Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Dear God,

The way to truth is honesty.  While we may not always like the truth, we must be honest.  Otherwise, we lose our way and begin to manufacture what is not true or honest.  We forget how to be honest and true as people and as a society.  

One of the richest gifts in life is truth.  For you yourself said, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free."  Only truth can set us free.  Our freedom is dependent on it.  When we are able to let go of falsehoods, we can see the reality of what truly is.  We can breathe easier because relief comes.  We can make ourselves right with others, our self and you.  Peace returns and so does hope.

You are God,

the author

of real truth.

Return us

to the truth,

O God.

No other way

is better.

Love, Andrea

Monday, May 26, 2025

Dear God,

I have been working on the back room for six weeks.  An add-on to the house nearly 100 years ago, it was created with a pile of wood that had accumulated over the years.  There are four different surfaces in the small 8' x 12' room.  With seven windows, four doors and a hardwood floor, it takes so much work, patience and tender care to repair, wash, sand, wash, paint, sand, wash and paint again.  It is beautiful when it is finished, the windows are washed and the furniture is brought back in.  I always delight in the beauty of this old house when it is restored to its former beauty.  

I wonder if your work with us is the same.  There is a lot of repair and restoration needed, much need for washing and washing again, filling in some cracks, touch ups, some paint here and there and then putting back into place those items essential to life.  The difference is it takes a whole lot longer and is an ongoing process than six weeks but you do it and keep on doing it.  Thank you God!

We all 

need a cleanup,

repair, and

a good washing,

dear God.

Thank you

for never

giving up

on us.

When I work,

remind me

of your

gracious work

in me.

Love, Andrea

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Dear God,

Earlier when I started my morning prayers, it was gray outside.  When I finished and opened my eyes, the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the colors of spring seemed to press into my dining room.  What a dramatic difference.

As I took a moment to reflect, I thought this was a metaphor for prayer.  When we pray, when we deliberately come to you and sit at your feet, something changes.  Our mind can clear, our soul can dwell and our spirit can come to life.  The name is transformation.

We often expect little to nothing of prayer.  It is true. We utter words while closing our eyes but we really have no expectation that our prayers will be answered.  Yet, this morning you brightened my day as I thought about the long list of things I need to accomplish today.  Our problem is we expect too little of prayer.  Perhaps the point is for prayer to change the person praying first.

Loving God of Transformation,

transform us

who pray.

Help us remember

that the god

to whom

we pray

is God

of the cosmos.

Teach us again

the power

of prayer.

Love, Andrea

Saturday, May 24, 2025

Dear God,

This morning I had to be careful driving on Water Street because there were so many cars and men gathering at the American Legion.  Standing in a line that poured out the front door, I watched as they drank coffee, talked and laughed with one another.  Clearly this weekly gathering brought joy to all who came together.

Brothers, (I couldn't see any women) they were clearly brothers to one another.  I thought about that as I waited for a couple of cars to drive down the middle of the street and pass me so I too could get through.  What I witnessed was the gift of grace and mercy for men who had served our country.  They had much to share because they found themselves in the deepest need in their hearts for a friend in the field.  They could speak the same language, know the same hardships and feel the same longing to be understood, loved and accepted.  As I drove on by, I realized I was peeking into a little bit of heaven.

Holy God,

you provide

love and mercy

for us.

We may 

always see it

but it

is with us.

Thank you

for holy moments

with friends.

Yours, Andrea

Friday, May 23, 2025

Dear God,

This morning on the way home from the convenience store, I looked up and watched a jetliner climb into the sky having taken off 25 miles away.  At the stoplight I gazed until I had to turn for home.  I reflected about what I had seen and smiled as I thought about faith.

I long for faith that will rise and keep rising homing in on eternity.  While that jet didn't even make a bauble, I want that kind of faith that doesn't move from side to side but straight up.  Although I know that is not possible for this is a human journey as well as a divine one, that is what I desire.  

I can't thank you enough for the countless many ways you give us clues to faith.  A simple airplane on its way to some destination served as a lesson in faith for me this morning.  Not only did you give me the plane, you provided me the awareness of a clue from heaven, one that will rest with me all day and even tomorrow.

Thank you,

Loving God,

for the

amazing way

you speak daily

to us.

You peek out

from heaven

and as

we look up,

we discover

one another.

How grateful

I am!

Yours, Andrea

Thursday, May 22, 2025

Dear God,

Hope, four little letters, barely a whisper when uttered, yet perhaps one of the most powerful words on earth.  When we do not have hope, we barely cling to life.  But when hope comes to life within us, we can move mountains.

