WEBVTT 00:02.292 --> 00:05.398 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey friends, welcome to the Christian Parenting Podcast. 00:05.418 --> 00:21.668 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host, Steph Thirling, and this is a place where you can bring your real self however you are today, and we will give you resources to help you grow into the perfectly and perfect parent that God created you to be, so that you can raise the next generation of culture changing Christians. 00:21.648 --> 00:27.560 [SPEAKER_00]: I am so excited that you're with me today because we are talking about one of my absolute favorite family traditions. 00:28.161 --> 00:29.224 [SPEAKER_00]: Operation Christmas child. 00:29.765 --> 00:33.212 [SPEAKER_00]: So maybe you and your family have packed shoe boxes before or maybe not. 00:33.512 --> 00:40.146 [SPEAKER_00]: But either way, I hope that this conversation gets you curious and excited about this unique opportunity to serve with your family. 00:40.126 --> 00:46.738 [SPEAKER_00]: My guest today is Isabella McMillan, and she grew up in Romania and actually received one of these shoebox gifts as a kid. 00:47.098 --> 00:54.391 [SPEAKER_00]: So, herish story of how God used this tiny little shoebox to reveal his love will absolutely blow you away. 00:54.932 --> 01:02.505 [SPEAKER_00]: Then we're going to talk about how her life was changed, how families can pack shoeboxes together, and why serving in this way can help your kids see the gospel in action. 01:02.485 --> 01:11.257 [SPEAKER_00]: Before we dive in, don't forget to follow the show wherever you listen, and leave a quick review, it helps more parents find encouragement and biblical wisdom right when they need it the most. 01:11.739 --> 01:13.525 [SPEAKER_00]: So let's get started with Isabella. 01:20.221 --> 01:23.126 [SPEAKER_00]: Hi, Isabella, welcome to the Christian Parenting podcast. 01:23.146 --> 01:24.848 [SPEAKER_00]: Hi, Steph, thank you so much for having me. 01:25.109 --> 01:27.473 [SPEAKER_00]: I am so thrilled to have you here today. 01:27.793 --> 01:34.924 [SPEAKER_00]: We're talking about Operation Christmas Child or talking about serving as a family and Operation Christmas Child is just a ministry so near and dear to my heart. 01:35.545 --> 01:38.110 [SPEAKER_00]: And my family, we love packing shoe boxes. 01:38.210 --> 01:40.053 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a huge part of our family tradition. 01:40.133 --> 01:41.214 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a huge part of our culture. 01:41.255 --> 01:47.224 [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm really excited that we could just dive more into it today and hear your story and just kind of, 01:47.204 --> 01:50.293 [SPEAKER_00]: show people what they can do with their families to serve in this way. 01:50.373 --> 01:54.284 [SPEAKER_00]: So let's start first by just getting to know you a little bit. 01:55.026 --> 01:58.917 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you tell us just where you are, tell us about your family, what you do, all the good stuff? 01:58.937 --> 02:00.341 [SPEAKER_01]: Let me show it North Carolina. 02:00.361 --> 02:02.226 [SPEAKER_01]: That's what I'm joining you from. 02:02.206 --> 02:08.833 [SPEAKER_01]: I have two children, 13 and 16, and they have been packing shoe boxes since they could walk and talk. 02:08.853 --> 02:17.201 [SPEAKER_01]: I served with Operation Christmas Child full time, but my story with them starts really on the other side of the shoe box, so that I'm excited to talk about that today. 02:17.261 --> 02:28.132 [SPEAKER_01]: But here in Charlotte, my husband is a school teacher at a Christian school where he teaches Bible, and that kids are going to the same school where he is, and I serve with Operation Christmas Child. 02:28.152 --> 02:29.293 [SPEAKER_01]: So we love 02:29.273 --> 02:34.021 [SPEAKER_01]: seeing how God is using us in this community to really bring the gospel to people. 02:34.302 --> 02:35.283 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, amazing. 02:35.604 --> 02:37.648 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited to talk about how you guys packed your boxes. 02:37.768 --> 02:44.399 [SPEAKER_00]: My kids have also been packing since they were, I mean, I have pictures of them as like little babies barely sitting up helping do whatever. 02:44.540 --> 02:46.523 [SPEAKER_00]: They're like, there's so many tips that we can give. 02:46.503 --> 02:54.315 [SPEAKER_00]: Um, so I'm excited to hear about your family's traditions and what you guys like to include in boxes, but let's start with kind of you as a kid. 02:54.356 --> 03:00.926 [SPEAKER_00]: Tell us where you grew up, how you grew up, what life looked like for you, how, how, what was faith like for you as a kid? 03:00.966 --> 03:02.488 [SPEAKER_01]: Give us a little back, absolutely. 03:02.889 --> 03:05.293 [SPEAKER_01]: So I, I'm originally from Romania. 03:05.313 --> 03:14.147 [SPEAKER_01]: I grew up in Romania during Communism when I was born at 03:14.127 --> 03:16.071 [SPEAKER_01]: did not have any decision making power. 03:16.151 --> 03:18.415 [SPEAKER_01]: Basically, that's what communism did to us. 03:18.516 --> 03:23.165 [SPEAKER_01]: So the government decided where we would live, where we would work, where we would go to school. 03:23.826 --> 03:25.910 [SPEAKER_01]: My parents, they were very hardworking people. 03:25.950 --> 03:29.858 [SPEAKER_01]: They assigned them to a heavy machinery factory and to it. 03:29.838 --> 03:38.031 [SPEAKER_01]: little two bedroom apartment in one of the cities about 30 kilometers outside of the village where they grew up and they had no choice in that. 03:38.152 --> 03:42.659 [SPEAKER_01]: So that is where the government assigned them to that's where they lived and that's where I grew up. 03:43.020 --> 03:47.627 [SPEAKER_01]: So that was really defined by the government what our life would look like. 03:47.607 --> 03:49.470 [SPEAKER_01]: everything even from what we would eat. 03:49.970 --> 03:52.093 [SPEAKER_01]: The government assigned us to grocery store. 03:52.433 --> 03:58.301 [SPEAKER_01]: And that was the only store we could get groceries from when the coupons that they have provided for us. 03:58.942 --> 04:00.224 [SPEAKER_01]: So everything was on portion. 04:00.604 --> 04:04.490 [SPEAKER_01]: So honestly, staffed my favorite memories from my childhood. 04:04.950 --> 04:12.180 [SPEAKER_01]: We're sending a lines and that might sound really strange to you, but standing in lines for us meant that we would have something we didn't have. 04:12.160 --> 04:15.044 [SPEAKER_01]: and that always got us very, very excited. 04:15.285 --> 04:21.114 [SPEAKER_01]: And the lines were typically pretty long and so it built up the excitement in us on what we are going to get. 04:21.274 --> 04:29.727 [SPEAKER_01]: grocery stores were typically empty and so whenever something was, a grocery store we would see people running on the streets and that was the sign that there was something. 