Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Dear God,

Yesterday as I stepped out of Wal-Mart, my eyes were drawn upward to a scene that stopped me in my tracks.  The sky looked as if a hand had punched holes in the thick cloud cover.  In every hole the sun's rays leaned down to kiss the earth.  I breathed in the reality that you carve out holes in the dark clouds of our souls allowing your light to shine upon us.  I breathed out a deep sigh and a prayer of thanksgiving.

I am never surprised by the messages, the lessons and the truth that are revealed in ordinary days.  I am always inspired by the countless ways you speak to us when we pay attention.  A simple trip for groceries reminded me you are always at work in human lives.  To stand and revel, give thanks and smile started my day with gratitude.

Holy God,

thank you

for leaning down

and touching

our lives.

Thank you

for the reminder

that faith

is a

living faith

when we anticipate

your coming

into our

ordinary days.

Thank you

for dark clouds,

unexpected openings

and light rays.

Yours, Andrea

Monday, March 30, 2026

Dear God,

We cannot hide the truth from others or from ourselves.  The truth must always be set free and in so doing we will find freedom as well.

Our president hides the truth.  He creates chaos to hide the truth.  What is the truth?  Millions are hurting by his egotistical decisions.  The Epstein files hold unconscionable truth.  The victims are forced to carry their suffering because one man and many more want to hide the truth.

At the same time we look at others despicable ways of hiding truth, we must also look inside our own souls.  What truth needs to be revealed?  What suffering am I enduring?  What must I do to release the truth in my own life?

Our world needs to be set free from lies.  And so do we.

Reveal your truth,

O God;

release us 

from all

that hides

the truth.

Show us

the way

to the truth

that sets us free.

We desire

the truth

not just

for some

but for all.

Please set us free.

Yours, Andrea

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Dear God,

We protested yesterday.  We protested injustice, war, lies, inhumanity and abuse of all kinds.  We stood together, felt united and even said at one point, I love you to one another.  We are committed to caring for all our neighbors near and far.  We are all beloved children, even those we don't like but still regard as valued human beings on the planet.

When we sang resistance songs, we were one voice.  How could we be anything but?  It was our way of saying I love you to the world.  I like to think you were roaming the grounds with us, Living God.

Continue to

teach us

your way,

dear God.

Help us

not slip

onto the

dark abyss

afraid, angry

and committed

to violence. 

Always show us

the better way.

Yours, Andrea

Saturday, March 28, 2026

Dear God,

When troubles come, I often grab for the psalms.  There I find understanding, peace and hope.  In those moments I know we know the same hope and peace.  Reading it over and over I breathe easier, trust more and let faith blossom.

The deeper in pain I am, the more I ask the question. "Why are you so good to me?"  I feel so blessed, inspired and loved.  I feel your compassionate comfort like a crying child who is picked up from the ground and held safely in a parent's arms.

This is who you are, dear God.  Your love for all your people is the same, those who lived so long ago and those who live now.  It will be no different a hundred years from now.  Your love will still extend, hold and love.

Thank you,

Gracious God,

for the psalms

that lead us

to you.

Thank you too

for your

amazing love

that has 

no beginning

and no end.

It has

always existed.

Thank you

for the reminder

for all

of us.

Love, Andrea 

Friday, March 27, 2026

Dear God,

Yesterday I thought of my grandmother's hands.  In her later years her hands were arthritic with age spots.  Her veins seemed bulging and the back of her hands looked like a road map.  But they were above all the most loving hands in all the world!

Grandma's hands baked the best pies, played card games with us grandchildren and grew the largest, most beautiful vegetables and flowers in the garden.  Her hands played the piano for 60 years at church.  At bedtime she knelt down on the hardwood floor, put her hands together and prayed for every member of the family.  Those hands tended to every scrape, wound and hurt for the whole community of 500 in her teeny town.  Her hands always led me to you.

As I look now at my own hands, my veins bulge too.  I can only pray that my hands have not only been useful but inspiring too just like Grandma's.

Loving Father,

thank you

for my 

godly grandmother.

Thank you

for every time

her hands,

her life

and her example

directed me

to you.

May my hands

lead others

to you also.

