On Saturday morning, Scott and Isaiah were grocery shopping. An older gentleman made a point of stopping them and said hello to Isaiah. A few minutes later, they 'ran' into him again. This time Scott noticed he carried a large box under his arm. His initial thought was, "Oh great, what's he trying to sell?" Or he thought maybe he was asking for $ and Scott quickly did an inventory in his head of how much cash he had in his wallet. What happened instead left Scott reeling.
He asked Scott if he was Isaiah's 'big brother' (mentor), Scott replied that no, he was his father. He then asked Isaiah if he had any brothers or sisters at home! Haha, Scott had to help answer that question and replied that indeed he did, in fact Isaiah is #9 of 11!! :) He told him briefly that we have several children who are adopted and we are pursuing an international adoption to bring home a special baby with Down syndrome. He doesn't usually offer so much information but he felt it was right with this man.
The man got tears in his eyes when Scott shared these things with him. He handed Scott the large box and explained his story.
It was a box of Blocks.
He explained that he had been a teacher for 33 years, teaching Biology. He noticed in the late 60's that there was a lot of scrap wood that was not getting used from projects in the wood shop class. He got permission to collect the wood and started making these boxes.
For the past 50+ years, he has been making these boxes and has given away more than 1500! They can be found in 20 different states as well as foreign nations (including Russia, Yugoslavia, Israel and Cambodia). He has sent them to well known families as a way to say thank you for the good they do. He sent one to Bill Gates and his family, Sarah Palin's family, Curt Warner's family, etc,
He always writes a message on the bottom of the box.
Along with the box, he gave Scott a piece of paper. On one side was his testimony of Jesus Christ. On the other side was his story of how the boxes started and why. He also included some 'tips' on playing with the blocks (some ideas of different ways to play with them).
He wrote the younger 4 kids' names on the box (as you can see in the first pic), handed the box to Scott and was gone. Scott tried to follow him out of the store to see where his car was or see what he was driving but he was gone. He had seemed to vanish into thin air.
It's only been a few days since the box of blocks joined our family, but they have been used by the 6 younger ones for hours each day. They have created castles, designs, houses, etc. They have played together as well as individually. There has been no fighting or arguing while playing with the blocks.
We have had blocks before. In fact, we have always had blocks. No one has ever played with them. They have sat in the bin, untouched for years. I'm sure they are jealous of these new blocks that have already received more attention in these few short days than they ever have!!
Gary Nichols is the name of the man that created this box. He's from Klamath Falls, Oregon. I'm not sure what he was doing here in Idaho, or how many more boxes he gave out while he was here but he touched my family with his kindness, his generosity and his love of the Lord.
Safe travels, Gary! And thank you for our box of blocks! They will be treasured for years to come!!
