Operation Christmas Child

This year we really got the children involved in our operation Christmas child boxes.  I took them to the dollar store this week and let them pick out things to put in their boxes.  If you are like me, you struggle with that part.  You think that since they have nothing, we should buy them something really nice and you feel kind of bad settling for the the dollar store.  One thing I learned about when going on the mission trip to Costa Rica, is that you shouldn't buy them really nice things even though they have nothing.  What I learned is, they have no nice place to keep the items, don't know how to take care of things, they could get stolen, and they likely won't last long in their environment anyhow. 

My children asked a lot of questions about the boxes.  Where will the box go?  What is the child's name who will receive the box?  Can we go to their house and drop them off?  Those were kind of tough questions to answer - at least for them because I don't think they entirely understand.  But it was a sweet time with them with great conversations.  I could really see their giving, tender hearts during this time.  They wanted to put more in the box than the box would allow.  I think we were good packers/stuffers and were able to fit a lot in the box.  Some items were: crayons, notepads, color pads, jacks game, barbie doll, stuffed animals that said the Lord's prayer, small books like Noahs ark, Jonah, etc, bag of candy (that they picked out from their Halloween jar), socks, wash cloth, soap, toothpaste/toothbrush, sunglasses, bracelets, small puzzle, monster truck and a blanket.