04:29.787 --> 04:35.856 [SPEAKER_01]: So our job as kids was to put our shoes on as fast as we could and run and get in line. 04:35.836 --> 04:38.062 [SPEAKER_01]: a mom and then would catch up for this afterwards. 04:38.082 --> 04:40.769 [SPEAKER_01]: So those were the things that we were looking forward to. 04:40.809 --> 04:50.976 [SPEAKER_01]: Mom and dad, they really strategize night after night, how to feed us the next day, how to buy shoes for our feed that we're growing to fast, the skin. 04:50.956 --> 04:57.609 [SPEAKER_01]: So life was hard for them, but for us as kids, I really didn't fully understand the gravity of it all. 04:57.830 --> 05:04.062 [SPEAKER_01]: And my mom and dad, they did the best they could to make life as carefree as possible for us. 05:04.222 --> 05:08.070 [SPEAKER_01]: We didn't have much, but we were thankful for the little that we did have. 05:08.050 --> 05:17.322 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and what a wild contrast to your kids now growing up and having the choice to go to a Christian school and probably go get treats at the grocery store. 05:17.342 --> 05:20.206 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's just wild to think about how different that is. 05:20.567 --> 05:21.448 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely. 05:21.488 --> 05:30.700 [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, communism, why they try to control every aspect of our lives, the biggest thing that they wanted to control is to make sure that 05:30.680 --> 05:35.825 [SPEAKER_01]: So just plain the name of God out loud or having a Bible would literally cost you a life. 05:36.045 --> 05:46.375 [SPEAKER_01]: And so because of that we didn't go to church, we didn't hear about God, we didn't know anything about things that had to do with God or religion, those things were forbidden. 05:46.555 --> 05:50.759 [SPEAKER_01]: But even in that kind of circumstance, I absolutely loved John 15. 05:50.799 --> 06:00.028 [SPEAKER_01]: It's one of my favorite verses because looking back at my life, I can see how much that first 06:00.008 --> 06:01.850 [SPEAKER_01]: and the darkness cannot overcome it. 06:01.870 --> 06:04.454 [SPEAKER_01]: And that is exactly what happened in our lives. 06:05.115 --> 06:06.717 [SPEAKER_01]: Government could not stop the gospel. 06:06.757 --> 06:10.963 [SPEAKER_01]: Our dictator could not stop the gospel from penetrating the walls of Romania. 06:11.523 --> 06:22.438 [SPEAKER_01]: And it came into our life in many unexpected way when I was seven years old, my brother and I we found a hidden Bible in the forward of our little apartment that government assigned us to. 06:22.418 --> 06:29.648 [SPEAKER_01]: And that is how we were exposed to God's word for the first time as a seven-year-old and my brother is a ten-year-old. 06:29.668 --> 06:32.872 [SPEAKER_01]: It's reading this book and we never heard about it before. 06:32.912 --> 06:35.155 [SPEAKER_01]: We didn't know what to expect. 06:35.175 --> 06:52.358 [SPEAKER_01]: But when you said we love to read and so we started reading these stories and we got so excited because we never heard these stories before and we started wondering do you think it's true that God created us and is this really how we came to be like we never heard those stories 06:52.338 --> 07:04.491 [SPEAKER_01]: So we were so excited to start reading God's Word and today even Steph has as we look at our lives and I don't know about you and the listeners, but I have so many bibles at home. 07:04.960 --> 07:11.971 [SPEAKER_01]: Uh-huh, so many of them are just sitting on the shelf and I really am convicted even today. 07:11.991 --> 07:14.575 [SPEAKER_01]: Am I treasuring God's word? 07:14.915 --> 07:15.736 [SPEAKER_01]: The way we should. 07:16.217 --> 07:26.112 [SPEAKER_01]: We treasured it back then and we didn't even know at that point yet that this was so much more than just the storybook and our minds, it was just the storybook. 07:26.773 --> 07:32.622 [SPEAKER_01]: We didn't really fully understand that it was more than that until I was 11. 07:33.142 --> 07:38.749 [SPEAKER_01]: And one of my classmates in my first grade class invited me to join him at an underground church. 07:38.909 --> 07:39.830 [SPEAKER_01]: He has been attending. 07:40.391 --> 07:43.674 [SPEAKER_01]: And so my brother and I started going to this little underground church. 07:43.735 --> 07:46.218 [SPEAKER_01]: It was about a mile down the street from our house. 07:46.478 --> 07:49.662 [SPEAKER_01]: And we had to go there Saturday nights after dark. 07:49.982 --> 07:52.004 [SPEAKER_01]: And we received the schedule what time to arrive. 07:52.024 --> 07:54.507 [SPEAKER_01]: So it would not draw attention from the outside world. 07:54.748 --> 07:56.770 [SPEAKER_01]: And so it was at this little church. 07:57.121 --> 08:12.885 [SPEAKER_01]: where I put together that the book, the pastor was reading from, was the same book, in the forward of our little apartment, and I got so excited and what this pastor did, he took me and my brother under his wing and he started discipling us. 08:12.865 --> 08:21.123 [SPEAKER_01]: And he didn't call it that, but he just said, if you have any questions, feel free to come and stay after everyone leaves on Saturdays and ask me. 08:21.484 --> 08:27.758 [SPEAKER_01]: And so that opened the door for us to slowly start understanding that this was more than just a storybook. 08:27.959 --> 08:29.963 [SPEAKER_01]: It was God's Word. 08:30.145 --> 08:37.114 [SPEAKER_01]: My pastor said every Saturday, this is the best book in the world that you are reading from. 08:37.134 --> 08:43.162 [SPEAKER_01]: And so as he allowed me to ask him questions, I remember the one question that changed everything. 08:43.202 --> 08:52.253 [SPEAKER_01]: I was 13, it was about two years after I started going to this little church and I went to him and I asked him, can you teach me how to pray? 08:52.594 --> 08:59.983 [SPEAKER_01]: See, I've been reading about prayer, I've been hearing about it, but this pastor, he had 08:59.963 --> 09:02.651 [SPEAKER_01]: He couldn't tell us and explain these stories. 09:03.353 --> 09:07.506 [SPEAKER_01]: He would just read to us and then it was who what we are question kind of like story time. 09:08.147 --> 09:11.357 [SPEAKER_01]: And then we would go because he had to protect us. 09:11.725 --> 09:22.320 [SPEAKER_01]: himself and the church, and he never knew when someone would come in as an outsider as a spy, and so he had to keep it very surface level. 