Today I’m thankful for my friend Amelia's giving heart.

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11.13.2021

Allow me to brag on my friend Amelia for a minute. She is one of the most giving, generous people I know. In addition to the many, many, many ways she serves others on a daily basis, Amelia coordinates a massive effort each year to supply hundreds and hundreds of shoe boxes full of gifts to children across the world through Operation Christmas Child.

Amelia, along with a small group of women, collects items all year long to give away in these boxes. They collect school supply items, shoes, clothes, toys, personal hygiene items, small stuffed animals and on and on. They scour clearance sections at stores all year long, collecting and storing thousands and thousands of items for their shoe boxes. Then in November they coordinate a large army of friends and family members to sort items, organize assembly lines, and pack boxes. We’re talking lots and lots and lots of boxes.

I helped pack boxes for a couple of measly hours this morning. Amelia and her team of volunteers had been at this for days. There was an assembly line in Amelia’s back yard and an assembly line in her front yard. People were stocking shelves with empty boxes as fast as we could pack them. Others were sealing them, labeling them and counting them. Still others were packing the packed boxes into larger boxes and loading vehicles to deliver them to various drop-off locations. I’m not kidding when I say this is an impressive effort.

One thing I love about Amelia is that she gives big and gives with her whole heart. While I might think ‘I should pack a box to donate,’ Amelia thinks ‘Let’s see how many boxes we can pack to donate.’

When I left today they were close to having 1000 boxes packed. That’s 1000 kids across the world that will get a box full of Christmas joy compliments of Amelia. Now multiply this by the many years she’s done this – and that’s a whole lot of Christmas smiles that Amelia and her team are responsible for.

Today I’m thankful I got to play an itty-bitty role in creating a small part of that joy. I’m also thankful for the joy it sparked in me. But mostly, I’m thankful for my friend Amelia. I'm thankful for the gift she is to the world and I'm thankful for the example she is to me to think a little broader and give a little bigger.