Sealed with a ________?

    At first glance you might have thought our church hall
had become a Black Market Warehouse for Adidas or Nike!
    Cars pulled up in the parking lot and people got out
carrying arm fulls of shoe boxes.
    Their brand names were hidden by wrapping paper!
    But wait a minute!
    It was Christmas wrapping paper!
    And the boxes weren't filled with sneakers or
loafers! They were filled with kid's toys and gifts!
     You see our church is one of many drop off sites for
"Operation Christmas Child."
      Other churches and, in some cases, individuals fill
shoe boxes with things like coloring books and crayons,
balls, playing cards, wash cloths, toothpaste and tooth
brushes, and other small "fun things."
      Our job at the church is to load those boxes into
large cardboard cartons which, next week, get delivered
to a regional distribution center.
      Since they eventually get shipped to needy kids
in third world countries it's important that we seal
those cartons properly.
       That's why we use a heavy duty carton tape
dispenser to spread, seal, and trim the wide Scotch-
like tape that holds those cartons together.
       We had one on Tuesday.
        But last night our team leader said it was no
where to be found after her search of the hall.
       Of course 4 eyes are better than two so my
teen aged grandson jumped in and conducted a
search of his own.
       That also turned up nothing.
       But 6 eyes are better than 4 so I decided to
look for myself. After all....I'm a trained observer.
        Unfortunately I didn't observe the heavy duty
carton tape dispenser after searching everywhere,
including the cupboards where we keep the dishes!
        With a steady supply of shoe boxes coming in we
decided to improvise.
         My grandson tried trimming strands of the tape
with his teeth and, while it worked, I eventually
relieved him with a small pocket knife that, while not
extremely sharp, did the trick.
        And speaking of "not extremely sharp", after we
labored awhile my other grandson, who is 9, finished
his home work, walked to a table in the middle of the
room, reached into a basket and pulled out the heavy
duty carton tape dispenser!
       It had been "hidden" in plain sight!
       We "older" searchers just didn't look as carefully
as we thought!
       The little kid saved the day!
       And a whole lot of little kids who don't have a
heck of a lot will get to enjoy a great Christmas once
those cartons reach their destination and our well
sealed tape gets ripped off!
        Hope you're stocking up on tape for the
upcoming holidays and that all your NEWS is good!