Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Dear God,

He finished the spiritual hermitage. He found an 1800's hand-forged door handle and it fit perfectly.  As I stood before the beautiful monastery in the woods, I could see your handprint on every board, nail and shingle.  Through a series of events I could not manufacture, you selected Tim Spaulding to build it and what beautiful, amazing work he has done.  I love every bit of it.

But it is the door that intrigues me the most.  The arched custom-built door like many monastery doors is inviting, mysterious and wondrous.  It begs to be opened.  Opening to the inside instead of out, it welcomes and offers a peaceful entrance into what we believe will be high, holy spiritual moments.

I could never have imagined a spiritual path complete with spiritual hermitage in our woods but you could and did.  One quiet day you invited me in, made me a co-worker and then did your holy work.

I bow
before you,
Holy God,
and give thanks.
Only you
can direct
such amazing works.
You are God;
there really is
none like you.
Thank you
for the hermitage,
for Tim,
for my
worker friends,
for faith,
and for joy.
I am blessed
I hope
you are too.

Love, Andrea

Monday, July 29, 2019

Dear God,

Like everything else, it opened up.  The nasty display of tangled webs, thorns, dead trees, sticker bushes and noxious weeds are gone.  Although we have splinters and scratches, we removed it all.  It was then we could see it, the opening for a labyrinth.  We never knew it was there until we did the work of clearing and cleaning.

Everything about this spiritual path has been a surprise.  From the opening to the path to the spiritual hermitage to the labyrinth, it has all opened up to us.  We, my friends Cindy, Susan and Ginny have worked with you and me for many summers to open it up.  It is holy ground.

You have taught me many lessons through the spiritual path.  You taught me about ridding myself of internal weeds and debris.  You have shown me what living water can do to a parched soul.  You showed me how to dig deeper to find those things that have had power over me.  You taught me to examine those areas that need a clean up.  On and on for years you have spoken to me of change and transformation and beauty.

Thank you,
Holy Father,
for the work
of the soul.
Thank you
for the
amazing spiritual path
in the woods
and inside me.
Thank you
for faith
that opens doors
and windows
to the soul.

Love, Andrea

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Dearest God,

Your love is deep and wide.  When we gather in your name, we find you.  We discover that love waiting for us to drink in, to breathe in and to grasp into ourselves.

Worship affords us opportunity to be near you.  It circles us all together giving us an unbelievable gift of your living, loving presence.  For an hour or longer, we sing your praise.  We pray.  We listen.  Your word opens the door and we fly in.  We dwell with you there because we know there is no better place that your dwelling place.

Right now we need you.  We need you so much.  We are anxious, angry, perplexed, stymied and troubled by events in our country and world.  So many of our leaders are greedy, self center and focused upon themselves and keeping in office.  They do not care that many, very many are suffering.  How can this be so, I ask myself.  How can there be so little care?  Yes, we need you, Lord, we desperately need you.

Holy Father,
hold us
in our hour
of need.
Bless all
who hurt
so much.
Give them
your comfort,
your hope
and your love,
I pray.

Love, Andrea

Saturday, July 27, 2019

My dearest God,

When we are filled with sorrow, anger, despair, loss and hopelessness, we sink and fall to the ground.  We are heavy, burdened down.  We can sometimes hardly move.  However, when we fill up with your spirit, your hope, your mercy and grace, your love and your power, we fill to overflowing such that we are buoyed up almost like we can lift off and soar on the breeze of your spirit.

We live in the in-between, O Lord.  We can fall or rise.  We have a choice, dear God, to rise or fall.  Sometimes it is so difficult we think we do not possess the power to rise.  And many times we do not but when we allow you to fill us with the "stuff" of heaven, courage and strength begin to stream in and we feel that sacred buoyance only you can give.  Things start to change.  Metamorphosis takes place transforming us.

I have seen it happen so many, many times.  I have experienced that power myself.  I know it to exist.  I know the strength of its power to change us.  This is what you want to do for us, dearest God.  You want us to trust you to fill us, to lift us, to take our burden from us, to change us and to make us powerful.  You want to show us your love for us.

