I recently received a giving key in the mail as part of the MOPs package, I had never heard of The Giving Keys before that and thought it was such a great idea and gesture. Knowing I would need to give it away I went through the roladex of friends in my head and couldn't think of anyone that could use the message at that time (or so I thought).
I gave my COURAGE key to my husband's best friend's fiancé. We don't know each other very well yet but from what I can tell she is an amazing woman. She has had a lot of change this year. She has moved to a new city, decided to change careers, lost a close loved one and is in the process of another move. All of which take a lot of courage to cope with. These are all things I had knowledge of when I received my key but I was trying to find someone that needed the message and she was already so courageous.
The day before Christmas we had went and visited them. We hadn't been to their new apartment and when we arrived I noticed she had the apartment decorated in locks and keys and she explained how much she loved them. Even in that moment the connection hadn't hit me to give her the key. That was until a week or so ago. She had contacted me because she was having a hard time with something and was asking for my take on it since I might have some experience with it. We talked for awhile and after we hung up it hit me, she was the perfect recipient for the key. Not only does she LOVE keys but she needed to be reminded of her courage. Even though I think she is courageous doesn't mean she knows or doesn't need to be reminded. The next day we met up for coffee and I gave her the key, she was excited because she had wanted a Giving Key.
Sometimes the message is needed to get through a challenging time and sometimes the people that need the message are the one's that exemplify it.