Operation Christmas Child.

Max came home from school the other day with a purple sheet of paper and a very eager expression on his little face.

"Mommy, we have to get boxes. We have to give kids stuff that don't have ANYTHING like toys or candy. We have to give people who have nothing things. It's very sad."

Rarely is my little man so emphatic about anything apart from dogs, so I took this request quite seriously and we started assembling our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child today. Patrick, Micah, Max, and meself piled into the car and made a trip to Dollar Tree and the shoe store where we spent a happy hefty sum for little kids who don't have all the material goods that we, as Americans, enjoy.

Max felt passionately about participating, and it made me so proud to follow his lead on this rather than sitting on the sidelines pushing him to care about children in need. Of course, I have no problem being a coach, but as a parent, it is very rewarding when your young one starts to care about the world around him....