Thanksgiving 2007--Ugh!!!

This was an interesting year. It started off normal, hanging out with my family (the half that will have me over at least) to enjoy each other along with turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes, etc. It was nice. I talked with a couple single guys from my mom's small group while trying not to eat everything.

It was not a very joyous night, at least not for me, because there was a gaping hole in our guest list--the first Thanksgiving without my grandpa. Last year he had lost 30 pounds and was not eating much at all (not hungry when a tumor the size of a large grapefruit is in your stomach), but he ate so incredibly well on Thanksgiving--if I remember correctly that was the last night he drove himself too. I miss him so deeply it hurts...a lot.

Anyway, after dinner I went to a movie--a pretty good one called August Rush--but when I came out to my car I found my cell phones (one personal & one from the church) stolen along with my iPod. It wasn't until today that I realized my wallet was stolen too, and that was only after a man called who found a lot of my stuff in an alley about a mile away from the theaters.

Needless to say, this holiday can take a hike, but I was thankful for a couple things. That iPod is invaluble to me because of all the information I had stored on it. All of it's gone, but I'm thankful I didn't freak out, get mad, scream, cuss, etc. I was calm, and I can only attribute that to the grace of God. Oh yeah, all the contacts on my personal phone are gone too, which really sucks, but thankfully, I've been relatively calm and collected about that too.

The hardest part for me is not that someone was in my space, but that I just don't know what God's idea was in doing all this. I thank Him that my car wasn't ruined (you can't even tell anyone broke in), no one was hurt, and so far as I can tell there has been no movement on my accounts (even my social security card was found!). In fact, and I don't say any of this to brag but to demonstrate God's kindness to me, I've been praying for the salvation of the person(s) who did this much more than that I'd get my stuff back.

Actually, I don't remember praying to get my stuff back (though I had to have while pacing back and forth out side of Best Buy looking for my stuff in the hands of those camping in line for this morning's 5am rush), but praying that I'd trust God in the midst of this and not be so attached to my stuff that I care more about my joy in it than my joy in God.

I don't know why I wrote all that--maybe just to get it off my chest and definitely to tell you about how great God's been to me through this. It's late and I'm going to bed. Ciao!