I have lived both.  Last year, I had so little hope and I barely clung to life.  I lived in despair crying out to you when I became so low, I felt I would surely succumb.  I prayed.  I threw myself on your mercy.  Then one day, one strange day I felt a stirring within my soul only to discover I was giving birth to hope once again.

As I sit here at my computer, I want to sing a song of joy because today I am living in hope.  When it came back, I grabbed hold of it and refused to let it go.  I could only do that because you grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let me go.  Hope, it saved me.  You saved me.

Holy and Merciful God,

you saved me.

You returned 

my hope.

You called

my name

and I

heard you.

I am blessed.

Thank you.

Yours, Andrea

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Dear God,

Each morning when I turn to this conversation, I feel like a little child running to her daddy.  Greeted by open arms, I grab hold of your neck and press in.  Our hugs are the best.

How grateful I am to be in your company, to feel your breath upon me and your grace wrapped around me.  And best of all is the belief that all your children, every child on the planet receives the same welcome.  

We all need a cherished, adoring, faithful daddy whose love extends beyond time and space.  In particularly difficult times, it is healing to know you are present for us, never absent.  Although we may feel alone sometimes, it is because we slip away into areas that make us feel far away.  But it is never so.

As I feel our squeeze and listen to your voice, I am reminded to trust more deeply and faithfully that as my faith grows, I may be able to witness to your compassionate mercy for every child.  May I be a carrier of light, warmth, acceptance, love and kindness to the world.

You are God;

there is none

like you,

Gracious, Loving God.

Thank you

for your mercy

every morning

and every night.

Lead the way

that I 

may follow

and lead others

to you.

Yours, Andrea

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Dear God,

There is no straight line upward in healing.  It is filled with ups and downs, sideways, tumbling, falling and getting back up.  Strange, but the way it really works.  We all want the straight line but I have discovered that the others provide opportunities to encounter you.

When we expect straight lines, we are planning our own future, drawing lines and keeping within them. We leave no room for high moments, growth patterns and sudden surprises.  True healing is found in these.  

Holy God,

we so forget

we are

in your hands.

We forget

you are part

of our journey.

Thank you

for every moment

that provides us

with faith.

Love, Andrea

Monday, May 19, 2025

Dear God,

As humans we write our stories day after day after day, sometimes way into the future.  We believe we are the only author and we pen what we believe is and will be.  How foolish we are!  We leave no room for the master creator.

Simple, plain stories of our own making will never be anything more without the divine pen of God.  When you write our stories with us, you tell the world what is possible, what is beautiful, what is hope.  There is power, love, courage, strength and peace when you are at work in our lives.  Your story in us is a story that will long live beyond our own passing.  That is what faith is, a telling of God in human lives.

O God,

write my story.

I want

my story

to be

all about you.

I want others

to know you

in ways

no other

could tell it.

You are God;

there is none

like you.

Write away,

O God;

use me

as a

writing pad

to tell

your story.

Love, Andrea

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Dear God, 

I am so grateful you are more than who I think you are.  When we rely on and proclaim our understanding of you only, we diminish who you are and what you are about in the world.  Today there are many preachers who wrap you up in a box and offer you to others.  Nothing more, nothing less.  And you become smaller and smaller in our own minds.

So much do we need to trust you, O Lord.  The genius of preaching is that we open doors to you but only for others to discover and meet you.  We do not have the right or responsibility to describe you only as we know you.  We stretch people.  We help grow people.  We tantalize people with the possibility of God.  The journey is solo but always being given new visions and opportunities to know more, experience more, grow more, study more and trust more.  Only when we are open to meet you in new ways can we find the God who awaits us.

Holy God,

thank you

for who

you are

and what

you are about.

Teach us

to be open

to more

because you

are always more

than we

know about you.

We long

for you,

O God,

precisely because

you are God

and no manifestation

of our 

own making.

Love, Andrea

Saturday, May 17, 2025

Dear God,

This morning as I did the final sew on the dog bandana I am making for missions, I smiled to myself.  The fabric was white with the outline of red open hearts penned from a single line all over the fabric, large ones, small, swiggly ones and fun ones.  The thought came to me that these were the many hearts of God, your many hearts, O God.  A heart for suffering, one for frustration, another for worry and anxiety, one for compassion and mercy, yet another for joy and celebration.  There is no occasion where your heart is absent.

I have felt your many hearts pumping into my empty and full places.  Your heart has been present in my peace times, my anger, my fear, my bewilderment and my ecstasies.  Always your glory fed through my veins leading to the places that needed a feeding, my mind with the flurry of thoughts, my heart when broken, my spirit when it was all over the place, my feet when I lost my direction and my hands when I didn't know what to do with them and especially my mouth when I was at a loss for words.  Always, always your heart was beating in my own.

