!!

Our Giving Challenge

Steph and I truly enjoy the process of giving to those in need. Especially when it involves children. We have been scheming and strategizing a giving challenge that will stretch us and we think we have come up with a pretty fun project :-) We have given shoe boxes filled with Christmas presents for needy children all across the world as part of Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child in the past and it is a rewarding experience (if you have never participated, give it a shot this year!). All we have to do is fill shoe boxes with lots of presents and goodies and make a small donation and Samaritan’s Purse makes sure the gift puts a smile on a needy child's face somewhere around the world (they even say you can track your shoe box now! How awesome!). Their mission is totally aligned with Steph's and my values:

"The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ."

Here is a link to their FAQ and a video if you are interested!

Steph has been in a really giving mood lately and it has been contagious for me. While I was running on the treadmill last night it came to me, "STEPH - LET'S JOIN OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD AND GIVE A BUNCH OF SHOE BOXES TO NEEDY KIDS THIS CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!”

She was sold on the idea pretty quickly. I mean it involves helping children the world has forgotten so I am pretty sure I could have said, "Let's sell everything we own and help the children" and she would have said yes... ;-) We agreed on a goal that feels very UNcomfortable for us: 50 shoe boxes. It just kinda feels impossible (and maybe it is). That's kind of the point of any challenging goal. It should feel just on the edge of impossible! But we don't really care and we are going to do everything we can with family and friends to make this project come true. What's the worst case scenario? We only get 29 boxes sent out for children who wouldn't otherwise have Christmas presents this year?! Only 29 children were able to see the warm caring smile of a Samaritan’s Purse volunteer reach down, give them a gift and tell them about the greatest Gift of all: Christ Jesus? Seems like a win-win situation any way you slice this deal!

So here goes; the shoe store will be our first stop to see if they are cool with giving us a bunch of free empty shoe boxes :-)

FYI if you want to join us with this project just shoot Steph an email (or call) and she will hook you up! We’re pretty sure our family will be jacked up about the idea as well (they have been giving through Operation Christmas Child for years).

YEAHHHHHHH BOYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! We are really excited about this.

We will definitely make sure to keep you updated as we start filling shoe boxes.

LET GO OF THE PEANUTS MONKEYYYYYY; and Something about Scrooge!!!

A friend of mine was telling me a pretty awesome story the other day about how African hunters catch monkeys. Basically they hollow out and put a hole on one side of a coconut. They then place some peanuts or oranges etc. into the coconut and secure it to a tree. Along comes an unsuspecting monkey slipping his hand into the coconut to get his treats. The problem arises when he makes a fist to pick up the food his hand can't get out of the trap... The monkey will jump all over the place trying to get out of the trap -- little does he know that if he would only let go of the food his hand would slip right out... Along comes the hunter. Finding the monkey still with his tight fist in the coconut; the hunter now has dinner :-)

That story always reminds me of how we can be with money (and material things.... and time.....) sometimes. I think it’s human nature to hoard and stake out "what's ours"... We get new clothes but struggle to let go of some of the pieces, “We might wear someday”. We want new cars; we want a new house; we want new furniture to put in the new house; we want our kids to have the best the world has to offer. We aren’t hurting anybody, but we want what we want and we want it now! The irony is that it's only when we LET GO that we truly experience what it’s like to be FREE (just like the monkey my friend told me about haha)! We have to take care of ourselves and provide for our families of course. But once our needs are met -- it is truly a freeing experience to begin helping meet the needs of those around us.

Ever seen how OVERJOYED Scrooge was in the story of A Christmas Carol when he finally opens his tightly held grip over his money and possessions? The guy is on cloud nine, he is literally a new man!

Giving has not always been easy for me or Steph. While we have never been like Scrooge (I hope!), we sure have passed up many opportunities to help those around us when we have the ability. And let's be honest, as citizens of the United States of America most of us (not all) have our basic needs met every day. We have not always actively engaged in giving as we do now. Honestly (and selfishly) we knew it was something we should do more of, but we didn't realize the fringe benefits of giving: joy, peace and contentment that surpasses logical understanding.

In the last couple of years God has truly given us a heart for people. We love people. We love you. We love these children we don't know (and probably will never know); we plan on helping make a difference in their lives this year. I hope you too are enjoying making a difference in someone's life today (this week, this year...)!

Your Giving Challenge

My challenge to you is to start giving. Period. I can't tell how significantly it will change your life to let go of something you have and invest in the life of another human being. Best investment you will ever make. It doesn't really matter if it's buying the meal for the person behind you in the drive-through @ Chick-fil-A or WHATEVER. The act of serving and helping others through giving will CHANGE YOUR FREEKN' LIFE!!! Do you have $5 in your pocket? Give half of it to someone in need today and see how it makes YOU feel (not to mention how the other person feels). You may change someone else's life through your generosity; you most certainly will change your own. I promise you that. If it doesn't, give me a call and I will pay you back every red cent you used to help someone else.

Just try it -- start with $5 and get rolling baby!

Tell us about your experience with giving. Who did you help? What did you give (time, money, skills etc.?)? HOW DID IT MAKE YOU FEEL? We really want to hear your stories so bring them on.

PS. Hey - Steph here! :) If any of you would like to help out, go to the the top and check out our OCC Project page for how you can help and for my contact information!