Leave a comment

Our Lady Heals Again

Posted by eph21920 on April 29, 2020 in Answer, Healing, Hurt, Mary, Miracle, Prayer

I had been getting tired of wearing a bandage on my thumb and not being able to use it since I cut it so bad a few weeks ago. But, the doctor said it would take a long time to heal. I didn’t get a definition for exactly what “a long time” meant, so I have just been doing my best to be patient about it. Two nights ago, my mom suggested we start up the Lourdes prayers again. We had kind of set it aside while we were doing the Lenten prayers. So, we said the prayer and passed the bottle of Lourdes Holy Water around again. I thought it would be a good idea to put some on my thumb. It was bandaged, but I commented that the holiness could surely penetrate through. Yesterday morning, I took the bandage off and saw a piece of the scabbed skin sticking up. I pulled gently and the entire thing came off revealing new, healed pink skin. I showed my parents and my dad reminded me that I had put the holy water on and that Our Lady of Lourdes had come through again. I have left my thumb uncovered and have been able to use it more, even though it is still sensitive. I showed it to some friends and family today who were surprised at how good it looked. They also wondered why I had not turned to Our Lady of Lourdes and the holy water a long time ago.

I Found God today in my healing thumb.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Dad’s 90

Posted by eph21920 on April 28, 2020 in Birthday, Family, Grateful, Life

Today was my dad’s 90th birthday! As morning started, we were a bit concerned because he wasn’t feeling so well. But, after sleeping a little longer, he felt normal and was ready to start the day. We had decorated the place with balloons and a banner with his photo. One of the neighbors came over with another balloon and chocolates – his favorites. Many other neighbors had dropped off cards over the last couple of days. My dad spent almost an hour opening them and reading the heartfelt messages. My aunt sent a beautiful basket of flowers. He received cards in the mail, messages on the phone and on social media. One of my sisters’ made a surprise trip and sat on the porch to visit “social distancing” style. We had a whole family Zoom session where everyone got a chance to individually wish a happy birthday and we did our best to sing all together. One of my brothers’ got a video message from Jonathan Frakes who played Commander Riker on Star Trek the Next Generation. My dad is a huge fan and that was probably the highlight of his day. We picked up dinner from his favorite German restaurant. And I made his favorite angel food that turned out perfectly due to the fact that I had taken notes last year. My dad and mom reminisced about the good life they have lived. By the end of the day, we were all pretty tired, but in a good way. This is not how we anticipated celebrating this year and my mom remarked that it certainly was different from any other parties we have had before. But it was still full of family, fun, food, and plenty of love. As I consider the past few years and months, I am grateful that my brother, mom, and I are here and mostly that my dad is here to celebrate this milestone.

I Found God today celebrating my dad’s 90th birthday.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Fresh Air

Posted by eph21920 on April 27, 2020 in Bible, Creation, Faith, Happiness, Weather

It was just a gorgeous day today. I took advantage of the weather and sat outside for quite a while to read the book of Ephesians for my Bible class. I enjoyed the time, the words of comfort and wisdom, and the fresh air.

I Found God today enjoying the fresh air.

Permalink
Leave a comment

What Is Faith

Posted by eph21920 on April 26, 2020 in Answer, Connected, Faith, Hope, Life

Today’s Gospel reading was the story of two disciples who left the city of Jerusalem after the death of Jesus and were on their way to Emmaus. They had even heard that Jesus was raised from the dead and some of their friends had seen Him. But they lacked faith and were on their way out. However, Jesus had other plans and showed up in their lives. At first they didn’t recognize Him, but later they did. Their faith was renewed. In the homily that we listened to, the priest talked about the definition of the word “faith” as told in scripture:
“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence* of things not seen,” Hebrews 11:1
This thought stuck with me during the day. Then tonight, we all watched the final episode of God Friended Me. It was an abrupt ending for sure, but the major theme was the quest to help the main character re-find his own faith. I felt like I was getting God’s nudges to reflect on the status of my own faith and how I was responding to that.