Thank you,

Merciful God,

for your

tender, loving care.

Thank you

for allowing

your heart

to beat

with my own.

You are

a blessed God

always bringing blessings

to your children.

Love, Andrea

Friday, May 16, 2025

Dear God,

Today I cut a stem of Lily of the Valley.  For probably three years I planned to make a cutting, place them in a tiny vase and smell them daily.  Unfortunately, I failed to do so.  By the time I was ready, the flowers had dried up.  What was wrong with me?

But today when I saw them appear in their bright white, I stopped what I was doing, grabbed my scissors, cut a single stem and placed it in a tiny, vintage medicine bottle.  I filled it with water, sat down and brought them to my nose.  I closed my eyes and smelled the fragrant scent over and over again.  How sweet and wonderful!  Several times throughout the day I lifted the vase and put it to my nose.  It seemed as though I was smelling the sweet scent of heaven.

Holy God,

remind me

to pause

in my

daily busyness

to smell eternity.

Forgive me

for forfeiting

the opportunity

the last

three years.

Thank you

for grace

to remember

that was yesterday

and today

is today.

Yours, Andrea

Sunday, May 10, 2025

Dear God,

It is true what Elijah said that you do not always come in the wind, the fire or the earthquake; it is in the tiny voice of a whisper.  On this beautiful, sunny Sunday morning as I walked in the coolness of the day, I heard you speak, "Look more into what is before you rather than what is behind you."

I had been bemoaning some painful occurrences and felt all the feelings that went with them then and now beginning to feel again.  I imagine you wondered why I would injure myself with memories that still have the power to hurt me.  

Your desire to lead us to green pastures and living water is evident every day.  If we push aside the worries, the busyness and all the tasks need doing, we are able to hear you, Lord.  Your word is always a good word for us.

Thank you,

Compassionate God,

thank you

for today's word.

Keep my

head and mind

looking forward

rather than behind.

I long

to follow 

your word

and find peace.

Yours, Andrea

Saturday, May 9, 2025

Dear God,

We fear transition because it takes us into liminal time, a time that seems unknown, unfamiliar, a change, sometimes a dramatic one.  In those times we feel anxious and sometimes afraid.  We try to hold on to what we know not realizing that what is to come will have what we need to hang onto.

Few of us like change, O God.  We may not like where we are but we like less where we imagine we could be.  What we do not remember is you hold the future.  Liminal time is perfect time to grow faith, to trust in you and to hold tight to your hand.  When we get ready to leave where we are for where we are going to be is the most loving time of all because your nearness is closer than any other time.  During those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks or months, drawing near to you will be sweet and merciful giving us strength, courage and hope.

O God,

your love

sustains us

in all times,

especially liminal time.

Help us

surrender anxiety

and fear

for trust,

hope and love.

Thank you

for your mercy

particularly in

liminal time.

Yours, Andrea

Friday, May 8, 2025

Dear God,

What is the smell of God, the scent of heaven, Holy One?  As I walked early this morning, I couldn't help but smell something beautiful.  It was the aroma of fresh, wild refreshment.  Like the scent after a morning rain, all seemed at peace.  

I was drawn to you as I intentionally took in deep breaths believing I was filling myself with you.  The scents of eternity was uniting me with you and the cosmos.  I smiled and hummed with thanksgiving.

Thank you,

Creator God,

for the gift

of springtime.

Thank you

for my

morning walk

and discovering you

all along

my way.

Thank you

for everything

attuned with you.

Yours, Andrea

Thursday, May 7, 2025

Dearest God,

The beauty of our relationship with you is one of miracle and great love.  As God, creator of all that is, that you would desire a deep connection with us humans is beyond our comprehension, especially since we are frail, fragile and human.  We are flawed, vulnerable and bent to sin; yet, as God, you long to walk with us, love us and forgive us.  Think on this, you say to us.

Even as I write these words, I feel myself wanting to lie on the ground at your feet expressing my gratitude over and over again.  There is so much blessing in your love for us.  

If we were to begin and end each day with our daily devotion and prayers of thanksgiving, listing our gifts, we would be different people, a different society.  We would automatically love our neighbor and want to help.  We would want to give to others because we are too full of all our gifts.  We would naturally want to share.  But sadly, we are a work in progress, still in need of transformation.

Thank you,

Holy God,

for all

your many gifts.

Remind us daily

we are human

in need

of a 

divine god.

You are

that God

and there

is none

like you.

Blessed are you,

God Almighty,

Loving Comforter

and Amazing Teacher.

