Here they are, ready to shop:
Target's Dollar Spot is the greatest place to buy stuff. We shop there year-round, but at Christmastime, they fill it with the stocking stuffer gifts, which are perfect for the OCC shoeboxes. The girls had a blast picking out little wooden puzzles, finger puppets, jump ropes, Hello Kitty merchandise (we assume little girls across the globe love Hello Kitty!), hair bands and barrettes, coloring books, and crayons. Then we hit the travel toiletries section and stocked up on bar soap and toothbrushes/toothpaste. At the checkout, we picked up bubble gum and Lifesavers. And of course we made sure to get a small doll for each box.
The next day we wrapped and packed the boxes.
When the boxes were packed, we gathered around and put our hands on each of them and prayed for the little girl who would receive them.
I hope that besides honoring Jesus and bringing some happiness to two other girls somewhere in the world, that my girls are learning the joy of selfless giving. Not once did I hear them bicker (well, with the possible exception of who was going to sit where in the cart) or say they wanted some of the toys and candy for themselves. "We got toys for dat little girl who doesn't have none!" said Elaine. And that gave me happiness too.
Here's a little something else that brought me joy. Here's a new feature at our Target. Check it out:
It's a security bike. Look more closely:
Is that not the funniest thing you've ever seen? I mean, does it have lights? A siren? Wouldn't you just give anything to be there when some poor unsuspecting shoplifter tries to take some of the Isaac Mizrahi line or an iPod out of blue world (and if you know Target like I do, you know the electronics section is called blue world), and the Target security guard fires up that puppy to ride to the rescue in the name of assets protection?
Joy. It really is in the littlest things. You just have to know where to look.
4 comments:
Oh, Alice - my mind totally didn't go there. I saw "assets" on the "seat" area, and my mind went to someone trying to protect their...well...assets, I should say. Ha!
Those boxes looked crammed full! Wow! The girls really fit a lot in there. I'm so glad they're learning about unselfish giving! They've got a great example to follow.
That's hysterical! We, the home of Corporate Target, don't have those in our stores - yours is too cool.
Our SLP paper was just running an article about Operation Christmas Child and I immediately thought of you. I think we'll try to do this too. I love the idea. You and the girls did a phenom job - those boxes look so happy and colorful - so many great surprises.
P.S. Scott's found a church he's wanting to check out (I'll tell you more later) and Dec. 5th The Lake Wobegon Band is putting on a free holiday concert with all donations going toward the local family emergency shelter. They say the band is: Something new, something old, something borrowed, and something blew. We just have to go. :)
The boxes are adorable. Our church does that too -- but your "girls" will love those boxes. They are so cute and nicely packed!! Great job.
I am slightly scared by the security bike at Target. Are they going to chase shoplifters down on the bike..."Watch out in the aisles, Asset protection coming through!!" That is too funny!
It's funny that you mention the strange hybrid of a segway and a big wheel. I saw that last night and it was parked inside the store in the same place as it rested when you snapped your picture. I'm not sure what good it does sitting there. And to be honest, I'm not sure how it helps when in operation. Does the operator zip in and out of traffic in the parking lot in order to apprehend a suspected shoplifter?
What's funny is that I was sitting outside the rest room waiting for my daughters to finish up inside when an employee came out of the male rest room and informed a manager that there had been a theft. The employee was holding what looked like the protective sleeve used on DVD's, although it had been cut. At that point the manager stated that AP was gone for the day and told the employee to take the evidence to the service desk. So, while the local store can fork out the dough for this cool toy, they can't afford to pay to have someone from asset protection in the store after 7 p.m. on a Saturday. Very strange.
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