Packing this, and that

Nine months ago, Real Gil gifted our family with the anticipation of beach and sunshine and family reunion. Suddenly, here the family vacation is about to actually take place!

I haven't started packing yet. Or even started the packing list.

Partly because I've been preoccupied with other packing.

The kind that warms me through and through.



And brings me to my knees for faceless, nameless fellow siblings (though they have never been faceless nor nameless to the One who ordains life and rain and shoebox deliveries, to name a few).



We are praying for His heart as we shop, wrap, and pray...

Might our gifts be perfectly matched to our recipients...



May the gifts speak - no, shout! - His love...

Might we ourselves be willing to move and to change through simple gift-giving...

And prayer - that our hearts would bring more than a spiritual grocery list, a dynamic two-way conversation with a Father who listens, hears, and delights in our voices (both audible and silent).





Before the stress of airports, suitcases, and toddlers threatens to strangle our joy, we are taking the next few days to focus on one of our favorite family traditions of the year. Whereas usually they receive my exasperated "What can I do for suffering, for the poor?" at least one child today will be packed a New Balance shoebox with love hopefully oozing from its cardboard corners!

If you would like to join us, easy step-by-step instructions are found here. The nearest drop-off location can be found by typing in your zip code here. If you "register" your box here, you can track it to its final destination. And our favorite activity for the resident preschoolers was this coloring page/letter to the recipients of our boxes. What could be more fun for kids than giving before receiving in December?

Resting in Christ Who Has Given All,
Karen