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God, People, Things

Posted by eph21920 on September 18, 2022 in Answer, Creation, Life, Love

My friend, the deacon, gave a great homily today at church. I think it’s great when I get a snippet that I can easily remember. He talked about how important it is to have our lives and priorities set in the right order regarding God, people, and things. First and foremost, we should worship God. We shouldn’t worship other people – for example celebrities, sports figures, or politicians. We shouldn’t worship things such as money, cars, or food. Next, we should love people. When we love one another, we are reflecting God’s love as well as acknowledging them as an equal creation of God. We love God, of course, but we do not love things. And finally, things are given to us to use. We use the things we have for the period of time that we have them, which is relatively short. Therefore, we need to be good stewards of the things we have and use. We shouldn’t use people and we shouldn’t try to use God to our own self-seeking ends. If we follow these suggestions, we will find true joy and peace. So, there you have it. Worship God, Love People, Use Things.

I Found God today in good advice on ordering priorities.

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Upside Down Mountains

Posted by eph21920 on September 17, 2022 in Creation, Family, Grateful, Weather

My mom and I went out for a walk this evening just as the sun was starting to set. There was a ridge of interesting clouds just above the mountains. The sun was behind the clouds creating a glowing edge around the top. As we continued on and the sun got lower, a section of the clouds turned a pinkish purple. My mom said it looked like they were mountains upside down. She always sees interesting things that I guess I don’t have the imagination for. But this time I saw it too. It was a beautiful scene.

I Found God today in beautiful nature.

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Back To High School

Posted by eph21920 on September 16, 2022 in Children, Family, Fun, Joy, Music

This week, my granddaughter has been doing a cheerleading camp with the local high school. Tonight they were all at the football game showing off their talents. I was so happy that my mom felt well enough and wanted to go. I packed up the wheelchair and off we went! When we entered the gate, one of the greeters gave my mom some “Spirit Towels” in the colors of the home team. Once in the stands, we spotted my granddaughter right away. She saw us too and waved and smiled a big smile. During the game, they whole group off kids did some cheers led by the high school cheerleaders. When they clapped and waved their pom-poms, I encouraged my mom to wave her spirit towels, which she did. My granddaughter was having such a good time and trying hard to get all the moves and timing correct. And she always put on that big smile. She was a joy to watch. And as a bonus, we saw the marching band at halftime before we left. Mom has always loved watching them. When we got home, she was exhausted, but thanked me for taking her to have such a fun time.

I Found God today in the joy of family.

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Sweetest Surprise

Posted by eph21920 on September 15, 2022 in Baby, Friends, Happiness, Joy

My mom was having a pretty difficult morning today. She didn’t sleep well and got her medication in later than usual, so she was dragging and feeling bad. Our friend came over early as normal and brought a surprise. Her daughter had a baby 3 1/2 months ago. She met her here and they came in for a visit. My mom said she couldn’t even remember the last time she was with a baby. She was so tiny and adorable and animated. We were just enthralled watching her. We had seen lots of pictures and videos, but being with the little one was so uplifting. My mom felt better and had energy for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. It was truly amazing. It was so nice of our friend to have her daughter and granddaughter stop in for a visit.

I Found God today in the uplifting effects of a baby.

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Distant Relatives

Posted by eph21920 on September 14, 2022 in Connected, Family, Grateful, Life, Past, Present, Relationship

For many years, my mom and sister worked on scrapbooking family memories. My mom has probably a dozen beautiful scrapbooks, each with its own theme. They are treasures for sure. Tonight, my grandson came over for a while to keep my mom company while I went to a prayer group. Last time he was here, my mom had pulled out one of the albums. When I got home, tonight, they were sitting on the sofa looking through another book. This time, they were going through my mom’s extended family. She was introducing my grandson to his distant relatives. My mom reported that it was my grandson who suggested they get out the book. He told me that now we have to keep up the scrapbooking for a continuous family history. That is a great idea.

I Found God today in the meaning of family, both present and extended.

