I was on my way home one night, and as I pulled into the garage, I saw a stray dog that looked a bit like an old dog we used to have.  I stopped the car and rolled down the window to examine the ferocity of this wandering beast from the safety of my vehicle.  The dog had a gentle way about it, I watched as it searched my face to see if it recognized me at all.  As it began to meander away, the thought occurred to me that Ken would be walking down the same street soon bringing the girls home.  As much as I felt sorry for this roving dog, I instinctively wanted to make sure that my daughters would be kept from any potential harm from this stray.  So I called Ken and told him I would pick the girls up.  I drove over and met them in the alley.  As the girls loaded in the car, I noticed a new truck in his garage.  There was that guttural something inside of me that was tempted to judge him and be appalled at his financial choices with such a clear state of catastrophe facing all of us.  The girls piled into the car and I drove away in my loud, mufferlesss, blessed little Nissan altima.   I am empowered today knowing that God has set me free from defining myself by either the haves or the have-nots in my life.  I am not so sure I could have said this one year ago, but today, I stand at the horizon of my life and I know that I am not defined by the balance of my bank account, or the house that I live in; By the clothes that I wear, or the accolades I have collected, by the car that I drive, or whether or not I am married, single, parenting on my own or along side someone else.  I am defined only by the who God tells and teaches me who I am.  I am working at listening to his voice, through his word, his teachings, the love and life lessons I encounter in the world around me…and walking in the belief that I am who he tells me I am.   Not that I don’t appreciate the feeling that comes from wearing a rocking new dress, or new pair of shoes, by smelling and driving a new glossy car.  But I am just fine to trade in those shiny things that once so fashioned my identity…and have found fulfillment in my own life… with or without those things.