:LIFE: An anonymous gift...

A MYSTERIOUS CARD:
Last Friday I came home from work to find a card in my mailbox addressed to me without a return address, postmark or other indication of who it was from.

I opened it to find a card with this biblical quote on the front:

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1

Inside the card was a Wells Fargo gift card for $173.00, but no signature(s).

I was baffled to say the least!

The whole weekend, I kept looking at the envelope and card for some type of clue and pondered who would do such a selfless and generous thing.

SOME BACKGROUND:
My husband's company has been on mandatory shut down since mid-December...another casualty of the current state of the economy. There were layoffs right around Christmas (yeah...it wasn't a very merry Christmas for many). Thankfully, he was not a part of that group so he technically still has a job, but due to the shut down, he hasn't been working at it (or, therefore, earning a regular income) for over two months now.

Even now, we have no idea when, or if, he will be going back to work for this particular company.

It is a frustrating situation for my husband and I financially and emotionally, but we are managing right now with some creative budgeting -a few less 'extras', a few more store brands and coupons at the store, and I'm doing my best to avoid the little girls clothing departments like the plague. Kaitlin really doesn't need any new clothes right now anyway...at least until summer hits! :-)

BACK TO THE CARD:
So, I knew it had to be someone local (since it must of been hand delivered) and knew of our situation.

I had a few ideas, but still just overwhelmed by this mysterious offering of generosity.

We had Monday off of work due to President's Day, so on Tuesday, I decided that I would just off-handedly ask my boss if she would happen to know anything about this mysterious act of kindness.

She started to say ‘no’, but her face gave her away. I can’t fault her for not being a very good liar…

Although she did say she didn’t act alone (I had suspected that my other coworkers had been involved), she wouldn’t offer me any further details as she said the others wished to be anonymous.

So, I wrote a letter of appreciation and gratitude and will rely on my boss to make sure that it reaches those it should as I couldn’t let such a gesture go completely unrecognized...which is also why I am relating this story here.

I can’t quite put into words what it meant to me that they would even think to do such a thing!

Although the monetary gift certainly will be helpful to us, our spirits are even more lifted by the thoughtfulness and caring behind the gift, and for that Justin & I are so grateful.

I am so thankful to have such wonderful people in my life!