The Gift I Didn't Expect For Christmas

A funny little frog and a faithful God—proof that joy shows up in the strangest packages.

If you’ve ever walked through a divorce you didn’t see coming—right in the middle of the holidays—you know how it can take the very breath out of you. That was me. I remember standing in the living room of my new townhome, trying to wrap my mind around this new chapter I hadn’t planned. The house my kids had called home for seven years had just sold, and here we were—starting over. It wasn’t empty or cold, but it felt unfamiliar. New walls, new space, same ache in my heart.

But even then—God kept showing up.

I’d landed a steady job that made sure we had a roof over our heads, and I’d joined a local band that unexpectedly became like family to me. Funny thing is, the extra Christmas gigs we picked up that year ended up being the way God made sure there were presents under our little tree. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but He was quietly weaving provision through the very thing that brought me joy—music.

Still, nothing could have prepared me for the gift that made me laugh that year.

My kids were determined that I had presents to open too. They handed me this oddly shaped little box, their faces lit up like they were holding treasure. I tore into it—and there it was.

A frog.

Not a live one, thankfully. A little white ceramic frog, just sitting there looking proud of itself.

I blinked. “A frog?”

They laughed. “We discovered that you don’t collect anything, so we decided you need to start a collection of frogs.”

Now, for context—they were right. I was not, nor have I ever been, a collector of anything. I grew up in a missionary home where the goal was to keep life simple. You collected people, memories, and stories… not stuff. So the fact that my kids decided I was now officially a “frog collector” cracked me up.

That was 2012. Fast forward to 2025—and guess what? The tradition stuck. Every Christmas since that year, my kids have given me a frog. Some have been downright hideous (I mean, I have this ‘lovely’ frog necklace that has never made its way out of my jewelry box), and some are adorable. But each one has made me laugh and/or roll my eyes. LOL!

Somewhere along the way, I realized that little frog wasn’t just a gift from my kids—it was a wink from Heaven.

God knew I needed laughter again all those years ago. He knew I needed something small and silly to break through the heaviness of loss and remind me that joy still exists, even when life didn’t look like it used to.

And that’s the beauty of the God we serve—He’s not just in the big miracles. He’s in the quiet moments, the little surprises, the inside jokes only you and He would understand.

That year, sitting by the glow of that little tree in my new home, frog nearby and heart still healing, I realized something sacred: Jesus was there too. Not rushing the grief. Not fixing everything overnight. Just present. Steady. Faithful.

So maybe this Christmas, look for Him in the unexpected—the laughter that catches you off guard, the small thing that makes you smile again, the quiet moment when the noise finally fades.

Because sometimes, His best gifts don’t come wrapped under a tree.

Sometimes, they come as a quiet hallelujah…

disguised as frogs.