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Involved in Care

Posted by eph21920 on October 16, 2026 in Children, Friends, Happiness, Joy, Life, Struggles

I spent some time with elderly friends today who have caregivers coming and going in their house now. They seem to have taken to it alright, and I think it’s incentive for them to be more functional. I still go to help them a couple days. Yesterday while I was there, the wife showed me the new lights they got for their bedroom. They are motion detectors and when one turns on, all 3 of them do. They were pretty cool little things. Their son got them as she fell a couple of nights ago on her way to the bathroom because she had a hard time seeing where she was going. He also put together medication lists for caregivers to follow and has been doing their grocery shopping for them. This weekend, he will be taking both his parents to a track meet that one of their granddaughters is running in. He came over while I was there today and they made plans for the day. The couple was so excited as it will be their first outing since the husband had knee surgery. The son is taking a very active part in their care and well-being and I feel everyone is reaping the benefits. It brought me joy to see how happy it made my friends.

I Found God today in a son who is actively involved in his parents’ care.

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Supportive Group

Posted by eph21920 on October 15, 2026 in Answer, Doctor, Faith, Friends, Grateful, Prayer, Sick

My friend spent the day in the hospital with her mother as they waited for her to have a pacemaker implanted. It was a long day with a long wait and my friend kept me and our friend’s group updated. There were a lot of prayers by everyone all during the day. Her mom had surgery this evening and did amazingly well. At the end of the day, my friend felt at peace. I was so grateful for the successful surgery, for all the prayers and support from the friend group, and that my friend felt at peace.

I Found God today in a successful surgery for my friend’s mom.

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Spiritual Encounters

Posted by eph21920 on October 14, 2026 in Angel, Answer, Connected, Doctor, Friends, Grateful, Jesus, Sick

Yesterday I heard from a friend who took her mom to the hospital. She had been feeling bad for a few weeks, but refused to get medical help. Finally she agreed. They found that her 91 year old heart was beating very erratically and the surgeons will be implanting a pacemaker tomorrow. When she is in tense situations, my friend always seems to have encounters with spiritual people, or perhaps angels unaware. She told me about 2 such incidents she had just yesterday. The first was her mother’s nurse in the ER. He was tattooed and his hair was perfect. As he was working on her, he said something like, “through Christ all things are possible”. She didn’t remember the exact words but did remember the way he looked at her in a powerful way that she couldn’t describe. It brought tears to her eyes as she felt he had a knowledge from another source. Then when she got her car at the valet, the man started talking about Jesus and how life is good and people are good. She said her meetings were very strange, but they gave her hope. Many people and I are praying for my friend and her mother.

I Found God today in my friend’s spiritual encounters.

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Draining the Sprinkler System

Posted by eph21920 on October 13, 2026 in Answer, Friends, Grateful, Weather

It has been a pretty warm Fall so far, but the weather is changing the next couple of days. When I was at my friend’s house today, the gentleman who had knee surgery was concerned about the water in the sprinkler system. He said it should be turned off and drained. He really wanted to go down the stairs and take care of it. I have never had to do anything like that, but assured him that he could walk me through it. I went down to their basement and took a photo of the pipes and levers so he could show me which one was the correct one and which way to turn it. Then we went outside. He used his walker and basically 4-wheeled over the rough terrain to get to the outdoor pipes. He stopped short of navigating through the bushes. I made my way in and he talked me through what to do. On the way back in the house, he wanted to try going up the couple stairs in the garage, still determined to go down into the basement. However, after giving his best effort, he decided the basement stairs would not be a good idea. That made me very happy. He told me exactly what to do to get the water to drain. I went downstairs, found the screw he was talking about, and soon the water started to flow. It took a while, and at one point I wondered if I had done something wrong. Eventually the flow slowed to a drip, then stopped. I reported that the pipe was drained and complimented him on being a good teacher. He was so grateful that it was taken care of. I was grateful to be able to help him and that he didn’t try to go down those stairs.

I Found God today helping a friend so he didn’t try to do more than he should.

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That is Enough

Posted by eph21920 on October 12, 2026 in Faith, Prayer, Saint

During the past couple of days, a prayer from St. Ignatius of Loyola keeps coming up. I have learned that when these kinds of things happen that I had better pay attention. The prayer goes like this:

Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.