Take us,
O God,
take us
in your hands.
Remake us.
Take away
our sorrow
and pain.
Reshape us
for today
and tomorrow
and all
our tomorrows.
Give us desire
to trust,
praise and
give thanks.

Love always, Andrea

Friday, July 26, 2019

Dear God,

Who does more than you?  Who loves more?  Who tends to us more?  Who listens more?

As I sit and reflect, I realize you are the MORE in our lives.  It is you, dearest Lord; it is you.  No one is closer than our breath.  When we need more, all we need do is turn to you.  When we need hope, we find hope in you.  When we need understanding, we find understanding in you.  When we need peace, we find peace in you.  Who else provides more hope, understanding and peace than you?

Each day is the day to say thanks, to express gratitude and to live in joy.

Thank you,
Most Holy God,
for blessing us
with your
living presence.
To breathe
is to breathe
in you.
Thank you,
Wondrous God,
thank you.

Love always, Andrea

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Dear God,

My cup overflows!  When I think of all the time I had with family while home, I just smile, hum and offer up my prayers of thanksgiving.

Why would teenagers give me the time of day?  Why would they want to share precious moments with their 72-year-old grandmother?  Why would they sit down with me?  Well, it is because you created love, love of the holy, sacred kind.  You ensured each one would receive a portion of your love.  You wove it into our DNA long, long ago.  We cry out when we slip into the world.  Perhaps it is our first plea for love or maybe an acknowledgement that love existed and now will be shared.  Whatever love is, it changes us, blesses us, smiles in us, makes us new and joy overflows.

Thank you,
Holy God,
for the gift
of love
and family
and willing teens
who share
their life
and love
with us.
Thank you
for making us
for each other.
Thank you
for the
divine heart
that beats
inside us all.

Love always, Andrea

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Dearest God,

You are my refuge, a very present help in trouble.  The psalmist's words reverberate in my own soul when I think of the countless times you have been present when I was troubled.  Even as a pastor ministering with hurting souls, I have witnessed your presence circle and hold those whose hearts were distressed and wounded.  Yes, indeed your are a very present help in trouble.

Usually it is in the hard times we think of you and your desire to draw close to us.  But it is sweet in the good times when we pause to reflect and give thanks.  Today is one such day.  It's good for me right now and so I pause and reflect and offer up my deepest gratitude!

You are God;
there is none
like you.
I am blessed,
O Lord,
because you
are my God.
Thank you
for all
my blessings.
Thank you
for your
living presence
that holds,
helps and heals.

Love, Andrea

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Dear God,

There is a sweetness in your mercy!  I savored this sweetness as I spent time with a granddaughter getting ready for college.  Where did the time go?

I so remember the moment I laid eyes on this sweet baby girl crying her lungs out as her mother lay bleeding after her birth.  While the doctor attended Jill, I placed my pinkie finger in Gabrielle's mouth and I sang "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.  You make me happy when skies are gray.  You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.  Please don't take my sunshine away."  I don't know how many times I sang it, maybe a hundred until Jill rallied and the crisis passed.

But yesterday I sat with this 19-year-old and listened to her as she shared her plans and desires for the next chapter of her life.  I just kept returning to the scene at the hospital and I remember how she nearly sucked my finger off.

I thanked her for giving me time to spend together.  I recalled to her funny memories we shared together.  As we returned to the car and I steered it toward home, we turned the radio up full force and sang our favorite songs as loud as we could.  And I reveled, really reveled at the sweetness in your mercy!

Thank you,
Blessed God,
for time
with Gabrielle.
Thank you
for watching
over her
and blessing
her life.
Thank you
for the
many lessons
she has learned.
Thank you
for her wisdom
and ability
to turn
a negative
into a positive.
Bless her more,
I pray.

Love, Andrea

Monday, July 22, 2019

Dear God,

A new day has already begun, ten hours ago.  In some sense it is an ordinary day, not really different from yesterday or the day before.  Except, it is extraordinary because now at 10:12 a.m. it is filled with promise.  I can choose to live life today.  I can choose not to.  I can choose to live hope or not.  I can choose to count my blessings and give thanks or not.  Today is filled with possible choices.

