A Four Hour Workout

Here I was yesterday.

Here I am today.

(Wearing my new Sunbeam heated shoulder massager)

(Set on high!)

And my poor aching feet are...

inside my never-before-used heated foot massager.

(Also set high as it will go!) 

And yes, those are my pj britches!

I am a sight!

So...it was just a 4 hour (1 to 5) shift at the

Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child 

Distribution Center.

How hard could that be?

A piece of cake for someone who feels

as young as I do, she thought!

First, we were trained.  Here's Franklin Graham

talking to us via video.

This is a very organized operation.

There are around 20 stations, manned by 10 or so

volunteers per station.

We were Station 14.

I was in the first position, which involved removing

individual boxes from a large carton.

 

 I checked each box for financial contributions,

removed them and dropped them in a slot,

then made sure the box was marked 

"boy" or "girl" with the appropriate age bracket.

(I think mine was the easiest position, but

someone forgot to tell my feet.)

That first picture above also shows sweet Anit,

a young volunteer who had been working since

6:00 A.M., yet helped me tremendously!

Then I passed the box on for inspection, to make

sure it contained no disallowed items--

liquids, glass, melty candy, camouflage items, etc.

It is interesting to note that these forbidden

items were not discarded, but collected to be

 donated to local charities.

I loved the fact that, other than these few

disallowed items, what you pack is what is sent!

There is no re-distribution of items.

Everything you lovingly pack goes to "your" child.

If a box is not full enough, there were extra

age-appropriate items to add.

The boxes were then taped with a fancy machine

(operated by position 3)

and placed in cartons segregated by gender and age.

(position 4!)

Some donors had paid $7 to have their boxes

traced, so that they could know where they go.

These boxes had a special label which was scanned.

Then the large carton in which they were placed

 was also scanned, enabling tracking.

We found ourselves working just as fast as

we could, and we hated to quit when

our 4 hour shift ended.

(She said as she limped out.)

Of course, you know by now that I get excited

pretty easily!  I know...about everything!

But...THIS WAS SO EXCITING!

There was Christmas music playing.

 Groups whooped and hollered when cartons

were filled!

There was an air of camaraderie and joy!

This processing center expects to process

730,000 boxes this season,

involving 20,000 volunteers--some from great

distances.

You believe those numbers when you're there.

Here is a photo of just some of many stacks

of boxes ready to go to children in need

around the world.

I am blessed to know 2 ladies who are deeply 

involved with Operation Christmas Child.

Sharon Harvey is in our choir, and

Jan Louck is in my small group.

I know some of you would like to participate

in this ministry and may not have these

connections.

I am putting a note on my 2015 calendar

to blog contact info next year.

YOU WILL LOVE IT!

Aching feet and shoulders=warm heart!!!