a true Christmas miracle

for the month of November
our church collected things ::
hat
gloves
neck warmer
wool socks
hand warmers
lip balm
instant coffee
enamelware cup
mini can of pop
large chocolate bar
raisins
tooth brush
tooth paste
hand sanitizer
a Bible

and we packed shoe boxes
with these items
and tied them with red yarn

then ben and i took four teens
from our youth group
to the cities
we prayed that God would allow us
to give those boxes to people
who really would be blessed by them
people who would appreciate the Bibles
the people God wanted to have them

ben drove us around for 5 hours
finding homeless men on the streets
we took turns hopping out and asking
"could we give you a Christmas present?"
only a few men said "no"
most were surprised
- taken aback
almost disbelieving

we had packed up 15 boxes
as the day wore on
we counted up 6 boxes left
we gave another away
we counted 6 boxes
we gave another away
we counted 6 boxes . . .
we left one on a bench by a bus stop
we gave another away
we counted 4 boxes
it was dark
it was late
we gave the last 4 boxes
to a police officer
who was interested in what we were doing
and sounded excited about giving
4 gifts over the course of his shift that night

then we started to "name" and count up
the men we had given boxes to
we "named" them
by what they were wearing
or where they had been standing
we counted them up . . .

we had given out 19 boxes!
God took our 15
and made them into His 19!

you know the story
of the loaves and the fishes?
God does these wonders
and miracles
when they will glorify Him

a favorite verse of mine
lately has been
"He performs wonders unfathomable
and miracles uncountable." (Job 5:9)

be encouraged in Him today!