OCC..........

No....not Orange County Choppers....Operation Christmas Child! Today was this year's first trip to the Charlotte center as volunteers to help process the millions of shoe boxes collected in this region. If memory serves me right this is our 5th year and we love it. Sadly, Stefanie and Nick who have accompanied us the past few years were unable to participate but for the first time Janice and Steve were able to join us. Steve's mom graciously accepted the challenge of keeping all four grandchildren for the scheduled work hours.....thank you Holly!

We set off at 1:30 p.m.. Thom had joined the men at church all morning constructing Bethlehem for the "Bethlehem Walk" on Dec. 11 - 13th and he showered, dressed and down the road we headed. A friend from church came along so we stopped briefly to pick her up then trekked the 80 miles down I85 arriving with plenty of time for our 4:00 p.m. start. The five of us worked the "line" as we usually do....examining the boxes, removing inappropriate items, refilling , wrapping and sorting them by sex and age. We worked as a team and had a great time!

An added bonus .....Friendship Baptist had a group working today and our hours overlapped. It was good seeing old friends again.

The drive home was quicker then expected and we arrived here by 9:45...just about a 90 minute trip.....not bad. It was a fabulous day....looking forward to going back next week with Holston Creek. Tired but happy.....