09:22.520 --> 09:25.845 [SPEAKER_01]: But here's the beautiful thing stuff that I learned later on. 09:25.905 --> 09:40.365 [SPEAKER_01]: This pastor is still alive today and he shared with us much later on that he would go to 09:40.345 --> 09:46.394 [SPEAKER_01]: on his knees, praying that God would somehow use those stories to penetrate our hearts. 09:47.095 --> 09:50.760 [SPEAKER_01]: And for us to have understanding without him being able to explain it. 09:51.141 --> 09:52.182 [SPEAKER_01]: And that is powerful. 09:52.202 --> 09:54.986 [SPEAKER_01]: And God did that because God's word never returns weight. 09:55.166 --> 09:57.149 [SPEAKER_01]: And he really started working on our hearts. 09:57.350 --> 09:59.012 [SPEAKER_01]: But that night when I asked him, 09:59.431 --> 10:00.673 [SPEAKER_01]: to teach me how to pray. 10:00.773 --> 10:03.036 [SPEAKER_01]: He asked me why I wanted to pray. 10:03.076 --> 10:05.940 [SPEAKER_01]: And I said, because it's cold outside, and I really don't like it. 10:06.240 --> 10:09.104 [SPEAKER_01]: Winters feel so hard for us. 10:09.805 --> 10:11.647 [SPEAKER_01]: It was just really hard in the winters. 10:11.687 --> 10:14.091 [SPEAKER_01]: It was cold, and it was very, very dark. 10:14.191 --> 10:15.332 [SPEAKER_01]: We didn't have electricity. 10:15.372 --> 10:16.874 [SPEAKER_01]: There was no street lights. 10:17.095 --> 10:24.004 [SPEAKER_01]: And so the only way that we can have fun in the winters, that Mom and Dad would allow us to go outside and play, is if it's snowed outside. 10:24.473 --> 10:28.965 [SPEAKER_01]: And so I wanted him to teach me how to pray so I can pray for snow. 10:29.166 --> 10:31.532 [SPEAKER_01]: So that was my prayer as a little 13 year old. 10:31.753 --> 10:35.223 [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember him looking at me and saying, Is it a lie? 10:35.543 --> 10:38.652 [SPEAKER_01]: If anyone can give you snow, God is the one. 10:38.952 --> 10:40.935 [SPEAKER_01]: and he taught me that night how to pray. 10:41.035 --> 10:48.548 [SPEAKER_01]: And he told me to just talk to God like he's my best friend sitting right there next to me and tell him what's in my mind, what's in my heart, and he wouldn't answer. 10:48.588 --> 10:50.151 [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's exactly what I did. 10:50.191 --> 10:51.733 [SPEAKER_01]: I studied asking God for snow. 10:51.773 --> 10:55.920 [SPEAKER_01]: I told him all about how much I do not like winters and I do not want to go to bed at 5.30. 10:56.381 --> 11:02.952 [SPEAKER_01]: How much mom and dad would not let us go outside and the only way we could have some fun is if it's snowed. 11:02.932 --> 11:08.061 [SPEAKER_01]: And I expected God to answer my prayer the next morning with fluffy white snow. 11:08.081 --> 11:10.886 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't really fully understand it back then. 11:11.006 --> 11:15.134 [SPEAKER_01]: That God doesn't immediately answer all of our prayers exactly the way we imagine it. 11:15.474 --> 11:17.097 [SPEAKER_01]: And there was no snow the next morning. 11:17.338 --> 11:20.383 [SPEAKER_01]: And I was so disappointed. 11:20.363 --> 11:23.728 [SPEAKER_01]: And God did not answer that prayer actually for months. 11:23.969 --> 11:31.560 [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember going back to the pastor and saying, I have been praying to God for snow since that night I asked you. 11:31.781 --> 11:33.403 [SPEAKER_01]: And He still hasn't given it to me. 11:33.423 --> 11:35.647 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. 11:36.007 --> 11:40.374 [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember my pastor saying, it's a bell I got always answers prayers. 11:40.735 --> 11:44.160 [SPEAKER_01]: Just sometimes His answers look differently than what we imagine. 11:44.630 --> 11:50.856 [SPEAKER_01]: and sometimes they are going to, they are going to look differently and in his timing. 11:51.477 --> 11:53.319 [SPEAKER_00]: The entire story so far is just such a reminder. 11:53.379 --> 12:03.810 [SPEAKER_00]: Like I, our family is going to family church camp for the weekend in relieving tomorrow in one of my friends asked me, are you going to have your kids bring their bibles home from school or what are you going to do? 12:03.850 --> 12:06.593 [SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, I'll just grab extra ones from home. 12:06.753 --> 12:09.095 [SPEAKER_00]: Like they can leave their school bibles at school and not very extra. 12:09.135 --> 12:10.497 [SPEAKER_00]: Like we have extra bibles. 12:10.757 --> 12:13.860 [SPEAKER_00]: Like I get to go to church whenever I want to 12:13.840 --> 12:14.701 [SPEAKER_00]: whatever I want. 12:14.721 --> 12:16.123 [SPEAKER_00]: And we get to pray as a family. 12:16.203 --> 12:19.789 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's just such a reminder that the rest of the world doesn't necessarily look that way. 12:19.829 --> 12:22.252 [SPEAKER_00]: And we often forget it. 12:22.372 --> 12:26.178 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why I'm in a series like Operation Christmas Child are so important. 12:26.358 --> 12:28.121 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, tell me about the day. 12:28.241 --> 12:38.335 [SPEAKER_00]: So all that background, you're praying for snow, you're learning how to pray battling with sometimes God doesn't answer the way I thought he was going to this is also new to you. 12:38.556 --> 12:42.902 [SPEAKER_00]: Tell us about the day you received your shoebox and how that all came together. 12:42.882 --> 12:49.713 [SPEAKER_01]: I still remember that day so vividly stuff, it was a day, right after Christmas, it was the day after Christmas. 12:50.153 --> 12:56.443 [SPEAKER_01]: And the reason why I remember that so vividly being the day after Christmas is because in my mind, I have given God a deadline. 12:56.483 --> 13:02.713 [SPEAKER_01]: I have given Him a deadline to show me that He is real by giving me snow by Christmas day. 13:02.693 --> 13:14.311 [SPEAKER_01]: and Christmas they came and gone and there was no snow and I remember just how disappointed I was as a little 13-year-old because God was not coming through the way I was imagining Him coming through. 13:14.952 --> 13:31.637 [SPEAKER_01]: So it was today after Christmas and we saw people running on the streets and that meant one thing there was something at the grocery store so we are running we are so excited and then we realized that people passed by the grocery store where else could they be going we didn't know but they looked so excited 13:31.617 --> 13:56.713 [SPEAKER_01]: And we ended up in the center of our little town, and people were shouting trucks are coming, trucks are coming, and these three little trucks pulled in, and they were lit up, never seen anything like that before, and they opened the backs of these trucks, and they were filled with the most beautiful colorful boxes I have ever seen, they were all wrapped in colorful paper. 