New Perspective

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul."

Psalm 23:1-3a

I'm thankful to a girl in my small group who indirectly helped me to look at this set of verses in a way I don't think I ever have (or would have). You know when you've heard a passage so much that it starts to lose it's meaning? (I don't think I'm the only person who experiences that....) Well, I haven't really applied this passage at all recently, but I was grateful to have a friend bring it to my attention.

I've had a few frustrating moments with friends recently (and, I'm fully aware, "frustrating" is just a "nicer" way of saying things like "angry, annoyed, prideful because I wouldn't have done that" or other such sinful attitudes). Mostly things came to a head on Saturday when there was a beastly snow in Minneapolis - bad enough to call a snow emergency - and I was in Chicago while my car sat on the wrong side of the street, about to be towed, all because I hadn't thought ahead. I spent most of the day trying to track down my roommate to tell her where my spare key was, but soon her phone was off, I hadn't talked to her yet...and it was getting late. I needed someone to simply drive to my house, knock on the door, and tell my roommate to move my car. Pretty simple, right?

I've spent numerous nights dog-sitting, house-sitting, baby-sitting, bringing meals and treats, hosting parties, etc......I was positive I could call in a favor from someone. Because I did know the weather was bad, I didn't want to bother anyone who lived too far away, and I certainly wouldn't be calling my friend who is 37 weeks pregnant, or the friend who has a newborn, or the friend who has two kids in bed already.....the list was getting shorter. Numerous texts, calls, and even talking to people live turned up NO ONE who could do me what seemed the be the tiniest favor.

I felt very ALONE. Which strangely made me feel very SINGLE (funny how those struggles sneak up on you). All I NEEDED was someone to move my car....right? Wrong. All I need is the Lord (He is my shepherd, I shall not want). And even if every person I contacted could have moved my car, they can't restore my soul (HE restores my soul). I could have used that perspective while I was throwing a fit about my car (and being annoyed with my friends), but better late than never.......

(The end of the story is that my WONDERFUL accountability partner responded that she was able to do me the favor, even though I didn't end up needing to call in the favor since I tracked down my roommate after 11pm to solve the problem and save me $200)

(OH, AND....after reading this through again, I don't want ANYONE to think that I don't LOVE dog-sitting, house-sitting, baby-sitting, bringing meals and treats, hosting parties.....because I DO! In fact, I feel specifically called to those things in this "season" as a single person [see core values posts], so PLEASE keep the calls coming!)