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Family Adventure

Posted by eph21920 on October 21, 2023 in Birthday, Children, Family, Fun, Grateful, Joy, Life

I reserved an overnight stay at a family hotel that had an indoor adventure and water park. My sons and family were planning on staying overnight last night and celebrating their birthdays. However, one of my sons wasn’t well. So, I cancelled the overnight stay, but took my other son, daughter in law, and two grandchildren to the place just for the afternoon. We had so much fun playing mini golf, bowling, rock climbing, and I even did the ropes course. I had never done that before and thought I would give it a try. Once I was harnessed in and at the top, I remembered how old I was. But I thought of a recent show I saw called “Limitless” with Chris Hemsworth. At first I thought the show was going to be about the Thor actor showing off how Thor-like he really is. But it was almost the opposite. In the first episode that I watched, he admitted that he had always struggled with stress and wanted to learn how to deal with it better. He worked with a psychologist who gave him challenges ending with walking on a crane extended from a skyscraper. The idea was that you can put your body through extremely stressful situations and teach it how to handle it. Then every day life stress won’t affect you as much. Anyways, that’s what I thought about as I made my way from one obstacle to another high above the ground. I focused on how to complete one challenge at a time. I was pretty proud of myself for doing it. Then after all that we spent a couple hours in the water park. We were all exhausted by the end of the evening. This morning my other son was feeling better, so we all went to brunch and to race gocarts. Then we came back to the house to share birthday cake with my sister and mom. It didn’t all go exactly as I planned, but we all had a great time and celebrated another year with my sons.

I Found God today having a couple of days of fun with my family.

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Little Energy

Posted by eph21920 on October 19, 2023 in Baby, Children, Family, Friends, Grateful, Happiness, Joy, Life

After my mom’s big day yesterday, she woke up this morning with very little energy. Our family friend came over and surprised us with a visit from her husband who brought their 1 year old granddaughter. She was just about the most adorable little toddler I have ever seen with her two little pigtails on the top of her head. When she was younger, I thought she looked like the Gerber baby. She walked all around exploring things and waving and clapping and laughing. It was such a joy to have her spend some of her little energy with us. And a little of it may have rubbed off on my mom.

I Found God today in little energy.

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Carpet Cleaning

Posted by eph21920 on October 18, 2023 in Connected, Family, Friends, Home, Past

We usually have our carpets cleaned once a year after the summer. This year I decided to go with a company owned by a friend. The wife was just a kid in the neighborhood we lived in many years ago. It was a wonderful community and we were all like family. Her son came over to do the carpet cleaning. I explained to my mom who he was and it was a bit much for her to think that the little girl she met way back had a young adult son. The young man was very professional, careful, and polite. My mom for her part did pretty well for a day that was completely off of the norm. She was confused about things but went along with whatever we suggested. It is a blessing that she remains pretty easy going.

I Found God today in a different, but non stressful day.

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Defense Against Anxiety

Posted by eph21920 on October 17, 2023 in Answer, Faith, Family, Life, Prayer, Struggles

My mom read her reflection from “Jesus Calling” this evening. The first sentence gave us both cause to pause. It is written as if Jesus is talking directly to you. “Anxiety is a result of envisioning the future without Me. So the best defense against worry is staying in communication with Me.” Enough said.

I Found God today in a remedy against anxiety.

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The Roofers

Posted by eph21920 on October 16, 2023 in Family, Happiness, Home, Life

Several months ago, our neighborhood got hit with large hail which did plenty of damage to the houses. Since then, we have seen and heard roofs being replaced just about every day. Today we had a great view of a house undergoing it’s restoration. My mom loves watching what is going on and we usually watch outside sitting on the porch. However, today mom was having a rough time getting around. So, I set her up in the wheelchair with a wonderful view out the front door. She sat for much of the afternoon and watched and commented on their progress. I was reminded of her story of her grandfather. He lived with her family when she was a child. He only spoke and understood German. My mom said he would sit for hours and look out the window watching the activity of the busy street. Mom very much enjoyed her afternoon being entertained by the roofers and I think it was calming for her in some way.

I Found God today watching my mom enjoying watching.

