Small Dreams Coming True

I've always wanted to pack a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child.  But it as little as it looks, still, until this year it was too much for me.  

Likely it would have been too much this year too, but thanks to the positive encouragement of the kids' Awana Club...more than that, their firm deadline, TODAY, we were able to pull two boxes together.  

This is Koji's box for a boy 5-9 years old.  I should have taken a picture of the contents for my future reference.  I think it was a tablet of construction paper, a box of markers, a couple of mechanical pencils, a bar of soap, a sponge, two pairs of socks, toothpaste, toothbrush, five Hot Wheels cars and one plastic tiger.  We had fun walking through Target and picking out things for his "friend".  I was afraid that the kids would be angling to get things for themselves, but they were actually super unselfish.  Koji went in to the clothing section and nominated several different shirts, even.  Too bad we had to skip them for the sake of our budget.  

Anyway, Izumi's box was similar, but for a girl 5-9 years old.  I think we changed out the cars for a mini baby doll and the plastic tiger for a plastic tiara, but otherwise the contents were the same.  It was so sweet when Izumi said, "Mama, let's get this baby for my friend and then when I meet her someday we can play with it together".  

So, putting together and submitting the boxes is one dream come true and the other is the kids attendance at the Awana club.  It's not terribly convenient, getting them all to Glenview by 6:30 every Wednesday night, but the time I spent in Awana as a kid was extremely influential (I can still sing Judy Weathers' songs!) and I want them to have the same experience.  

We've had plenty of things that didn't turn out ideally this year, so I am thankful for these two small dreams realized!