Holiday Heroes

Wow. I keep trying to come up with a better word, but that one word is the best I can do. I’ve thought of bigger ones, more descriptive ones, fancier ones. But every time, I just keep coming back to Wow.

I guess that is because "wow" is the word I have been thinking of over and over again these past few months during the Boxes of Love campaign.
We did it last year, and it was a success. We were pleased and proud at the community’s support. But this year. Donations. Toys. Food. Volunteers. Wow.

Last year, we were new and unknown. This year, we were a little more organized, and had more time to get the word out. But make no mistake, Ignite didn’t do this. Blytheville as a whole did this. The churches did this. The individual volunteers did this. The civic groups did this; the factories and the workplaces and the schools did this. Above all, God did this. He gave us the vision and the means to see it through.

Due to an unscheduled trip up to the Mayo Clinic, I didn’t get to participate in that last, frantic week. I didn’t get to take part in the distribution of the Boxes; which makes the madness beforehand worth it.

I stayed in touch, because my dad would call me with frequent updates. We got in another load, unexpectedly, of toys. Wow. A delivery truck just pulled up to the back door with more food, a truck we weren’t counting on. Wow. We got in more money, money we didn’t know we were going to get. Wow. Another truck, with more food. Wow. More toys, great toys. Wow. More people came to volunteer. Wow.

How amazing. How awesome. Just look what we can do when we do it together. To each individual, each group, each and every person that thought about the Boxes of Love program and contributed, we thank you so much. We quite literally could not have done it without you. We are awed and humbled and so very grateful for the trust and the respect that you have shown us by allowing us to help serve this community.

When it comes right down to it, wow is still the best word. It is the word that we have thought time and again through this project as our needs and expectations were not only met, but exceeded. Thank you, Blytheville, for making us able to say "Wow."