Ordinary Time 
Pause
Take a moment to notice any lightness or tension in your body. Are you full of energy or feeling depleted? Are your shoulders tight? Are you thirsty?
Ask God how you can take good care of God’s love embodied in you today.
Breathe in deeply and breathe out slowly four times, remembering God’s care and love for you with each breath.
And hear these words from Jeremiah 29:11:
I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.
Listen
I raise my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. God won’t let your foot slip. Your protector won’t fall asleep on the job. No! Israel’s protector never sleeps or rests! The Lord is your protector; the Lord is your shade right beside you. The sun won’t strike you during the day; neither will the moon at night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; God will protect your very life. The Lord will protect you on your journeys— whether going or coming— from now until forever from now.
Psalm 121
Think
What does it mean that God is your protector? This is definitely not the same thing as protecting us from all danger or harm, but it does mean that God never leaves us – even for a moment – whether we are down in the valleys of life or climbing closer to the mountaintop.
Psalm 121 represents the psalmist’s own hope and prayer – hope for enduring tough moments and a prayer for strength, stamina, and a sense of God’s presence even when life isn’t working out as planned. This Psalm doesn’t sugarcoat that we will each experience seasons when we wonder, “Where will my help come from?” (vs.1). Psalm 121 is a prayer that we can pray on those hard days when we want to believe that God is there with us in our valleys, but we’re still learning how to trust. Remember in this moment that God is with you – in the valleys and on the mountaintops!
Katie Strednak Singer
Pray
God who is my rock and our refuge, God who shelters me underwing like a mother hen, thank you for being my protector! Thank you for loving me as I am, not only as I may one day become. Help me to share your love in the world today! Amen.
Go
No matter what you are wrestling with today, remember that God goes with you along the way. Together with God, you can make it through hard things!
God has said:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Isaiah 43:2
