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Long Distance DWTS

Posted by eph21920 on November 18, 2025 in Connected, Family, Grateful, Joy, Music, Relationship

I have been watching Dancing With the Stars fairly regularly. Last year when I was helping my daughter in law after surgery, we would watch it together with my grandson too. He moved out of state last month. My daughter in law has been missing the things that they would do together. Tonight as I started watching Dancing With the Stars, I texted my daughter in law. She was on a video call with her son and they were watching together. Then they invited me to join them. I was so happy to jump on the conversation. We watched dances together and commented and during commercials, I heard all about my grandson’s new job. He talked about how much he loves working for a race team and how much he is learning. It was great to connect this way, to see him and hear how he’s doing. I was so grateful I was invited on the call.

I Found God today seeing and talking with my grandson.

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The Drones

Posted by eph21920 on November 17, 2025 in Family, Fun, Generosity, Grateful, Music, New, Tradition

A couple of weeks ago, my sons asked if I was free last night. I said I was. They said that they would pick me up and planned something for my birthday. I had no idea what it was. My siblings and I tried to guess in our weekly Zoom session before they arrived. I thought maybe it was dinner, but they said it didn’t involve food. It wasn’t anything physical as my son hurt his back but was still participating. I asked my daughter in law what I should wear and she said whatever I wanted, it didn’t really matter. So, I just put on some jeans, sweater, and sneakers. When my sons picked me up, they wondered if I knew what we were doing. I still had no idea. We got on the highway and were headed downtown. They kept dropping hints until I guessed correctly. We were going to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert. I was excited and surprised. They usually perform one of their Christmas stories, some additional music, and have some kind of new feature. The second half of the concert introduced a drone show that was choreographed to a couple pieces of music. I was glad we were sitting up high in the stadium, as we had a really good overview of the whole set-up. The drones were mesmerizing. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them as they changed colors and moved to form different shapes. The show included plenty of fire, colored flames, and fireworks too. We still love the music, the positive atmosphere, and they always seem to step it up a notch each year, which is why we enjoy going so often. I was grateful for the thoughtfulness of my sons and had such a great time with them.

I Found God today in my thoughtful sons and a fun night out.

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New Priest

Posted by eph21920 on November 16, 2025 in Faith, Humility, New, Priest

We recently got a new pastor at our parish. I had seen him before in other churches and appreciated his down to earth attitude, which comes through in his homilies. He gave the parishioners an opportunity to sign up to share a meal with him. My prayer group and I signed up and met him and some other people for breakfast at IHOP this morning after the early Mass. He was even more “normal” in person. Even though he wore his collar, the conversation was comfortable. The personal stories he told were that of a regular family with regular struggles. Just the fact that he told these stories to people he had not met before was a reflection of his humility and desire to be approachable. The whole group seemed to enjoy the company of not only the new pastor, but one another as well. I know I did.

I Found God today meeting a humble, faithful priest.

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Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe

Posted by eph21920 on November 15, 2025 in Children, Connected, Faith, Fun, Generosity, Homeless, Youth

A friend of mine knew a family whose child was in an acting troupe, so today we went to their production of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”. It was fantastic fun. I love the movie and wondered how they were going to fit all of that on a stage, but they did a great job. They did a lot of explaining in the dialogue when a certain scene wasn’t acted out to fill in any details. The characters even spoke in a British accent and very much resembled the actors in the movie. Beautiful dancing helped to describe each scene without using words. And at the end of the last war scene, all the actors went into slow motion. There was fighting all over the stage, but with the spotlight fixed on the main characters you could see clearly where the focus was. Since we went to the matinee, there were many children in attendance who clapped with excitement when the heroes overcame the enemies. And they loved it when Asland returned and roared loudly. The Christian connections were prevalent, with some more than others. Asland repeatedly told his followers, “Peace be with you,” and after he was sacrificed in place of Edmund, he came back to life through an open cave with a light streaming from it. It was hard to believe that the majority of the actors were children and teens as it was an outstanding production. One of the representatives spoke at the intermission about their non-profit organization. She shared that they had done the play for families of children who are being treated for life threatening diseases such as cancer. They also connected with a school whose students are homeless and were able to bring them in for a show. While we had a great afternoon and enjoyed the play, it was great to know that some of our ticket fee was being used to support those who are most in need.

I Found God today in a fun play with a giving heart.

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Not As Bad

Posted by eph21920 on November 14, 2025 in Family, Grateful, Healing, Hurt

My son hurt his back again a couple days ago and is very upset as he has to be out of work for a while, which is understandable. I was out and about today and stopped by their house to check in. My son was moving around pretty well, which surprised me as last I talked to him he was in a lot of pain. He said he was physically feeling better than when he first tweaked his back, though he was still frustrated. We had a good visit and I encouraged him to try to be patient and just take the time to rest and heal so he can get back to work as soon as possible. I was grateful to see that he wasn’t in a tremendous amount of pain and am praying that this episode will pass smoothly and quickly.

I Found God today seeing that my son was feeling better.

