Today a friend shared a poem that JRR Tolkien wrote about the Blessed Virgin Mary and the birth of Jesus Christ. I read it and thought it was beautiful. This evening, my parents and I went to church to celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. To my surprise, the priest read the same poem as part of his homily.
I Found God today in a poem honoring His Mother.
Yesterday I saw a post from a friend who said she was going to get an activity checked off her bucket list today – skydiving. She’s around 75 years old. I was looking forward to hearing how things went today. This afternoon, there were almost 100 photos and videos that captured the occasion. She didn’t even look too nervous as she prepared. Once on the ground, she said in a video that it was great, but she was dizzy. She still had a smile on her face. I thought she was courageous and was in awe of how she is living life to the fullest.
I Found God today in a friend’s example of living life to the full.
My mom told a great story this evening that I don’t think I’ve ever heard before. When she was in high school, she and 2 of her friends sang as a trio and called themselves the “Blue Notes”. At one point they connected with a band led by “America’s Polka King” Frank Yankovic and made a record. Later, my mom, her friends, and my dad’s parents went on a little getaway. My dad’s father owned the record and brought it with him. He knew the owner of a certain restaurant. He gave the record to the owner who put it in the jukebox and fixed it so that whenever anyone put a coin in the jukebox, it would play the “Blue Notes”. It was quite a surprise to my mom and her friends. The details of the story were amazing. My parents still own one of the records. When my dad sets up the new turntable he got for Christmas, we will take a listen.
I Found God today in my mom’s great story from her past.
It was a snowy day, so seemed like a good time to try out the new food processor my son got me for Christmas. I had already unboxed it, read all the instructions, run all the parts through the dishwasher, and even watched a couple of videos on how to work it. For lunch, I used it on the leftover ham to make ham salad. Later on I made some homemade applesauce. Each of the dishes took literally seconds to put together in the new machine. For all my preparation, it made short work out of the meal preparation, and it was great.
I Found God today enjoying a new appliance that will make cooking easier.
Over the past couple of days, I have received some hand written notes, letters, and phone calls from friends. It is great to hear from them and catch up on what is going on. But at the same time, I feel somewhat contrite because I never mailed out any Christmas cards. I started to get them together, but never was able to follow through with the whole project. Not to make excuses, but my dad was sick in the weeks leading up to Christmas. That meant a little more disinfecting the house, a little less sleep, and a little more attention to keeping myself from getting sick. In any case, I have really enjoyed touching base with friends. Perhaps I will get out a New Year’s letter…
I Found God today touching base with friends.
I took a little walk this afternoon in the brisk air. It was interesting to see what was happening the day after Christmas. There were several people out walking as well. Some were alone, some were with others, some were walking dogs. I noticed the mostly deflated Christmas decorations lying on the ground awaiting another chance to stand back up again. Some houses had their Christmas lights still on. I saw several nativity scenes that I had not noticed when I was driving. A young man and woman came out to their front yard with some snow shoes and found a small patch of snow to try them out on. Two young boys ran from one house to the other. Three cars pulled away from a house, two of them had out of state license plates. I imagined where they might be headed – out to dinner, perhaps to a show, maybe to movie. There were children playing on the school playground. I enjoyed just being outside, walking, taking notice of what was going on around me.
I Found God today noticing those around me.
This Christmas was a little smaller and quieter than those in the past few years. One of my brothers’ was staying in a warmer location and the other one was sick and didn’t come here as he usually does. My nephew and his girlfriend were also unable to be here on this day. So, we were able to video chat all of them at the same time for our festivities. Everyone but my son on the east coast was able to be virtually present. We opened presents together and played a white elephant game which was a little challenging, but in my opinion it added to the fun. Technology really helps us be together when we can’t be physically in the same place.
I Found God today enjoying the ability to virtually be with those far away.
My parents and I went to Christmas Eve Mass at 6:00 pm and one of my sister’s met us there. The family that sat in front of us was too cute. My dad struck up a couple of conversations with the husband who proudly introduced his family and foreign exchange student. They had 5 children, just like my parents did. During the sign of peace, the little boy who was the youngest was being held by his dad and just beaming. My dad told him he had a very nice smile. The little boy replied that he really liked to smile. That made all of us smile as well. Next to us was a woman who we would see on a regular basis. She had her grandson with her who she was eager to introduce. Behind us was a woman who belted out the Christmas carols for all to hear, and not necessarily on key. After Mass, my sister and I realized we were both thinking the same thing – she must really love singing those songs and was very much enjoying herself. It’s always enlightening attending Christmas Mass and being around people other than the “regulars”. It brings all kinds of different people together, all to celebrate the occasion of the birth of Jesus – when God came to us, for us.
I Found God today in various ways in new people.
My brother called this morning to say that some of his symptoms acted up and he was feeling pretty bad. Unfortunately, it would not be good for him to travel. So, sadly, he cancelled his flight. We will really miss him for Christmas. But, it seems that once again God knew what He was doing, even though it wasn’t necessarily what we all wanted. We were happy that my brother was home taking good care of himself. And because the airline made it impossible for him to catch his flight yesterday, he received a full refund on the ticket. We will see him in a few months.
I Found God today taking care of my brother.
My brother was due to fly in tonight for his Christmas visit. However, he wasn’t feeling great and with my dad not completely well yet, we debated and discussed whether it would be a good idea to come or wait another day or so. He even called the airlines to find out his options. I suggested he take a few minutes in quiet prayer and see what he felt would be the best choice. He was still waffling but decided to come. About half an hour later, he called and told me his flight was delayed meaning he would miss his connection. Prayers answered. He will come tomorrow.
I Found God today in a definitive answer.
Still Finding God 