I am so very grateful for the church that I go to. It is filled with the best people and there is so much love and appreciation for one another. I work at The Gift Designers and my church chooses to support the business I work for by buying our products. Every time we process an order for them, my heart grows three times it’s size! I do not take it lightly at all that they choose to buy from us, and EVERY TIME I am immensely grateful! I love my church family so very much! Thank you!

You know you're spoiled when you say "my cleaner" but the reality is that having a cleaner is one of my personal indulgences. Over nails, make-up, fragrances or jewelry I choose a cleaner! When I know our cleaner has been there during the day, my drive home from the office is one of great delight. I love a clean home, but I do not enjoy cleaning. So, one day, weeks ago, I got home and our cleaner had bought new cushions, a new throw and had moved some chairs in our living room for better visual layout of the room. Some may think a cleaner had 'over stepped' their role however I felt like the room was more cozy & most certainly more beautiful. When I texted to share my delight and to offer to pay for the items, she simply said "happy birthday". I felt so very blessed.

I am a pretty aggressive driver with very little patience. Rush hour traffic can at times leave me gravely flustered. One particular Monday evening, while making my way home from work, the traffic was HEAVY. There is a point in my journey where after making a right turn, I immediately need to get over to the extreme left and on that day because traffic was horrific, it seemed almost impossible. My apprehension stemmed from either holding up traffic behind me waiting, or having to go, missing my turn, and taking forever to get home. BUT a lovely gentleman in a white working van paused so that I could get over into the lane that I needed. He didn’t have to, but he did. It was a simple gesture, but I appreciated it so much and it reminded me that I could stand to be a bit more patient on the roads 😊

“I was given a box at work.  A box of goodies prepared by The Gift Designers that my boss challenged us to give away randomly.  I had this box for 3 weeks and to be candid, where or to who to give it just wasn’t coming to me.  Today when I popped by Canada Post to have a box couriered to my parents, I realized this was my chance, an opportunity to gift randomly to the staff working at the Canada Post counter.  I got to the counter & had to wait.  A sign was posted “Back at Noon”.  Well, it was noon and the Canada Post worker was not there and there was certainly a line up growing.  When the Canada Post staff returned,  she was polite & apologetic to the crowd standing there but certainly shoulders were lower as were her spirits.  I waited my turn, the CP worker scanned my box, handed me my receipt.  I simply left the box on the counter in front of her saying “and this package, this ones for you”.  She said “huh?” … read the card “what?”  Some pause and uncertainty followed by “you made my day” as I left Canada Post.  It felt good to think about how the box might help her lift her chin a bit.”

Every February, our church hosts something we call Love Month. It’s an initiative we’ve created to motivate our church family to show and give love in specific ways. Each week has its own special challenge. This past year we encouraged our congregants to share love by using their words, serving with a physical gesture, and giving a gift of kindness. Our thought behind asking The Gift Designers to create a unique 2-in-1 gift basket for us was to create an opportunity for us to bless someone AND to spur them on to pay it forward with the second gift! We’ve seen a lot of positive change in our families and our community as we become more purposeful in sharing love during one of the coldest months of the year. Our hope is that our church family continues to give and show love all year long! So thank you for playing a part in Love Month 2023.