Build-A-Box on Christmas!

Even though we're just a few days away from Christmas, you and/or your kids can still help pack a shoe box online to make a lasting impact on the life of a child.  Operation Christmas Child has created a program called Build-A-Box, where, through their website, you can digitally pack a shoe box for a boy or girl by selecting gifts from their list of items, and even include a personal letter and photo of yourself or your child.  (This is a huge hit for the children who receive the shoebox so they can learn about where it came from and who sent it to them.)

You can start building your box at Operation Christmas Child's website or by clicking the image above. 

Mike and I packed a box for a little girl aged 2-4.  (Something I learned on my trip was that there are always a LOT of boxes for kids ages 5-9, but there's not nearly as many for the other age groups.)  In the box I packed online, I choose a stuffed animal, a slinky (I had taken slinky's with me to the Dominican and handed them out - the kids LOVED them!) a jump rope, a harmonica, an etch-a-sketch, sunglasses, and hair accessories. Automatically included in the shoe box are essentials like soap, wash cloth, toothbrush & toothpaste, hair brush, pencils, pencil sharpener, crayons, chalk, coloring pad, and a notebook.

After I chose what to put in the box, I uploaded a photo of Mike and I, wrote a note to the child who will get the shoe box, and then checked out.

For $30, Mike and I know that we'll have given a child, where in many cases is in a third world country where a toothbrush & toothpaste, a stuffed animal and sunglasses, would never be obtainable to them, a chance to be a child.  More importantly, we're helping share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bless kiddos throughout the world through Operation Christmas Child.

When we have children of our own someday, in addition to physically packing shoeboxes as a family, I can't think of a better way to share Christ's love on Christmas than to pack a shoe box online for a child.