St. Ignatius is also famous for his “Spiritual Exercises”. In the past year or so, I have seen these exercises being offered as part of a 30 day silent retreat. A silent retreat has always intrigued me. Perhaps that is what I should do when I next come across the opportunity. In the mean time, I have this written prayer as it was given to me by a priest. I will make a point to pray it more often.

I Found God today reminded of the prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

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God Took Care of It

Posted by eph21920 on October 11, 2026 in Faith, Friends, Grateful, Healing, Home, Life

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine told me that her teenaged grandson had moved in with her. It was very unexpected. She was happy he was there and that he felt comfortable and safe with her. It has been quite some time since she had a teenager living in her home and she was trying to figure out what all that meant. The same friend had hip surgery about 6 weeks ago. The first couple of weeks after the surgery, she stayed with her daughter. Then she went back home, even though she was still unable to go up and down the stairs to her bedroom. I took her to Mass today since she can’t drive yet. We enjoyed worshipping together and visiting. She said she wondered how she was going to make it to Mass today and happy that God took care of it. When I asked her about her home life, she said she was so grateful that her grandson was there. He was being so helpful and she truly wouldn’t be able to be recovering in her house if he wasn’t there. Again – God was taking care of her. I was inspired by her optimism and faith, as there have been several deaths in her family recently which has been very difficult for her.

I Found God today in a faithful friend.

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Prayer for the Deceased

Posted by eph21920 on October 10, 2026 in Faith, Friends, Grateful, Prayer

A friend and I went to the cemetery this morning. The group of men from Knights of Columbus gather there on the 2nd Saturday of the month to pray the rosary for all those buried there. We joined in. It was a beautiful day and so peaceful praying with everyone. Then my friend and I went to our parents grave sites. She had a prayer card that she has been saying when she visits. We placed flowers and prayed the prayer together at both sites. It was a beautiful and thoughtful prayer. I was grateful that my friend came and that we could spend the time together.

I Found God today in a beautiful prayer for the deceased.

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New Carpet

Posted by eph21920 on October 9, 2026 in Grateful, Happiness, Home, New

I was elated that today the carpet in my basement was replaced. As they were tearing it out, I could see how deep the dog accident stains had penetrated and how far they spread. It felt so clean and fresh to get the 26 year old carpet out and get a new one in.

I Found God today getting fresh new carpet.

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Good Diagnosis

Posted by eph21920 on October 8, 2026 in Answer, Doctor, Friends, Grateful

A neighbor stopped by this morning and we chatted a bit. She told me she had to take her husband to the ER yesterday. He was awaiting some tests this morning and she was heading over to the hospital. She asked for prayers, which I did. Later in the day I heard back from her. She reported that the tests showed a problem that was easy to treat and he would be going home this afternoon. I was so glad to hear that.

I Found God today in a friend’s good diagnosis.

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Making Disciples

Posted by eph21920 on October 7, 2026 in Faith, Life, Problem, Youth

Tonight I went to day 1 of a parish retreat. The topic was the need to pass along faith, from generation to generation and to those who do not have faith. Tonight was kind of an overview of what it means to be Catholic, why people may leave the faith, and what parishes may be able to do better. We talked with each other about why we are engaged on our faith. In general, the Catholic faith is community oriented, has a focus on service, and follows Jesus’ directive in celebrating Mass. I was surprised to hear that for those young people who are being raised Catholic, the median that they decide to no longer identify as Catholic is only 13 years old. The speaker then talked about different ways that parishes could be more engaging and welcoming to young people. His talk was very reminiscent of those I heard 13-20 years ago. That made me ponder and wonder – if parishes have been hearing this message for that long, why is it still an issue? One of the statements that stood out to me was, “God is bigger than all the words that we have to describe Him.” And “From the chaos, God created .” from the book of Genesis. Perhaps we can do what we can to go and make disciples, and at the same time allow God to do His work too. If I make it tomorrow night, it will be interesting to hear what the speaker has to say about different ways we, as faithful individuals, can help to bring others to Christ.

I Found God today listening to a talk about faith.

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