Operation Giggle Guidelines

Operation Giggle Gift Guidelines

(updated because of change in box size)

If you would like to become a “Christmas Family” for one of the children at New Day please email me your name and email address along with which child you would like to sponsor. After I match you with a child you may begin buying Christmas gifts for your child. All gifts should adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Please be sure that your gifts will fit into one 12x12x12 box. We have to put all of the gifts in the same box so that we can ship them on a palate.

2. All gifts should weigh no more than 3lbs.


3. Gifts should not be wrapped. We need to be sure that each child is getting an even share of gifts. You may include sealed cards in your box.


4. Please only buy “fun” gifts such as toys, books, stuffed animals, jewelry, and things of that nature. The Foster Home has said that the children are well stocked in clothes and requested that we not send them. Also keep in mind that the Foster Home will not be able to afford to replace batteries and they can be very heavy to ship. We are not going to say that you can’t send battery operated toys but you should make sure you send extra batteries and keep the weight issue in mind.

5. You are responsible for getting the items to us. We are in Cleveland, TN just outside of Chattanooga. All gifts need to be received by us no later than December 1st in order to ensure they are wrapped, packed, shipped, and received by Christmas. When I assign your child I will send you an email with our mailing address included.


6. We are asking for each family to also include a $5.00 check or money order made out to Sarah’s Hope with Operation Giggle on the “for” line. This $5.00 will be used to go toward the $700-$1000 shipping bill, cost of boxes, and wrapping supplies. Any money left over will be forwarded to the Milk Money program at New Day.

I included a couple of pictures of the cuties just to convince you that it is worth while to go "here" to see the children of New Day. You can click on their pictures to read their profiles. We will be adding their pictures and profiles to the website here very soon until then feel free to go to the New Day site and pick the child you would like to sponsor. 12 of the children already have sponsors so make sure you lock in your choice soon!! God Bless!

Sarah's Hope

I realized that I needed to let everyone know that Operation Giggle is being done as a ministry of Sarah's Hope. Sarah's Hope is a non-profit organization started in April of this year by My father, Jack L. Epperson and I. Sarah's Hope will be a maternity home for unwed mothers over the age of 18 living in Bradley County and the surrounding areas.

Sarah's hope is named after my daughter Sarah. In April of 1999 I found out that I was pregnant with Sarah. I was 18 and unmarried and scared to death. My family rallied around Sarah's dad (Mitchell) and I and we were married and because of the grace of God we made it. Without the network I had as an 18 year old girl I have no clue where Sarah and I would be today. The thoughts of other young mothers struggling alone to bring a child into this world and raise him or her is unbearable. God began to speak to my dad about opening up a home for those girls. He began to have conversations with New Life Pregnancy Center and learned that there was a great need for this ministry. In April we hired a lawyer and began pursuing our Non-Profit status. We are currently saving money so that we can purchase a home to remodel and get ready to house our first 2 or 3 ladies. One of the Pastor's at the church I attended and his wife have raised three children and have agreed to move into the home and be the House Parents.

I am excited at the doors God is opening in my life and I want to serve Him and worship Him in every second of every day. I know that many of you have this same desire! Thank you so much for your support of Sarah's Hope and Operation Giggle.

So Excited!

I am amazed at God's goodness. I mean I know he's good and I even have grown to expect it but it still surprises me sometimes. I have had a lot of blog traffic in the last few days and this doesn't excite me because I want everyone to read what I write or because it means that the fee I paid to have my blog beautified (is that a word?!) is paying off...it's because the word is getting out about these beautiful kids! I know the more people who see the blog the more people who are going to help send Christmas to the children at New Day. I am working VERY HARD on a blog with a list of all of the children and their pictures. This is not easy seeing as how I am not great with HTML and all of that but I am working on it and hope to have it up sometime today. For all of you who have commented that you want a specific child please send an email to sdrgodsgirl@yahoo.com and I will "reserve" your child for you. I am working toward having a meeting on Sunday October 11th for all of those who are close enough to get together. We will be making the info cards for all of the kids and going over the basics. If you are within driving distance of Cleveland, TN (about 30 miles north of Chattanooga) then email me for more information about the meeting. Please continue to pray about the freight and that we hear back from a local radio station about getting them to talk about it online. Pray for God's favor on everything we do and God's leadership in every area. I want to leave you with a scripture that seams to be bursting from my heart today:

Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Update

It has been almost one month since Operation Giggle got off the ground. I am so excited by the number of visitors we have had. I spoke with Carrie via email today and she said she will send me a list of children by Mid-October. If you are interested in sponsering a child please contact me. I am planning on having a meeting as soon as we get our list for anyone in the area that can attend. I will post the specifics a little closer to time. Please continue to pray for the children of New Day and for all of those who work with them. God Bless!

Sherri

Who, What, When, Where, and Why

I am so excited to be posting for the first time for Operation Giggle!

So here are the 5 W's of Operation Giggle:

Who does it benefit?: The children of New Day Foster Home http://newdayfosterhome.blogspot.com/

What do we need you to do?: Agree to buy 3lbs worth of Christmas presents for one child or help with the shipping costs of just over $1000.

When are we starting?: Right now! We will be taking donations for the shipping starting today. I will have a list of children by the end of October or beginning of November I am hoping. (We want to wait to as close to Christmas as we can because the children come and go a lot.)

Where do you send the presents?: We are in Cleveland TN just North of Chattanooga TN if you chose to "adopt" a child for the season you will be responsible for shipping the present to us at your cost.

Why are we doing this?: Because God said to! *James 1:27*

I would like to take just a minute to explain to you exactly what Operation Giggle is and how it came about.

Last September I went with my best friend Tara to China to pick up her adopted daughter Nora. While on that trip my heart was changed. I had a friend send me a text a few days before I left that said "While on this trip ask God to let you see through His eyes and when you get home don't lose that vision". So I prayed that God would let me see the people of China through His eyes and he did. The people of China are a unique people rich in heritage and in community. I loved interacting with them and I am so glad I had the opportunity to visit their country. Upon returning to the states and continuing in my normal daily life for almost a year I began to feel impressed by the Holy Spirit to look into adoption. I talked to my husband about it and although he is all for adoption he just didn't feel as if now was the right time for us because of many factors. To be honest I was a little heart broken and just could not understand why the Holy Spirit would lead me into something that was going to lead to nothing but waiting (I know all of you adoptive parents just took time to laugh because when we finally apply it will continue to take YEARS of waiting for things to fall into place).

But on July 24th I got a clear answer as to why God led my heart toward adoption I happened onto a Blog written by an American woman named Carrie who is living in China and working at a Foster Home. I sat and read her blog and cried for hours. I knew that I had to contact her. I sent her an email just saying I loved her blog and I would love to volunteer to help in some way, maybe even by going there someday. I also told her I would love to help here in someway and mentioned a gift drive at Christmas. She replied that she thought that would be great and she would be glad to help on her end. From that point on Operation Giggle was born.

I chose the name because of something Carrie had written in a post about one of the kids giggling and it becoming infectious. These children have been abandoned and have medical problems and even emotional issues yet one of them found a reason to giggle. I want to give each and every one of the children a reason to giggle this year on Christmas.

I believe in living my life, to the best of my ability, by following the word of God and I believe that we have things a little mixed up in today's society. We think that pure and undefiled religion comes from the number of times we attend service, or the kind of clothes we wear, or even our financial standing but the word of God does not say that! It says:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27).

It is our calling as Christians to take care of these children and until the time comes when I can open my heart to one individual child and bring them into my home and become their forever mommy I will open my heart to a group of children and make sure that I show the love of God one giggle at a time. I can't do this alone! I need LOTS of help. If you would like to partner with us to "adopt" one child this Christmas and buy presents for them (not to exceed 3 lbs) please join this site and email me at sdrgodsgirl@yahoo.com

P.S. Thank you Becky at Busy Mama Blog Design for making this blog beautiful!!! Go visit her site by clicking on the button on the right side of the screen.