13:57.571 --> 14:00.978 [SPEAKER_01]: And they started giving out these boxes to the kids who were there. 14:01.339 --> 14:05.808 [SPEAKER_01]: And this lady comes up to me with this colorfully wrapped shoebox in her hand. 14:06.389 --> 14:07.492 [SPEAKER_01]: And she hands it to me. 14:07.532 --> 14:08.634 [SPEAKER_01]: She spoke my language. 14:09.155 --> 14:13.664 [SPEAKER_01]: Most of the people on those tracks did not speak my language, but she spoke my language. 14:13.704 --> 14:15.428 [SPEAKER_01]: And she tells me this is for me. 14:15.408 --> 14:19.873 [SPEAKER_01]: And I asked her what I needed to do because no one ever just gave you something for nothing. 14:20.273 --> 14:22.055 [SPEAKER_01]: In Romania, with no strings attached. 14:22.496 --> 14:24.678 [SPEAKER_01]: So I wanted to know what I needed to do for it. 14:25.039 --> 14:25.920 [SPEAKER_01]: As she said, nothing. 14:26.320 --> 14:27.121 [SPEAKER_01]: You just take it. 14:27.481 --> 14:27.862 [SPEAKER_01]: It's yours. 14:27.922 --> 14:32.287 [SPEAKER_01]: It's freely given like God's grace is freely given to every single one of us. 14:32.507 --> 14:35.791 [SPEAKER_01]: And then she asked me if there was anything she could crave with me for. 14:35.831 --> 14:37.973 [SPEAKER_01]: And so I thought, well, actually yes. 14:38.037 --> 14:41.762 [SPEAKER_01]: There is, if you would brave with me for snow, that would be great. 14:42.003 --> 14:43.384 [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's exactly what she did. 14:43.445 --> 14:48.111 [SPEAKER_01]: She nailed down to come down to my level and brave with me right there and then for snow. 14:48.472 --> 14:52.698 [SPEAKER_01]: And then gave me a big hug and left me with this colorful treasure in my hands. 14:53.078 --> 15:01.250 [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember looking around and just realizing that there's laughter around me and we haven't heard those kind of noises. 15:01.570 --> 15:03.032 [SPEAKER_01]: Even they are laughing. 15:03.012 --> 15:15.385 [SPEAKER_01]: in public because you never knew who was watching what they would report and so people were very reserved that children were all around me laughing and opening boxes. 15:15.584 --> 15:18.709 [SPEAKER_01]: and showing each other all the things that they have received. 15:18.909 --> 15:26.700 [SPEAKER_01]: And so I'm finally opening my shoe box and it's colorful inside and it smells good and everything was new. 15:27.141 --> 15:31.207 [SPEAKER_01]: And we didn't have new things very, very rarely did we have anything new. 15:31.427 --> 15:34.171 [SPEAKER_01]: And so even just that alone, man, so, so much. 15:34.872 --> 15:39.499 [SPEAKER_01]: And the soap inside of my box made it smells so good. 15:39.519 --> 15:41.322 [SPEAKER_01]: My grandmother used to make us soap. 15:41.302 --> 15:46.090 [SPEAKER_01]: And it did not smell great, I swear it did not, but it didn't smell great. 15:46.311 --> 15:55.527 [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's actually part of why I'm so sad that so no longer can go in the shoe box is starting this year, but I know God can use anything. 15:55.768 --> 15:59.995 [SPEAKER_01]: The markers in my shoe box, I could not believe they come in so many colors. 16:00.496 --> 16:06.246 [SPEAKER_01]: I have a coloring book that also came with some coloring pencils that were attached to it. 16:06.226 --> 16:10.574 [SPEAKER_01]: And my brother and I, we actually colored that coloring book about seven or eight times over. 16:10.694 --> 16:16.023 [SPEAKER_01]: We would color it, and then we would erase it and color it again with so much fun with that. 16:16.404 --> 16:20.792 [SPEAKER_01]: But in the corner of my box was this little thing that I really didn't know what to think of. 16:21.212 --> 16:30.208 [SPEAKER_01]: Now I remember taking an out and holding it in my hand just kind of trying to figure out what is this and a little boy who was running past me, he grabs my hand with his hand. 16:30.644 --> 16:32.927 [SPEAKER_01]: said you have to shake it, that's how that works. 16:33.128 --> 16:39.837 [SPEAKER_01]: And when she did that, and I looked down in my hands, I saw the most beautiful silver snow. 16:39.857 --> 16:46.026 [SPEAKER_01]: I have ever seen inside of this little plastic snow globe that had a blue star inside of it. 16:46.447 --> 16:52.896 [SPEAKER_01]: Just moments after this precious sweet lady handing me this box and prayed with me for snow. 16:53.257 --> 16:54.578 [SPEAKER_01]: It was right there in my hands. 16:54.819 --> 17:00.567 [SPEAKER_01]: And it was in that moment when I 17:00.547 --> 17:03.370 [SPEAKER_01]: But just sometimes it looks differently than what we imagine. 17:03.631 --> 17:06.454 [SPEAKER_01]: And definitely different, I mean, that's what I imagined. 17:06.654 --> 17:13.523 [SPEAKER_01]: And for my little third-general heart that just the day before was ready to give up on God, he became real to me. 17:13.643 --> 17:14.884 [SPEAKER_01]: I felt so seen. 17:14.904 --> 17:21.272 [SPEAKER_01]: I felt like he heard my prayers and he answered them in his own way, in his own timing. 17:21.252 --> 17:32.069 [SPEAKER_01]: But I needed that time, those months of wondering and questioning and searching for me to see him show up inside of a little plastic snow globe. 17:32.530 --> 17:38.620 [SPEAKER_01]: And so that was the day stuff that I decided to follow him for the rest of my life, and I prayed a very bold prayer that day. 17:39.157 --> 17:44.163 [SPEAKER_01]: that whatever he tells me to do for the rest of my life, I was serve him, and I will follow him. 17:44.464 --> 17:56.059 [SPEAKER_01]: And so that day is forever in my memory, and I remember it so vividly at how much that little splash of color meant in our black and white world. 17:56.379 --> 18:00.304 [SPEAKER_00]: That was so incredible, and I know that your story 18:00.284 --> 18:09.485 [SPEAKER_00]: It's just one of so many, like God shows up in such big ways through these little tiny shoe boxes, and it's just so incredible. 18:09.525 --> 18:18.445 [SPEAKER_00]: The way he cares about all the little details, like the snow, you know, like it just seems so small to a teenager brain to pray for snow. 18:18.425 --> 18:43.740 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's so small, but it just is so big to him because he cares so much about us and that's the beauty of the gospel and the beauty of God's love for us and I just love the way that is so displayed in your story it's just incredible you tell us a little bit about because I think a lot of people probably assume that they get the shoe box and then your story kind of ends there like that shoe box time is over once the shoe boxes are open but there's a little bit more to it so can you tell us 18:43.720 --> 18:46.569 [SPEAKER_00]: to know what happens after kids get their shoe boxes. 