Tuesday, March 3, 2026

A Love Letter to God

It's a story about a young girl. Growing up during the Depression of the 1930's. A busy household of four other siblings, two older brothers and two older sisters. She was the youngest. Her story starts at a young age. Feeling somewhat lost in the mix of her much older siblings, her identity took years to define. Her parents came from Catholic backgrounds. Quite inactive in their own church goings. Her own friends, although, had kept busy in weekly church activities, but this young shy girl, again, was just not connecting. She began journaling her thoughts and prayers recommended from a favorite aunt. Her name was Gertrude, or Gertie for short.

Gertie was a strong woman of faith. She encouraged this young girl to pray her thoughts in her journaling. This was a new concept for her. Eventually, invitations to attend her church came into the picture. She found her belonging. She had connected. Some things were starting to make sense. God was making sense. As she grew, her church activities grew. Participating in the Youth group, church camps and eventually the choir. Her two sisters were also part of the choir. She now had a strong sense of belonging.

Still journaling in her 30's, she has now found herself married with three children. Again, as the youngest, all her older siblings had been married for years with many of their own children grown. She wasn't sure how to be the kind of woman she had been praying and journaling about for many years. She was insecure on so many levels. But...she continued to journal her thoughts and prayers asking for direction and reassurance. Many times there were cries to the Lord for continued guidance. Sometimes yes, she was reassured, other times again feeling forgotten. But, she never questioned God's plan for her. She knew, deep down, that her life did have meaning and purpose.

A highly educated woman, she was finding a purpose as an educator. Her children are now grown. A divorce has occurred after 34 years. Her cherished siblings are scattered all over from Michigan down to Florida. She stays as busy as she can. But, sometimes feeling overwhelmed. But, she continues to pray and journal. As an older adult, she loved being more active within her church. Any Bible study she could attend or Sunday school class she could teach, along with many other groups she had participated in. Her note-taking was impeccable, with many comments left in the margins of her study books and also of her own Bibles. Over the course of her last few years she still continued to journal a bit.

Her faith had become very strong...never once faltering. But now, her journaling has come to an end. And...all of her prayers have now been fulfilled by a life well-lived. After her death, her middle child, a daughter, came across many, many prayers and journaling thoughts. Reading these numerous pieces of paper scattered among her many Bibles, seeing all the underlined passages and comments in the margins, her daughter came to the conclusion that her mother truly was never alone. God always heard her pleas and cries and thankfulness for her many, many joys she celebrated. And she knew her mother never doubted God's presence. She was never alone.

Yes, this is titled, 'A Love Letter to God' but after writing this devotion I've changed the title to 'A Love Letter to Mom.'

One of many favorite passages of Mom’s was Philippians 4:6-8 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Dedicated with all the love and glory to God, our father.
Cathy Cupples

Monday, March 2, 2026

Travis

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

He had just turned 12 the previous week. Travis and I only walked about a half block when he stopped to look up at me – his eyes telling me that we had gone far enough. So we turned and headed back home, stopping frequently. But these stops were different. Travis wasn’t stopping to smell the scents of all the other dogs that had been this way recently. He was stopping to look up at me. He was letting me know this would be our last walk together. Letting me know that it was time.

One of Travis’s back legs was useless and he just dragged it along, while his other back leg was unsteady at best. He could barely walk anymore. The next morning Travis was happy, but he saw us looking really sad as we gathered him into our car to take him on a trip. Travis loved taking trips! On this day, he had the whole back section to himself.

Soon after we arrived, the veterinarian gave us some time with Travis alone in the exam room. Travis was so relaxed being there with us despite our tears and sobs. We gave him his favorite treat, some chocolate pudding, two Hershey kisses, and a lot of hugs. As Travis’s head slowly descended into my hands one last time, we knew his pain was now gone, replaced by searing sadness in our hearts. We will never hear the rhythmic patter of his paws in our hallways, the sloppy gulps of water and food in our kitchen, or the swishing of his expressive tail by our sides ever again. As a rescue dog, Travis overcame a lot, which made saying goodbye so difficult because of how good a dog he had become. We called him “The People’s Mayor” because everyone who met him ended up admiring him.

