My son has been working on his Personal Training certification for several months. He just finished the course and set up his business. Today he announced that he got his first client. He was pretty excited about it. I was proud of him for pursuing something he really wanted to do, enjoys doing, and is good at, even though he was somewhat nervous about doing it.
I Found God today being happy for my son.
For the past few weeks, I have been chatting with a friend whose husband became very ill from some food while they took a family vacation abroad. Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse and he passed away the other day. One thing she questioned was why God would take her husband? Why wouldn’t he take someone who is bad or hurtful and leave a good man here with his family? Valid questions. As I thought about this, I felt like there seems to be so much death happening around me. I can feel hopeless. No matter how hard I tried to care for my dad, he died. No matter how much I care for my mom, she will also die. I asked God what is the point of it all? Then it struck me – that IS the point of it all. Our lives here on earth are only a small part of our existence. The beginning, perhaps. There is so much more after our death. The point is that eternity exists and that we have the capability of spending it with God and our loves ones. It is dependent upon how we live our current lives. If we believe in God and trust Him, He promises that we will live forever in His love. And our lives here are not just for us. We can help to bring joy, peace, comfort and encouragement to others. We should share God’s love and promises so others can live eternity in Heaven. I reached out to the son of the father who passed away and he said that he knew God would bring his dad into His Kingdom where he will be loved and happy forever. That is a beautiful faith. We don’t know how or when our loved ones or our own lives on this earth will come to an end. That is the point.
I Found God today being reminded of the promise of eternity and how our lives and actions matter.
At breakfast we asked my mom what she wanted to do on this beautiful day. She said she wanted to go to the park and see the Parkinson’s Butterfly. Last year, the daughter of a man with Parkinson’s disease created a butterfly piece of art that was auctioned off at the Rotary Club’s annual fundraiser. The local Parkinson’s Support Group won the bid and purchased the sculpture. Then they donated it to the city. This year in April – which is Parkinson’s awareness month – the butterfly was placed at a local park. We learned about it through the Parkinson’s Support Group and mom has been wanting to see it. My sister, brother, mom, and I traveled to the park that we had never been to and wasn’t even that far away. There was a large playground, field, picnic tables, and a pond that had a path around it. We followed the walkway until we came upon the butterfly. It was beautiful as we anticipated. There was a plaque that read “Living With the Parking Brake On”. The body of the butterfly resembled a brain stem. The wings were painted with yellow bursts that were connected and red tulips with green vines. The artist did her research and studied how neurons in the brain die when Parkinson’s infiltrates and then sketched her idea of interconnected yet disjointed nerves that became like greenery among the red tulips, the official emblem of hope for Parkinson’s patients. We got teary eyed as I read the information and showed my mom the different components of the butterfly. You can read the full, beautiful story here. To make the afternoon even more meaningful, as we continued on the path, we came across the Meditation Garden that was donated by the Hospice and Palliative Care organization. It was quite a blessing of an outing and mom was pretty exhausted when it came to bed time.
I Found God today in a more than meaningful outing.
My brother drove out for a visit and arrived today after 2 days of driving. The weather is always a factor and after our big hail storm the other day, we were a little more concerned. And the forecast called for potentially severe weather. At one point in the drive, my brother had to decide which route would be the best to take. It turns out he chose the right one. He arrived having missed all the storms. A little while later, the skies opened up and the thunderstorms were upon us. We were all glad my brother made it safely.
I Found God today in safe travels for my brother.
A friend came over today and announced that her daughter is pregnant. She shared pictures of the recent ultrasound of the tiny fetus only about 6 weeks old. She also showed us a 3D ultrasound of a relative’s baby who will be born soon. My mom’s reaction was priceless. She thought the pictures were amazing and that the older baby was so cute. Then she said, “So people are still doing that?” It was so funny.
I Found God today in amazing photos of babies in their mother’s wombs.
I met with my prayer group tonight and as usual, we read the upcoming Gospel for this Sunday. The scripture tells us that we should prioritize God before anyone or anything else in our lives. One of the ladies shared that early on in her relationship with her husband, he told her that his relationship with God would always come before her. She said that she was put off and hurt – for a while. As time passed, she realized that as her husband made God first, he listened to God and was able to be the best husband and father that he could be. She said she may have not even remained in the church if it wasn’t for his faith. He taught her and encouraged her so much and she and their family was very blessed. It was a true sentiment of love to commune with the Creator above all things to learn and understand how best to care for his wife, family, and others.
I Found God today in a man devoted to his family by putting God first.
I was talking with a friend today about how sometimes I have a feeling of impending doom. Perhaps that’s a little dramatic. But I do sometimes feel like I’m just waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Minutes later, I heard a song that started with the lyrics, “You can’t add a single day by worrying
You’ll worry your life away
Oh don’t worry your life away”. The song was “Sparrows” by Jason Gray. I heard the message loud and clear and thanked God.
I Found God today in a timely message.
Last week my sister went to stay at a friend’s house, so my brother came and stayed with me and my mom. It has been almost a year since he left out of state. After showing him a few different ways that we have been doing things, we just slid back into a routine that we had established before. We talked a little bit about how difficult it was trying to care for dad, but didn’t dwell on it. He was a very welcomed, calm presence. Today, my brother and sister switched places again. He went back up to the cabin and she came back here. When my mom gets up in the morning, she always asks who’s here as people always seem to be coming and going. But she likes it like that. She sees her children often, and each person has their own unique gifts that they bring. We are truly blessed that they choose to spend time here.
I Found God today grateful for my siblings.
In church today, I was happy and surprised to see some friends of mine. The husband has cancer and was told by the doctors he has only a few months to live. I have seen them via Zoom for prayer meetings and have stopped by their house a couple of times. He says he is not afraid to die and considers it a blessing to know what he is dealing with. He also is sure he will be here until the new year. While he looked unwell, he was doing pretty good. The scripture readings and songs all focused on not being afraid. I thought of the couple and hoped especially the wife would take comfort in the words. We chatted a bit on the way out the door after Mass. He was ready to get in the car. She was teary eyed and sniffly. She said she usually is ok, but gets more emotional in church. She was especially moved and comforted by the message from God to not be afraid.
I Found God in a courageous couple and God’s encouragement to not be afraid.
I have been listening to readings of the Psalms recently. They are beautiful and like most of scripture they are timeless. What was written thousands of years ago could just as well have been written yesterday. I continue to be surprised as to how the themes flow from despair in one Psalm to dependency and determination in the next. Today’s reading began with Psalm 90. It despairs over the short life span of humanity and laments the fact that most of our lives are wasted on things that don’t even really matter. I will be honest and say that I have felt that same way, particularly over the past couple of years. However, in the very next Psalm 91 comes the answer. God will care for us in the end if we follow Him. We can depend on Him. It is hard, but we can be determined to set our minds and hearts on Him and His promises.
I Found God today in human feelings of despair and dependency.
Still Finding God 