Unexpected gifts

It was an ordinary fall day in Michigan. My brother came to the door as he sometimes did - for a visit. This time he carried a shopping bag which he handed to me. Curiously I opened it to discover a nice warm sweater with a t-shirt to go under it. Puzzled I was. It wasn't my birthday and it wasn't Christmas. It was just an ordinary day. But he had brought me a gift. An unexpected gift. Probably the best kind.

I wore that warm sweater lots of times that winter - and the next. And the next several winters. It was the kind that might have felt picky to me if it didn't have something between it and my skin, but he had that covered - with the soft, comfy long-sleeved t-shirt. How wonderfully thoughtful.

Every time I think of that sweater I have a warm feeling and I find myself thinking about unexpected gifts. And about kind and thoughtful people. And unexpected blessings of all kinds.

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When we found the perfect RV that day a year ago, it contained unexpected gifts. The fact that we were able to find the floor plan we wanted AND the other important things on our wish list all in the same model... That was a gift.

And when we stepped up into the bathroom we were shocked at the perfect layout. Definitely a gift.But then when we came back to see it again and this time discovered the huge storage area under the bed, that was an unexpected gift! We were new to this culture; we didn't know RV's had cool spaces like that. I was so grateful and felt so blessed.

And THEN after we got the rig home and were dealing with all of the stressors that came with the moving process - and traipsing through the snow to load stuff... Yes, then, when I was trying to figure out how to make the best use of the small amount of drawer space in the kitchen... Then I happened to tug on the handles on the sink front - handles which we assumed were purely decorative - and discovered this wild drawer in front of and around the kitchen sink!!! Talk about unexpected!!! I was flabbergasted. This drawer was perfect to keep silverware and small utensils. I now had more drawer space than in my last two kitchens put together! Wahoo!!! What an unexpected gift!!! What a blessing!

Time after time we have looked around the inside of our rig and been astounded again and again at how perfect it is for us and our needs at this time. So many unexpected gifts packed into such a compact place. I am so terribly grateful.

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Fast forward to another day in Michigan - this one cold and sad. Earlier as we were leaving cold and snowy Michigan, we had learned that Bob's brother was dying. In February his condition worsened quickly and we made arrangements to come home. After being in sunny California, the bone-chilling Michigan temps were a shock to our systems. There was ice in the toilet and we didn't know if we'd be able to get the old cabin warmed up enough to sleep here. While the furnace began its valiant fight against the wind chill intruding between the logs, we dug out the bins containing our winter clothes.

That's when I was surprised by that old warm sweater and the comfy t-shirt that went under it. Just what the doctor ordered for this cold weather! And unexpected it was. I had almost forgotten about it and would have thought that it had been hauled away to the thrift store years ago, but there it was. An unexpected gift to warm my body and my heart in a cold sad time. An unexpected reminder of unexpected gifts.

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And now as I recall and attempt to chronicle this epic journey, this epic year, we once again find ourselves going through the stresses of moving and preparing for yet another journey and another year in another place.

 

We are once again facing the unknown. We once again feel excitement mixed with a measure of fear and trepidation. And once again I am wearing that old warm sweater to ward off the coming cold temps. And once again I am feeling grateful for unexpected gifts. Unexpected blessings on ordinary days and not-so-ordinary ones.