6 Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
    and with my song I give thanks to him.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people;
    he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 O save your people, and bless your heritage;
    be their shepherd, and carry them forever.

As we approach this week, to me this seems to be the perfect Psalm due to the mix of emotions. This is a prayer from David and the headline is perfect for this week, “A prayer for help and thanksgiving.”  Anne Lamott, one of my favorite writers, says that there are three prayers that you need.  “Help me. Help me. Help me.” “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” And “Wow.”  Help, Thanks and Wow.

Help me help me help me.

I came home last night overwhelmed.  Yesterday was a great day but there were NOT enough hours in the day to get everything done.  Today I see that I have meetings (of very many varieties) at 8:30, 9, 10, 11:30, 12:30, 1, 4, and 6:30.  I get tired just looking at the day.  Plus Jenny and I are leaving for Spokane tomorrow night after we both work for the day.  So in my mind that means we need to be ready to go and the house needs to be ready to leave by tomorrow morning.

I know that many of you are on the same boat.  I heard many many people yesterday comment, “I really need to get to the store today” or “how will this all get done?”

Plus…the confusion about Ferguson at the same time as Thanksgiving….I don’t even know where to put all of this information and hurt and rage and all of it…

This morning when I opened the scripture that line of God being my rock….that image helped. One step at a time but still, help me God to be patient and to not move to quickly.  Help me God to get it all done or accept when it is not and we still head out the door.  Help me God to make good choices. Help me God to still hold those in the world hurting in the moments in between.

Thank you thank you thank you!

In the midst of all of that overwhelming – ness, yesterday was a good day at the church. I am so thankful for the amazing staff I work with. I am thankful for our office manager, Jenn who isn’t phased by the toddler who decided to sit in the middle of our office yesterday for 20 minutes but instead played with the book and ball we gave him.  Then I looked around and noticed that all of our staff members weren’t phased by a new addition for a while but filled with joy and we all took our turn being community for this little one.  I am thankful for staff members who have built relationships with our homeless community and can guide all of the congregation to better spaces.  I am so thankful for people willing to bridge the gap in ministry.

I am so thankful that last night in our Monday worship service called “Bread and Wine” we had deep discussion about what it means to be in relationship with God.  This conversation will keep me going this week and chewing on the bigger questions. I am especially thankful for the question that Luke asked, “What do you want your relationship with God to be?”  Plus I am thankful for the amazing food that people bring and that we are making this concept actualize in different ways.

Thank you God for the warm home to come home to.  Thank you God for the greeting when I get home and the little dog on my lap as I type and the support I receive from the person who awaits me at home. Thank you God for people who get your mission in the world and who take care of the least of these.

Wow.

This one can’t really be put in words, can it? These are the moments when you can say nothing else.  Wow. When the world is overwhelming the other way, with what God is doing in the world. Wow.  When you gasp because something is so beautiful. Wow.

Maybe these are the moments that will keep me going today.  I will be looking extra for these moments. Just to zoom out and say…wow.  That just happened.

Where have you been praying this week so far?