When I married Kevin, I distinctly remember a family trip to Disneyland where I realized, I had married into the same position I had growing up. I loved my husband and step daughters, but they were a family before I came a long and I wasn't really sure where I fit.
Obviously, we powered through the growing pains of our new family, but its been remarkable how adding our two littles has given me what I never had before. Sure I have a definite place as mom, but the true blessing has been has its restored the heart of that little girl in me. Raising them with Kevin and being a family has done a remarkable job of healing the wounds of my childhood. Watching my kids live the benefits of mom and dad in the same house, has given me what I never got.
Isn't God amazing?! All those years, God was walking with me through the hard times even if I didn't see him and to show his love for me in unique ways because the truth is, I always had a place in his family. I was always wanted and always part of something beyond myself, even if I couldn't see it. God saw it and God saw me.
We live in a world that is cruel at times and we encounter people that don't always use kindness as their compass, but God is there and his time table isn't the same as ours, but not seeing it, isn't the same as it not happening.
As we look at Turkey Day approaching and we make our thankful list, let's look at the ways God has been good to us, not only in this year but in our life.
Can you think of some way you felt you were forgotten that later you saw the story come full circle?
God loves you and is always working in your life. Its not about what makes sense in the moment, but when we know we can trust our Creator and Savior, we can trust that he is there even when life is not what we hoped it was.
Besides the story above, I can't tell you how many times God showed me was listening and cared.
I had a major crush on this guy in high school and we went out once or twice, but it just never came together. We rediscovered each other in college and ended up dating for a couple years. He wasn't the one, but while we were dating, I found an old high school journal where I asked God to let me date him. There was more to it than that, but I thought, "wow, God saw me."
In high school while living in Germany, we went to Israel and visited the Holocaust Museum. They have a Garden of Remembrance where trees are planted in memory of those non-Jewish people who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. A tree is planted once that person dies. When I was there, Corrie Ten Boom had just passed away. I loved her and her story and wanted so desperately to see her tree. It was time to go and I still had not found her tree. I told God just how much I wanted to see it and asked if he would let me find the tree. Another woman in our tour and I were talking and as we talked I discovered we'd gotten lost and had been separated from the group. As we turned to head back the way we had come, I looked down and guess what I saw? You guessed it - Corrie Ten Boom's tree. That wasn't a life altering request but it mattered to God, because I matter to God! Being seen and valued is one of the greatest gifts we can ask for.
Isn't that worth being grateful for? Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone! - Carrie
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