Is 240 something pictures too much for one post?
Can you ever have too many sweet smiles?
Can you ever give too much?
Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive.
I pray these pictures bless you and I hope those of you who sent boxes get to see the child who you were able to bless!
On Christmas Eve, we took out the 2 back seats of our van and loaded it up with most of the remaining boxes.
Then we ALL scrunched in the remaining seats and after the crying/complaining/"He's squishing me"/"He's breathing on me"/"I can't breathe"/"I can't see anything" subsided and I did my best to do a head count to make sure we had everybody, we took off :)
Once we got going and several of us hit the streets walking, the van was far less squished :)
We began about 10:30 am and finished right before it got dark. Every box was placed into the hands of a child! We tried to get a picture of every one. I know we missed a couple and a couple children were deathly afraid of the camera and so we didn't want to traumatize them. But hopefully, if you sent a box, you can the child who received it.
These smiles and all the thank you's I heard are yours.
If you find a child with your box, leave a comment and let us know.
I know several of these children and this year, we will continue to share Christ with them.
Pray for them. Pray for their families! The Lord is so faithful and soooo good!!!
These next several pictures show us arriving at Clementina's house. Many of you who read here may remember that she is the grandmother to several children. In the past couple years, she has gone from screaming and refusing to let us come to her house to share Jesus to receiving me with a hug and even crying as we've continued to try to reach her for the Lord. Please pray for her and her family!!
This is Clementina. How much God loves her! Oh, that she may see that this year and give her heart to Jesus!
This boy really wanted his bag!!! :)
This is Rosio. No children were harmed in the handing out of boxes :)
Daniel was teasing her as we've knowing her since she was a weeee thing.
Did you make it to the end?
How many pictures are there?
Any guesses?
Hi ~ Your blog has touched my heart and the hearts of my children! I am the mother to 6 wonderful children and as I was looking at your pictures all my kiddos gathered around me to see what I was looking at. I told them how your family collects 'shoe-boxes' and as we scrolled through the pictures my children said next year they want to send 'shoe-boxes'! They are so excited! I am so excited! My 13 year old son said, "I don't care if it means less for me Mom ~ I want to do this soooo bad!" My 9 year old son just sat quietly and when I looked his way his eyes were all teary, he was doing his best not to blink. It was right at the pictures of Clementina and her family. "Is that where they live Mom?"
ReplyDelete"Yes Son, I know it's hard to see some of these pictures. It makes us realize how blessed we are, doesn't it?
"Yeah ~ it makes me so sad to see them. I can't wait to fill up my box. I can't wait."
So that's what we are going to do =) How can I say no? I asked God how can we afford 6 boxes? And you know what? We are going to start in January and fill them up a little bit each month.Your family is amazing! I pray that God will bless you and your ministry richly this year! Happy New Year * EMichelle
Aw, Michelle, that is such a sweet story. I will pray right now that the Lord will help you to fill and send those boxes by next Christmas! If you remind me and it's possible, I'd love to take whatever you send to Clementina's family. Please pray for them. How their lives would change if they would let Jesus come into their hearts! I know He is able- I'm praying that He'll do a miracle in Clementina's heart this year.
DeleteMichelle, we have 6 children too, and we were able to send more boxes than we had originally thought -- saved each month, watched for Target's & other stores clearance, etc. The Lord provided!
DeleteHow awesome that your children want to give! I know it can work out.
Hannah C.
My boys found our box:) They were so EXCITED! My older son said "that makes me feel really good:)" Thank you so much for taking the time to organize and do this labor of love for all these children who are loved my the Lord. This was our first year to send a box. And next year we are planning to do 2 boxes. Thank you for posting all these pictures Jaynee so my boys could find their box!
ReplyDeleteI'm so you glad you found your box! The Lord bless you for your giving!
DeleteWe sent two boxes and found them both. Love this project and hope to be a part of it for many, many more years!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you found your boxes!!! If the Lord gives us many more years to serve Him here, we'll be soooo excited to give out what you send each year! God bless!