Every day is an opportunity to dwell with you.  Not just dwell but to DWELL.  It is a chance to be intentional, attentive, anticipative, expectant and hopeful.  Although I have things to do I can choose to do them with you, very aware you are with me.

Several years ago my church and I were awarded a Lilly Clergy Renewal Grant.  My theme was a Journey with God.  I was so thrilled, so humbled, so shocked to be given a $45,000 gift that would take me on a journey with the Beloved.

Each day in your presence I would not pray for you to be with me.  I prayed that I would be with you.  The focus was on you, not me.  I simply asked you to let me follow your lead.  It was life changing.  For three months we dwelled together and what a dwelling it was.  You took me into deep waters, miles high skies and through sacred doors that spoke profoundly to me.  It was undoubtedly one of the most amazing times in my life, one I shall always cherish and remember.  I will take the memory into heaven where you and I can reflect on old memories.

I am blessed today, my Lord, and I am fully aware of the blessing.  Let me follow you today.

Holy, holy
are you,
Amazing and Wonderful God.
Thank you
for all
the possibilities
for today.
May I
truly follow you
today and
not just today
but always.

Love, Andrea

Sunday, July 21, 2109

Dearest God,

We need not look far to find you in our midst.  As we look away from our self and look outward we find you.

Faith is like putting on prescription glasses for the first time.  Seeing for the first time with clarity, detail and precision.  Ooohing and aaahing for what has not been seen clearly.  If we put on our glasses even before rising in the morning we have benefit of seeing more deeply.  It is easy to see what is around us but do we really see it?  Do we really see everything in its finest detail?  Do we really see?

Faith opens the door to more, so much, much more!  We see the majesty of your creation.  We see the wonder of human beings.  We see love, mercy and grace.  We see God, yes, Lord, we see you in all your raiment.

Thank you,
Holy Father,
for the gift
of faith.
How blessed
we are
to know you
and to know
you know us.
Thank you
for everything
that leads us
to you.

Love always, Andrea

Saturday, July 20, 2019

My dearest God,

What a joyous moment!  I have worried with many others about the Monarch butterfly.  An endangered species now, I can only remember the countless butterflies when I was a little girl.  Now I can go a whole summer and not see one.

This year unexpectedly several milkweed plants sowed themselves in my vegetable and flower beds.  Out of place and yet exactly where they needed to be they rose up out of the ground, grew tall, blossomed and a few days ago I saw it...a yellow and black striped caterpillar eating away at the milkweed leaves.  I shouted for my husband to come see.  Together we breathed out our joy giving thanks about the time a Monarch fluttered by.

Joy abounds
when we discover
your hand
at work.
Thank you,
Loving God,
for the gift
of the butterfly.
So beautiful,
so graceful,
so wondrous,
so exceptional,
so You.

Love, Andrea

Friday, July 19, 2019

Dear God,

All glory, praise and honor are due you, Eternal God.  There is no better way to begin the day than to give thanks and praise.

When even before I open my eyes in the morning, you stir in my heart.  You inspire me to reflect, to think about faith and how it shapes my life and the life of creation.  You cause me to consider specific events, happenings and random things in my life.  When I focus only on you, so much comes to mind for which to express gratitude.

From the natural world of oxygen to breathe and sunshine to poke through my bedroom window, to birds singing and butterflies fluttering, to beloved family members and friendships, to gifts of clean water, medicine and food, to healings, miracles and unexpected gifts and to transformation, unconditional love and grace beyond calculation, I acknowledge you.  But most of all I think on faith and the many doors it opens and how you walk through every time.

Today is a day of thanksgiving and praise!

Holy God,
you give
so much.
You bless
so much.
You inspire
so much.
Thank you,
thank you,
thank you.

Love always, Andrea

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Dear God,

The Light shines in the darkness, even the darkest of the dark.  This is not the light of a bulb, flashlight or match.  This light shines all the time.  It is eternal, powered by the Almighty.

