One Gift

                                                                         

Is there that one special gift you received that stood out as extra-memorable and best over all the rest?

One Christmas I was gifted a photo album overflowing with personal family photos that I had never previously seen. This one gift gave me hours of enjoyment pouring over each and every picture. This gift was among hundreds - maybe thousands - of gifts I have received over my long life. Who knows the exact number? Too crazy to count.

Don't pre-judge. I'll risk putting it out there revealing I'm an only child. My being the targeted recipient of gifts in my family could get down right embarrassing. My Aunt Carol would pull up to my house at Christmas or birthday time. She would pop open the trunk of her Cadillac to reveal a trunk load of gift after gift after a crazy number of gifts. She would proceed to haphazardly drop gift after gift across my yard as she attempted to carry them to my front door. 

Do I remember what was in any of those many boxes? Even one? Not a one. 

That was a slew of years so understandable but what did I receive just last Christmas? Don't recall. Do you? 

What did I spend hours upon hours to gift just a mere year ago? No idea. 

A pattern of peculiar behavior and a sad state of humankind is we put ourselves in a crazed state of losing our mind to snag the perfect gift that no one will even remember a few short months later. 

If we look at this from a higher perspective, we're appearing much like mindless hamsters running nowhere on a wheel.  

Let's stop and consider others in this grand world who don't live a life of such affluence. They have a refreshing and different perspective that deserves our reflection.

Many millions of children - receive one - ONLY "ONE gift" in their ENTIRE lifetime. These are the blessed ones! This marvelous "one gift" is made possible through the ministry of Samaritan's Purse called Operation Christmas Child. Operation Christmas Child has had the privilege of distributing over 232 million shoebox gifts to children during its 30 year ministry. 

There are countless needy children across the globe. OCC's international teams make sure each child receives only one gift over his or her lifetime in order to make more opportunity for each child to receive at least "one gift." 

This shoebox gift filled with school supplies, hygiene products, clothes, toys and more will most likely be the only gift these children will be able to touch, smell, and enjoy in their lifetime. 

Do you think they could answer what is their most favorite gift ever given? You bet. Will they recall their gift the following year? You betcha.

There are countless videos on line to witness the sheer joy and jubilation on these children's faces. It will bring you your own joy and possibly tears to your eyes. It definitely puts all our running around this time of year into proper perspective. 

This will be my 5th year to have the grand honor of serving as a Floor Manager at the Atlanta Processing Center. Our goal this year is to process 1.8 million shoebox gifts to be sent to children in the most remote regions of the world. While at the Processing Center, I hear story after story of the impact of box after box. These actual shoebox recipients stand before me telling me how their "one gift" changed their lives when they received it many years ago.  

*There's the one box containing a package of 10 toothbrushes. All wondered why anyone would send that many in one box and not spread them out among 10 boxes. Well, it was received by 1 little boy who had 9 siblings. This "one gift" meant each child in his family no longer had to share one toothbrush among them all. A simple thing for us. A big deal for them.  

*There's the 14-year-old boy who opened his box to reveal a pair of fuzzy purple slippers on top of his boy items below. All thought why in the world would anyone put these slippers into an older boy's box? This young man was ecstatic to be able to gift his mom with his new gift item. She was 9 months pregnant. Her feet were too swollen to be able to wear her current shoes. She now had a means to protect and cover her feet. An added bonus was purple was her favorite color! Our God is gloriously into the details!! 

*There's the little boy in hot Africa who all watching were sad to witness him opening his box with a ugly orange sweater cap and matching orange wool mittens. All were surprised when he was elated and put all on immediately. He was a soccer goalie and was thrilled to now have a way to differentiate his position while playing for his team.

*There's the young boy who had adult pink flip flops in his box. As he opened his gift, he promptly put it down to run give the new flip flops to his waiting mom. He had never before had a means to give his mom a gift and was thrilled to be able to do so! 

*There's the young orphan girl who excitedly received her first personal toothbrush so she no longer had to share one with all the other girls in her orphanage.

*There's the young girl who prayed and prayed and prayed for God to give her family a radio so they could secretly listen to Christian teaching while hiding in the basement of their Muslim home. God provided exactly that in her brother's shoebox gift!

*There's the girl her wore her new colorful bracelet for weeks before her brother realized it could also go down stairs by itself. She had been gifted with a slinky!

These are real people and real-life stories of impact. No way but God.

If you want to learn more about this AMAZING ministry, check out:

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

If you want to volunteer at an OCC Processing Center, there are 8 to choose from across the U.S. You will not regret every minute you serve. It's like going on a mission trip while staying in your own town not having to get shots or jump on a plane! How can you beat that?!

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/volunteer-at-a-shoebox-processing-center/

If you can't recall a "one gift" you received in the past, please allow me to remind you of THE GREATEST GIFT EVER GIVEN TO YOU - the gift of Jesus Christ. He was not wrapped in colorful wrapping paper but was wrapped in swaddling clothes given just for you. Even if YOU were the only person on earth, God still would have given this "one gift" for YOU! This gift is a memorable one. A life-changing one for today...for all your tomorrows...for eternity. 

One holy night. One special gift.

Jesus, like all gifts, has to be fully opened in order to fully receive. If your grandmother gave you a special gift, it wouldn't do you any good to leave it sitting on a table never opened. We often treat our GREATEST ONE GIFT in the same way. Pushed to the side. Left out of our lives. Unopened. Not utilized. Forgotten. 

This Christmas could be more memorable and more special by fully grasping and embracing this "one gift." It is more-than-worthy of full consideration and appreciation. This "one gift" has no strings attached but is just waiting to be received. 

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." (Acts 16:31)

Christmas is the perfect time to reflect on all the gifts we have forgotten over the years and to fully open and enjoy the GREATEST ONE GIFT we have ever been given.

Please comment below to let me know if you packed a shoebox or volunteered at a Processing Center. If you're coming to the Atlanta PC, definitely let me know so I can look for you!

If you can't make it to serve in person, another meaningful option is the Operation Christmas Child "Build A Shoe Box On Line." Simple. Fast. Easy. Affordable option that makes a huge impact. 

Merry CHRISTmas to all of you my dear friends! 🎄 💚

It would be a crime

at Christmas time

to miss the point

and get all out of joint!