Wednesday, December 21, 2011

o the joys of toys...

the Christmas Village Toy Store was an amazing experience. i got to meet so many different people and have a lot of amazing conversation. the people shopping were so grateful and the volunteers were exuding joy. really put me in the christmas spirit!! i took a couple pictures before the store opened up and then i spent the rest of my morning "exit-greeting" and handing out cake mix so they could make birthday cakes for jesus with their kids: so great. god is good.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Putting the Christmas Sprit in a Toy Store









Christmas Village Toy Store is the christmas spirit wrapped up in a church turned toy store. Warehouse 242 partners with other local churches to run the Christmas Village Toy Store. presents are donated to the toy store and priced at discounted prices. they are then shelved and ready to buy. families in the area can then come and buy the presents for their kids. the parents keep their dignity because they're still allowed to buy the presents but they're at a discounted price so the kids still get their presents. its fantastic, and i loved being involved and the toy store hasn't even opened yet!! i am going to volunteer friday to exit greet and then take some pictures so keep updated and you'll see some more!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Oh! The Places You'll Go!!!!













I began a series recently based on Dr.Suess's "Oh! The Places You'll Go!" i decided to do some interpretive pictures depicting what the book is actually saying; then i took portraits of people that have actually gone somewhere they've wanted to go. this series serves as an optimistic reminder that you can go anywhere and do anything if you put your mind to it.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Shoebox Layout



for class and for fun i decided to make a fun layout of all the pictures and information for Operation Christmas Child. i even interview my friend Laura Train about her experience with OCC and what it means to her. i wrote the story and took all the pictures and designed the layout. it was a lot of fun.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Faces Behind the Shoeboxes...






i had the honor of going behind the scenes at Operation Christmas Child and packing shoeboxes with my small group from Warehouse 242. as we arrived, we went through training. as soon as we finished learning how to pack a box, the volunteers were taking a prayer break and a staff member told a story of a shoebox child and some scripture. every single volunteer and staff member stopped working and listened to the story of thanks and prayed over shoeboxes together. Operation Christmas Child is not only about sending christmas presents to children around the globe but it's a reminder that this is done in the name of Christ and all for a fabulous cause. i loved getting up close and personal with all the boxes that came across my table and seeing what different people packed. and of course working with my small group is always fun. i've adopted the nickname of 'the little one'. lovely :)

Operation Christmas Child - Shoeboxes for Joy




ever since i was little, i had heard talk of the amazing warehouse that Samaritan's Purse has set up in charlotte to pack their holiday Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes for children. i was always too young or too busy to travel to charlotte to volunteer at the warehouse. but now...since i live in charlotte i am so excited to be a part of it. i traveled there recently to take some pictures of the overall atmosphere and i'm going back this evening with my small group from church to participate and actually help pack shoeboxes. while i was given the grande tour on tuesday by a jolly volunteer he told me about all the people that come out to volunteer at the warehouse. people take holiday vacation time from work and travel down to the warehouse to give back to their communities, their international communities. he informed me there was people from as far away as Ohio! he said they come down and spend a few days and volunteer all day throughout their stays here. that is amazing and reminds us all what the christmas spirit is all about!!! this place is an amazing organization and just the size is enough to overwhelm anyone! here are some over-all shots i took tuesday and i'll post more soon from my trip tonight where we'll get up close and personal with some volunteers :)