Esin

finally at rest with his Father

Our dear Mr. Baker, leader of our trek through Turkey went to be with his Lord today. I'm still reeling a bit from the news and though I am sad, I am glad that he is finally set free from his physical pain and all that he has dealt with health-wise in the last several years. He was a wonderful man, loved the Lord so much, loved the Turks so so much and I can only hope that at his age and with all he had to deal with physically, I will be as concerned about the souls of the lost as he was.

Please pray for his wife and family.

overwhelmed

There is actually a part 1 to this blog but it's still being written.

I decided to take part in Operation Christmas Child this year. OCC is an enormous gift drive put on by Samaritan's Purse and is an absolutely incredible ministry to the thousands of poverty stricken children around the world. Each year, people around the United States pack shoeboxes full of gifts, mark them for a certain age range and gender and then drop them off at designated drop-off points around the country. Samaritan's Purse then processes them and sends them off all over the world to children that have most likely never had the thrill of opening a Christmas gift in their lives.
I packed my shoebox for a girl in the 1-4 year old range: an unbelievably soft pink blanket with a pink satin backing, an equally soft grey stuffed elephant. socks with ruffles, crayons, a pad of paper, stickers, a jump rope with wooden handles shaped like frogs, a yoyo painted like a lady bug, toothpaste, toothbrushes and hair ribbons. Amazing what you can jam into a little box!
As I packed the box, I was hit with an overwhelming sense of what Operation Christmas Child is all about. As I placed each item carefully into the shoebox, I envisioned it being taken out somewhere on the other end of the globe by a precious dirty little girl who has most likely never felt a blanket so soft or used a crayon in her life. I think nothing of putting down a measly $10 on a square yard of plush pink fabric but to her it will be a priceless treasure. The hair ribbons were the last items in and as I placed the wrapped lid on, the box suddenly became more than just a box. It became a bond between me and a nameless toddler and I wished I could place a video camera inside to record what happens when it is opened.
I took my box to the drop off point this morning and the craziest mob of emotions just welled up inside of me as I pulled up and stepped out of my car into the chilly joy-filled air. There was a tent set up and several very cheerful volunteers were collecting boxes, counting them and packing them up into larger boxes marked "Operation Christmas Child". These larger boxes were being packed tightly into a semi-truck which was nearly full. I gave my box to a very kind man, filled out some paperwork and walked back to my car. As I was driving away, I couldn't get the picture of that truck filled to the brim with gift boxes. It occured to me that every one of those boxes represented a child. A child in need of love and God and presents on Christmas. A child who will be handed a brightly wrapped shoebox sometime in the coming months and who will break out in the biggest of smiles when he pulls the lid off. I don't know why this hit me so hard but I began to cry uncontrollably.
I've always had a desire to do relief work and to especially help the children living in poverty around the world but this weekend the Lord has completely opened my eyes to a lot (included in part 1 which is yet to be finished). It's as if my spiritual eyes were the same as my natural eyes (which are horrible) and I finally got "glasses" as it were and am able to see with so much more clarity what is really out there. God is breaking my heart for these children and has placed an even greater drive within me to get my nursing degree and go to where they are. Like I said, there's a lot more to this and I'll hopefully get it posted here before too long. I have a lot going through my head at the moment that I'm trying to process.

yay women's health.

..and free nalgene bottles ;-)

here

23

so they put sparklers on my cheesecake.

i think you should all know..

...that i'm not 22 anymore.