Joy

Processions

I felt blessed that my parents and I were able to go to Mass this afternoon. It was a good thing to do especially on the first Friday of the month during Lent. The priest talked about how when God is part of our lives, we have such joy that we want to share that […]

Family Joy

I was so happy today to video chat with my son, his wife, and their kids. I am used to my brothers calling and seeing one face on a phone or ipad, so the 5 of them really filled up the screen. We recapped the football game and my dad put on a bit of […]

Being Creative

This afternoon my sister and her son came over to help get ready for the big party. My other sister is turning 50, so tomorrow we are celebrating her birthday in the early afternoon, then having a Super Bowl 50 party later in the evening. My sister, nephew, mom, dad, and I all were busy […]

Sharing Joy

My dad has been a photographer since he was a teenager. He worked for school newspapers and yearbooks, and has been involved in several camera clubs and organizations through the years. He has thousands of photos, negatives, and slides; some that date back 80 years or more. He printed his own pictures with darkroom equipment […]

Unexpected Encouragement

Today I received an encouraging note from a beautiful soul that I haven’t seen in over a year. We would see each other in church meetings and such and talk about how best to reach out to other people. She was always a kind face that reflected her loving heart. It meant so much to me […]

Laughing Day

One of my daily prayers is to be joyful. There are so many things daily to be concerned, frustrated, angry, sad, or worried about. As I have said in the past, I don’t want to live that way and I don’t want to live in fear of what the future will bring. So, I pray […]

A Joyful Stranger

I had a package to mail today so I went to the local UPS store. Luckily, when I arrived, there was no one else there. As I was completing my business, another customer came in and was helped by another clerk at the other end of the counter. When I finished and turned around, there […]

Christmas Joy

Merry Christmas! I spent the day as most people – exchanging messages of Christmas cheer on social media, sharing pictures with those far away, opening gifts and surprising people with theirs, and eating too much yummy food. I talked to my travelling brother. I read lots of wonderful Christmas messages and stories of many people helping […]

Cause to Celebrate

Today I took my parents to their appointment with the heart doctor. First the nurse showed us in, and took their vitals. Then the technician came in and went through all the informational questions to enter into the computer. Before he left, we exchanged “Merry Christmas” and he told us that he was very grateful […]

An Emotional Day

Usually after one of our way too many hospital experiences, I run on adrenaline for a couple days, then exhale. Today was that day. I seemed to be teary eyed and weepy at many times during the day. This morning during my prayer time, I read a paragraph from the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska […]