Share one thing/event/ time in your life that God has taken to make and mold a part of who you are today

I'll just be honest here. I can't tell you how many times God has worked in my life and I took complete advantage of it and let it go like it was nothing. I can't tell you how many things that through the strength of God I have overcome and survived but just let it go and summed it all up to fate or luck.
I remember though that as a child, I was lonely. My brother was always in trouble and my dad was a politician. The least of my family's worries was me. I was a good kid, good grades, good attitude. I never learned the basics in life. How to take care of myself. How to make friends. How important these things were. So this may be a little long (sorry).
Now, before I go on I would like to say THAT I LOVE MY PARENTS AND MY BROTHER VERY MUCH. While they didn't teach me the basics they DID teach me the importance of being strong and having dignity. And that the two do coincide. This isn't a "I blame my family" blog by any means.
Now as a child I remember being lonely. I remember going to school and at recess not talking to the other kids but talking to God. I would sit there at recess and just talk to God, sing, and praise him.
I had a hard childhood. Not hard because my parents were mean or nasty but hard because I had to suffer so much. And God worked through all of my sufferings. And some of those I am not willing or possibly able to post about right now. No ones fault. Just the circumstances of life and the sick people we allowed into it.
I remember that I went to a church camp here in town and that the first real light of God was shone on me. I DESPERATELY wanted a daddy. Not that I didn't have one but I wanted one who could and would be involved. I remeber going up to the alter to be prayed for. And the guy would say something that pertained to each person that was supposed to be personal and then would pray for him. He said to me "Christ is your daddy. He is there when no one else is and he hurts when you hurt." I was blown away.
Of course this led to more questions and doubts. If he is with me....then why is this happeneing??? If he loves me then why did he allow me to go through this???? If he hurts when I hurt then why isn't he comforting me????
Then one day I found the answer to all my questions in a prayre for help. I prayed PLEASE GOD...IF YOU ARE REAL DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS SITUATION...and the results were fast and amazing and life saving. I remember that moment feeling that God WAS real and that he would help me to persevere through ANYTHING.
Then came another time. When I didn't have the decency to pray for myself. I was in the middle of a rebellion and my mother woke up in the middle of the night and prayed. Her prayers and God saved me and my son that night as well.
Then it came time when we were having problems with Jimmy. DH was very upset about the circumstances and I came very clost to not marrying him at all. God worked me through that situation as well. It all started with a seed that he had planted that I allowed to grow and then wither, grow and then wither. It is because of God that I am who I am. It is because of God that I hold no grudges and show grace to those who have hurt me. It is because of God that my marriage is not stable and my family is whole. It is because of God that I am a perseverer.
BUT the all time changing thing in my life that made me who I am today....was me. God gave us a choice. This is my gift, accept it whole heartedly, or leave it alone. I had never FULL HEARTEDLY accepted his gift. I had taken what I wanted and left the rest alone. I think that sometimes I am still guilty of this (((sigh))). I never wanted anyone else to have any say or right to my life so I always drove him out when I felt he got to close. At this point I wasn't ready to trust in him. That changed and so did my attitude. The world got to overbearing. There was too much hate and deceitfulness everywhere and I decided I couldn't do it all on my own.
I was playing legos with the kids one day. And I accidentally knocked down their castle that they had been building. I tried over and over to make it how they wanted but couldn't seem to get it right. I forgot this or they wanted that. They wanted it as beautiful and perfect as they had origionally made it.
God spoke to me that day. He told me that this is me. That I was a wonderful and beautiful creation. That God had laid out a plan for my life and I kept tearing it down and making my own. That he wanted for my life to be what he origonally made it but couldn't do it without my permission and help. This was the single most inspiring thing that changed my life.
Not the fact the he saved me from death, not the fact that he offered to be my friend and father. Just the fact that he wanted to work in my and I wouldn't let him. I just needed that simple thing pointed out to me in a way that I could understand. And now I know. God is so good. Good not because he saved me from death or that he offered to be my friend and father but good to me because he loved me no matter how far gone I was, no matter which of his plans I tore apart. He said that I am a new creation. Come to me AS YOU ARE and I will make new plans. Nothing is beyond hope, nothing is beyond control, NOTHING IS BEYOND GOD.

Who am I????

This is a blog challenge from OCP (check my fave sites links) and I am ready to embrace it.
Let's dig into the question. Who am I? I suppose that it COULD depend on who you asked although the people that know me today can say that I am a far cry from the person that I used to be (Praise the Lord!!!!!).
Today I am a butterfly that has been freed from the confines of a jar. My captor was my fears and my doubts and the Lord released me from those as he carefully unscrewed the lid to set me free. I am a proud person. I am proud of what I have been through and I am proud of how I rose above my circumstances and happenings to become the person that I am today.
I am a work in progress. A never ending masterpiece in the making. I STRIVE to be the best wife, mother, and Christian that I can. Although, it is all a learning experience.
I'm a new person, I am not that person that I was all those years ago. That person has been completely erased from the books as the Lord started on the new and improved me.
I strive to do right by those around me. I hate to see people suffering or sad. I'm an EXTREMELY patient person (Just ask my husband...lol).
As for where I am in my Christianity today....I am TRYING so hard to do right. I know that I make mistakes but I also know that there is a kind and loving God who will take them and remove them from the slate. As far as he is concerned "I am as pure as the driven snow". Which is something that I never allowed myself to believe before.
WHO AM I???? I am a new creation in Christ.

I am a mom who is proud to be a servant to her children instead of a hen pecking nag. I love to watch them grow and am so blessed to be able to help them and show them how to live. It isn't a MUST do anymore it is a WANT to do.
I am a wife to a man who I ADORE. God put us together and said....this is good. He is the only person who was able to see past my coy games, my walls, and my lies. He saw the real me the instant that he met me and holds me to being that person. I am eternally grateful to my husband for that. I am deeply in love with him!!!!
I am a friend who will NOT let you suffer alone. I will take your burdens and I will lift them when you can't carry them. I will talk to you about ANYTHING you want to talk about and only offer advice when asked.

WHERE AM I GOING???
I am starting a new journey. I'm freed from my confines and ready to see what this world is REALLY all about. Through different eyes. I plan on telling the world about what I have seen from my jar and who released me from it.

I guess that's about all. I'm complex and simple. I am loved and I am hated. I am strong and I am weak. I am a mother and a daughter. I am a wife and a friend. I am full of hope and overfilled with blessings and loved. I am ME.