" the best gifts in life don’t simply drop from above. Rarely, if ever, do we pray a simple prayer then watch as the desire of our hearts falls neatly into our hands. Instead, the best gifts, like the gifts of my sons and my daughters, and like the gift of every one of our homes, are those that invite our participation, our prayer, our desire, and only then, when we have so much more to give, our gratitude. Because “a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. "

― Christie Purifoy , Placemaker: Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peace