18:46.789 --> 18:57.021 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but I love about this ministry stuff is that we consistently think about how we can disciple and evangelize on a deeper and deeper level. 18:57.406 --> 19:01.971 [SPEAKER_01]: So the shoebox is when they are given, they come with a very clear gospel presentation. 19:02.391 --> 19:08.738 [SPEAKER_01]: When I received my shoebox, it was at the very, very beginning of the ministry when we were still learning how this works best. 19:08.858 --> 19:15.826 [SPEAKER_01]: And yet, God still used that in powerful ways to save a little 13-year-old girl and probably many, many others. 19:16.006 --> 19:22.553 [SPEAKER_01]: But we present the gospel in a very consistent and concise way that really tells the kids. 19:22.870 --> 19:23.932 [SPEAKER_01]: who Jesus is. 19:23.992 --> 19:28.800 [SPEAKER_01]: And they receive a booklet actually with every single shoe box in their own language. 19:29.241 --> 19:35.131 [SPEAKER_01]: I love this about the ministry that the gospel is being proclaimed in their hard language. 19:35.772 --> 19:41.301 [SPEAKER_01]: And then after they receive a shoe box, they're invited back to a 12 lesson. 19:41.281 --> 19:50.261 [SPEAKER_01]: discipleship program that is led by a local teacher trained by operation Christmas child because we don't just want to tell children about Jesus. 19:50.321 --> 19:58.639 [SPEAKER_01]: We want them to come back and learn how to do life at him and we want to see disciples who actually go and make disciples. 19:58.700 --> 20:00.724 [SPEAKER_01]: So actually the last lesson 20:00.704 --> 20:05.332 [SPEAKER_01]: in that discipleship course is about what are you going to do with your faith now? 20:05.532 --> 20:07.796 [SPEAKER_01]: How are you going to go out and share it with others? 20:08.317 --> 20:14.227 [SPEAKER_01]: So we are not just teaching them how to walk with Jesus and do life with Jesus, but also how to go and share him. 20:14.747 --> 20:22.240 [SPEAKER_01]: And that is such a beautiful, beautiful picture of how every single shoebox represents evangelism first. 20:22.540 --> 20:37.528 [SPEAKER_01]: and then discipleship and then we see beautiful multiplication come out of that and that is so intentional in all 170 countries where we go to a millions and millions of children walking through this discipleship course. 20:37.559 --> 20:46.905 [SPEAKER_01]: the greatest journey is the name of the course and it is powerful and how it's bringing children in and it's connected them to a local church. 20:47.487 --> 20:53.323 [SPEAKER_01]: So we are not just giving them a shoe box but making sure that they are connected to a local teacher to a local church. 20:53.557 --> 21:03.329 [SPEAKER_01]: So they have an opportunity to continue to grow, and many of them grow up and they start teaching the discipleship course themselves, and they get established in churches. 21:03.369 --> 21:17.826 [SPEAKER_01]: We hear so many stories of how God is taking small seats, represented by these tangible shoe boxes that you and I can pack, and then he's taking it for it to be really a catalyst for evangelism discipleship and multiplication. 21:18.413 --> 21:21.998 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I love that it's so empowering for the local community. 21:22.139 --> 21:24.803 [SPEAKER_00]: So it's not just you go drop a shoebox and then leave and that's it. 21:25.324 --> 21:32.414 [SPEAKER_00]: Like it empowers a local community to disciple these kids and then send them out to which is just so incredible. 21:32.555 --> 21:37.062 [SPEAKER_00]: How did you end up where you are working for OCC? 21:37.703 --> 21:39.425 [SPEAKER_00]: Like let's wrap up that part of this story. 21:39.485 --> 21:44.573 [SPEAKER_00]: Like how did you go from 13 to now in Charlotte working for some origins first? 21:44.553 --> 21:49.338 [SPEAKER_01]: The Lord has opened an opportunity for me to come to the United States when I was 26 years old. 21:49.578 --> 21:54.503 [SPEAKER_01]: And when I came to the States back in 2002, my plan was to come for one year. 21:54.843 --> 21:57.426 [SPEAKER_01]: But there's a big difference between my plans and God's plans. 21:58.087 --> 22:00.830 [SPEAKER_01]: And so God's plans turned out very, very differently. 22:00.990 --> 22:04.874 [SPEAKER_01]: And I was very open for him to lead me where he wants to lead me. 22:05.434 --> 22:10.219 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, since I received that Shubak's stuff, I have been praying that God was show me where they came from. 22:10.279 --> 22:13.142 [SPEAKER_01]: They didn't come with the logo on it. 22:13.291 --> 22:19.159 [SPEAKER_01]: they were given to us with no strings attached, the only name that was proclaimed on that day was the name of Jesus. 22:19.620 --> 22:21.863 [SPEAKER_01]: There was the only name anyone was concerned about. 22:22.084 --> 22:23.786 [SPEAKER_01]: And I didn't know where they came from. 22:23.806 --> 22:30.776 [SPEAKER_01]: I wanted to find this ministry that sent us the shoeboxes that really made such an impact on my faith journey. 22:31.117 --> 22:34.742 [SPEAKER_01]: And so when I came to the States, I was teaching at a small Christian school. 22:34.722 --> 22:51.398 [SPEAKER_01]: In Durham, North Carolina and at that school, the principal put being charge of chapel services and handed me a brochure and asked me if I would read the brochure and then kick it off in chapel when it asked school to be more mission minded and being involved with this ministry. 22:51.378 --> 22:57.310 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that brochure was an operation Christmas child brochure, and I will never forget sitting down with that brochure. 22:57.591 --> 23:07.210 [SPEAKER_01]: In Durham, North Carolina, on a rainy October afternoon in 2004, I'm reading what this ministry does so I can tell the children during our chapel service, how to be involved. 23:07.190 --> 23:14.203 [SPEAKER_01]: and realizing in that moment, this is the ministry that changed the trajectory of my faith walk. 23:14.223 --> 23:16.969 [SPEAKER_01]: And that was just an incredible moment for me. 23:16.989 --> 23:18.812 [SPEAKER_01]: I got so excited. 23:18.912 --> 23:19.974 [SPEAKER_01]: tears were pouring. 23:19.994 --> 23:22.599 [SPEAKER_01]: I found the place. 23:23.060 --> 23:24.523 [SPEAKER_01]: I found the ministry. 23:24.908 --> 23:27.032 [SPEAKER_01]: that impacted me in such a deep way. 23:27.594 --> 23:29.959 [SPEAKER_01]: And so needless to say, I didn't get just a little excited. 23:30.039 --> 23:31.322 [SPEAKER_01]: I got a whole lot of excited. 23:31.342 --> 23:34.669 [SPEAKER_01]: We kicked it off in chapel, and we got the kids excited. 23:34.709 --> 23:43.828 [SPEAKER_01]: Small school of 90 kids kindergarten through eighth graders, and they have packed boxes for the 10 years I was there as a teacher in very, very large numbers. 