Thankful Thursday: His hand upholds me

This week has been filled with sharp ups and downs, with bliss and woe, with hope and desperation.

Every part of it has been exhausting.

Yet in it all, His hand upholds me.

This week I’m thankful…

…for a lovely morning meeting the rest of Daniel’s family

…for a great afternoon relaxing with Daniel and my family

…for a car ride that included (among other things) getting our story straight

…that we got our story straight before a public interview in front of the entire church body (Yeah, I’ll definitely be telling that story for years to come.)

…for a lovely lunch introducing Daniel to my Columbus friends

…that God is my strength when I had to work in the kitchen

…that God is my peace when my heart struggles to war against an employee

…for desperate-crying overwhelmedness with wedding planning

…for God’s sufficiency when my sister hits a deer which scraps her car and leaves us as a one-car-household again

…for God’s sufficiency when I have to take two hours out of my day to pick up my sister whose car is now incapacitated

…that my landlady didn’t blink when I told her we’d want to vacate our house by the end of the year

…for finding a potential reception site that just might work

…for getting a bit of sleep on a sick day before I have to go in anyway because STATE SHOWED UP

…for strength when I’m working sick

…for grace when I start crying at work

…for a consultant who tells me I need to get some sleep

…for a sister who reminds me that everything is not my fault

…for getting residents fed

…for a call from a job in Wichita, just enough time to call them back, and an interview scheduled

…for onions that needed chopping, which meant I could cry again today at work without losing face

…for a Clinical Services Consultant who is kind (even if it meant I almost cried publicly at work–without an onion in sight)

…for grace when I cry, yet again, privately at work

…that I didn’t black out at work today (even if I did “gray-out” pretty regularly)

…for state leaving early today

…that I had just enough time to make it to the NE District Nebraska Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics event (I’m on the board and this was rather an important event)

…that there was cheesecake and dark chocolate

…that I found an unexpected sister in Christ who affirmed my fiancee’s and my resolve to honor God in our relationship

It sounds like a crazy jumble, with no unifying theme. And truly, it has been a jumble of a week. Great things, horrible things, all very stressful things.

But there is a unifying theme.

Through it all, His hand upholds me.

And for that I am so very thankful.

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.”

~Psalm 63 (ESV)