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Beating the Devil’s Tactics

Posted by eph21920 on September 13, 2022 in Answer, Creation, Faith, Hope, Humility, Life, Problem, Struggles

I seem to get more notifications on my phone than I know what to do with. I usually go through them a couple times a day and delete, delete, delete. As I was swiping them away this evening, I stopped and watched a video that caught my eye called, “How to Beat the 3 Tactics of the Devil”. It was a truthful, practical, helpful short video that I appreciated and thought you might as well.   https://youtu.be/tNzPcJ5NNYU  
I think it’s important to remember that there is a God, that I am not Him, and that there is a Devil who is working on us to bring us down. I pray that I and you are strong and fight the good fight to the end.

I Found God today reminded of how to fight the devil.

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Hopeful Healing

Posted by eph21920 on September 12, 2022 in Answer, Connected, Family, Healing, Struggles

We have been praying for my mom’s friend’s son-in-law since he was diagnosed with Leukemia a few years ago. He has received several treatments with differing outcomes. Right now he is cancer free. It has been a long road and he has been very isolated to keep him as free as possible from diseases. Of course all of it has taken a toll not only on his body, but on his mind and attitude. Last week, he and his wife flew out for a visit and stayed with my mom’s friend. She came over today and had good news to report. Her son-in-law’s parents were celebrating a big anniversary. So he spent a lot of time out and about with family. He was an avid pickleball player and tried to dink the ball around a bit, but was surprised as to how weak he was. Even though he wasn’t near up to his former self, he was in very good spirits. And the mood carried on after they arrived back home. Our friend said that as she talked with him, he was sounding more like he used to. Getting out of the house and being active with his family made a huge difference in moving his recovery to the next level. While medicine can help to heal our bodies, being with others – especially family is encouraging to our body, mind, and soul.

I Found God today in healing.

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Grandma’s Day

Posted by eph21920 on September 11, 2022 in Children, Family, Love, Relationship

My mom looks at her calendar every day so she can keep track of what’s going on. A couple days ago she spotted “Grandparents Day” was approaching. She noted it every day and complained that nobody ever says anything about it or advertises for it. Perhaps it has become overshadowed by the terrorist attack on the same day, which is today. Mom acknowledged the “holiday” first thing this morning when she saw it on her calendar. She went into her drawer and pulled out her bedazzled shirt that reads, “Grandma, Another Word for Love.” She was excited to wear it all day in hopes to make more people aware of the special day. In the afternoon, we had our usual family Zoom session. My siblings usually participate, but my children rarely do. Today, both my son’s jumped on to say “Happy Grandma’s Day!” to her and my nephew called her as well. She was thrilled.

I Found God today in another way to acknowledge and show some love to my mom.

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Double Peace Signs

Posted by eph21920 on September 10, 2022 in Connected, Family, Life, Peace

Now, this may sound strange, but it made me smile for several reasons. I was out and about today in the cool  drizzle and had to stop at a big box store. As I drove into the parking lot, a couple of people were entering the crosswalk in front of me, so I stopped. Everyone was looking down as they hurried along trying to keep the rain out of their faces. Two men approached the crosswalk, one was a couple paces behind the other. The first one looked up, saw I had stopped and waved the 3 fingered peace sign – the kind we see Jesus holding as a blessing in many pictures. That made me smile. As the second man started to walk through, he did exactly the same thing. Same gesture, same maneurism. I kind of felt that I had received a double blessing. That made me smile too. It occurred to me that they must have been son and father. I thought about how so many of our behaviors are conditioned by our families – for better or for worse. I thought about my own 2 sons who are 12 years apart in age. When you see them walking together, their gait is exactly the same, as are some of their gestures. That made me smile too.

I Found God today in double Peace Signs.

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Breath of Air

Posted by eph21920 on September 9, 2022 in Creation, Family, Life, Weather

It has been so hot here for the past few days, that we have pretty much stayed inside with the air conditioner running. Last night, however, a cold front came through and cooled things off. We stepped outside later in the morning and breathed in the cool air. We went for a nice walk, then sat outside in the sun before going back in. It was nice enough to leave the windows open all day. It’s amazing how getting outside, feeling sunshine, and breathing cool air can make you feel so good.

I Found God today breathing cool air.

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