A few weeks ago, I gave Tom some money to take to school so that he could support the Grade 7’s market day.  This involves the Grade 7s creating little masterpieces and treasures from recycled materials.  That afternoon when I fetched Tom from school he was telling me about all the little goodies he’d bought.  As we arrived home, he grabbed his bag out of the boot and suddenly appeared at my side of the car holding THE most beautiful little pot plant, a recycled tin, painted, with a little spek boom plant growing inside it. His words were magical…’This is for you Mom. It was the last one left, but I thought you’d like it.’  Like it…. I love it!!!!  It was the unexpected thoughtful gesture from my 10 year old son that filled my heart with such joy.  I wish I could’ve bottled my feelings.  I gave Tom the biggest hug, telling him just how special it was for me to receive his gift but I don’t think he’ll ever know just how special it really was.  R5…that’s what he paid for it and the value to me receiving this gift no money can pay for. I often think that this reminds me of what the essence of receiving a CareBox is like, it’s about how it makes a person feel.  Nothing flash, but it’s unexpected, knowing someone has thought of you in a heartfelt way is the ultimate feeling, along with knowing that someone has spent time and care creating something just for you.  It’s about the personal touch.

It’s taken me a while to understand why receiving & giving gifts is my love language.  It’s not about what the actual gift is…it’s about the fact that someone has taken the time to think about me and more importantly thought about something that would bring me joy…I think when Denton my husband 1^st heard this he thought ‘Oh no, expensive, expensive, expensive’ but has since realized that what speaks to my heart is the fact that he has taken some time to think about me, and gift me with something he knows that I’ll love.  Most importantly, he knows my heart.  So when Tom arrived home with that beautiful little plant it spoke straight to my heart…it was totally unexpected; he’d taken time to think about me and got me something that he knew I would love because he knows my heart.

Looking around me at the moment and for the past 9 months it’s been challenging to find things that bring joy…but what I’d like to encourage is the realisation that no matter how tough your day is looking it’s really important to look for little unexpected moments that bring you even a glimmer of joy.  Sometimes, like my little plant it’ll just arrive unexpectedly, other times you may need to go searching for it but I guarantee you that you will find something, no matter how big or small and that’s what you need to store in your heart so that you know you have it in you to continue looking for little moments of joy in the most unexpected places.  It adds to our resilience.  Somedays will be easier than others but keep being intentional about it and slowly but surely it will be well with your heart and how you see the world we live in today because it really is the little things that take up the most room in our hearts.  What I’ve learnt is that I need to look for these little unexpected moments of joy and not always expect them from anyone else.  It’s up to me.  We’ve got a choice of how we’re going to navigate our way through this very unexpected time full of turmoil & uncertainty but yet there’s still joy to be found in our everyday…hold onto that truth.