The Mission Continues...

Planoamy
I may have mentioned a little project that I was handed recently because I wrote a letter. Sometimes the old ball is started way off in the distance, and you just sort of get packed into it as it goes by...

This past weekend, I received my first round of donations of clothing and shoes for the village near my friend, who is stationed in Afghanistan. The first load filled my trunk. The second delivery was so big, the lady brought her husband and we made trips to our back deck with garbage bags full. I have been washing toddler clothes since Saturday and you can't tell I have made a dent! My mother's mentioned that her church might like to contribute on the shipping costs. That will be a big help as the time nears but right now I am so caught up in getting everything presentable! Last night I washed 23 pairs of shoes. With Soft Scrub and a toothbrush. Hey if you never tried it, Soft Scrub will put the bright white back in an old pair of sneaks. I even bleached the little laces. I kept thinking about a child with no shoes at all, getting their first pair of hand me downs. I wanted them to look as nice as I could get them. It was after midnight and I was leaning on the kitchen counter, polishing the sole of a size 3 Nike with an old fuzzy Oral B, and my favorite radio station was keeping me company. They started playing, "People all over the world, join hands! Start a love train! Love train!" And I bebopped my way out to the patio table to let the shoes dry.

Tonight I got them all back in, paired up with laces put back and tied together, and boxed in a corner of the kitchen. There are at least 2 more bags of shoes still out on the back deck. I don't know if I will ever see a picture of these children I hope to outfit. I may not ever hear how they received these little thoughts of kindness. But it feels so good to think that one child will have a lighter heart because they received something personal just for them. And who knows where that might lead?