Lord, when we feel hopeless, it is as though we believe there is no light.  We believe there is no power to change.  We believe all is lost.  But when we grasp for that which has been true from the beginning of time, the light begins to shine, at first a teeny spot in the dark but then a tiny sliver, then more and more.  In sheer moments we can go from darkness to light, from hopelessness to hope and from sadness to joy.

It is this Light that sustains us, revives us, restores us, challenges us and renews us.  It is the one that can turn our life upside down and right side out.  It is not that the light begins to shine as much as it is we have faith to see it.

We adore you,
Gracious God.
Who cares more?
You give us
your all.
Give us faith
to see,
hear,
taste,
touch
and smell.

Love always and forever, Andrea

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Dear God,

I was stuck in the back of the plane, so far back that all I could see was the engine right outside my window.  Even though I looked strange I put the side of my cheek on the glass and peered out in front of the engine and over and under the left wing.  At last I could see what I was looking for...an exquisite piece of your creation!

When we open spirit eyes, the world forms differently.  Suddenly we don't just see clouds; we see the cosmos.  We don't just gaze upon the colors of blue, white and yellow.  We look upon the heavenly palette where the Great Artist has painted.  We don't just see the sky.  We see the marvels of great, great love.

Across the skies from Portland to Detroit and Detroit to Indianapolis, I had the great, great appreciation of all you do for your beloved people, children really.  You made this ball of life for all of us equally.  We do not own it.  It is not any one person's possession.  It is the stuff of eternity.

Loving God,
thank you
for the scene
of wonder
once again.
Thank you
for the
gentle reminder
of all
you do
for us.
Thank you
for sacred beauty
that extends
way beyond
human hands.

Love, Andrea

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Dear God,

Sometimes I simply do not have the energy or interest to do what needs doing.  Yet, what I have discovered is you can change all that.  You can shift my thinking.  You can raise my energy level.  You can give me resolve to do my tasks.  

By faith so much can change.  You can change situations.  You can change people.  You can change hearts, minds and souls.  When we trust you, everything can change.

Blessed Lord,

thank you

for power

from on high.

Thank you

for changing us.

Thank you

for changing me.

Love, Andrea

Monday, July 15, 2019

Dearest God,

Timing is everything!  Your time is always right on time!

Twelve years ago when you whispered, "There is the opening to the spiritual path.", I didn't know what you were talking about.  Yet, I followed you into the gnarly, tangled, ominous mess and we began the work on the spiritual path.

Today my carpenter worked on the spiritual hermitage.  As I sat and watched the frame go up, the roof put on and the windows put in, I thought about that first time you spoke about the path.  At that time I had no idea what was coming.  I didn't care because it was enough to follow you day to day rather than plan ahead.  It was never my plan then nor now.  It wasn't my time either but surely as I reflect back, each time it was your time for the next turn in the path, the next stone, the next plant, the next hermitage.  Blessings abound.

Holy God,
thank you
for the blessing
of time.
Thank you
for your call.
Thank you
for all
your are doing
on the
spiritual path.

Love, Andrea

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Dear God,

Why do we turn from you when we know that we know that we know that turning toward you will bring us comfort, hope and peace?  Why do we go anywhere else?

I fill up my day with tasks.  I love nearly everything I do.  I love to clean my house.  I love to make beautiful meals.  I love to do hard work on the spiritual path.  I love to spend time with my family.  I love to plan ahead.  I love to make special plans.  I love, I love, I love.

But in my busyness, I rely mostly on myself.  I think about what I think.  I do what I think to do.  I have a lot of I in my life.  Even writing this on paper makes my heart sink.  I have a lot of I in my life.

O Lord,
please forgive me.
I think more
about myself
than I do you.
I am sorry.
Lead me, Lord,
back home.

Love, Andrea

Saturday, July 13, 2019

Dear God,

Your voice is everywhere!  If we pause and listen with faith ears, we can hear you amidst the hustle and bustle of life.

