^{Psalm 78}

³⁷ Their hearts were not loyal to him.
      They did not keep his covenant.
³⁸ Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins
      and did not destroy them all.
   Many times he held back his anger
      and did not unleash his fury!
³⁹ For he remembered that they were merely mortal,
      gone like a breath of wind that never returns.

As I poured through even more Psalms this morning, behind on my daily reading of getting through the entire Bible in a year, these Words leaped off the page and struck my heart much like the penny struck my face last night as I was vacuuming out the van and hit it unexpectedly.

Finding a penny is always such a sweet thing for me, a little gift from Heaven reminding me that Nick is good and that he is cheering me on.  We find them in the weirdest places and we find them way too often for it to be anything less than a God-thing.  But last night as I was vacuuming in the dark (Tim and I had decided to clean out the cars yesterday but one thing led to another and we didn't get started til the sun was setting), a penny was conspicuously stuck in the track of the van door and when I hit it with the vacuum it flew up and struck my face.  I was shocked!  Tim said Nick was playing a joke on me trying to get my attention.  He sure did!

Well, this morning as I read verse after verse in the Psalms, I guess I was in a groove when I stumbled across the Words above.  When I did, God got my attention.

See, I don't know about you but I beat myself up when I begin to doubt, get discouraged, or feel that my heart isn't right with God for some reason.  I've always been amazed that the Israelites who literally got to WALK WITH GOD could somehow turn on Him, build false gods, whine, complain, and all the other things they seemed to do so frequently.  And I've thought that it would have been so much easier to rely on God's provision if I were walking behind a cloud or pillar of fire.  But it wasn't easy for them.  And I find that comforting in a selfish sort of way.

So when I read this morning about how God "remembers that they are mortal," so He holds back His anger, it made me feel so good!

It made me feel so thankful!!!

Thankful that even in spite of my imperfections, God loves me and chooses to not "unleash His anger" when I question, when I doubt, when I get overwhelmed.

Should I not have an even greater level of mercy with those around me who are "mortal" too!??!?!?  Which brings me to another level of thinking of this verse that I will have to reflect on later.

Olivia is still asleep and has to leave for a softball game with Tim in 20 minutes! I have to leave in just 50 minutes for a reception in another town for a friend's mom's 100th birthday...and I'm still in my jammies!

Thank you, Lord, today, for remembering we're mortal!!