We were given some material that suggested our reunion with Travis in Heaven will be glorious some day. While there are differing opinions about whether or not dogs go to Heaven, I trust God and thank God for the joy, companionship, and love Travis gave to us here on Earth.

Love shouldn’t be complicated, but sometimes we make it appear so between each other. We can learn from our dogs. They love us and hope we will love them. No strings attached. All-in all the time. That’s called unconditional love. So show love and help others get through their bad days, be grateful for all your good days, and provide steady, unconditional love to the people around you. That is what Travis did for us every single day of his wonderful life.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for giving people the opportunity to share their lives with dogs and other animals. Through them, you give us insights about ourselves, and allow us to experience unconditional love and companionship. Please bless the people who care for their pets, the caregivers who work in animal shelters and veterinary clinics, and all the animals in our world. Amen

Kurt Fish

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Easter People, Raise Your Voices – UMH 304

Easter people raise your voices

Sounds of heaven in earth should ring

Christ has brought us Heaven's choices

Heavenly music let it ring

Alleluia alleluia

Easter people let us sing

Fear of death can no more stop us

From our pressing here below

For our Lord empowered us

To triumph over every foe

Alleluia alleluia

On to victory now we go

Every day to us is Easter

With its resurrection song

Even when life overwhelms us

Easter people sing this song:

Alleluia alleluia

Everlasting Sunday song.

William M. James

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Let us not grow weary.

"Haiti is facing multiple, overlapping humanitarian, political, economic and security crises, with dire consequences for the local population. 16,000 people have been killed since January 2022, 1.5 million have been displaced and more than half do not have enough food to eat.
“Powerful gangs now control vast swathes of territory and infrastructure in the country. Abetted by a steady flow of trafficked arms, they are inflicting horrific violence on civilians, including homicides, kidnapping, and sexual violence."
– United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in a posting January 21, 2026

Reading that, who would blame us if we decided that sending funds to Jeremie Rising – the non-profit supporting schools and medical missions in Haiti – was just not worth it?

Probably no one. The priest and the Levite who walked past the beaten and robbed man in the parable of the Good Samaritan must have made the same calculation – help? Not worth it. Yet the merciful Samaritan stepped up – even though he had no guarantee that his aid at the time would keep the victim from later harm as he continued along an apparently dangerous road.

That parable (Luke 10:36-37a) ends with Jesus asking "Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy.”

I made two mission trips to Haiti, where I saw the needs and felt the fellowship of Haitians I worked with side by side. So, all things considered, I choose to side with the Samaritan to continue to support a mission that seems fraught with danger – but somehow has managed to make real progress delivering essential needs to our neighbors in a poor, remote region of the world.

I am thankful for the support of others who feel the same way, and by this scripture:

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9

Bob Rossbach

Friday, February 27, 2026

Filters

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2

We have so many things in our lives that require filters and filter changes. My vacuum alone has three filters, the oil in my car, the air purifier has three filters, the shower head, the water pitcher... and on and on. I seem to be constantly ordering new filters to keep these everyday items running effectively and efficiently.

For the first four decades of my life, my mind was a filter. Anything that came my way good or bad, visual, auditory, thoughts from within my own mind... it all filtered through my mind. It’s no wonder I often felt overwhelmed and anxious.

One morning as I attempted to flip on the BBC to learn about the current state of the Ebola crisis (because my sister was on the front lines of this on the ground in Sierra Leone) I "accidentally"(?) pushed too many buttons and instead began hearing a sermon about peace and renewal of the mind. That morning marked a change. I realized my mind is holy ground. I do not have to allow anything and everything to pass through it. What’s more, I learned that I need to "clean my filter" or renew my mind regularly... frequently in fact.

As a busy working mother I have never had much time to devote to "relaxing" or "resting." I had to shift and realize that five minutes sitting in the car waiting for one of the kids to come out of the rink or dance class was a chance to exhale and meet with God and offer him thanks, to ponder his promises, to notice and appreciate things large and small that he had done for me and my family.

Now the children are grown, but I am still working both at my job and at home. I seem to never be able to sit still, but that's okay because I’ve discovered that I can renew my mind while walking or running with my dogs. Staring at the trees, the exquisite colors of the sky and other nature, looking into the eyes of children and others I work with, and seeing children of God... these are the ways, with God’s help that I renew my mind.

