Care Packages? Yes, Care Packages! (by Thom)

This one definitely gets filed in our "this could only happen on the mission field" category:
In February 2006 I got an email from a church back home in Lima, OH that wanted to send us a care package. This was pretty neat, since we'd only gotten packages from family members up to that point. They asked what we'd be interested in and I sent back a list with lots of different items. I wasn't sure what sort of things they were thinking of sending and shipping to Africa can be quite expensive so I tried to provide a variety of things: small things, big things, light and heavy things, pricey and cheap things. I thought they could do with that list whatever they want, but I didn't expect to see most of the things on the list. Time went by and nothing ever came so I figured it was one of those 'dropped projects'. This wasn't a big deal for us. In late July we got Hannah and Miriam and suddenly we started getting all sorts of care packages and we didn't think about the church's box again.
During our time back in the US this past spring someone from the church asked me about the boxes. I said, "What boxes?" We decided that they must have gotten lost in the mail. That wouldn't be the first time that happened and so we just attributed it to a cross-cultural experience. However, a twist developed when we got back to Mali. The post office sent word to me that there were 2 boxes waiting for me there (they don't deliver mail here) and I needed to come get them. I honestly had no idea what to expect. Today I got them and there were actually 3 boxes, all from Grace Community Church, post-marked June 4, 2006! Amanda and I were just floored. We never expected to see those items and we were even more surprised and how many things were sent. Thank you so much, GCC!
For me, it was strange seeing the contents of the boxes because of when they were sent. Back then we never imagined being parents now, much less the parents of twins. When I see the items in the boxes I feel like they were sent to someone else. I have a hard time even imagining my life before Miri and Hannah.
Another strange thing was the timing. A neat website that serves missionaries who have websites (http://www.missionary-blogs.com) recently sent out an email to its members asking us to write about getting care packages. For me, the best thing about the care package isn't what is inside, but what it represents: people who love and care about us and want to encourage missionaries in the Great Commission. However, because Jim at Missionary-blogs asked us to list the items we enjoy getting (honest. I'm not trying to sound greedy!) I'll just list a few things here that really excited us to see in the boxes:
Dr. Pepper (Thom's favorite pop), cookie and cake mixes, beef jerky, DVDs (especially TV shows. I'm not sure why but missionaries seem to really enjoy watching TV shows on DVD in marathon sessions. It's not our thing, but '24' seems to be the most popular thing among our peers), and Cheez-its. None of those items are available in Mali so we try to portion them out and make them last as long as possible.
Thanks again to Grace Community Church for the packages and to everyone who supports us through prayer and encouragement! Now it's time to go watch Season 2 of "Everybody Loves Raymond".