DETOURS

Michigan wasn't part of the itinerary on my most recent trip. When I drove home to Virginia from Utah, I had no intention of adding Michigan to our Kindness Card map.

It was early on the last morning of the trip. I was tired, grateful, and ready to point the car toward home.

Then came an unusually clear impression. Detour to Michigan.

It made little sense. I'd already visited every new state I'd hoped to add to our list of states where we've given away your Kindness Cards.

Montana. North Dakota. South Dakota. Minnesota. Wisconsin.

But the impression wouldn't leave me alone.

So I made the detour.

Later that morning, I found myself at a roadside motel with a family whose home, for now, was a single room.

We talked about life, hope, and the exhausting uncertainty of wondering where you'll sleep next week.

Because of your generosity, the Kindness Card Movement was able to help in ways that reached beyond meals. Your kindness helped create a little more time. A little more security. A little more breathing room.

It didn't change everything. But it changed something.

For a little while longer, that motel room felt a little more like home.

People often ask how I decide where to go. The honest answer is that sometimes I don't. Every now and then, an unexpected detour becomes impossible to ignore.

I've learned those detours usually aren't interruptions.

They're invitations.

This one led me to a family I'll never forget.

And because of you, they were reminded that home isn't always a house. Sometimes it's simply one more night together.