Yours forever, Andrea

Wednesday, May 6, 2025

Dear God,

When your son spoke about light and darkness, we could see in the story the power of light to overcome the darkness.  Yet, how does that really happen in human life?

Today there is so much conflict and chaos, lies, manipulation, threats and abuse that it seems only the darkness exists.  However, there are signs that the light is surely more powerful than the darkness.  Just a few weeks ago the ground was covered with snow.  Trees and limbs were barren.  The landscape appeared gray, worn and dead.  But then it all changed, creation, light of the greatest kind, changed all that.  Trees sprouted buds, flowers poked their tiny leaves through old, dead leaves and birds began carrying off debris to make nests.  Babies were born and their birdsongs began to be sung all over our backyard.

In my own life when darkness held me down, left me paralyzed and suicidal, you came in a teeny, whispering voice and I began to see the light once again.  My situation had hardly changed but my attitude and will to live began to live again too.  

Gracious God,

thank you

for the light

that heals,

helps and guides.

Thank you

for darkness

that opens

the door 

to growth

and opportunity.

Thank you

for love

that exists underneath

it all.

Love, Andrea

Tuesday, May 5, 2025

Dear God,

Last Sunday the preacher challenged us to remember who we are, where we came from and who helped get us where we are.  My husband and I accepted the challenge.

Yesterday he shared about his beloved grandmother whose faith, love and really good food served as a model for his own faith.  I told him about my eighth grade Sunday School teacher who gave me a deep sense of belonging, a model for faith and affirmation as a person, student and family member.  We must have shared for 30 minutes.  It changed the mood in our household bringing us joy, hope and gratitude.  

Thank you for the gift.

You are God;

there is none

like you.

Thank you,

Holy Father,

for bringing

loving, compassionate people

into our lives.

Thank you

for living memories.

Yours, Andrea

Monday, May 4, 2025

My dearest God,

How do we ever find our way back to the truth, the truth you talked about that sets us free?  Truth that is real, authentic, that tells it like it really is.

We have become a people of lies, manipulated truth.  I do not understand it; I just don't.  It is like there is something better than the truth which is a lie itself.  How can we ever be people of your kingdom if we live lies?

We have forgotten that truth is divine, sacred, eternal.  Truth is created by you and given as a divine gift to creation.  What can be better than that which is given by your hand?

We need a way back, O Lord, and you are the only one that can take us there.  Please help us.

We are yours;

you made us,

in your image,

no less.

How can

we possibly live

like we belong

to someone else?

Guide us back

to you,

O Lord,

we need you.

Yours, Andrea

Saturday, May 3, 2025

Dear God,

There is nothing certain about life on this planet except you.  With all the dramatic change occurring in our nation, we realize old habits and ways of doing things really don't work well anymore.  We cannot insist on everything remaining the same.  But it is hard to change, to let go of the past and to make new ways.

However, with you, O God, change is easier because we have a divine strength.  We can drink in your power and courage which then makes faith possible.  With faith all things are possible.

We have to learn to bend in new directions, to be flexible of body, mind and spirit and to open ourselves to the future in a new way.  What we thought impossible before may just be very possible now.  

Help us

trust you,

O God,

when we

are afraid,

reluctant and doubting.

Help us

not to

be resistant

but welcoming

of change

that can come.

Give us

your strength,

your courage,

your love,

your vision

and your will

so we

can grow strong,

open, wise,

willing and able

to do

what you 

call us

to do.

Thank you,

blessed God.

Yours, Andrea

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Dear God,

I watched out the window as the bright red male cardinal hopped down from one step to another.  Surrounded by bird feeders and houses, flowers, trees and shrubs, all the beautiful bird could see was abundance.  With the playful movement, it was almost like a dance.

Although there are predators, overcast weather and rain predicted, the bird chose to dance, hop and fly rather than stay grounded in place.  I like to think he was full of hope and promise for today and maybe for the future.

As humans I wish we could think like the bird.  If we could see abundance of beauty, opportunity and plenty, we could be motivated to dance too.  Yes, we know storms are coming, in fact, some are here right now.  With what is happening in Washington, DC, there is much to fear and to become angry and pained over.  It is tempting to focus on the loss and sorrow and fall into despair.  Yet, there is more than meets the eye.  Sometimes especially right now, we need to focus a little wider and deeper to see the hope and promise but it is always there.  If we are able to direct our attention to the abundance rather than the deficit, we could become the focus of hope and promise for others.  

Help us,

O God,

become fixed

on the view

from your eye.

Direct us

to your vision

rather than

be limited

by our own.

Then guide us

to become

what we

are looking for.

Love, Andrea