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Preparing to Rest

Posted by eph21920 on October 15, 2023 in Answer, Connected, Creation, Faith, Family, Life, Rest

My sister helped my mom to water her orchids and noticed a bare stem still on one of the plants. It had finished blooming a while ago and the flowers had all come off. She told my mom that she was going to cut it off and prepare the plant to rest. When it is blooming, of course all the plant’s energy goes to the flowers. Once the flowers have dropped off, there is still some energy going to the stem. When it is cut off, it gives the plant a chance to rest. It’s energy can go to it’s roots and leaves until it is ready to bloom again. I thought about how that is true in our lives as well. Sometimes we have to let go of the things that are no longer serving us or others. We need to rest and reassess where our energy should be spent. I think it is the same way in our faith life. God will prune the dead branches that are no longer being productive. We may then be offered a new task or situation in which to trust and praise God. It is not easy as we tend to avoid change. We don’t like to go through things that are uncomfortable. But, if we can look forward to the beautiful bloom on the other side, it will all be worth it. After I thought about all this, I was able to take my mom to church today. She said it was much harder than when she last went several weeks ago. Then after lunch, she needed a rest and so did I. I actually slept longer than anticipated. It felt pretty good.

I Found God today pondering rest and actually getting some rest.

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Prepared to Look Up

Posted by eph21920 on October 14, 2023 in Answer, Creation, Faith, Grateful, Life, Opportunity, Weather

We were excited that today was the annular solar eclipse that we have been preparing for. My brother ordered us some of those special glasses so we could watch the display unfold. My sister did some coloring last night with my mom and we realized that it was a good representation of an eclipse. That was a pretty funny coincidence. When it came time, we were able to get my mom set up in the perfect spot in front of the door. She watched almost the whole cycle from beginning to end as she said she had never seen the whole transition before. She did, however, remember that the first time she saw an eclipse was when she was a sophomore in high school and they viewed it through a pinhole projector. As we watched, my sister spotted a sundog – a rainbow around the sun – and was able to get a really good photo of it. We also saw some of the sunrays through the bushes onto the sidewalk that were in crescent shapes. The family was texting back and forth during the very cool event and my brother shared some great pictures he got through his telescope. My dad taught us well. After a while, a couple of our neighbors came outside. One had his glasses and was excited to share the moment. The other was oblivious as to what was happening until we told him and shared the glasses with him. Then he was impressed and grateful. As the time went by, I thought about “looking up” and the homily I heard last week. Sooner or later, each one of us is going to have to stand before God. Will we be able to look up? Will we be prepared for the great event? God sends us so many signs and wonders in this world – are we paying attention or just ignoring Him? Are we helping other people to realize the awe and wonder that God is? It seems that the world is in a bad way and we need now more than ever to stop what we’re doing and take some time to ponder and experience the grandeur that is being offered to us.

I Found God today in the solar eclipse that resulted in many thoughts to ponder.

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Angel Feather

Posted by eph21920 on October 13, 2023 in Angel, Connected, Death, Faith, Family, Grief

My daughter in law has been understandably struggling with the loss of her mother. She shared a very sweet and moving story the other day about a heavenly sign just for her. Here it is in her words.

Today I didn’t really go anywhere. My car only went to drop off and pick up the kids from school. Other than that, my car was parked in the garage and my purse was in the house or with me in the car with windows up. While waiting for one of the kids to get out of school, I went to move my purse so he could sit and found this beautiful feather laying on top of my wallet inside my purse, all given to me by Mom.
After the last couple really stressful days and a breakdown today, my Momma decided to share one of her angel feathers with me. I’m loving all the signs Momma! You’re so good at sending them!

I Found God today in some heavenly comfort for my daughter in law.


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Eucharist Procession in NY

Posted by eph21920 on October 12, 2023 in Answer, Eucharist, Faith, Jesus, Priest

I learned today that Fr. Mike Schmitz celebrated Mass in NY city on October 10 followed by a Eucharist Procession. Over 5000 people attended the Mass and procession including priests, nuns, and laity. While there is so much violence, turmoil, and protests in this world and in this country, we need God more than ever. People need to know that He is real, He created all of us, that He loves us, and that He offers us peace and mercy. Here is a good article with more info and some pictures.

I Found God today in those who processed in NY.

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Car Conversation

Posted by eph21920 on October 10, 2023 in Family, Grateful, Life, Music, Opportunity, Relationship, Youth

My grandson bought himself a violin for Christmas last year and has started taking lessons. This afternoon, his mom and dad needed a little help. My sister and I worked it out so I could take my grandson to his lesson. They were all very grateful. But it was a blessing for me to spend that one on one time with him. I love having car conversations with youth. You can find out a lot by asking the right questions.

I Found God today spending some time with my grandson.

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