Monday, April 25, 2022

Dear God,

Everyday tasks teach us lessons about life, faith and hope.  If we are open to you, we will be touched by opportunities to learn and grow.

Today's lesson came from an old, old door, well over 100 years old, maybe older than that.  Cracked, dry, chipped and scarred, she is the last of the doors and windows to be refurbished in the upstairs of our 200-year-old home.  I put her off long enough.  It was finally time for renovation.

As I cleaned and sanded and cleaned some more, I was able to remove all the old paint drips, loose paint and mars.  Then I filled all the cracks and empty spaces with wood filler.  After this letter I will sand and clean one more time before priming and painting.  But already I am discovering the work of your spirit.  

Humans, in this case me, are like the door.  We too have cracks, chips and scars.  We are sometimes dry and lifeless.  Like the door, we need restoration and renewal.  All that we can remove are old and sometimes bad habits, broken dreams, long-lasting grudges, rough edges and unresolved sins.  But again, like the door, we can be remade, brought back to a new life. 

You give us choices of what we want to surrender from our life and what we want to fill it up with.  We can let go of the bad, the broken, the stained, the resentment and everything else that hinders us from the good life.  Then we can decide what we want to fill us up.  Things like love, faith, hope, strength, courage and peace can begin the good work on and in us. More than anything it is the great chance to let you fill us up with you.

Loving carpenter,

do your work

on and

in us.

Help us

surrender all

that prohibits us

from a

better life.

Then open us

to your

life-sustaining power.

Love, Andrea