It's that time of year again! Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse is collecting shoeboxes full of gifts for children all over the world. We found out when we came to FBC Hughes Springs that our church has been involved in OCC for years (which we were excited to hear!) - in fact, we're the collection site for our area. This morning was collection day for those in our church who chose to participate, so yesterday I packed our box so I could be sure to take it this morning. After I finished packing it, I called Daniel inside (he was out working on his 'new' car...surprise, surprise!) so we could pray for the child who would receive the box. Riley was toddling around as usual, so we asked if he wanted to pray with us. I am blown away every day at just how much his little 15 1/2 month old brain understands! He walked over, grabbed both of our hands, and just stood there the whole time Daniel was praying. Then when Daniel finished and said, "Amen," Riley said, "Amen." It was the sweetest thing! We always pray together at our meals, but I didn't know that he realized prayer didn't have to just be at mealtime, and I certainly didn't know he could say "Amen." Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think our son is some sort of super-spiritual 1-year-old who is going to start preaching tomorrow, BUT I do know now just how important it is that we SHOW him what it means to be a follower of Christ even at this young age. He is watching everything we do and listening to everything we say. We must be intentional about living out our faith in front of our son. I'll never forget standing in the kitchen praying over that box with our baby! Oh how I pray that whoever gets our box (a boy between the ages of 5 and 9) will know who Jesus is and have parents who desire to teach him about faith in Christ!
Here are some of the boxes collected this morning during the worship service
Riley and Daddy with our box
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