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The Serenity Prayer

Posted by eph21920 on May 25, 2026 in Eternity, Faith, Happiness, Life, Prayer, Struggles, Trust

Recently, a friend’s mother passed away and I have been praying with her prayer card. It has the serenity prayer on it. Many people know the first part by memory:

“God grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference.”

I am finding the rest of the prayer particularly meaningful as well:

“Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever and ever in the next.”

This life is wonderful, but it is also difficult. The prayer reminds me that there is more that God has promised to those who follow Him. I pray that I will do my best to follow Him each day and trust that I – and my prayers – are in His hand.

I Found God today in the Serenity Prayer.

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Excited and Sad

Posted by eph21920 on May 24, 2026 in Family, Life, Opportunity, Travel

My older son drove one of the family cars across the country to their new house that they will be moving in to. He will be flying back here tomorrow and we’ll all leave on Tuesday. His wife doesn’t drive his truck, so today I took her and the 2 kids to my other son’s house for his annual Memorial Day BBQ. I have visited with his group of friends many times and enjoy learning about the new experiences happening in their lives. It was difficult for my daughter in law to say goodbye to everyone and she wasn’t expecting the tears to come. The excitement of looking forward to their move mixed with the sadness of leaving people here was a little overwhelming. But she was alright after a little while. I thought about how my granddaughter went through the same thing just a couple of days ago. I think it was good for her to see her mom be sad and happy at the same time too. Hopefully she will realize those emotions are normal and it’s ok to feel and show them. I feel the same way, but I will have another week with them before I will be crying too. I am happy for them to be excited for this new opportunity, but I will miss having them so close. My parents were blessed that they came and I am so grateful.

I Found God today in the blessing of my family.

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I Made It

Posted by eph21920 on May 23, 2026 in Faith, Hope, Music, Struggles, Trust

Listening to music today, I heard the song, “I Made It” by CAIN. Here are some of the lyrics:

‘Been a long year
Cried some hard tears
On some dark nights;
Tried to pray through
Nothing seemed to
Make the wrongs right;
Oh, I can’t believe the pain I’ve seen
But looking back
Through every step
You never left
And I’m so thankful that;
I’m coming out the other side stronger
One foot in front of the other
Hands still raising
Heart still praising
I made it
I made it”

Every time I hear this song, I add my own time reference to the end such as – I made it to this morning, or I made it out of the grocery store. I guess I’ll never feel like I have completely “made it” until I make it to Heaven. I learned that when the group wrote the song, they were going through very difficult personal struggles. They had not actually made it through the situation. But they had faith that they would and that is what prompted the song. They were determined to praise God even in the hard times, knowing that God was with them then and would help them make it through. I was in awe of their faith.

I Found God today in hope filled faith.

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Best Friends

Posted by eph21920 on May 21, 2026 in Children, Connected, Family, Friends, Grateful, Relationship

Today was my granddaughter’s 5th grade graduation celebration. I was very happy that I was able to attend. When the family moved here, she was just starting 1st grade. One of my neighbor’s granddaughters was also starting 1st grade and they happened to be in the same class. We got the girls together to meet before school started and they hit it off. They have been best friends ever since. It has been such a blessing for them. Today after the celebration at the school, all the kids were finding their families in the gym. We wondered where my granddaughter was, then my daughter in law spotted her. She and her best friend had barely left their seats and were hugging and sobbing. We went over to them and tried to console them, as did the other family. My son and his wife assured them that they would be able to stay in touch and video chat. They both have such beautiful hearts and eventually started to calm down. Of course, all of us were crying by that time. We made it outside and the girls ate their celebratory cupcake as they said goodbye to other friends. A large group of the girls were going to a local fast-food place for lunch, so we went as well. Then they hung out at the mall, which I left to the girls and their mom’s. Instead, I went over to my son’s house to help get some more cleaning and such done. When they arrived home, I asked my granddaughter about the mall. She and her best friend bought a friendship necklace, where they each got half a charm of a planet. Seemed fitting as their school mascot was an astronaut. When I saw photos of them at the mall, they continually had their arms around each other. They certainly have a deep friendship. During the graduation ceremony, my granddaughter’s teacher wisely quoted Dr. Seuss, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Such great advice that I am going to try to remember myself.

I Found God today in the deep friendship between my granddaughter and her best friend.

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Safe Photos

Posted by eph21920 on May 20, 2026 in Family, Happiness, Past

I was at my son’s house today as they continue to pack and get ready to move. My grandson came from his room with a stack of pictures that he was looking for a safe place to pack them. A couple of them were photos that my dad took. I didn’t even remember that he had them. It made me happy that he had picked them out of the hundreds that we have and that they meant enough to him to make sure they were kept safe in the move.