I Found God today pondering faith in general and in my own life.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Phantom Sequel

Posted by eph21920 on April 25, 2020 in Connected, Family, Fun, Music, Opportunity

My son and I were so excited to watch the Phantom of the Opera last week as part of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s YouTube series. Of course, he watched at his place and I watched from my home, and we discussed it the next day. Then we found that the sequel written by Andrew Lloyd Weber called “Love Never Dies” would be shown this weekend. Neither of us had heard of it and read just enough of the reviews to have a vague idea of the story line. We decided to watch it tonight. I started just about 15 minutes before he did. As anticipated, about 15 minutes after I finished watching, he called. We had another rousing discussion of the plot, the characters, and the music. It was fun to connect this way even though we weren’t physically in the same place.

I Found God today enjoying time with my son.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Family Drive

Posted by eph21920 on April 24, 2020 in Answer, Car, Creation, Family, Opportunity, Peace

Yesterday my mom said she was getting cabin fever and tired of being at home all the time. So, today my parents and I decided to go for a drive. We started by meandering through the foothills. We drove through the grounds of a church tucked back into the woods. The large property also included a monastery, retreat center, and a nursing home. We even came across a herd of deer who were enjoying the new growth of grass and watched then for a while. It was very serene. Then we made our way to one of our favorite places – Garden of the Gods. My dad said he saw many things he had not seen before since he was a passenger this time and had been the driver for so many years. Enjoying nature, getting out of the house, and not stressing about being super sanitary was a very nice break. My mom even said the drive relaxed her, which isn’t usually the case.

I Found God today enjoying a relaxing family drive.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Altered Face Mask

Posted by eph21920 on April 23, 2020 in Answer, Connected, Family

My dad was having trouble with the face mask that my wonderful friend made. The elastic bands that go over the ears were just tight enough to keep pulling out his hearing aids. So we decided to switch out the elastics for ties. We figured that would be an alteration we could accomplish. My mom and I searched through her old sewing fabric and accessories and found some bias tape. It was too wide, so it was decided that about half the size would work. Yesterday, my mom and my brother got the tape cut and ironed to the right size. Today, my mother got our her sewing machine and between the 2 of us, we sewed the ties together and onto the mask. We tried it on my dad and it looks like it will work great. We were able to accomplish the project with a little necessary teamwork.

I Found God today accomplishing a project with teamwork.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Truth and Love

Posted by eph21920 on April 22, 2020 in Answer, Connected, Life, Love, Pope

In the craziness of this world, we are being bombarded with “information”. At this point it is difficult to sort out what is the truth, what we should believe, and how we are supposed to respond. Today I read a few simple lines from a very wise and holy man – Pope Saint John Paul II. It read, “Do not accept anything as truth if it lacks love. And do not accept anything as love if it lacks truth.” I will try to remember those words.

I Found God today in words of wisdom about truth and love.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Checking In

Posted by eph21920 on April 21, 2020 in Friends, Grateful

A far away friend called today. She said I was on her mind, so she was just calling to hear my voice and check in. I was glad she did. She lives alone in a retirement apartment and I think about her and pray for her too. She said they are unable to do any socializing and mostly everyone stays in their small apartment. Luckily, she has a younger friend who is doing the grocery shopping for her. I was happy about that. It was good to hear her voice and to know that she is doing well. I was very glad she called.

I Found God today speaking with a far away friend.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Visiting Docs

Posted by eph21920 on April 20, 2020 in Answer, Doctor, Family, Home, Life

My parents have had a few doctor’s appointments in the last week. The first one was a virtual visit between my dad and a neurologist to follow up on his rehabilitation from the stroke. We weren’t sure how that was going to go, but it was very easy and informative. She even watched my dad walk and move around as I held the tablet. My dad very much enjoyed his conversation with her. After that, both my mom and dad had to meet in person with 2 other doctors. I was so grateful that we had good masks made by my good friend. Keeping the masks in place and communicating was different and somewhat tedious, but all went well. I had been in nervous anticipation beforehand and that probably rubbed off on my parents as I gave the precautionary instructions. But I was encouraged and relieved after all was said and done. I’m sure they felt the same way.

I Found God today in several successful and encouraging doctor visits.

Permalink