Category: Lent Devotional

Written by Michelle Matthews, Pastor, Kingstowne Communion, Alexandria, VA We’re leaving all the windows open; We don’t even mind the rain, Or where we let the floors get wet, So what if the hardwood stains? 🎶 This past year, for me, has been one holy invitation after another to leave the windows of my life open…

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Written by Katie Phillips, Pastor, The Vine United Methodist Church, Dunn Loring, VA In the last few weeks my family gathered for celebrations and traditions, we enjoyed an incredible long-planned vacation, dealt with worry around needs of family/friends, wrestled with feelings and realities around the political landscape, enjoyed the snow and days off from school,…

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Written by Ashley Oliver-Thomas, Chaplain Resident, UVA Medical Center, Charlottesville, VA To feel safe is sacred. I invite you to consider: what, who, or where makes you feel safest? One place I feel safest is outside in nature. God’s Creation is so vast yet so intimate and personal. Being in the wilderness, literally, hiking up in…

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Written by Kyungsuk Cho, Pastor, Old Bridge United Methodist Church, Woodbridge, VA Ephesians 4:2-6, NIV 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one…

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Written by Elizabeth Snader, Campus Minister, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA “I am drowningThere is no sign of landYou are coming down with meHand in unlovable handAnd I hope you dieI hope we both die” The year is 2015 and Eric, my now husband, and I just started dating. He is a music guy…

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Written by Meredith Webb, Associate Pastor, Calvary United Methodist Church, Stuart’s Draft, VA “Jesus began to cry.” – John 11:35 (CEB)                   We took our seats in the small, dimly lit, theater with plenty of time before the show started and yet all the actors were on stage. They tidied props, shoveled sand, chatted with one…

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Written by Matt Benton, Lead Pastor, Messiah United Methodist Church, Springfield, VA Big Wheels rolling through fields Where sunlight streams Meet me in a land of hope and dreams A couple years ago I rented a movie from the library called Blinded by the Light.  It’s about Javed, the son of Pakistani immigrants to England in…

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Written by Hungsu Lim, Pastor, St. John’s United Methodist Church, Buena Vista, VA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFtmPRV-9QU (with translation) After the Korean War, Korea became one of the few countries to maintain a mandatory draft in the post-war era. The responsibility of defending the nation has largely fallen on young men’s shoulders. They are typically drafted between the ages…

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Written by Lauren Lobenhofer, Lead Pastor, Woodlake United Methodist Church, Chesterfield, VA On tough days, my family and I have Taylor Swift dance parties. We turn up the volume on a track like “Paper Rings” or “Look What You Made Me Do” and let loose with the sort of wild, flailing dance moves that you’d…

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Written by Bayo Ogungbade, Associate Pastor of Adult Discipleship, Reveille United Methodist Church, Richmond, VA “The world won’t get no better if we just let it be….  The world won’t get no better…. we gotta change it yeah, just you and me…” I’ve long wondered what the immediate internal dialogue of Jesus was like before…

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