Love, Andrea

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Dear God,

I want to sing a song of hope to and for the world.  I want those who live near and far away to know that an ordinary woman from Indiana wants to sing to them.  Not from the top or the place of privilege but from a place of sorrow, pain and fear.  I want to give comfort, assurance and peace.  

I have to crawl out from under my own humiliation, rage and shame caused by the president of my own country.  An egomaniac with vast needs to dominate, a man without compassion and a perpetrator of terror seeks to hurt and harm wherever he desires.  It is hard for me to breathe let alone sing.  Yet, in my deepest self, I want to create music that can heal, bless and inspire, music that will cradle hurting peoples.  I want to soothe, calm and love where there is pain.

I don't know how spiritual love travels, penetrates and helps; I just know it can.  I have believed for a long time now that ancient prayers from long ago still touch human souls today.  I don't know how; I just know they do.  Perhaps music from a deep, honest, hopeful place can do the same.

Unite us

in your song,

Merciful God.

Sing to us

so we

can sing

to one another.

Rid us

of evil 

and derision.

Give us

a song

that will

lift us

higher and higher.

Love, Andrea

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Dear God,

Beginning the day with a spoken trust in you changes everything.  When I fail to acknowledge you in my life and in the world, I struggle alone.  So simple to start the day the better way.

When troubles come, when overwhelmed by national and international events, I can hardly carry the burden I feel.  I was born with a caring DNA.  I cannot erase it from my human makeup.  I feel for people.  When I witness suffering to whomever for whatever, I feel it deep within.  The truth is I cannot carry it alone.  But together with you, I can go through my daily living with trust, prayer, compassion, hope and action.  I can face the sorrow and loss, the injustice and ragged pain and do what I am called to do, to love, to act on behalf of others and to live with hope and even a sense of peace.  I can believe, sing my own song of faith and walk with those suffering souls.  It is never easy but always better when I walk with you.

Take my hand,

all our hands

and lead us

to a 

better world,

O God.

For it is

what you want

for all

your children.

Lift us up

to you

where our burdens

are lighter

and our 

strength is

deeper and wider.

Thank you.

Love, Andrea

Monday, March 23, 2026

Dear God,

Faith is not believing I know what is negatively going to happen tomorrow.  Faith is opening the door and leaving it open to what may come.  Sometimes we focus on the negative as a way to keep the door shut so we do not have to face the issue at hand.  But faith begs for the door to be opened.

This morning I see my favorite grandmother's face.  A humble, loving woman, her life was not always easy.  At the same time, she carried her faith into every difficulty because she knew who waited for her there. At this hour right now in my own life I have a difficulty and I believe you are inviting me to open my own door.  I don't open it alone.

Holy God,

there is

no time,

no space

where we

are alone.

We do 

not walk alone.

In this

scary space

may I

wholly trust you.

Love, Andrea

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Dear God,

How good it is to awaken to the knowledge of your abiding presence.  What peace and hope you bring to a new day.  As the darkness gives way to the light, I know you.  I hear you.  I breathe you.   

In uncertain times you draw us closer to you for calming peace, residing hope and loving compassion.  This is your way.  You invite us into you.  We become one.  

We read and listen to the psalmist...The Lord is my shepherd, my shepherd, not just someone else's but mine too.  He leads me.  He wades with me in still water.  He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He restores me.  He provides for me.  He sets a table and feeds me.  He blesses me.  He invites me to dwell in this inner peace...forever.  

Oh, to begin each day this way, Loving God, each and every day.

Holy, holy, holy

are you,

Merciful God.

Help us breathe

one spirit.

Drink living water.

Eat at your table.

Dwell with you.

Love, Andrea

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Dear God,

When we pray and experience silence, we assume you are absent, uncaring, far off.  Yet, in those times perhaps silence is meant as a gift, a quiet time when spiritual, emotional and psychological uncluttering can take place.  

Our hearts, minds and souls can become full of clutter and debris like worry, fear and anxiety.  We can become overwhelmed by all that is around us.  When you come to us, we are too full.  Seemingly, there is no space for you.  

