Moments that take your breathe away....

This week we will all gather around and share food with the people who mean the most in our lives.  We put aside our petty problems and the little mole hills we usually make into mountains and just get along.  Families all over the country will break bread and share stories and laugh at the funny things their children say, but we must remember to focus on the reason we share this day.  I know that traditionally, thanksgiving is a national holiday, not really a religious one, but with all the crazy things this last year has brought my way, I want to share a little of my crazy life that God has blessed me with.
My pastor at church recently preached on giving, and what God wants us to do with what He gives to us.  I always understood the idea behind tithing and giving of ourselves, but not like what I needed to.  He told us where the scripture reads that everything we have is Gods.  For the first time, something in my mind and heart clicked, and I truly understood that nothing we have is truly ours, but Gods.  He allows us the wonderful world and luxuries we all deem so important. 
I was driving on US 31 just North of the mall on my way home from getting my daugter her vitemans at the natural food store, when I saw a very young lady (probably a few years younger than me) sitting on the bench beside the road with a sign that read "Pregnant and homeless".  It broke my heart to know that this girl who was every bit six or seven months along was sitting there in the drizzling rain, with no one to care.  Now, my husband and I aren't wealthy, and barely get by most weeks, but in a rare instance I had cash on me (I never carry cash).  It wasn't much, just under twenty dollars, but God stirred my heart, and I rolled my window down and handed the girl the money without thinking twice.  Now, I know most people would say, she could be scamming me, or a drug user or any number of bad people, but I know in my heart that when I told her about my church just down the road, and that God loved her and so did I, that it was my job to trust that God would use His money for the right reasons.
I don't know where that girl is today, and I trust that God used that little bit of money for His good.  I know it, but the point is, it wasn't my money to begin with, and giving something even when we have so little is what changes the world.
Thanksgiving day, is a day we share with family and friends.  This year my husband and I split up, then got back to together, my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer, my brother lost his job and is close to losing his home, and God touched my life and made me realize that regardless of all the bad He is so good.  Week after week I have watched God take our measely little pay check and afford us the money to give Him the first out of it and still have enough; to use us to demonstrate that change is possible and love always exists where God dwells.  In the spirit of what Thanksgiving really is, I'm not thankful for any of the human things my year has held, but most thankful for God for showing me how truly miraculous and forgiving He is of all I managed to mess up.
On Thanksgiving when I'm sitting with my family, I will think of all the people who don't know God's amazing grace, and pray that they will understand the same healing I have had this year because no matter how bad things look, I am loved, safe, and cared for.
Enjoy your holiday, and know that God takes the most broken and uses them to change the world.  When you understand the wealth of giving for God, you are truly the most rich life can make you.