Tuesday, Jan 6, 2026 at 8:11 AM

Unexpected Gifts:

So today I was trying to get Remi (my 3yr old) ready in time so we could walk to school.

But with missing shoes, an unpacked lunch, and a boy that wasn’t wanting to eat breakfast, we weren’t able to make it out in time to walk.

This meant that we were going to have to rush off to the bus, which we barely made it to.

But as I was “rocketing” Remi onto the bus, the bus driver assistant hands me a red envelope with all of our families names on it.

Surprised I said thank you to both Laura (the assistant) and Bobie (the driver).

After sharing it with Ashley, I read it and this is what it says, “Remi and family, I would like to say thank you for the Christmas gift. I enjoyed the cookies and hot chocolate. It was and is a joy to share the bus with you Remi and we love the interactions with your family. You brighten my day and always makes you and your family some of my favorite people.”

To make it even more special, I didn’t notice till right now that the front of the card says “Thank You” with Santa driving a red truck waiving a candy cane out the indie while hauling a Christmas tree with the back of the truck full of presents. 🎁

This just made it that much more special.

It fills me with joy that my son is a joybringer and I hope he continues to be so as he gets older as well.

It’s also reassuring that just by authentically expressing our goofy playful selves and from a place of wanting to do good without anything in return, people are finding their own joy.

And I’m also impressed they were able to fit all this messaging on a small 4x5” card. 🤯

I’m grateful for the unexpected gift of love and thankfulness.

I take these moments as signs that we’re in the right place and are doing the right things in the world and for God’s kids.