Secret Santa....

Don’t you just love surprises? 

I don’t mean the kind where someone is hiding around the corner and jumps out to scare the crap out of you. I mean the kind of surprise that puts a huge smile on your face and that just makes your heart happy! I love happy little surprises. It could be a card in the mail from a friend, a surprise lunch with my mom, or something little like my husband surprising me with candy (I can be bought for a Twix candy bar).

I have a great story about a different type of happy surprise that impacted one of our delivery couriers last year. I ran an outreach program and for Christmas last year, we sponsored 4 classrooms of kids at a school in Ypsilanti that were in need. Some of the kids that attended this school are in transitional housing, living in shelters, or in foster care. Some of these kiddos are in need of clothing, help with school supplies and are in desperate need of shoes. Some wear snow boots in gym class because those are the only shoes they have.  Have you ever tried to play basketball wearing heavy snow boots? 

So, the program I was running collected 12,000 pop cans which enabled us to purchase 100 pairs of brand new sneakers for kids at this school and it was just in time for Christmas!

This project was near and dear to my heart, as it was a huge under taking and it was 8 months of planning and organizing and finally…. The shoes were here! The delivery courier was pulling up our driveway so Colin and I ran outside to help unload them and right away it was clear to us that our delivery man was not having a great day. 

When he opened up the doors to his truck, it was full. I am talking “I stuffed myself with so much food at Thanksgiving dinner that the buttons on my shirt are about to pop and the seam on my pants just ripped open” kind of full. There were boxes everywhere and his truck was busting at the seams.

Our driver started grumbling, “Why do people wait until Christmas to show their loved ones how much they care” and “Why do people do this!? They wait all year to spend all their money in one month, blah blah blah blah blah”. He clearly was not happy. We had 8 gigantic boxes that he had to try and maneuver off his truck and boxes were falling everywhere and you could just tell he had been working very hard, with long hours, long days, and he needed some encouragement. After all, these men and women work super hard, especially this time of year.

Seeing that he needed a little lift in spirits, I said, “You know…. You are helping to make a difference in the lives of 100-1^st grade kids. These boxes are full of shoes that we are giving to homeless kids and children that are in need and because of you, they will get them just in time for Christmas.” 

There was a long pause. 

He just stood there staring at me. 

And then it happened.

Tears filled his eyes and he came at me like a mama bear that had lost her cub and he threw his arms around me and hugged me so tight. 

We were standing there in my driveway just embracing. 

He said that his entire outlook about the packages he was delivering just changed. He said that this experience changed him because he doesn’t know what and who these packages are really for. It was a very moving moment for us all. 

I will never forget the happy surprise he got that day. It changed him and it changed me.

We all hold the power within ourselves to change someone’s day. We have the power within us to surprise someone and to be a Secret Santa, not just during the holiday season, but every day. Do something this week to give someone a happy surprise. It can be in the form of a compliment, a little gift, a jar full of flowers or a warm embrace. 

You never truly know the change it could make in someone else’s life. Your happy surprise could make all the difference in the world.  I hope, this week, there are many Secret Santa happy surprises in your life.

xoxo,

Brenda