23:43.808 --> 23:53.145 [SPEAKER_01]: over 10,000 Shubaksis came out of that behind a little school in 10 years and God really opened a door for me to see what this ministry is all about. 23:53.505 --> 24:03.623 [SPEAKER_01]: While this little school packing so many Shubaksis got the attention of Operation Christmas Childing, called us wanted to know what is happening at Gormann Kirsten Academy in Durham, North Carolina. 24:03.603 --> 24:08.149 [SPEAKER_01]: And so I told them that we are so excited, this ministry really changed my life. 24:08.370 --> 24:14.078 [SPEAKER_01]: So we are just excited because we know the change, this can bring in children's lives. 24:14.638 --> 24:17.643 [SPEAKER_01]: And so our British and christmas shall want to share my story more. 24:18.043 --> 24:20.667 [SPEAKER_01]: And I shared my story with them and then they got excited. 24:20.687 --> 24:22.550 [SPEAKER_01]: They asked me to come and share my story. 24:22.590 --> 24:26.455 [SPEAKER_01]: And before I knew it, I was traveling around the country. 24:26.435 --> 24:47.481 [SPEAKER_01]: going to events and churches just simply telling them the story of how God used a simple shoebox gift in my life to impact my faith and to impact my life and so as I continue to teach I started also speaking on behalf of the ministry sharing my story wherever I could go and then in 2014 24:47.782 --> 25:10.262 [SPEAKER_01]: eleven years ago, a Christian Christmas shot has asked me if I would join them full time on staff to start our speakers' bureau, which is basically all the people who share on behalf of the ministry, they are incredible people from all around the world, who now live in the U.S. and they tell the story of God's faithfulness in their lives and how a shoebox impacted their lives. 25:10.242 --> 25:22.412 [SPEAKER_01]: So I tell always everyone, I work with the best people literally in the world who are here now and they testify of God's goodness and faithfulness in their lives who come from 25:22.747 --> 25:35.899 [SPEAKER_01]: circumstances that for many of us it's unimaginable and they survived them and they didn't just survive by their thriving because the gospel has made a difference and the gospel came to them in the form of a simple little shoebox. 25:35.919 --> 25:41.444 [SPEAKER_01]: So that is the short story of how God allowed me to be now on this end of the shoebox. 25:41.464 --> 25:52.534 [SPEAKER_01]: And now I get to hear the stories from the other side but also beyond this side alongside of you and your listeners talking shoeboxes 25:52.514 --> 26:08.060 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I love, I mean, what's so cool about following Jesus and your whole life thing changed is now it impacts the next generation too because now you're raising your kids to follow Jesus and they'll, God willing, raise their kids to follow Jesus and this ministry can continue to be a big part of that traditions. 26:08.581 --> 26:12.227 [SPEAKER_00]: How you guys, I am assuming Paxu boxes as a family. 26:12.207 --> 26:15.250 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I was kind of a couple of weeks back in shoeboxes. 26:15.330 --> 26:21.017 [SPEAKER_01]: Anywhere we are involved, you can expect that there will be shoeboxes being packed but it is church or school or family. 26:21.037 --> 26:23.880 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, definitely love to pack shoeboxes. 26:24.120 --> 26:37.675 [SPEAKER_00]: So tell us if you pull listening if they have not packed a shoebox or maybe they have before at church or at school or just as their family and kind of want to know a little bit more what is involved in packing shoeboxes and how do you how do you do it? 26:37.655 --> 26:41.381 [SPEAKER_01]: But as so much about this mesh, is that literally anyone can do it. 26:41.502 --> 26:46.109 [SPEAKER_01]: No matter how young or how old we are, we can pack a shoebox. 26:46.310 --> 26:49.856 [SPEAKER_01]: It takes a simple shoebox from your closet. 26:49.876 --> 26:52.560 [SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to have any kind of fancy shoebox. 26:52.601 --> 26:54.043 [SPEAKER_01]: Then we do have... 26:54.023 --> 26:57.450 [SPEAKER_01]: These shoeboxes are available that make it so easy. 26:57.490 --> 27:02.781 [SPEAKER_01]: They are available to us on the website, smart and spurs.org slash OCC. 27:02.801 --> 27:04.144 [SPEAKER_01]: They're easy to put together. 27:04.164 --> 27:05.446 [SPEAKER_01]: So that makes it easy. 27:05.466 --> 27:09.695 [SPEAKER_01]: That's what me and my family do now, just because it's a little bit faster and easier. 27:09.715 --> 27:12.100 [SPEAKER_01]: But you can take any shoebox. 27:12.080 --> 27:21.673 [SPEAKER_01]: And I always encourage people wrap them in colorful paper, kids love colors, that stood out to me, so so much, so I always want everything to be colorful. 27:22.274 --> 27:28.122 [SPEAKER_01]: And then we put inside, school supplies, hygiene items, toys, there's three different age categories. 27:28.142 --> 27:30.465 [SPEAKER_01]: You can think about as you are packing your shoe boxes. 27:30.505 --> 27:32.468 [SPEAKER_01]: You can decide if you want to pack for a boy. 27:32.448 --> 27:44.987 [SPEAKER_01]: or a girl and the age groups are 2 to 4, 5 to 9 and 10 to 14 and so you can choose an age group, you can choose a gender and then go shopping with that age group and gender in mind. 27:45.207 --> 27:46.469 [SPEAKER_01]: What would a child like? 27:46.830 --> 27:54.862 [SPEAKER_01]: And what I find is that for those of us who shop with our children, our kids are the best, knowing at what another kid would like. 27:55.082 --> 27:57.105 [SPEAKER_01]: They can definitely 27:57.085 --> 28:05.397 [SPEAKER_01]: But one of the things that also I have a lot of conversations with my children, school supplies to them are not very exciting to put in shoe boxes. 28:05.758 --> 28:16.714 [SPEAKER_01]: They don't get excited about getting pencils and markers and colored pencils and crayons, but I try to explain to them just how much those simple things mean to children around the world. 28:17.065 --> 28:19.507 [SPEAKER_01]: because they simply do not have access to them. 28:20.068 --> 28:25.353 [SPEAKER_01]: And for me, that was one of the most, one of the most outstanding things in my shoe box. 28:25.573 --> 28:29.837 [SPEAKER_01]: Those school supplies, I was the coolest kid at school for a very long time. 28:30.438 --> 28:38.966 [SPEAKER_01]: When my really cool school supplies and for a lot of children around the world today, the school supplies actually allow them to go to school. 28:39.787 --> 28:42.570 [SPEAKER_01]: Otherwise, they couldn't even go to school. 28:42.590 --> 28:46.093 [SPEAKER_01]: And so that is something we put a big emphasis on 28:46.377 --> 28:47.238 [SPEAKER_01]: fun items. 