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Blessed Birthday

Posted by eph21920 on November 13, 2025 in Birthday, Connected, Faith, Life, Saint, Service

I woke up this morning thanking my parents and God for bringing me into existence on my birthday. I thought it would be good to begin my next year with a clean slate. So, I left the house early and went to Confession. I felt relieved and peaceful after hearing the prayers of forgiveness. Sometimes I am reminded of hurtful things I have done decades ago. Those memories can stay with me. I am grateful that I can bring those things to God, receive absolution, and dismiss them. After Confession, I stayed for Mass and saw 2 friends there, an extra gift. Today is also the Feast day of Mother Cabrini, whose shrine I visited on Saturday. I listened to the priest talk about her and thought about how she dedicated her life to serving the immigrants of this country. She opened orphanages, hospitals and free schools for the children. Mother Cabrini was actually from Italy and sent to the United States to care for the Italian residents. She crossed the ocean over 60 times as she laid the foundation of her mission. An immigrant herself, Mother Cabrini became an American Citizen. Her order still cares for the poor, neglected, and immigrants of all nationalities in several countries. Her biography states that she was not simply a “humanitarian”, but a lover of God who dedicated her life to His will. I am honored that my birthday is on her Feast day. I am in awe of her faith and feel I have much to learn from her.

I Found God today feeling blessed on my birthday.

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Zoom Rosary

Posted by eph21920 on November 12, 2025 in Connected, Doctor, Faith, Hurt, Prayer

I was at the Newman Center today visiting with my priest friend when he received a phone call. He excused himself and when he returned, he looked concerned. He asked for prayers for a family member who had been in an accident and had to be airlifted to the hospital. After telling the story to me and the others there, he went into the chapel to pray. It wasn’t long before he came back out. His family wanted to pray the rosary together, so he left to get on Zoom with them. I thought that was a beautiful way to get everyone together. Later tonight I touched base with him. He reported that the doctor said the injured man was very lucky and, while he had some broken bones, he was expected to recover. That was great news.

I Found God today in a positive diagnosis for an injured man.

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Playing with Poodle Pups

Posted by eph21920 on November 11, 2025 in Creation, Dog, Friends, Fun, Grateful, Happiness, Joy

A friend of mine breeds poodles. The last litter there were only 2 puppies, but I had fun playing with them. She has a new litter now with 9 puppies. They are 7 weeks old. I got to go for a visit today. Raising 9 puppies took up the whole main floor of her house. When I arrived they were in their resting pen. She opened the gate and they all came running out. She called them, “puppies, puppies!” and they followed her down the hall to the enclosed “Puppy Kindergarten”. Both of us went in with them. The area was full of puppy play toys, a tunnel, a slide, a rocker, and other sensory devices. My friend and I had some treats, so when a puppy came up on the platform in front of us and sat down nicely, they would get a reward. It was pure mayhem for about an hour as the puppies ran around, played with each other, fought with each other, claimed the tunnel for their own, played tug of war, and much more. I just laughed and laughed. After a while, they started to wear out. One by one they found a spot to plop down and close their eyes. Five of them made a puppy pile all together. One of them fell asleep in my lap while I petted his soft fluffy fur. I was so glad my friend allowed me to come over. There’s nothing like an afternoon of puppy therapy.

I Found God today playing with puppies.

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Family Connections

Posted by eph21920 on November 10, 2025 in Connected, Family, Grateful, Life, Relationship

Yesterday I visited a friend and showed her the photos from my recent trip. Today I had lunch with a different friend and told her about the trip and shared the pictures with her as well. Last week when I visited another friend, part of our conversation was the same as I had the last couple of days. It was about the connection of family. We all have different family structures – married for years, divorced, single, grew up with siblings, or in an adoptive family, knowing extended family or not. In all situations the common experience was that family ties and relationships are like none other. Even in circumstances that are not the best, there is a special bond with those we are related to. This is not to say that those relationships are always great, but my 3 very different friends and I all expressed that even when we have met a new family member for the first time, we feel that connection. It is as if we had known them our whole lives. And if we haven’t visited with someone for a long time, when we are reunited, we just pick up where we were. It is an interesting dynamic and a gift that I am grateful for.

I Found God today being reminded of the beauty and importance of family bonds.

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Beauty of Churches

Posted by eph21920 on November 9, 2025 in Answer, Eucharist, Faith, Humility, Saint, Tradition

Today when I went to Mass, I just chose a place to sit randomly. Typically, people seem to sit in the same place every week. We like consistency. But today I only thought about sitting in a place where the sun wouldn’t be shining in my face. After a little while I looked around and noticed the large stained-glass window of St. Mother Cabrini right next to me. I smiled. Today the Catholic Church celebrated the first papal church that was constructed in Rome after Constantine ended the persecution of Christians. It is the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The Lateran family owned the land at one time which was confiscated, then passed along to Constantine. He named the church after the family. When the priest was talking about these things in his homily, he brought up a good question, which I have heard too, and which seems to be very relevant as I am seeing so many beautiful churches. The question is, “Why are Catholic churches so elaborate?” The priest acknowledged the struggle that many people have and his answer made so much sense. We know God is everywhere and people can pray to Him wherever they are. Yet, people of God construct buildings and dedicate them totally to and for God’s glory. Everything in the structure is developed to bring us closer to God. Many of the elements are from tradition that have been handed down from centuries. For example, the stained-glass windows harken back to a time when people couldn’t read. The pictures told the story of Jesus Christ. They are still great learning tools for kids. Also, the statues are not meant to be a distraction to take away from praising God, but we learn from and about them. Since we believe that there is life after death, we ask those who have gone before us to pray for us. The bottom line is that a church is a place set aside to come together to worship God. And God is present in the church in a unique way in the Eucharist. We realize our limitations just as Solomon did when he was given the task to build the temple – we cannot contain God. But, we can give the very best we have to create a space for Him. When I witness the beauty and awe-inspiring churches, it humbles me as I remember how small I am and how great God is.

I Found God today understanding more about the beauty of churches.

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