NICE Testimonial: A Christmas Miracle

A friend of mine and undeniably nice person Lisa shared this amazing story with me yesterday. You have to read it to believe it.

When I first moved to the city, the only job I could find didn't pay very well. But I worked my rear off because I had two little ones to feed. I got 2 paychecks each month. My plan was to work hard at saving a bit from each paycheck through out the year so that during the holidays I would be able to pay the bills and have money to spend on my girls for Christmas. My goal was to be able to put enough aside so that I could dedicate the whole of the year's final paycheck to Christmas. It had been a tough year for us with many changes and somehow I thought providing a good Christmas for the girls would help to make up for some of the year's hardships. Of course, being together with everyone happy and healthy is the most important thing, but I felt a lot of guilt for what they were having to endure with me. Focusing on my Christmas goal was one of the things that helped keep me going and out of the pit of despair.

I received my paycheck around December 19 or 20th and went shopping. I had $300. That $300 had to cover gifts and food. These gifts I planned to buy for my daughters were things like winter coats and things that they needed, then maybe a couple of toys.

As you can imagine, the stores were crowded. I went to a register to pay for some clothes I was buying for my daughters. A person bumped into me. When I got to the register, and went for my wallet, I noticed that my purse which only had a snap closure at the top of it, was unsnapped and my wallet was missing! I searched and searched, back-tracked my steps...nothing. I have often suspected that the person who bumped me, reached in and took my wallet, but of course I have no proof.

Heartbroken, I called my mother. We both cried. She didn't have a lot of money either. But she said that she would bring what she had picked up for the girls and that would be their Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we were decorating the small, artificial tree I had picked up for a few dollars at a yard sale. We were singing and laughing together and I was having a wonderful time with my children, but in the back of my mind, I was still so upset. My emotions moved from being angry that someone could do such a thing as take a single mother's wallet to being angry at myself for losing my wallet. The girls went to bed. My mom and I were wrapping some of the things that she brought over and again, I found myself upset. My mind was going crazy with thoughts that I was a failure as a mother. I never should have moved my girls to such a place, blah, blah, blah. And then the doorbell rang...

It was 10 pm, who could be ringing the bell on Christmas Eve? Must be somebody lost. I flipped on the porch light and looked around. There was nobody there. No cars around, no one walking about. There was a huge white sack on the porch. This thing was two bed sheets that had been sewn together and tied at the top with ribbon. It was so big and heavy, I had to drag it into the house.

My mother and I were stunned. We couldn't speak. We untied the ribbon from the top and looked inside. It was filled to the brim with Christmas gifts addressed to the girls! I ran outside to look for someone...no one anywhere. It was a quiet as quiet could be. This was all so unbelievable! It's now many years later, the girls are grown up and we have no idea where that sack of gifts came from. No idea.

That sack of gifts changed my life. It gave me hope during a really tough part of my life. It re-lit a spark in me and helped me have the courage to keep going. What a gift!

I don't even think there's anything I can say. What an incredible story!

I'd love to have some more stories like this to post, so do you have a NICE:Testimonial that you'd like to share? If so, click here to send me an email!