{"id":50624,"date":"2015-07-27T08:41:16","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T12:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.samaritanspurse.org\/?p=50624"},"modified":"2017-02-02T17:35:06","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T22:35:06","slug":"shoebox-stories-luis-and-a-lamb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/operation-christmas-child\/shoebox-stories-luis-and-a-lamb\/","title":{"rendered":"#ShoeboxStories: Luis and a Lamb"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n<\/svg>\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n<\/svg>\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n<\/svg>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n
\r\n\r\n\t

CAJAS DE REGALOS<\/h2>
<\/svg><\/div>

Historias<\/h3><\/a>\r\n\t

#shoeboxstories son series de historias de beneficiarios de cajas de regalos que cuentan de primera mano, el impacto eterno de un regalo enviado en el nombre de Jes\u00fas.<\/h4>\r\n<\/header>\r\n\r\n
\r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\r\n\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Luis<\/h2>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

y<\/h2>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

A Lamb<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

My shoebox caused me to take my relationship with Christ seriously.\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n
\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/svg><\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/h4>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/header>\r\n\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n

Luis received a shoebox in Panama at age 6. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The stuffed lamb in my shoebox was the first toy I ever received. I still have it. It was really a treasure. It played a little song and was so beautiful. It was so tender, so soft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

The little face of the lamb was something I loved. I used to pretend I was playing with a real lamb. After I finished playing with it, I always put it back inside my plastic shoebox. The lamb made me smile every time I saw it because I would remember the day people gave me the shoebox.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

” The lamb made me smile because I would remember the day people gave me the shoebox.”
\r\n
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><\/a><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n

The most valuable items in my shoebox were school supplies: crayons, a pencil sharpener, pens, pencils, and notebooks. In Panama in 1996, if you didn\u2019t have supplies, you could not go to school. That year I was able to use the pens, the pencils, the notebooks\u2014everything. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The day before I received my shoebox I was begging my mom to buy supplies so I could go to school. She said, \u201cI can\u2019t. I don\u2019t have the money but if you want you can pray.\u201d <\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n
\r\n
\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n
<\/div>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n

We never went to church. We never talked about God, but that day she told me to pray. I asked her to teach me how. She said, \u201cYou can talk to God like He\u2019s right in front of you, but you have to respect Him because He is the Lord.\u201d <\/p>\r\n\r\n

\u201cInside the shoebox was a letter that said, \u2018Jesus loves you and I love you, too.\u2019\u201d
\r\n
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><\/a><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n

So I knelt and I talked to Him like He was in front of me. I asked specifically for school supplies and the next day I was invited to a church for a special event. That\u2019s where I got my shoebox. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Inside the shoebox was a letter that said, \u201cJesus loves you and I love you, too.\u201d That message broke my heart immediately. All that I needed was to know that I\u2019m loved. So to receive that letter allowed me to see the spiritual message behind the box. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

We were nonbelievers and the shoebox helped us understand that God answers prayers. My mom said, \u201cNow I know that God is real.\u201d <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Because someone took a moment to write down \u201cJesus loves you and I do too,\u201d it allowed me to see that even though I didn\u2019t have a father and even though I don\u2019t have a perfect life, He\u2019s there for me. I lived in the ghetto. We didn\u2019t have anything. I was hopeless. The shoebox allowed me to understand that God cared for me. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

\u201c The shoebox allowed me to understand that God cared for me.\u201d
\r\n
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><\/a><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n

My mother and my little sister became Christians right after I received my shoebox, but I didn\u2019t understand that I needed to follow Christ. Still the letter in the shoebox was always telling me, \u201cHe loves you. He\u2019s there for you. He\u2019s waiting for you.\u201d There were people telling me all the time that God had a better plan for my life. At 14, I realized that I needed Him and accepted Jesus as my Savior. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The shoebox was the first seed that was planted in my life. Today I don\u2019t have the pencils but I have something that is more important because the Bible says, \u201cthe word of the Lord remains forever\u201d (1 Peter 1:25, ESV). I just needed to know that He loved me, so the shoebox was a beautiful gift. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t

\r\n
\r\n
\r\n