A Prayer a Day: Good day, Lord. Thank you for this lovely day. Thank for the blessing of good health, that allows me to walk out onto this porch to spend some time with you. Thank you for ears to hear the birds singing.Thank you for eyes that see, at least, six kinds of birds, without moving from the porch.There are numerous sparrows darting in and out of the Purple Martin house. There is a lone red headed woodpecker pecking the walnut tree trunk. There is a male and female cardinal sitting on the ground. A single hummingbird just flew […]

A Prayer a Day: Good morning, Lord, my back porch is a perfect place to be quiet and talk to you. It’s a perfect place to see the beauty of your creation and to thank you for all of it. Thank you for the trees and bees,for grass, birds chirping, bunnies hopping, and flowers blooming. Looking at the trees more closely, I see some are full of open green leaves, but the two walnut trees in the backyard look bare. Closer examination of the walnut trees, reveal they have buds; the buds are just tight and unopened.These differences in growth […]

A Prayer a Day: Good afternoon, God.Today I am taking a break from watching the news. It seems the more I watch it, the more my thinking and feelings are clouded by fear, anxiety, confusion, and irritation. I am not helping anyone with this immersion in negativity. I don’t want to be an ostrich, with my head in the sand; I know it’s important to know what’s going on. But, it’s hard to know for sure, what’s going on, because television stations are on 24/7 with conflicting information.Each station shares their “truth,” and each “truth,” is diametrically opposed to the […]

A Prayer a Day: Hello, Lord. It’s a pretty day, perfect temperature, blue skies, puffy white clouds, light breeze, and sunny. Thank you for this pretty day. Today I was looking at Facebook, and I saw a post that read, “Your grandmother’s prayers are still protecting you.” It reminded me, that my mother, Hazel, told me more than once, that her Grandma Nelson came to live with her family, when my mom was a child. Mom told me her Grandma would get on her knees every night to pray. Mom said Grandma would pray for every living relative by name. […]

A Prayer a Day: Thank you for this day and for every day you give to us. Every new day is an opportunity to draw closer to you, Holy God, and to each other. Lord, you created us to be deeply connected to you, and to the people you give to travel through life with us. We thank you. There are a million details, that must be dealt with during one’s life, but nothing is as important as finding a connection with you, Lord. I will admit my surprise; early in my ministry, while meeting with people from inside the […]

A Prayer a Day: Good afternoon, Lord. Here we are going into our ninth week of lockdown in Ohio. Everything that has been going on reminds me of watching the Twilight Zone, on television, when I was a kid.The creator of the show was Rod Serling, a Yellow Springs, Antioch College graduate. He often began his show with a reference to the events of the show happening in a small town in Ohio. For those who are not familiar with the Twilight Zone, it was a science fiction thriller series. Well, Lord, these last two months have seemed like entering […]

A Prayer a Day: Good morning,Lord. Because it’s Mother’s Day, it’s natural to think about some of the people, who have mothered me. I think first of my own mother, Hazel. My mom was not a Hallmark card type of mother. Instead, of syrupy sweet, my mom was tough and pragmatic. She was realistic, hard-working, and fatalistic.The most precious and life- shaping gift, she gave me was unconditional love. I always knew she was on my side. I always thought, if I told her I killed someone, she would say, “You must have had good reason.” She was unfailingly non-judgmental. […]

A Prayer a Day: Good morning, Lord. Have you found the Downing household entertaining this morning? I made the coffee and when I went to get a couple of cups, I noticed there was only 1/2 a pot of coffee, even though, I was sure I put in a whole pot of water. So, I put in about 2 more cups of water and went off happily to drink my coffee. Dan went to get each of us a second cup of coffee, and came back to report, there was coffee all over the counter, cabinet, stove, and floor. So, […]

A Prayer a Day: Hello, Lord. Today is May 8, an important day in history. On this day, May 8, 1945, 75 years ago, WW11 ended. Today is the anniversary of VE Day; Victory in Europe. Lord, we know Jesus came into the world, not just to liberate one region of the world, but to liberate the whole world from the powers of sin and death. We thank you, Holy God, for sending your only begotten Son, Jesus, into the world. For 2000+ years, people from all over your world have found liberty in Christ. As you know, Lord, the […]

A Prayer a Day: Good morning, Lord. It’s a pretty day, blue sky, crisp March weather. Crisp March weather is not exactly, what we want for the end of the first week of May. But, it isn’t snowing, although, the weather reports say it may snow tomorrow. There is every sign of Spring, at least five of our small birdhouses have evidence of bird families coming and going. The crabapple tree next door is in full bloom, all the underbrush in the woods is thick and green, so you can’t see inside at all. This describing of my surroundings is […]