Positively Inspirational Round-up: Christmas of joy!

Hello all, thanks for coming back and joining me this month.  Are you busy already, starting to get organised for Christmas?  As you read this I’ll be getting our trees up at home and the kids will be having fun decorating their own tree with the ‘more is more’ ethos. I keep mentioning to anyone who will listen that time is going too fast this year.  One minute it was October and I was travelling to Ethiopia with Jen and ONE, and the next it is December and I am off travelling again. I have hardly had time to catch my breath so it is really important I spend this weekend with my children and cherish this family time.

Journey to Belarus

On Tuesday I am going to Belarus with Operation Christmas Child (OCC) and internet allowing, I’ll be blogging whilst I am out there and sharing with my readers all the wonderful stories I hear whilst I meet underprivileged children and listen to their stories as I deliver them a shoebox filled with simple goodies, love and of course hope.

I’ve personally supported OCC for a number of years now and I have often blogged about the Christian charity and the work that they do. I fully support the idea that every child deserves to have a good Christmas and of course spreading some joy through an unconditional gift is perfect for the festive season. I’ll first introduce you to the blog of Ruth who works for OCC but from her attic, how quirky is that?  I’m travelling with Ruth to Belarus and I’ll be looking to her for guidance and wisdom on this trip as I believe she has done it a few times before.

Blogger Power

I went on a little trek around the blogsphere to round up some people who have written about OCC this year. First off I’ll start with Mummy2Five she decided to use her blogger power to appeal to brands and companies that she has worked with to ask for donations to help her make up lots of boxes to send off.  It was nice to see John Crane supporting her and calling on their fellow toy companies to support Joanne and to send her toys for donation in the boxes.

Cute as a button tells us of a selfless friend who said she did not want any presents for her birthday this year, rather she would prefer her friends give her donations to go in an OCC shoebox. How fab is that?  A great idea I might just have to steal myself. So rising to the challenge Cute as a button knitted some beautiful scarves, hats and mini handbags to go in the boxes. These crafty types are a real asset to OCC; check out the OCC Pinterest board for brilliant craft ideas.

Being organised is the key!

Wendy’s World has also posted on OCC and tells us she is organised and starts to buy items for the shoe boxes from September onwards. I always feel it is a good idea to spread out the cost, in fact I can often be found buying things in the January sales as the price is so good and I know they would make great shoebox additions! Some people are amazed when I tell them I can make up a really good box for under £10, all because of a bit of forethought and planning.

There are literally hundreds of US Mummy (or should I be saying Mommy) bloggers who have chosen to write about OCC, one of which is The Mummy Chronicles, who says that making a box does her heart and soul good and this year she decided to bring her little girls in on the joy and get them to help make up the boxes.  Great idea, this is exactly what I do with my kids and now, even my youngest at age 5 have a good understanding of how fortunate they are and that many kids in the world live a very different life to them. Our job as parents is to educate them after all! I also found the blog of Clair a British Mum living in the US who worked with some local churches and received donations via her blog and this meant they could have an OCC packing party and made up 1001 boxes.  Yes you read that right – over 1000, truly awesome.

Catherine of Lux Life enjoys being involved with OCC and said that she can’t remember a year since primary school when she has not been involved, she decided to start a blogger tag to help spread the word in her network and to ask people to get involved. A number of people did including Spoilt Face.

It’s a small world

As part of my preparations for my journey next week I went along to a local warehouse last week and helped to check boxes to make sure all the included items were suitable for sending abroad and in accordance with the custom regulations.  This was a truly wonderful experience and one that I will replicate each year from now onwards. What was hilarious is that I had been tweeting with a local blogger and we realised later that day that she had been along to the warehouse and put her box actually into my hands without either of us having realised who we both were.  It’s a small world!

If I have whet your appetite and you like the sounds of OCC but have heard some mumblings or bad press then do please read the official truth statement from OCC UK and also take a peek at the blog post I wrote last year. I hope these will put your mid at rest that there is nothing untoward going on with OCC UK. I will be blogging very honestly on the journey I am taking and if anything I see or hear does not sit well with me then I’ll be saying so.

There is still time to make a box if you have a Shoe Zone locally as they are accepting donations up to and including 3^rd December 2012.  Or you can visit ShoeBox World where you can pack a box online and pay that way and OCC will make the actual box up and send it on for you.  A great solution for those short of time.

I’ll see you here on the BritMums Blog again once I return as I’m doing a guest post about my trip. Wishing you a wonderful festive season.  Mich x

About Michelle Pannell

Mummy from the Heart is the fourth baby of Michelle, a 46 year old (manic) mother living in East Sussex. Having moved to the countryside and ‘retired’, Michelle can now be found eating too much cake and taking long walks. She lives life on the bright side and looks for the joy in every situation, even the excess pounds those cakes keep adding! Michelle’s blog is a very honest place where she shares tales of imperfect parenting, being a Christian digital activist and anything else that takes her fancy.

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