Am I forgetting something?

Before any trip or excursion -- or before the day at hand -- I say outloud, "What am I forgetting?" as I pack the car and peruse my appointments and errands.  A box to take, a bag to return, and my running shoes, in case there is time for a run.  There have been far too many occasions that I have found myself at the entrance of Kroger, wondering outloud, "what is it I need to get?" My list forgotten on the counter at home and my mind a blank.

But what is most significant of all is not a list, nor a bag, but a realization that I am not alone in this.  It is not that I leave God behind.  It is not that I forget to take God along, stuffed in my purse for a desperate moment.

It is that I simply forget God.  "I am with you," He reminds me throughout Scripture.  God is not along for the ride; He is navigating me through this -- through victory and defeat, through the mountains, through the miry bog, big decisions, and the daily choices that are even more life-changing.

God has not forgotten me, but quite the opposite.  I have forgotten Him.  It is not that God needs to show up. God does not suddenly appear when I call. He is there all along, waiting for me to realize that.

In the early darkness the day of a marathon a few years ago, I read my Scripture for the day, before I left for that daunting task.  And God highlighted a verse for me that morning that I carried with me all 26.2 miles and engraved in my heart for even bigger tasks.

Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

                          Psalm 124.8

God reminded me of that reality every mile of that journey.  The verse did not make the marathon suddenly shorter or less painful.  But it reminded me of His Presence.  And that made the significant difference. I wrote in the margin of my Bible right next to that verse:  "I need to say this ten times a day. And repeat as needed."

And so, as I head into this day, what am I forgetting?

I am not alone.