A Few More Christmas Bible Verses

Here are some more of my favorite Christmas Bible verses! I made these to use in scrapbooking and faithbooking pages. If you like them, you can download them with the other two I shared earlier this month – they’re at my scrapbooking blog: Scrapbook Ideas.  I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas!!

Christmas Countdowns and Candy Canes

We have been counting down the days ’til Christmas! Gabe has been using a cute snowman countdown each day after school, with pockets which have candies inside! Julia has been gluing cotton balls on Santa’s beard (a fun craft she made at Mother’s Morning Out). Then we open the flap on our nativity advent calendar and read a Bible verse together and talk about it. Yesterday, after our countdown activities, the kids hung candy canes on the tree. Aren’t they such sweeties?

I have also been reading other December daily Bible verses from a calendar included in the curriculum for the kindergarten Sunday school class I co-teach.  The “Keeping Christ in Christmas” December calendar (by Lifeway Christian Resources), that came with my Sunday school teaching kit has a Christmas story verse for each day plus an idea for an activity do do with your child. Here’s the verse from today:

Kindergarten Craft Day, Plus a Christmas Bible Verse

Just wanted to share a quick pic from today: I had a chance to visit Gabe’s Kindergarten classroom to help with craft time. There were all kinds of Christmas crafts, and we had a great time :)!

Here is a Bible verse perfect for Christmastime – Isaiah 9:6:

Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box Ideas and Tips

Since this is National Collection week for Operation Christmas Child (OCC) shoe boxes, I thought I’d share a few ideas and tips for packing shoe boxes which will be delivered to needy kids all over the world:

• Look at the list provided on the OCC website for ideas of what to include and what NOT to include: Click here to see how to Pack a Shoe Box. Toys and candy are a must, in my opinion, but don’t forget a toothbrush and some soap too! You shouldn’t put things that can melt or leak in there and please skip weapons/war – related toys (so many of the kids are from war-torn countries).
• If you’re filling more than one box, look for packs of toys, school supplies, stickers, candy, etc. to split up between boxes – this can stretch your shoe box money a little further and helps make room for more variety in each box. Party sections of stores usually sell inexpensive favors in sets which could be divided between several boxes.
• When possible, remove items from their packages to make room for more things! Of course, you will want to keep things like candy, toothbrushes, and toys with small parts in the original packaging :).
• You will need to pay $7 to cover the shipping cost for your box, and the COOLEST way to to do this is to pay online and print out the special label to put on your box so you can track where it ends up! Our boxes from last year ended up in India, and we got an email with a photo gallery of kids opening their boxes, plus information about the location and specific prayer requests.
• Don’t forget to include a photo and note – if you include your address, you might even get a letter back!
• Last but not least, PRAY for the child(ren) who will receive your shoe boxes along with the good news about Jesus!

I like to shop in dollar stores and the dollar spot at Target to find lots of great deals, but I recently discovered that lots of people actually shop the whole year through – taking advantage of sales, holiday clearance, and free samples to build up a stockpile for multiple shoe boxes. I am TOTALLY doing this from now on! I actually did take advantage of a Halloween clearance sale to get a HUGE bag of Tootsie Roll candies at a super cheap price last week.  These were great because they don’t melt, there were lots of different types and they didn’t have any Halloween pictures on them. Once I filled our two boxes, I just topped each one off with a big ziplock bag of candy :)!

Anyway, here are some great blogs with tons of tips about saving money while shopping for OCC shoe box gifts:

The Frugal Girls

Pack a Shoebox on a Budget

Clip with Purpose

Deals for Donating

Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box Collection Week Starts Today!

Have you packed a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child this year? This is a beloved Christmas tradition for our family, which we look forward to every year!  The Samaritan’s Purse ministry collects and distributes shoe boxes filled with gifts for needy children around the world. For many of the kids who open these shoe boxes, this will be the only gift they receive this year, but more important than the treasures inside the shoe boxes is the message of love and hope in Jesus Christ that is delivered to each and every child! What a fantastic ministry that we are so blessed to be able to be a part of!

Each year we pack one shoe box for a boy Gabe’s age and for the past two years we have been packing a box for a little girl too. Each year the kids understand more about the process and get more involved. This year it has been so precious to listen to Gabe pray for the shoe boxes to arrive safely in time for Christmas! He has raised many concerns during bedtime prayers ranging from the toys not breaking during the flight overseas, to the packages arriving in time, etc. So sweet. This was the first year Julia was big enough to bring her own box to the front of the church; she seems very excited about the whole thing, even though I know she doesn’t really understand it all quite yet.

If you haven’t participated in Operation Christmas Child, I encourage you to get involved – it’s the perfect way to prepare your heart for the true meaning of the Christmas season!