Life
Temporary Emotions
I often struggle in trying to keep my emotions in check. I can be very quick to react based on how I’m feeling. Then I usually regret it and have to apologize. Tonight I read a beautiful reflection from “The Word Among Us”, based on today’s gospel. It said in part, “Emotions are temporary, but […]
Welcoming Party
Every time I visit my dad in his memory care community, I learn a little more about compassion. As my mom and I were leaving today, there were a group of four women together – two in wheelchairs and two sitting with walkers. I recognized three of them, but one I had not seen before. […]
Christmas Pageant
Tonight the activity coordinators at my dad’s facility planned a Christmas Pageant. Their intent was to have the residents wear their dressiest clothes and have them walk the red carpet. My parents attended many formals – especially when my dad was in the military, so we thought this would be a nice evening for them. […]
Philosophy
For my bible class, I have bee reading “Three Philosophies of Life”, by Peter Kreeft. It takes you through three books of the bible and what they say about the meaning of life. Ecclesiastes begins by daring to ask the question, “What is life all for anyways?” According to the author, it’s all futile. Nothing […]
Much Good News
There was a lot of positive excitement in the family today. My younger son registered for his first power lifting competition and had his weigh in today. He made the weight he intended and was pretty excited. My older son found out he got a job he was hoping for. It sounds like it is […]
Unrealized Plan
My dad’s facility was taking some of the residents to a Christmas play tonight. I wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea to take my dad or not. I wondered if doing so would just feed his confusion and make it worse. When my mom and I visited yesterday and talked about it, […]
RAWtools
I turned the news on briefly tonight to see if they were showing the local annual Parade of Lights. While it was on, they highlighted an organization called RAWtools. They take donated and surrendered guns and make garden tools out of them. As I listened, I thought of the scripture in Isaiah 2:4, ““They will […]
There Is No Other
This morning I prayed with Isaiah 45:15-25. The words, “I am the Lord, there is no other,” reminded me that it was the theme for a retreat I took the high school youth to many years ago as a youth minister. I was immediately taken back to the place, the summer heat, the music, the […]
Meaningful Generational Time
Every year our church gives people the opportunity to purchase gifts for children who need them. Each year I take tags off the “Giving Tree” that correspond to the ages of my grandchildren. This year, since my grandchildren are here, I invited them to come shopping with me. This afternoon my mom and I met […]
Wisdom of Caregivers
Today was the last day of the most recent caregiver class that I have been attending. This one focused on processing your emotions and came at the perfect time – of course. The last thing we talked about was what we would take away from the sessions. There was so much wisdom in the group. […]
Still Finding God 