28:47.298 --> 28:51.364 [SPEAKER_01]: We want to have what we like to call a wow item in every box. 28:51.384 --> 28:57.593 [SPEAKER_01]: So when a child sees it, they can go, wow, this is so nice and nice stuffed animal. 28:57.854 --> 29:04.343 [SPEAKER_01]: And one of the main things that we try to back in every shoe box, whether that is boy or girl, we love to back soccer balls. 29:05.004 --> 29:10.452 [SPEAKER_01]: Because what we are seeing is that every child knows what to do with a ball. 29:10.792 --> 29:16.300 [SPEAKER_01]: Every child, no 29:16.735 --> 29:19.704 [SPEAKER_01]: and typically a ball would bring a whole community together. 29:19.744 --> 29:20.653 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 29:21.123 --> 29:25.288 [SPEAKER_01]: The kids know how to play soccer in most parts of the world. 29:25.849 --> 29:32.818 [SPEAKER_01]: And around the ball, they can come up with so many games and it brings so much joy to a child and a community. 29:32.838 --> 29:37.805 [SPEAKER_01]: So we make sure that it's soccer ball and a pump is in there, and we, my son, is so good now. 29:37.825 --> 29:40.448 [SPEAKER_01]: It's rolling those soccer balls really, really tight. 29:40.528 --> 29:41.229 [SPEAKER_00]: We're all not rotating. 29:41.289 --> 29:43.051 [SPEAKER_01]: Rub your band around that, yes. 29:43.071 --> 29:47.417 [SPEAKER_01]: And then, of course, we put in a pump in the middle, so that they can pump it up because 29:47.397 --> 30:10.418 [SPEAKER_01]: it will not fit in a shoe box ready to go and that's an exciting part for them to school supplies hygiene items, toys and we can do it as families at home but we also like to do it with our church at our church with your packing party so you can do your packing party with your life group, your church, your homeschooling group, your school, wherever you are or you can pack on your own at home 30:10.398 --> 30:13.123 [SPEAKER_01]: And then you can drop them off at a drop off location hour. 30:13.143 --> 30:17.591 [SPEAKER_01]: A national collection week is the third week of November every year. 30:17.611 --> 30:20.196 [SPEAKER_01]: The show is November 17 through the 2021. 30:20.316 --> 30:25.926 [SPEAKER_01]: And what we do is we partner with nearly 5,000 churches. 30:25.906 --> 30:30.814 [SPEAKER_01]: across the country who opened their doors to be drop-off locations for our shoe boxes. 30:31.054 --> 30:41.451 [SPEAKER_01]: And so if our listeners go on a website, smagentspurs.org-occ, you can put in your zip code, and it will give you the closest drop-off location to you. 30:41.892 --> 30:43.354 [SPEAKER_01]: Just drive there and you drop it off. 30:43.394 --> 30:44.957 [SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to go to the post office. 30:45.638 --> 30:52.369 [SPEAKER_01]: Anything like that, you drop it off at your nearest drop-off location, and then we'll take care of it from there. 30:52.349 --> 31:20.331 [SPEAKER_01]: So it's such a fun process for us as parents, staff, it was just so sweet to watch our children as they grew, how this ministry gave us opportunities to teach them about generosity, to teach them about how to think of others, even before thinking of themselves, to such a beautiful opportunity for them to learn 31:20.665 --> 31:23.853 [SPEAKER_01]: and other children and how to care for the needs of others. 31:24.114 --> 31:31.974 [SPEAKER_01]: So that has been beautiful for us to watch as they have been literally, like I said, packing since they could walk and talk, and now they are 13 and 16. 31:32.235 --> 31:32.455 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 31:32.776 --> 31:36.987 [SPEAKER_00]: And my kids have been doing the same in Operation Christmas Child is a year round. 31:36.967 --> 31:41.777 [SPEAKER_00]: thing in our house, I guess my mom is a volunteer for operation Christmas child, the year round. 31:41.797 --> 31:49.393 [SPEAKER_00]: So we talk about it year round and one of the things that has been huge for my kids in their spiritual growth is that we buy items year round. 31:49.513 --> 31:54.503 [SPEAKER_00]: Like school supplies are on sale in August and so we buy them in August so that I can be cheaper. 31:54.719 --> 32:15.765 [SPEAKER_00]: Or if we're running through target and we see, yeah, and if we see something on clearance and target, we see in it like an outfit that's 199, you know, we just grab it that right this will be great for shoe boxes since they were a little it's been a really useful tool in me teaching them some delayed gratification and generosity in service because we can go out and be like, 32:15.745 --> 32:19.352 [SPEAKER_00]: shopping at Target and say, what should we get for boxes today? 32:19.392 --> 32:23.059 [SPEAKER_00]: If you just get like one item every time you're at Target, it's easy to spread it out. 32:23.460 --> 32:29.672 [SPEAKER_00]: But it's challenging them to pick something out for somebody else that they don't even know instead of buying it for themselves. 32:30.314 --> 32:33.079 [SPEAKER_00]: And just the way they've been able to think about. 32:33.059 --> 32:36.863 [SPEAKER_00]: kids all over the world is just been very impactful for them. 32:36.903 --> 32:39.405 [SPEAKER_00]: And now it's something that's just part of their lives. 32:39.525 --> 32:42.828 [SPEAKER_00]: And so it's just been a really big ministry for our family. 32:43.009 --> 32:47.053 [SPEAKER_00]: And because it's hard to get your kids to serve when it's not that tangible. 32:47.393 --> 32:51.897 [SPEAKER_00]: But this is that tangible because you're like, hey, you're going to pack this box and it's fun. 32:52.278 --> 32:52.518 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 32:52.838 --> 32:53.319 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 32:53.339 --> 32:56.522 [SPEAKER_01]: And I love the phases even that we have gone through through that day years. 32:56.962 --> 33:02.948 [SPEAKER_01]: It was a phase when both of my children wanted to do 33:02.928 --> 33:04.932 [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it's been so fun. 33:05.133 --> 33:23.350 [SPEAKER_01]: My son went through a phase when he loved yellow and so we tried to find everything yellow and my daughter Absolutely loves purple and so we we had so many purple themed boxes and it's been just so fun watching them as they have grown How they thought about it differently how they put more and more thought and 33:23.330 --> 33:29.779 [SPEAKER_01]: And we did go through the phase when they were about two and three, when they thought that the toys were for them, that they were picking out. 33:29.859 --> 33:33.484 [SPEAKER_01]: And then when we were sending them away, we had to have more conversations. 33:33.544 --> 33:42.115 [SPEAKER_01]: And we had some tears even along the way, but those were very good lessons along the way that I really treasure and watching them. 33:42.095 --> 33:47.430 [SPEAKER_01]: pray over the boxes has been very special for us as parents. 33:47.651 --> 33:50.418 [SPEAKER_01]: I still remember my son one time. 33:50.458 --> 33:57.117 [SPEAKER_01]: He was about four years old and we pray over our boxes every single one of them. 33:57.097 --> 34:04.185 [SPEAKER_01]: and we packed that one night as a family about nine boxes and it was just kind of a fun little thing that we were doing that night. 34:04.265 --> 34:05.407 [SPEAKER_01]: My daughter was already asleep. 34:05.427 --> 34:10.793 [SPEAKER_01]: She was a baby at that point and we were in our kitchen just finishing up the boxes. 34:11.454 --> 34:13.236 [SPEAKER_01]: And we were praying over it. 34:13.316 --> 34:18.362 [SPEAKER_01]: So Caleb, my son, just kind of lays with his little body over her box. 34:18.342 --> 34:28.937 [SPEAKER_01]: praise over it and the sweetest prayers of how he wanted this little boy to love every single item in that shoe box and that he would know that Jesus loves him and that we love him. 34:29.438 --> 34:30.499 [SPEAKER_01]: Just so, so sweet. 34:31.020 --> 34:34.224 [SPEAKER_01]: And when he said amen, we're like, amen, good job, Caleb, well done. 34:34.685 --> 34:39.411 [SPEAKER_01]: And she looked at me almost with a scolding work and he said, man, that was just one box. 34:39.431 --> 34:41.514 [SPEAKER_01]: We still need to pray for the other ones. 34:41.534 --> 34:42.696 [SPEAKER_01]: And that's very. 34:42.676 --> 34:52.657 [SPEAKER_01]: And I have the wrong video that my husband was able to catch and just so precious to see how through something fun we are doing at this end. 34:53.238 --> 34:58.710 [SPEAKER_01]: We're also teaching them such deep values about their own faith about generosity. 34:58.690 --> 34:59.892 [SPEAKER_01]: thinking of others. 35:00.352 --> 35:03.437 [SPEAKER_01]: So that has been very near and dear to our hearts as parents. 35:03.617 --> 35:12.450 [SPEAKER_01]: And now watching the teenagers packing boxes, it's a very different kind of story, but I love this face to you because now they can come to the processing center with us. 35:12.910 --> 35:17.577 [SPEAKER_01]: They're old enough and they can also be involved with that and they really really enjoy that. 35:17.877 --> 35:19.680 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, that's so amazing. 35:19.740 --> 35:24.227 [SPEAKER_00]: It is just a gift to families be able to serve together and it does research will show that. 35:24.247 --> 35:26.871 [SPEAKER_00]: It makes a big impact on a lasting faith in kids. 35:26.891 --> 35:29.936 [SPEAKER_00]: This is just one way that families can serve together. 35:30.036 --> 35:31.819 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you tell us before we go? 35:31.859 --> 35:34.864 [SPEAKER_00]: I know you've mentioned websites and I'll put that all in show notes. 35:34.884 --> 35:35.645 [SPEAKER_00]: People can find it. 35:35.705 --> 35:38.930 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we'll put some tips for packing boxes and stuff in show notes too. 35:38.950 --> 35:43.277 [SPEAKER_00]: But tell us one more time where they can find more information about how to pack a shoe box. 35:43.257 --> 35:53.335 [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, if you can go to SamaritanSperse.org slash OCC, that is our website SamaritanSperse.org slash OCC. 35:53.636 --> 35:59.747 [SPEAKER_01]: Everything you need to know is right around the website, even gifts suggestions, and what not to back. 35:59.727 --> 36:16.652 [SPEAKER_01]: And don't wanna miss this opportunity to also make sure that we tell everyone don't run out and buy every snow globe you can find after hearing my story because there's no longer can go in the shoe boxes, but praise God that in his providence he can take the simplest things to make an impact on a child's life. 36:16.673 --> 36:19.677 [SPEAKER_01]: And also I would encourage everyone to never think it. 36:19.876 --> 36:25.444 [SPEAKER_01]: So often we try to figure out, should I put flip-flops or should I have some mittens? 36:25.564 --> 36:28.348 [SPEAKER_01]: Is it going to go to a cold country or to a warm country? 36:28.848 --> 36:35.458 [SPEAKER_01]: And I would just encourage everyone just allow God to be God and take every shoebox and put it in the right hands. 36:35.838 --> 36:43.048 [SPEAKER_01]: We would never be able to coordinate that ourselves, but God and His providence, I believe, has a plan for every single one of these boxes. 36:43.433 --> 36:59.335 [SPEAKER_01]: So just go and have fun shopping, pack these boxes, pray over them and trust that God will put it into the right hands because every shoe box is a beating heart and it represents the face of a child and it has a name and God already knows that name. 36:59.575 --> 36:59.856 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 37:00.022 --> 37:08.513 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and they are prayed for every step of the way from you, first praying when you pack them to the processing center to when they get on the trucks to when they're distributed their prayed every step of the way. 37:08.554 --> 37:12.499 [SPEAKER_00]: So God knows where they're going for sure. 37:12.519 --> 37:12.599 [UNKNOWN]: Yes. 37:12.619 --> 37:12.719 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 37:12.739 --> 37:12.899 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes. 37:12.979 --> 37:15.182 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. 37:15.303 --> 37:16.524 [SPEAKER_00]: It's so powerful. 37:16.564 --> 37:21.010 [SPEAKER_00]: It's such a good reminder of God and His faithfulness to every one of our lives. 37:21.090 --> 37:23.874 [SPEAKER_00]: And I just so much appreciate you being here and sharing with us. 37:23.974 --> 37:24.595 [SPEAKER_00]: So thank you. 37:24.815 --> 37:25.316 [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely. 37:25.336 --> 37:26.738 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for having me. 37:27.477 --> 37:30.482 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening to the Christian parenting podcast today. 37:30.502 --> 37:40.758 [SPEAKER_00]: It is a Bella's story encouraged you to take your next step, survive visiting Samaritanspurs.org slash OCC, and you'll find simple how-to's, packing ideas, and where to drop off your shoebox. 37:40.858 --> 37:44.885 [SPEAKER_00]: I also have resources listed in the show now so you can go just click the link there. 37:44.905 --> 37:45.606 [SPEAKER_00]: It'll be really easy. 37:46.327 --> 37:50.554 [SPEAKER_00]: If the show is helping you, please follow, leave a quick review, and share this episode with the friend. 37:50.614 --> 37:53.839 [SPEAKER_00]: It really helps more parents find the encouragement that they need. 37:54.275 --> 38:01.737 [SPEAKER_00]: As always, thank you for listening and may God fill your homes with peace, your hands with generosity, and your kids with the joy of Jesus.