John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
It is with pure joy in my heart to show you what God is doing for these precious orphans in Mexico. First, let me start from the beginning…
We took shoeboxes filled with toys…
Wrapped and loaded them up in a trailer, packed up 10 families from our church and all their kids...
and traveled…
here…
because 35 orphans were waiting.
We stayed right at the orphanage and tried to remember to brush our teeth with only bottled water. We wondered how our only English speaking kids would do with the Spanish speakers. How would they communicate?
To our surprise, we watched how the children instantly played and bonded with one another… the international language of soccer initiated quick smiles, big hugs, no barriers, pure delight.
We could not wait to deliver the gifts to the children! So after dinner, the festivities began. We called the kids up in groups of three so they could show everyone what they got!
This sweet girl got her very first doll. She was in love!
These awesome boys were so excited for their turn. In case you’re wondering, the age range at this orphanage is ages three to twelve.
It was fun to see how excited the kids were for one another. There was no jealously about who got what gifts.
This sweet girl, Alma, stuck to me like glue. I loved every minute of it! I’m not so sure my two year old daughter (to my left) was as thrilled to share my lap!
I wish you could have seen how excited the kids were playing with their gifts. It didn’t matter if the presents came from the dollar store or a department store. Each gift was cherished. If you are one of those families who fills a shoebox every year and wonders if it really makes a difference, let me tell you that it does! When you work through this organization, the children who receive the gifts get blessed beyond the box, too. They also get to hear about the amazing love of God!
I saw this verse painted on the playground equipment. It’s one of my life verses…
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
Here’s a family picture very early in the morning as we were leaving Grace and onto our next stop. Our oldest son (not pictured) came down two weeks earlier with just my husband to help in some other areas of Mexico. We missed him a lot on this trip! He had to stay behind at Grami and Grandpa’s house to study for 7th grade winter finals. Boo hoo!
Ok, this next picture is just a hint about my next post. It’s very important to me. It’s what makes my heart flutter and my adrenaline rush. I'll tell you all about it and how each of you will play an important part, even if you’re sitting at home needing a shower and still in your Christmas pj’s (like me)!
Encourage one another,
Posts
Big Kahuna and I have known each other since we were kids and have been married for almost 15 years. We are passionate about our family, travel and serving God. We love helping people and bringing them hope. We laugh ourselves to tears watching classic episodes of Saturday Night Live and The Office. Summer is our favorite season, and we live for warm evenings playing with the kids on the beach.
Big Surf is 14 years old. He's a voracious reader, focused, and spends hours building things. He is our resident techie and is also learning to play the violin. He loves to spend his free time playing baseball, flag football, or out on the trails by the house building his clubhouse.
Goofy Foot is ten years old. He devours his free reading books like there is no tomorrow. He is also the family comedian. If you see him, ask him to tell you a joke! He is tender-hearted, social and compliant. When he is not outside riding his bike, you'll find him drawing or writing a funny book.
Beach Bunny is three years old. She is our sunshine! She joined our family through the unbelievable gift of adoption. Beach Bunny loves to snuggle with us and carefully takes care of her baby dolls. She is super silly and must say hi to everyone! One word that describes her is "joy".
28 comments:
WOW...What a beautiful thing...I can just imagine the smile on Gods face that day. You guys are a beautiful family.
Looking forward to hearing your next post
AMAZING! How neat that your family was able to do this together. I can't even imagine what it would be like to experience that first hand. Thanks for sharing!
We do fill Christmas boxes every year. How awesome that you got to be a part of delivering them. Wow that is so great! I would love to be there when the kids open our boxes. Just to see their faces. Thanks for capturing such a precious time.
What an awesome way to spend the holidays! I can't wait to hear about the next post..I know it will be good. Your family is beautiful!
AWESOME! We have done Operation Shoebox for many years, but there has to be nothing better than actually delivering them. What an amazing thing to be a part of! Merry Christmas!
The look on the children's faces were precious and the little girl with her first doll just brings tears to my eyes! And your little one definately looked as if she was not interested to be sharing Mommy's lap, LOL!
What an amazing experience! How wonderful! My local MOPS chapter filled 20 boxes through this same organization. But to be able to hand deliver? That is so cool!
AWESOME!!!! I love all the pictures of the children receiving their gifts! We live at the border of Mexico and I actually got info on Mexico adoption awhile back when I started the adoption process.
I'm excited to see what your doing! Could it be a new building for the children???
What a wonderful thing you and your family have done for these kids!
love this!! what an amazing gift to be part of blessing these children.. they will never forget it!
How awesome! Everyone of those kiddos were just precious. I could just hug and love on them for hours! Giving to others is the best Christmas present I got this year!
oh my. what you and your family did is amazing./ you gave of your selves, and that, as you know, is what counts. thanks for sharing this inspiring post.
Wow, what an amazing experience! What a blessing your family is!!
Amazing!! You totally have me sitter here proud of you and so touched by your actions. Really and truly, this is what its all about! Sharing love. Sharing joy. Sharing faith.
Thank you for every single sacrifice you made to make this happen. Thank you!
Blessings-
Amanda
I have such a deep place in my heart for children in orphanages. We lived in the orphanage in Russia for almost a month when we adopted Dmitry. I still carry those children in my heart.
Can't wait to see more.
This is an awesome post!!!! TFS. I'm linking you on to a friend who is a pastor at a local church and they will be going to Mexico very soon to work at an orphanage. I'm sure he'll love your blog. God Bless! ♥
All I can say is WOW!
Oh my......you have stilled my heart and mind (which is really what I needed what with all the mess and mayhem here).
Beautiful post, thank you!
That is wonderful! It's great to get a chance to see where all those toys we donate go and how happy the children are to receive them! God Bless You!
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OCC has become my family's tradition. What a blessing to personally see their faces as they not only open the boxes but their hearts to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord!
I bet it was so difficult to leave those children! When I left El Salvador I just cried and kept telling everyone how unfair it is that they don't have a family to love them! I wish I could take them all home with me! It's so great that you were able to shower them with love and gifts! You are the Lord's hands and feet!!
Wow, what an amazing trip! I love those kinds of family blessings.
Following from MBC!
I seriously cannot WAIT until I can take all the girls on a mission trip. What an awesome way to share as a family and demonstrate God's love. And everyone benefited from the grace shown.
Stacy, please tell me HOW your family (and your church) got involved in getting to travel for OCC! I love that you did this! That's the true meaning of Christmas! Amazing!!
Thank you so much for sharing this! We do the shoeboxes every year in memory of our little ones in heaven, Faith, Grace, and Thomas. This post was such a blessing...to see that those little shoeboxes do matter and that they bring joy to the children who receive them. Thank you...and many blessings to you and your family! =)
What a touching and blessed opportunity! Wish I could go with you!
This is such an amazing example of the true meaning of Christmas. I would love to have my children help with this. What can we do?!
How wonderful to not only give to kids in need but to do it first hand and have your children experience it as well. We families every year as well - but something so special about what you did, and those kids getting to meet yuo and yours - awesome! Thanks for sharing!!
We have been filling shoe boxes for years. Thanks so much for showing us real faces of children who are receiving these gifts. What a huge blessing for your family to be able to be there.
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