Leave a comment

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.

Permalink
Leave a comment

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.

Permalink
Leave a comment

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.

Permalink
Leave a comment

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.

Permalink
Leave a comment

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.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Talking Stocks

Posted by eph21920 on May 14, 2026 in Answer, Connected, Family, Friends, Generosity, Knowledge

When I help the older couple that I know, we get to chatting about all kinds of things. The husband told me about some of the stocks that he has bought and sold. I told him about my brother who had been able to make a living in his retirement by working the stock market. I went between the two of them with questions and information until my brother thought it would be nice to talk with him in person. The man agreed. My brother came over to their house with me today. As we were chatting in the office, I showed my brother the world map that had pins in all the places the couple had visited. They started talking about traveling and eventually the stock market as I spent time helping the woman. When my brother left, both of the men said they enjoyed the company and conversation. I was glad they met and grateful that my brother had the desire to spend time with the elderly gentleman.

I Found God today in my considerate brother.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Pork Chops

Posted by eph21920 on May 13, 2026 in Family, Food, Generosity, Grateful

My brother has been working hard at the cabin to get it ready to sell. It was finally ready for the photos yesterday. Today he came to the city to pick up his camper that was having some annual maintenance done. After he got the camper to it’s summer storage unit, he came to my house. When he was in Arizona, he kept bragging about a particular butcher that he had found. Evidently the pork chops were amazing. He brought some with him and cooked them for our dinner tonight. It has been years since I cooked pork chops. It is not my favorite thing as they are always dry and tough. I was in awe when I tasted those that my brother made. They were so thick and tender and juicy and delicious. I felt like I had been treated to a fancy dinner. I was grateful for my brother and that he shared his favorite food with me.

I Found God today in my generous brother who is a great cook.

Permalink
Leave a comment

At Peace

Posted by eph21920 on May 12, 2026 in Death, Faith, Friends, Peace, Struggles

Today I went to a friend’s mom’s funeral. I met her several years ago after both our dad’s died. We were both attending the grief support group at the church. Her mom was going as well. During the session, the mom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, which she vehemently denied in her strong New York accent. Eventually she accepted the fact and they attended the Parkinson’s support group with me and my mom. I visited her a couple of times during the past few months and saw her decline. Her tremor at that time was so bad and uncontrollable, almost painful to watch. When I saw her at the church lying in her coffin, what struck me immediately was how peaceful her body was. No tremor, no oxygen, no suffering. Her faithful and stoic battle was over. She was freed. She won the race.

I Found God today seeing peace.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Don’t Panic

Posted by eph21920 on May 11, 2026 in Answer, Creation, Faith, Life, Trust

When I arrived to help at my friend’s house today, the wife was in her room watching TV. She likes to watch YouTube. I went in and sat with her. She was watching a video about how Yellowstone will be exploding sometime in the near future. Unfortunately, she does get caught in the click bait snippets and shocking headlines. The other day she told me that North Carolina is falling into the ocean. After the Yellowstone video, I told her about my brother working there for the summer and how much he loved it. He also acknowledged that it is an active geothermal site and that anything really could blow at any time. I said that also, California has been “going to fall into the ocean” for decades now, probably longer. And the San Andreas fault could swallow us all up – that was another video that was about to come up. I told that we know at some point or another God is going to take us all of the face of the Earth, and that it’s a good thing we have faith. We can go about our day trusting that God has got His universe under control and we don’t have to worry, or panic, or be afraid. We laughed and I could see her relaxing. Then we prayed the rosary.

I Found God today trusting that He has His universe under control.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Grateful For Family

Posted by eph21920 on May 10, 2026 in Children, Family, Grateful, Relationship

This morning at Mass before the usual Mother’s Day blessing, the priest announced that a very special woman was about to celebrate her 98th birthday. Her son led her out of the pew by the arm and together they walked up the stairs to the altar. When they reached the priest, the woman gave him a big hug and patted his shoulder. She hugged the deacon too. She face the congregation and we all prayed for her. Then she hugged the priest and deacon again before returning to her seat. She was so sweet. And I was impressed as to how well she moved. Then all the mothers received their blessing. Just when I got home, my son and family stopped by unexpectedly. We visited for a while and they went to take my daughter in law out shopping and to pick up dinner. It’s a difficult time of year for her as it is when her mother died, but she seemed to be doing ok. I was missing my mom too, so I wore her silky “piano pants” that I had been hanging on to. They are white with large black notes and musical symbols all over them. I also wore her musical note charm necklace. It made me happy. In the afternoon I went over to my other son’s house and congratulated his wife on her first Mother’s Day. Even though the baby hasn’t been born yet, my daughter in law is doing all she can to be a good mother to her. They are so excited. We each made a pizza and watched a movie. We both bought each other the same bouquet of flowers, which was pretty funny. In all, it was a really nice day. In church I was reminded of how blessed I am to have my sons and the relationships I have with them and their families. Very grateful indeed.

I Found God today grateful for my family.

Permalink