The spiritual journey is one where we are open to trust, surrender and faith.  Just as there are times to fill up, there are also times to spill out.  Both are necessary in order to be freed up, to grow and to flourish in every-day living.  Both are possible because you are always with us, never far away.  You know when to be quiet with us and when to speak to us, when to fill us and to empty us and to challenge us and to just hold us.

Thank you

for reminders

of your

constant presence.

Forgive us

when we want

a filling

and not

an emptying.

Teach us

when to

hold on

and when

to let go.

Yours, Andrea

Monday, March 16, 2026

Dear God,

Writing you keeps me close to your spirit.  For I long for a deep, abiding relationship with you because you know me inside and out.  You know my flaws.  You know my heart.  

In difficult times I reach for good, not evil.  I reach for love, not hate.  I reach for understanding, not chaos.  Who better to turn to than you Almighty and Loving God?

When I come running to you, it is because I see the world thrashing, on a course to collapse and people suffering everywhere.  I want to help, to put a stop to all that is wrong and evil and to give rise to kindness, mercy and peace.  But I am just one person.  At the same time I feel small and ill-equipped, I know with your guidance, I can do small things with big heart.  I remember Mother Teresa used to say it is important to do small things with great love.  I am no Mother Teresa but we both know the same God.

Turn me

toward you,

O God.

Turn the world

toward you.

When we turn

to you,

our hearts

can grow, 

our compassion

can extend

wide and deep

and we

can change things,

one person,

one thing,

one challenge

at a time.

Thank you.

Yours, Andrea

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Dear God,

I look at the news that tells me people are being killed by our own president's policies.  Through the brokenness of his soul, lives are being destroyed.  My heart is crushed by such evil.  I weep for families who have lost loved ones, truly weep.

What can I say to you or them, O Lord?  How can we stop this horror?  How do we end the suffering caused by an evildoer who cannot get enough of whatever he needs so he continues his reign of terror?  

What can I offer to neighbors near and far?  How can I convey my love and respect during such horrible loss?  How can we find another way to be human?

O God,

rid us 

of evil

within our

own hearts.

Cleanse us

deep within.

Help us

find ways

to love

and care

for one another.

Love, Andrea

Saturday, March 14, 2026

Dear God,

Every morning when I first get up, walk to my renovated screened-in back porch/study and look into the skies, I pause and then oohh and aahh a few seconds.  The glorious shining stars tell me all is secure and calm.  Only then do I sit down and begin my devotions.

Those tiny white stars tucked away into the dark, night skies remind me of you Creator God.  Every time.  It is as though your hand is being stretched from there to me.  Your action persuades my faith to grow, to stretch beyond where it was yesterday to where it can be today.  I take a breath and begin my day.

Is that the way you planned it?  Is it your desire to meet me this way each day?  Is this the way you want me close?

It is interesting to me how many people are hanging lights on and around their homes.  Yes, many do that for holidays but I notice there are more who hang white lights and leave them up year-round.  Driving through neighborhoods, they too give a message of light in the darkness, hope in the midst of despair and peace in chaos and conflict.  God bless them.

Thank you

for divine messages

that bring us

hope, light

and peace.

We need them,

Merciful God,

we need them.

Make us lights too

to give

the same message.

Yours forever, Andrea

Friday, March 13, 2026

Dearest God,

How can I ever be able to love my enemy?  How can I love someone whose intent is to hurt and destroy others?  How can I transform my hatred into love?

Right now in our country there is so much anger, hatred and bitterness.  Because of political divisions, we have grown to hate others.  When I think of Jesus, I remember his words.  "Forgive them for they do not know what they do."  The cynic side of me wants to challenge his statement.  The other side of me wants to fall to my knees in repentance.  How do I move the cynic side more to the repentant side?

I realize forgiveness is not only for the enemy but for our self as well.  When we forgive, something changes inside us.  Our hardline feelings begin to soften. We breathe easier.  We find light and peace and even some joy.  We have more energy of the good kind.  It does not mean our beliefs change about equal treatment for all people.  It simply means we do not give in to the evil side of evil ways.  We rise above it, do all we can to help others and protest for better ways.

Loving, Compassionate God,

we love

to be forgiven

but have

a harder time forgiving.

We hate hate

and we love love

but it

is difficult

to change.

Help us all

rise to

your level

of love,

forgiveness and mercy.