I also choose carefully what I expect my mind to filter through. There is so much over which I have no control, but there is also so much that I can control. I’ve learned that my eyes, ears, and mind do not need to filter through all the muck that this world and culture around us produces. I now realize I have to take time to clean my filter by reading God’s word, singing praise songs, and praying in gratitude.

I thank God for leading me to push too many buttons on the remote that morning years ago and leading me on a path to understanding what Romans 12:2 tells us.

Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank you for ordering our steps. Thank you for surrounding us with your creation. Guide us to daily renew our minds so we can hear your voice

Sandy Cameron

Thursday, February 26, 2026

The Two Pathways

Read: Matthew 14:15-17

In the world's practice, teacher and student appear to be separate, one who temporarily has more knowledge, skill, etc., giving to the other who temporarily has less. Normally this is done in a formal setting, at specific times and in specific places. In a larger life context, however, aren't teacher and learner actually the same? What we teach and demonstrate to others reinforces what we believe about ourselves. If we feel the love of God within us, we will teach this to others. If we find fear within, we will look out on a fearful world. As within, so without.

All through our lives we make choices. Some seem automatic and are like programmed responses. Others are very consciously considered. All are consequential. Making choices may seem like a complicated process; it is actually a simple one, but very fundamental.

There really are only two choices in life. We either walk the path of light, awakening to our true nature as the creations of God (and all that this implies), or we walk a fearful path, dark, and ruled by the ego, a false concept of ourselves that we made (an idol, if you will). Everything we think, say, and do teaches others and reveals the thought system we have chosen, the one we want to be true. Truth, however, is of God and is eternal, needing no defense. It simply is. All else will fail with the passing of time and become meaningless, having arisen out of meaninglessness.

Following the world's curriculum is an attempt to convince us that we are what we are not and can never be, a closed and hopeless learning situation. Our worth was established by God in our creation, and not subject to any of the world's evaluations, which constantly shift and have no basis in truth.

If we take an honest and completely open-minded look at the state of affairs in our world today, we readily observe the effects of following the dark path of the ego—the children of God suffer, and at the hands of their very brothers and sisters. No elaboration is necessary to illustrate this point. Such is an ill-conceived attempt to refute the oneness of God's creation and establish another, illusory order.

Empires and their emperors have risen and fallen, and will continue to do so as worldly glory and power are sought after. We see such insanity, in scales large and small, here and everywhere across the globe. It arises out of one's deep-seated feeling of lack, limitation and unworthiness, which is a denial of the fatherhood of God and an acceptance of a substitute reality. Or have we been mistaken and in need of correction?

Psalm 25:4 states: "Make me to know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths." And in his farewell discourse Jesus says: "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." Having been called down, the Holy Spirit is the inner voice that speaks to us of God and illumines our path with a light not of this world. Having been so enlightened, the teachers of God represent another choice, the call to return, to awaken and be glad.

Prayer: Dear God, this world is in such great need of the love and light that has its source in You. I would like to be part of the answer, perhaps become one of Your teachers. I realize that the need of my brother/sister is my own need, too. Your teachers come from all walks of life, my own included. Let your light shine through me, and make me an instrument of healing. Please bless me in my work. And thank you. Amen.

Doug Dykstra

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

An Ode to Stella
(Things Our Little Ones Teach Us)

Read: Mark 10:13-16, Philippians 2:3-7, Colossians 3:12-14

Being loved by Stella means never knowing where anything is – because she cleaned the house when you weren’t looking.
It means coming downstairs to a plate full of snacks, or a glass filled with Diet Pepsi.
It’s Honey’s toys picked up in the yard, and Cooper’s in his room.

It’s always having an errand buddy, or someone eager to share their favorite song with you.

It’s dancing in the rain, babysitting bunnies, baking cookies, and tackling DIY projects together.

Stella is independent in the way only a child can be – so capable on her own, yet always wanting to be close.
She wants to help, to be part of everything, to make the people she loves feel cared for.

Being loved by Stella is experiencing moments of kindness and gentleness woven into everyday life – for all of God’s people and creatures.

Through loving Stella, I’m reminded that love can be both strong and soft, independent and connected. And no matter what our days bring, we are called to lead with a serving heart

Emily Bianchi