Hope In A Box

If you've been a frequent visitor at The Corner, then you might know that my friend Carol has been living overseas for the past four years. She did get to come home every summer, so I saw her four times during those four years but our time together then was never long enough. I wrote a bit about the Carol experience {here} after her visit last summer. 

During the first two years, we wrote to one another by email almost every day. Maybe because it was such a huge time of transition, for both of us. We laughed and cried together about the trials and tribulations of having relocated to Holland. And during the second two years when she was in Dubai, even though it wasn't daily, we still corresponded frequently. I missed Carol so much during her time abroad; what a gift to have 
my friend back home. 

And look what she brought for me from Dubai:

It's a hope chest, handcrafted in India. When I was a young girl, my mom would tell me to put special things aside for my hope chest, 
but I never really had one ... until now.

I was speechless when Carol brought it over last week (after their ground shipment finally arrived); every time I look at it, I'm overwhelmed by her thoughtfulness and generosity, 
traits that, when I was little, I used to hope for in a friend one day. 
I am abundantly blessed!
What's in your hope chest?