Guide us

to work

for justice,

compassion and peace.

Shine your light

upon us

so we

can do

the same.

Love, Andrea

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Dear God,

I do believe I learn more in the darkness than I do in the light.  In the light I can see but in the dark, I am blind.  It is when I walk in the darkness that I cry out for you for an outstretched hand, a guiding voice and a safe journey.

Life is not always as it seems.  Sometimes I can only see from a certain angle so I am only able to see a partial picture.  I have to rely on trusted others to fill in my blanks.  And even if I see a messed-up picture, I have to remember that that picture is only temporary.  Tomorrow or this afternoon it can change.

All this is to say that reaching back to the hand reaching out daily will guide me along life's path especially during difficult times.  I never have to be afraid of what I see or fail to see because my hand is in your hand.  I take my every-day steps with you.

Thank you,

Loving God,

for your

gracious love.

Thank you

for not only

offering your hand

but also

for guiding

my way.

Whether in

the light

or in

the darkness,

I am grateful

to be

at your side.

Love, Andrea

Saturday, March 7, 2026

Dear God,

We are all looking for a home of peace.  We want a quiet space where conflict, hatred and mean-spiritedness do not reside.  We want to breathe fresh, clean air where pollutants dissolve and vanish.  We want to know we are not only wanted but welcomed in a home of peace.  

Peace seems so far away right now.  On the national and international scene, it seems we have been hijacked, that someone has stolen our quiet space.  Our phones and other devices reinforce that we are all at war in some way or another.  And to some degree it is true; however, peace is not out there.  It is in here, inside our self.  Like a regular heartbeat it pumps pushing peace through our veins, telling us it exists and will not leave us unless we choose to throw it away.  I believe it is part of our DNA, a life-saving gift that has always been with us.  We just need to drink it in, savor it, use it, and sing and dance with it.  Perhaps we have been searching for it out there far too long.  But today, right now, this very moment we have become aware of the reality of peace in our own being.  Your whisper of this truth gives me cause to pause and consider what I already possess.

Thank you,

Compassionate God,

for the reminder

of your peace

tucked inside

every human being.

Thank you

for placing it

inside me

and all.

Help us

accept this reality

and practice peace

right where 

we are

right now.

Love, Andrea

Friday, March 6, 2026

Dear God,

What can we do when war comes?  What can we do when we feel helpless and lost?  What can we do when we don't know what to do?

When there is great wrongdoing in our nation and world, I want to scream and cry and rally to change things.  I want to save people from suffering.  I want to right the wrong.  I want desperately to make things different.  But I am only one person, one woman.

While I may have great unanswered questions, one thing I do know for sure is that you are present in the cosmos and right here beside me.  And if you are right here beside me, you must assuredly be right next to my neighbor next door and in far-off places halfway around the world. You can't only be with me unless you are with every person.

I cling to faith that tells me that all people are beloved.  It is the only way faith works for me.  I have to believe that warmongers are loved too.  Part of that faith nudges me to consider my own nature during tragic and difficult times.  Am I caring for my neighbor?  Am I loving to all people?  Am I speaking out for justice for all?  Am I doing my part to bring hope, mercy and peace?  Sometimes I learn that it is not only the warmonger that needs to change but also me.

Blessed God,

I am

only human

and I

want to crawl

into a cocoon

to save myself.

But you 

call me

to love

my neighbor.

You ask me

to look into

my own life, 

to see

my own truth

even as

I look

at my neighbor

and find fault.

O God,

in every

grave situation,

help us

to crawl

to you first.

Love, Andrea

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Dear God,

When I awakened early this morning after a restless night, I looked out the window to see a foggy scene across barren fields.  It spoke to my own foggy vision of things going on in our nation and world.  But the longer I gazed I noticed a light now and then of a car driving down the country road.  The light shone bright and I realized that even in the darkest, foggy night, there is still a light that shines.

It is easy to fall into discouragement and even despair when all we see is darkness.  We can conclude after time that there is only darkness.  But that is not true for light shines somewhere even if it is a tiny light.  And that light brings us hope.

