I want to be be an act....

In a world of hustle and bustle it is easy to stress over conditions, situations, and things that we forget all the good we are surrounded by.

Today I am linked up with Michelle as we talk about being thankful.  Generally, this is a topic we set aside for the season of Thanksgiving.  But why?  Have we became such a society that only thinks of our blessings one month a year?  Do we harbor a feeling that we needn't be thankful but when the turkey is on the table and pumpkin pie awaits us?  

I never thought much about all my blessings until a couple years ago when things really went down the tube for my family and myself.  We hit rock bottom in a way that you just never think about.  No drugs or any other vices - we lost our home to an "Act of God" and were left homeless for 17 weeks.  Now when I say homeless I mean that we lived between two bedrooms in my mother's house.  So yes, we had shelter and food and warmth but not what we deemed as our normal.

The term Act of God really resonates with me in a different light now.  For insurance companies it is a way for them to deem something "not covered" but from my personal experience an Act of God is what covers us on a daily, minute by minute, second by second basis.

Sure the weather had a part in what happened to our home but it was the grace and mercy of that same God that had an even bigger part in showing us who we are, who we are surrounded by, and what a mighty gift it is to be able to move forward.

Even when you are lost, tired, and weary.

The Acts of God that came in those days of our biggest stress were immense in grace, love, and mercy.  When we were at our lowest of anger, thrashing out, and sadness He came to our mercy in many forms.  One of the most amazing was by showing us what a loving group of people live in our neighborhood - and when I say neighborhood I am considering a five hundred mile radius.

Helping hands that we had never met were in action to help us pack up, move out, rebuild, start again.

Praying hands were sending up petitions in our favor.

Hands of love were delivering anonymous letters when a ten or twenty dollar bill stuffed in.  One comes to mind as I write this - "I just wanted to help.  I hope this can be used in some way."  They were chopping barbecue for a fundraiser.  They were stopping in when they would see my out in the yard and giving me hugs and encouragement.  One man, I'd never met, pulled in the drive way and just sat on his tailgate and talked to me for forty-five minutes.  We didn't talk about really what had happened but we talked about the community, favorite places to eat, the weather.  I don't think he ever told me his name.  But he was a beacon, a gift of forgetting the stress for a moment.  He was a gift for sure.

Through that fall I felt myself change and it was only for the better.  I could have let the worry, sadness, and fear engulf me but I chose not to.  I pushed forward.  Through all the kindness of strangers I had a new view point of this world where I live.

An Act of God really put us in a bad position - well I thought that at first - but now I see it was the many Acts of God that propelled us into the right direction.

Today, I still practice and pay forward the love that was doused all over us.  When I can help someone in need I do it.  When I can be the hands and feet I do it.  When I can make one person in a bad situation smile and realize that they are not and will not ever be alone I do it.

I feel like I'm passing on my greatest blessing in this life - striving to always be An Act of God.

I'm thankful yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

xo

Amanda