Day 34

Scripture: Ps 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, [127]; Jeremiah 25:8-17; Romans 10:1-13; John 9:18-41


Scripture standout:


Psalm 121:

 ¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.
 ³ He will not let your foot slip—
   he who watches over you will not slumber; ⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.
 ⁵ The LORD watches over you—
   the LORD is your shade at your right hand; ⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
   nor the moon by night.
 ⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
   he will watch over your life; ⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
   both now and forevermore.





(This is TOTALLY me these days:)
Psalm 127: 1 "Unless the LORD builds the house, 
   the builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
   the guards stand watch in vain. ² In vain you rise early
   and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
   for he grants sleep to^[a] those he loves.


(Last night, I went with a friend to the ICARE Nehemiah rally about local social issues being solved. It is in interfaith initiative that seeks to gather believers of all faiths to stand up and make social change for the homeless, the uneducated and many "poor in spirit." It's a cool thing. Interfaith was also on the brain yesterday as our church begins inviting panelists to our first interfaith forum in May. Obviously, this verse resonates with interfaith interests:) Romans 10: "¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^[f] 


Morning thoughts: Here we are at Day 34 of this 40 day experiment — just six days left — and I am still stumbling. I had high expectations of being completely and forever changed in my selfish ways by this project— especially nearing the finish line. If I'm being deliberate about seeking the needs of others, I thought, perhaps I'd miraculously forget about the me-me's. And if last night is any example, they are still flourishing. I love myself some me. I came home from a late meeting to find everyone active and awake and enjoying themselves, happy. In an instant I turned the whole situation around to why it was a bad deal for...ME. Tired 'ole ME still had to put people in bed. Poor Sue still had some laundry and rogue dinner dishes to wrap up. And why wasn't anyone asking what they could do for ME?!? Couldn't anyone see I'd had a long day, too? Didn't anyone read the deep thoughts of my mind that screamed how much I wanted to hit the hay or just relax? I guess you can't be healed of the ME's completely. But maybe that's what apologies are for. And maybe we stumble so we can be reminded how much we can't rely so completely on ourselves. Maybe we stumble so God can remind us how much we need him.