More and more I have come to the awareness that there are symbols of hope all around us.  No, it may not be the brightest and most beautiful rainbow in the sky but the spectacular, colorful sunrise that comes every morning without fail reminds us that darkness has to give way to the light every 24 hours.  That is enough light and hope to keep us going through the foggy, stormy, dark days of life.

You are

the creator

of light

that moves

the darkness away.

Not only

the earth's darkness

but our

own personal darkness.

You shine

your divine light

on us

every day.

We need only

open our eyes

to your offering.

For the fog,

the darkness

and the light,

we give you thanks.

Love, Andrea

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Dear God,

There is no better place to go than home when we are perplexed, troubled, or pained.  Like a child who falls and skins their knee, we cry out for home, for mother or father, someone who will hold, calm and heal us.  In their arms and tender care, we discover the healing hope we long for.

And so, on this day I run for you.  Our president and his war mongrels are dropping bombs again as if his whole desire is to run and destroy the world.  How long, O Lord, how long will innocent people have to pay for ego desire?  I do not understand.  I simply do not understand.

What is your desire for our world, dear God?  What is your plan for the earth and all her sister planets?  Rarely do we ask what you want because we are selfish and greedy.  We want to create in our own image so we fail to ask you.  Please forgive us.  Please remake us.  Please make us with compassionate hearts, minds and spirits.

Holy God,

lead us home.

Lead us 

to you.

Guide us

along life's way

to save

and rescue,

love and forgive

and to listen

and follow.

Yours, Andrea

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Dear God,

When will we stop hurting one another?  When will we stop expecting everyone to be like us?  When will we stop believing we know all the answers to every life question?

It seems there are those who believe they can lord over the world, reign on the highest throne and proclaim rules that only impact those beneath him.  Where in the name of all things holy does faith, compassion, wisdom, cooperation and peace come in?  How can we possibly follow a tyrant, a madman and a monster?

How can we restore humanity, O God?  How can we begin to reconstruct benevolent societies?  How can we remove hatred from daily life?

We are desperate for you, O God, for you.  We long for something better, something that gives value and beauty to all.  We yearn for a better way of life for all people but how do we accomplish this, dear God?  It seems some days we just have more questions than answers.  But, above all, we know to whom we turn.

Holy God,

remake us,

reshape us,

and renew us

as a people

for your

own loving.

Make us worthy

of such love.

Remove all undesirables

from us,

we pray.

Love, Andrea

Monday, March 2, 2026

Dear God,

Many days I am tempted to lose hope.  I see what the president of the United States is doing to dismantle democracy, human rights and human decency. He is spreading fear across our nation and world.  In such times it is difficult to keep hope alive.  Yet I know in the deepest depths of my soul that hope is a God-given gift.  No one can destroy human hope for it lives in every cell of our DNA.  No one can unravel hope from within the human spirit!  We can give it up.  We can throw it away.  We can destroy it ourselves but no one else can get to it because it is protected deep down, really deep down.  

But in my vulnerable moments, O God, I feel like I am on shaky ground.  Then you remind me to look up, to look out and to look in to find the truth that hope is still alive.  This morning when I awakened and saw the wondrous beauty of nature in an unexpected snowfall, I realized once again that you are in nature. You are the author and creator of nature.  You speak through her to help give hope.  All we need do is look and find hope gazing back at us.  

Thank you,

Creator God,

for the gift

just outside

my window.

Help me remember

that hope

comes from you

and is available

every moment.

Help us all

drink in

the strengthening gifts

of nature

and overcome

the despair

that comes

when we

give up hope.

Thank you

for your love

that is greater

than any evil.

Yours, Andrea

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Dear God,

My heart is broken! My own country has lost its way!  Our president is a monster, an evil monster whose only desire is to feed his own ego and those of his followers.  He is willing to threaten, abuse and kill to get what he wants.  How did we get here?

Have we totally lost our moral compass?  Have we forgotten our commitment to love our neighbor?  Have we tossed away our sense of compassion and mercy?  How do we return to our values of moral good, kindness and caring for others?  Weren't we formed as a nation with these values?  We have made so many mistakes; how can we ever expect you to walk with us?

O God,

please draw close

to all

our president

and nation

has injured.

Please heal

wounded hearts

and minds.

Help us find

our way home

to you.

Yours, Andrea