Truth be told, more often than not, I am full of my own voice.  I make lists in my head.  I speak negatively about our president.  I challenge other people.  I challenge myself.  I think about meal times, what work I have to do inside and outside the house.  I tell myself about what needs to be done by today and then tomorrow and then before I go back home in a few weeks.  I can't blame the voices of others; I am way too full of myself.

But when...when I stop and really listen, I hear you in the morning birdsongs, the sound of happy dogs barking, children playing, ocean waves breaking, the word coming alive in worship, rain gently falling, friends greeting one another.  I could go on and on.  And every time I become aware of your voice, I drop my head in shame for not listening more.

Blessed are you,
Most Holy Creator.
In you
all joy
is found.
In you
all peace comes.
In you
hope is alive.
Thank you.

Love always, Andrea

Friday, July 12, 2019

Dear God,

You give us compassion when we don't feel like being compassionate.  You open doors and windows and call our name to step inside, to find the needy and to act kindly.

Our next door neighbor does not like us.  Simple as that.  Probably has some good reason so we don't normally talk.  But today the postal worker delivered their mail to us which meant I had to take their mail to them.  When I saw them working outside in their yard, I wished them a good afternoon and told them how beautiful their manicured yard looked and then I handed them their mail.  I bid them both a good day.

A while back I might not have wanted to do that.  I would have simply marked "Delivered to wrong address" on the envelopes and put it back in my own mailbox for the postal worker to pick up and deliver to right address.  But not today.  You wanted more of me and I was grateful.

Blessed Lord,
you give us
so many opportunities
for change.
You want
clean hearts
and willing spirits.
You want us
to be
merciful loving people.
You want us
to reach out.
You want us
to be
the very
created beings
you made us
to be.
Thank you
for transforming me today.

Love, Andrea

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Dear God,

"God selected you to build the spiritual hermitage."  I told Tim, the carpenter today.  He smiled, awed because the last job he had, another woman told him that God had brought him to her to do some work for a special business of wholistic healing.

A few months ago I was just talking with a couple friends when my restorationist interrupted me.  He was there to repair a couple walls but obviously he was listening to our conversation.  "Call Tim Spaulding,"  he told me.  "He can build your hermitage."  Sammy went on to describe Tim as a man of faith, integrity and skill.  So I called him that very day and the next day he showed up at my door.

After Tim had completed work on the bathroom floor which I needed to have done, I asked him about the hermitage.  As I talked about what I imagined it to look like, he took out a piece of paper and sketched something.  Then he turned it around and gave it to me.  Clearly it was what you imagined too.  A monastery in the woods.

As we discussed the amazing event of how his name had come up and he was available (a real miracle in Maine), we both sensed you had played the major role in bringing him to our spiritual path and property.  Today he finished the arched windows that already spoke of the holy.

Thank you,
O God,
for your
amazing work.
We could never
make things happen
like you.
You bring
people together
and create miracles.
Thank you,
Miracle-Working God.
Thank you.

Love, Andrea

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Dear God,

There is no time sweeter than time with you.  Sitting with you in nature, singing your song and feeling the breeze of your spirit blow across us can fill us with wonderment, joy and peace.

You want to give all your children peace, O Lord, all your children.  You want us to live in harmony.  You want to unite us as one family.  You want more for us than we often want for ourselves.

There have been holy times when I sat with you, when I waited with anticipation and when I surrendered my own time to be with you in your time.  There were then and are now not words to describe these beautiful moments.

Thank you,
Heavenly Father,
for the gift
of your time.
Thank you
for being more
than we are.
Thank you
for allowing us
to be present
with you.

Love, Andrea

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Dear God,

Only in the silence can we hear your voice.  Only in the silence can we hear our own heartbeat.  Only in the silence can we know the depth of your love.

Busy, busy, busy, we fill our lives with things to do or we fill the space with noise around us.  How can we possibly hear you?  How can we know your will?  How can we experience your merciful love when we are so attuned to everything else?

Oh Father, we are all guilty of filling our days with trivia, life and shallow things.  And often we are satisfied with the little of our day.  But what if, what if we decided to live deep, to wade into deeper waters, to uncover and discover the things in the deep?  There we have opportunity to dwell with you, to listen and hear the songs of angels and to learn the meaning of faith.

