After my mom did her Parkinson’s exercise class online, the group had a social time. The leader asked how everyone celebrated Valentine’s day. My mom told them about the family getting together on Zoom and opening funny cards. One of the men said his wife of 44 years wrote a list of all the reasons she loves him. Everybody responded with a collective “Awww…” When asked what the #1 answer was, he said it was that he made her laugh. Very sweet.
I Found God today hearing about loving.
After a frigid couple of days, it was wonderful to open the blinds and feel the warmth of the sunshine. Once the temperature increased to 20 degrees, I decided it was time to shovel. When I had my dog, I was used to putting on all my layers and venturing out in the cold, but now it is only for “special occasions” like shoveling. After bundling up, I went out and discovered that our neighbor had already cleared our mutual sidewalk. I shoveled our porch and in front of the garage door. The snow was so light and fluffy, it didn’t take very long. Not wanting to waste all my bundling time, I decided to take a little walk. There wasn’t much activity and much of my path was untrodden. The sky was blue, the snow was white, the mountains were gorgeous, and the air was crisp. It was a peaceful, beautiful few minutes.
I Found God today in the peace of crisp air and fresh snow.
Usually on Valentine’s day I make red heart pancakes. This year my sister sent me a different idea. So we started the day with a breakfast of eggs topped with bacon twisted and baked into a heart shape. I figured nothing says “love” like heart shaped meat. At church (online) the priest prayed especially for married couples. My parents raised their hands as the priest was looking for the couple who had been married the longest. It’s too bad we weren’t present as they have been married 13 years longer than the couple in church. We exchanged cards and ate truffles. In the afternoon we got on Zoom with the rest of the family. We sent them all humorous valentines and they waited until today to open them. It was pretty funny as my parents chose the perfect card for each one. Later, one of our neighbors stopped by and gave us a bottle of sparkling cherry juice. I poured it in fancy glasses and served it to my parents with a candlelight dinner for the two of them, complete with ice cream dessert. Then we played a game. My mom said it was the best day she has had in a long time. That made me pretty happy.
I Found God today in a very enjoyable Valentine’s Day.
It was a super frigid day today, so we stayed in and took note of anything that was moving outside – 1 person walking very quickly, 1 other person walking their dog, a crazy squirrel that would jump straight up in the air after being on the ground for a few seconds, a couple of birds. My dad was concerned about my brother and wondering how he was doing in his camper. He’s not in the state, but it looked like the cold snap had a pretty big perimeter. My dad gave him a call. It was colder there – it had dropped into the 60’s. We laughed a little and my dad was put at ease. We just hunkered down for the rest of the day in sweaters and occasional blankets.
I Found God today in a new frigid day.
It is difficult to keep up a positive attitude – especially when we are still unable to move about and visit as we want. I read a short reflection this morning, “Surround yourself as often as possible with joyful people. Spend your time in places that encourage your own joyfulness.” by Allen Hunt from the book Nine Words. I realized that I am actually reading this book – slowly. But that in itself made me smile. I thought about how we are trying to follow this advice under the current circumstances and I think we are doing what we can. We connect Facetime and Zoom with the immediate family. We make occasional phone calls with other friends and family. At least once a week we have a visitor in person. We have outings – just drives to get out and see something enjoyable. Even though we are very careful and visits aren’t exactly how we want them to be, we still make the most of them. And that brings us all joy.
I Found God today reflecting on creating joy.
My parents and I once again celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. A friend shared a beautiful story about a French nun who survived COVID-19 and was celebrating her 117th birthday today. This afternoon, I was able to get Communion from the church and bring it home to my parents. A friend called to tell me about a Mass she had just participated in online and said she thought of me. My parents and I attended Mass with our favorite parish in the east coast. Then I found the one that my friend told me about. When we watched the homily, I understood what she was saying. The Gospel reading for today is that of a woman who had so much faith, that even when Jesus seemingly didn’t want to be troubled by her, the woman was persistent and her daughter was in fact healed from her illness. I remembered the trip to Lourdes my mother took me on. She was like the woman in the scripture. She brought me to that place with great humble, persistent faith that I would be cured from my juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. I was in fact mostly healed from that disease though there are lingering affects, which is probably a good thing so I don’t forget what God has done for me. We then watched a short video outlining the lessons from Lourdes. As they highlighted the different sites, my mother and I recognized each one and it brought back a flood of emotion and “spiritual remembering.” Each year on this feast day, I feel I get a little spiritual boost, reminder, and encouragement.
I Found God today remembering the holiness of Our Lady of Lourdes.
This morning when my dad put his hearing aids in, he realized how everything was so loud. He had to leave the kitchen while I was making breakfast because it was too noisy. He said that even when he took a deep breath, it sounded like a tornado. So, we headed back to the hearing aid office where they were able to adjust them down a little. That helped. Both my mom and my dad watched a movie tonight and found a volume that worked for them both. That may seem silly to some, but in this household, it is cause for celebration.
I Found God today as my parents were both able to enjoy hearing a movie together.
My dad had a very restless night last night and was exhausted this morning. He described the crazy thoughts, dreams, and sleep-awake cycles that kept him from getting a good night’s sleep. I felt so bad for him. This afternoon, however, we had an appointment to pick up his new hearing aid. He has been struggling since the one got lost. It is always a pleasure to see this doctor and today she tweaked the two hearing aids to a good level. It was obvious that he could hear much better. On the way home, we picked up a bag of ground coffee for my dad to use on his drip coffee maker. He had ground his own, but the coffee was turning out too weak and he was pretty frustrated with it. When we got home, he made a cup with the new coffee and it turned out wonderful. My parents and I rejoiced that what started out with a pretty awful morning, ended with great happiness.
I Found God today as the day’s mood went from exhaustion to joy.
Tonight I started reading the book of Daniel in my Bible class. Yes, we went through the famous stories of Daniel being saved as he was thrown into the lion’s den, and that of his friends being saved when they were thrown into a fiery furnace. There is more to the stories and more to the lives of the men than just those few instances. However, the overarching theme is steadfast faith of the men and of God. The men were taken from Jerusalem when the area was sieged and brought to Babylon. They decided to remain faithful to God and trusted that He would remain faithful to them. They refused to eat foods that were against God’s instructions. They also refused to worship idols and the pretend gods that the pagan kings had erected. Their steadfast faith was met by God’s. He blessed them, gave them the necessary tools to live in faith, and He kept them safe. I only read the first few chapters, but was uplifted and inspired as the men were beautiful examples of how to live a faithful life in a non-believing world.
I Found God today inspired by Daniel and his companions.
We watched some of the Super Bowl today. I’m always interested in the commercials, but wasn’t too impressed. Then my ears perked up. The announcer described a chapel located in the exact middle of the country that was open 24/7 encouraging people to stop in to pray. The message of the commercial was that we as a country need to work together by coming to the middle. The images included 3 outdoor crosses and Bruce Springsteen lighting a candle in the chapel. Regardless of all the things debatable in the commercial, it was a beautiful, surprising, welcomed message among the weird and crazy.
I Found God today in a beautiful message.
Still Finding God 