I Found God today in my grandson’s consideration.

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Daughters

Posted by eph21920 on May 19, 2026 in Family, Grateful, Life, Prayer, Relationship

As the time for my son and his family’s move gets closer, we are spending good time together. This morning both of my daughters in law came over to my house. I have taken to just call them my daughters. We blessed ourselves with Lourdes holy water and prayed for safe travels, a good move, and growth and health for the baby in the womb. Then I asked for their help. I have been wearing my mom’s diamond earrings for over 2 years now. It has been on my mind that I should take them out and have them cleaned and inspected. And I was having worries about the diamonds coming loose and losing them on my trip. I have tried to get them out on my own with no luck. I asked the ladies if they would be able to help. They went right at it, each taking an ear. It was difficult for them too, but they were able to get them out. I was so relieved, as I know if I have something so strongly on my heart, that I should do it. Then we went to breakfast. We talked all about new adventures and old ones, and about children and family life. Our age differences are kind of funny, as I am a generation older than my one daughter in law who is almost a generation older than the other. But there was still plenty of common ground. I feel truly blessed to have these 2 ladies in my life, and even more so that they are in the lives of my sons.

I Found God today in the blessing of my daughters in law.

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Talk or Listen

Posted by eph21920 on May 18, 2026 in Answer, Connected, Faith, Life, Miracle, Prayer

Today I met with my group from church and we read the scripture from the Acts of the Apostles chapter 2 – Pentecost. We talked about what it must have been like for the Apostles to have so much courage to go out and talk about the “mighty Acts of God” after being so afraid that they locked themselves up. One of the ladies wondered if they actually were speaking in different languages, or if the people were hearing in their own language. Then she noted that even in our own little group, someone will say something that touches someone’s heart, while it doesn’t affect another person in that way. We decided that both the speaker and the hearer must be open to the Holy Spirit. The person talking decides what to say and must be open to the promptings in their heart. If the person listening is open to hear what God wants for them, they will be able to hear it through the voice of another. It seemed to be a lot to ponder, but well worth giving thought to.

I Found God today in His promptings of the Holy Spirit.

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Karaoke

Posted by eph21920 on May 17, 2026 in Family, Fun, Music

My granddaughter has been taking voice lessons for several years now. She has perfect pitch, an amazing vocal range, and a beautiful voice. When it comes time for the recitals though, she is too nervous to sing in front of others. The school’s Spring Recital is coming up soon, but again my granddaughter had stage fright. Her teacher, who is a young woman, suggested going to Karaoke at a local boba tea place that she knew. They could sing together and it wouldn’t be as formal. My granddaughter agreed and the whole family went to the venue this afternoon. My granddaughter started by singing a duet with her teacher. Then, she sang by herself. I was very impressed at how quickly she became comfortable with the whole thing. Perhaps part of it was the fact that when she was singing, she wasn’t facing the people, but the wall with the lyrics. My sons sang, my daughter-in-law sang, the teacher sang with her fiancée, and even my grandson sang. People came and went from the seating area, and one young woman even joined in the fun. Unfortunately, my singing voice doesn’t cooperate anymore, but I did sing from the sidelines. We all had such a great time. It was wonderful to see my granddaughter being courageous and coming out of her shell.

I Found God today in my courageous granddaughter.

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Happier

Posted by eph21920 on May 16, 2026 in Family, Happiness

I talked to my sister for a while today as she was traveling. She had been visiting her son and a good friend of hers for a week. Even though it was tiring, she sounded so happy and energetic. It seems like it has been a while since I heard her feeling so happy. Talking with her made me happy too.

I Found God today in my sister’s happiness.

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Garden Beauty

Posted by eph21920 on May 15, 2026 in Creation, Friends, Happiness, Joy

I have been spending a little time working in the garden each day. I figure if I do a little work every day, I won’t get too worn out and it will get cleaned up eventually. Because it was such a warm winter, many of the plants came up early and the bushes greened up. Then we had a couple days of freezing weather and much of the new growth died off. I have been cleaning away all the dead branches and pruning the bushes back to where there is new growth. Luckily, one of the gardener ladies in the neighborhood has been guiding me, as I don’t really feel like I know what I’m doing. My neighbor and I went for a walk this evening. On the way back we walked through our complex and looked at all the gardens. My neighbor likes plants that are self sufficient and easy to maintain, like me. We loved seeing all the flowers and beautiful areas that other people had put together. As we looked at all the different spaces, we got some ideas of how we could decoratively edge our gardens. We share a sidewalk, so if we used the same materials to edge our areas it would look really nice. I enjoyed the beauty of Spring, working in my little piece of land, and planning how I can make it look nice.

I Found God today enjoying the beauty of gardens.

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