Anytime we pause to give ear to your voice, we dwell with you.  Anytime we stop what we are doing and enter into the silence, we can breathe in the clean air of your living spirit.  Anytime we make you our priority, we can find peace and hope and joy.  Anytime we express gratitude for what we have, we can meet you.  Anytime we lean toward you, we can find a waiting comforter.

Blessed Lord,
why do we
act the way
we do?
Why do we
fail to
live deeply?
Why do we
seek everything else
but you?
Call to us again,
invite us in
and help us
connect with you.

Love, Andrea

Monday, July 8, 2019

Dearest God,

You want us to trust you in all things.  You want us to turn to you for help.  You want us to fellowship regularly with you.

In the depths of my soul I know you are the one who can be fully trusted.  I am positive you are the one who can help the most.  I believe dwelling with you is better than dwelling with anyone else in the world.  So why do I/we have trouble trusting, asking for help and being present with the One who cares the most?

Oh God, I can rattle off countless many times you have shown me your trustworthiness.  When I fell backward into your arms, you were there every time.  You never dropped me.  I can count even more times when your help lifted me up, made me well and spread joy in my heart.  And even more I can list so many times when just being present dwelling with you were the sweetest moments of my life.  No one gives more than you.

Loving God,
thank you
for being
a living God.
Thank you
for being present
with us
every day.
Thank you
for loving us
more than
any other.

Love always, Andrea

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Dear God,

He is never going to get out of his wheelchair.  He needs help over the course of the day.  Yet, he writes amazing songs filled with Christian hope, love and mercy.

Recently I felt a bit discouraged.  I wondered if anything would or could change.  But then today I sang this composer's song.  I really listened to his words, his own beliefs and faith and I thought if this man can believe in hope and transformation then I can have hope too.

I so admire this composer.  I love his music, his lyrics and his faith.  I look to him when I lose heart, courage or trust.  He shows me the way from his wheelchair and I am so grateful.

Thank you
for Christian witnesses
who not only
speak of faith
but live it.
Thank you
for Brian
and all
his many gifts.
Thank you
for living faith.

Love, Andrea

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Dear God,

Surprises await us.  In the 12 years I have worked on the spiritual path, I have dug up numerous items from coins to marbles, barbed wire to broken dishes and from rusty pipes to children's toys.  But each time I found some unexpected surprise, I made a spiritual discovery.

Spiritual gems await barely hidden from our eyes.  All we need to do is a little work, a little digging. I have found things I lost like hope, peace and joy.  When I dug up those items from the ground, I dug up a little help for myself.  By ridding myself of the junk, I discovered spiritual jewels.

The greatest discovery is always what you do in ordinary human lives.  We don't have to be spiritual geniuses, scholars or devout monks or nuns; we can be regular human beings going about daily life but interested in the things of the spirit.  You so want to give us gifts but we have to be present to receive and open them.

Thank you,
Eternal God,
for the gifts
of your
wondrous spirit.
Thank you
for your love
first and foremost.
Thank you
for your challenges
to be more,
to receive more,
to surrender more,
to give more,
to love more
and finally
to serve more.

Love, Andrea

Friday, July 5, 2019

Dear God,

The storm brought great relief from the heat.  When the winds picked up, I opened the windows to the growing heat inside.  And when I did, oh my goodness, cooler air pushed the hot air out.

How many times have you allowed storms to brew in our lives when we too needed a change?  More than I can count.  Sometimes we need a storm.  We need the wind of your spirit and rain like living water.  We need a break, one only you can give.

Rarely do we welcome storms into our lives; yet, a storm changes a situation.  It brings it into bold relief.  It causes us to pause, to stop and think.  It shakes things up.  It helps us redefine our situation.  It can give us resources to transform a difficult situation.  It can help us get rid of the nasty accumulation of stuff that needs cleaning up, clearing up so we can see our way clear.  Only you can do this for us, O Lord, only you.

