Yesterday evening, when we came home there was a curious package at our
door. Like all packages it had addresses and a postmark. We read
‘where’ it was sent from, but it took a moment for us determine ‘who’
had sent it. It was unexpected. We remembered a brief Facebook message
from a day or two ago: “What’s your mailing address?” We replied and thought nothing more of it. But now, we knew its significance. Now we knew the ‘who’.
The children went to bed. I smudged our home and chanted a prayer of
thanksgiving, compassion, and praise. Afterward, Madalyn and I sat on
our living room carpet, adoring California (our new family member). As
we embraced, we discussed our travels; from pre-school to present day.
We reflected on our blessings and the ‘would you have ever thought...’
thoughts. We then opened the package to reveal three brightly colored
skateboards, complete with stickers and “stunner” shades. I was moved to
tears, and Madalyn was speechless. “What have we done to deserve this?”
I blurted. It was similar to what was felt when just a few days earlier
our Secret Santa’s mother called to inform us that she would be making
an unsolicited and substantial contribution to our daughters’ college
funds. Coincidence? I think not. Miraculous is more like it. We went to
bed with gratitude in our hearts and happiness on our minds.