DeleteJaynee, thank you so much for taking the time to photograph each and every recipient as you were able. What a labor of love! We can pick out what looks like our boxes, except we only sent two and there seem to be several that fit our description. So we're going to have to decorate them uniquely for next year. Already planning and excited about next Christmas! We will be praying for the Mexican children and their families to come to know Jesus as their Savior.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for praying, Julie! I'll be looking forward to your uniquely, creatively, decorated boxes for next year! :) Thank you so much for all your love and giving to the ministry here! We love and miss you and I need to email you soon. I think of you so much. Love you!! Tell all the kiddos hi from us!
DeleteAgain :-) Can you tell me the name of the girl with the zebra print bag so that we can pray for her specifically? They are definitely easy to find in the many pics-- I'll have to think of something more obvious for the boys' bags for next year.
ReplyDeleteLove this ministry project! And so thankful for your family being there in Mexico!
Her name is Victoria. She is the cousin of a little girl in our church that just accepted Christ. She hasn't come often, so I don't know too much about her. I think she's 11 or 12. I'll talk to Lizbet (her cousin) tonight and ask more :)
DeleteOpps....I commented on the wrong post! Victoria is the girl with the Zebra bag right after Soledad on the prior post. The girl on this post with the Zebra bag is Anahi. She is 7 or 8 years old and lives near our church :) She's a sweetheart!!
DeleteThanks, Jaynee!
Delete~melanie
We found our box! Thank you so much for doing this, it is so wonderful to be a part of it. Our box has the gray top, and is in the hands of a little girl in a light grey/hot pink sweatshirt and grey sweatpants. My 5 year old daughter would love to know more about her. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHer name is Dana. She's never come to church, but I know where she lives and a girl who does go to our church and lives by her says she lives with her parents and is an only child. She's 4 years old.
DeleteWow I have known about this for a while, hopeing next year to get all of the kids in our school and church to make just one box a family! If that happens we will be sending you about 200 just from our church! :) Hope it does!
ReplyDeleteThat would be sooooo great! We would LOVE to give to more children here!
DeleteMy kids are so excited to see their bags on here. This is such a great way for them to visualize what they're doing when they pack them. They included "All About Me" pages in each one with our family picture and info about us/our address in hopes that we might hear from some of the families. It just occurred to me, I should have included an envelope with postage in each one. Idea for next time!
ReplyDeleteThat's great, Nikki! Which bags were yours? If I know the kids, I can help them write you if they want. :)
DeleteWhat precious children! Thank you SO much for the update on Clementina and the pictures! - Sonya and family
ReplyDeleteI have looked through this post twice now. I just love it. The picture of the sleeping baby with a bag was so adorable! What a treat she was in for when she woke up. How wonderful that the Lord has laid it on your hearts to do this. I am sure the kids are so blessed by the boxes and all the treats inside. What a wonderful expression of love!!
ReplyDelete~Cinnamon
We have so much enjoyed the pics Jayne & family!
ReplyDeleteMultiple of them are shoeboxes we sent (would love to hear more stories about the kids! Several of ours have b&w paisley duck tape, some are in shoes boxes, some USPS boxes, and some clear boxes), but I didn't count to see if most of them were there -- just hoped that both of the packages we had sent had reached you, lol.
~Hannah C.
There are 245 pictures. :D I hope we can send out boxes this year. How many of the children you gave them to came to church?
ReplyDeleteNick, did you actually count them?! I wouldn't know because I have no idea how many there are!!! :-)
DeleteI hope you send some boxes next year too and better yet, come deliver them in person (with your family, of course!!! I maayyyy let you in without them, but your chances are much better with them ;) just teasing :) ).
Many of those children have come to church. The Lord has been so good and His word is being taught to so many of these precious children every week. Several have come to Christ this year. Come and meet them soon!!! :)