You are
the power
of the storm.
You can
move us
to change.
You cleanse
like no
one can.
You can
clear out
like no
one can.
You can
make the
your path
visible again.
Thank you, Lord.

Love, Andrea

Thursday, July 4, 2019

Dear God,

This morning one of my circle of friends spoke of the light.  I thought about what he said.  The light.

How many points of light can I identify in my own journey?  When I think of the light, I always think of my grandmother who simply was light to me.  She radiated with love, compassion, faith, hope and joy.  Although she passed from this earthly life back in the 1980's, when I think of her, she glows in my darkness.  What was the source of her light?  You.

So many times across my 72 years you have shined the light on me.  Perhaps it was my family, friends or kindly neighbors but also it was strangers at precipitous moments who guided me toward the light.  People who knew the light so well that they became light not only for me but others.

When I think of the light, I think of the Light of the World Jesus.  I think of times when the light saved me, healed me, helped me, guided me and changed me.

Thank you,
Holy and Loving God,
for your light
that always shines
in the darkness.
Thank you
for all
the ways
your light
has touched
and inspired.
Thank you
for shining
your light
for me
and in me.
May I
be a light
to others,
I pray.

Love, Andrea

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

My dearest God,

How sweet is your presence.  How beautiful your voice.  How marvelous your work.  As I sat in the open doorway of my unfinished spiritual hermitage, I found you everywhere I looked.  I felt the breeze of your spirit and the quiet solitude of your dwelling place.

Every day is a new day, a day to dwell with you, a day to anticipate your hand at work and a day of lovely beauty on the spiritual path.  Started 12 or so years ago, I stand in awe of what all has happened, how much change has occurred.  The ferns and raspberry bushes literally dance upon the wind of your breath.  I watch as the river gently moves toward the ocean and then back again.  I see you, my Lord, I see you.

Blessed God,
thank you
for the path,
the river,
the plants,
the trees
and the hermitage.
I am
so blessed
to be part
of your creation.
Thank you
for allowing me
to serve
as a handmaid.

Love always, Andrea

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Dear God,

As always you whispered to me what I needed to do.  As I stepped to the bookcase, I pulled down the book off the shelf.  I started reading it again...Healing for a Bitter Heart.  What I know is you know what we need even before we do and you speak to us.

I returned to this book that helped me years ago.  It actually helped heal a friend whose bitterness led her in many areas of her life.  I realized it was time when I heard your sweet word of encouragement.

Why am I bitter?  Let me count the ways.

O Lord,
I want
to rid myself
of the
damaging bitterness
in my soul.
I want
to surrender it
to you.
I want
to live free.
You are
the power
that can heal.

Love, Andrea

Monday, July 1, 2019

Dear God,

The carpenter whistled Amazing Grace as he worked.  The sound of his voice, his love and his devotion were apparent as he worked on the spiritual hermitage.  It was yet another reminder that this is your work, your vision and your desire.

I watched as the stone was put down and the foundation laid and the walls and finally as the roof was nailed down.  I kept thinking of all those who will come and benefit from the spiritual refuge it will offer.  This is your home, I kept thinking, this is your dwelling place!

You call us
to your service.
You bless us
in our work.
You love us
as we labor
in your name.
Thank you
for the privilege
of working
with you,
Holy and Living God.

Love, Andrea

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Dear God,

I stepped inside the song and met you there.  Great is thy Faithfulness says it all for me.  Great is your faithfulness, O Lord.  Every time I sing it I close my eyes and sing it to you.  It is my love song to you, my Creator, Redeemer, Comforter, Teacher and Friend.

At worship this morning I was thrilled we would sing my all-time favorite song.  I have sung it so many times in worship, on retreat, when I am sad or distressed, once when I was critically ill with severely high blood pressure and other times just to give praise to you.

Faith opens the door to so many wonderful places.  It opens the door to you when I sing my love song.  Today was such a day.  Tears welled as I whispered my prayers of thanksgiving!

Thank you,
Heavenly Father,
for all
your gifts.
Thank you
for this
love song.
Thank you
for the blessing
this morning.
I love you.

Love always, Andrea