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Wedding Cookie Table Record

Posted by eph21920 on August 11, 2019 in Connected, Food, Fun, Generosity, Opportunity

A couple weeks ago a friend told me she was making a trip to a small town in PA where some of her family lives. A lot of people in that area are from Italy and carry out the tradition of having a cookie table at their wedding where guests bring plates of cookies to share. The community decided to try to set a world record for the biggest wedding cookie table. I sent 120 coffee toffee chip cookies with my friend to be included in the amount. The event was today. The last I heard, there were over 19,000 cookies there and they weren’t done counting yet! People could buy a box for $10 and fill it with cookies. The money would be donated to the local historical society who helped organize the event. Any cookies leftover are to be donated to food pantries and first responders. As required by Guiness, there would be nothing wasted. I touched base with my friend during the day and watched some of the highlights on social media. It was fun to be involved in something so big without actually being there.

I Found God today being involved in a fun event.

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Mom’s Magnificent Music

Posted by eph21920 on August 10, 2019 in Family, Life, Music, Past

My brother and my dad got his new TV set up including almost all of the old components. One that was left out was the old cassette tape deck. This prompted my dad to get out and sort all his cassette tapes and decided what was worth keeping. I interrupted him today with his earbuds in listening to one of them. He gave them to me so I could hear what was playing. It was beautiful piano music. With tears in his eyes, he said it was my mother at her prime. I got teary eyed then too. It was beautiful music, a beautiful memory, and beautiful to know we still have this little piece of history.

I Found God today hearing my mom’s music.

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Encouraging Strangers

Posted by eph21920 on August 9, 2019 in Happiness, Life, Opportunity, Stranger, Struggles

After we got the new TV set up and working properly, we were left with the giant box. Today was trash day, so my dad cut the box in half and put it outside with the garbage can. When he heard the truck coming, he went outside to meet the driver. My dad showed the box to the trash collector and asked if he could take it. The man said he could and threw it into the big bin. My dad watched and was fascinated with the new truck that could grab the trash can and dump it right into the receptacle. He thanked the trash collector for his work. He said he really needed that. Later, I took the car in to get a good wash. As I meandered to the counter to pay for the service, I heard the cashier on the phone. She got off quickly when she saw me coming. She asked how I was doing and I asked her as well. She said she wasn’t doing so good and was crying and couldn’t wait for the day to be over. I said I was sorry she was having such a hard time. She told me that another customer had bought her a card when he heard she was having a rough day. I thought that was so nice and encouraging and it put a smile on her face.

I Found God today as people encouraged strangers.

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Fruits of My Labor

Posted by eph21920 on August 8, 2019 in Family, Food

About 2 weeks ago, I went to the farmer’s market and bought some delicious fresh peaches. A few days after that, my mom received her monthly box of fruit that my brother signed her up for. It was a box of 10 large beautiful organic peaches. The other day, my dad brought home his large box of goodies included in the subscription my brother sent him. It included 3 boxes of fruit – nectarines, peaches, and plums. Needless to say, we had a houseful of luscious summer fruit and it was all ripe. I have spent the last couple of days preparing and cooking it all up so we don’t loose any of it. We have had several pieces raw and more in smoothies. I have made 3 different kinds of crisps and a pflaumenkuchen to honor my mother’s German heritage. It kept me busy, but was well worth it. And we will be able to enjoy the “fruits of my labor” for a few more days still.

I Found God today in delicious food.

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Carrying the Box

Posted by eph21920 on August 6, 2019 in Generosity, Grateful, Mail, Stranger

At the complex where we live, the mailboxes are located all in one place. This just happens to be the furthest point from my parent’s home as you can get. It makes for a 1/2 mile total loop. Every evening my dad makes the walk after he feels the mail person has been there. Tonight when he returned, he was carrying a large, heavy box. It must have just been able to fit in the bigger mailboxes assigned to packages. Then, I heard another voice on the porch. My dad said when he was walking back carrying the large box along with the rest of the mail, 2 people offered to give him a ride home. He politely declined. Then a woman came out of her house and walked right up to my dad and said, “Let me carry some of that for you.” So, he handed her the mail. When they got to our house, my dad came in with the box and the woman sat outside and visited with my mom. The package was one of the monthly subscriptions from my brother. Inside were 3 smaller boxes containing peaches, nectarines, and plums. My dad chose 1 of each and gave them to the woman to thank her. She was super chatty and super nice.

I Found God today in a helpful neighbor.

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Missed at the Pool

Posted by eph21920 on August 5, 2019 in Friends, Life, Relationship

A couple of weeks ago, I had a basal cell skin cancer spot removed. I was most upset about the fact that I couldn’t go into the swimming pool for a while. This morning, I headed back to the aqua aerobics class. It felt great to get back into the pool and exercise that way. It was also great to see and talk to the people who were very concerned that I had been missing. Sometimes it’s just nice to know that others are thinking about you.

I Found God today being able to be back in the water with caring people.

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God’s End Game

Posted by eph21920 on August 4, 2019 in Answer, Death, Faith, Life

Today at church, the scripture readings were focused on the fact that we, people, are very busy every day doing the things that we find important. Some of the things we do are necessary for living, for survival. But all things in this world will fade and pass away – even ourselves – and we don’t know when that will happen. It is of utmost importance that we spend at least some of our time here on earth directing our attention to things that are above – God. When we do leave this life, there is more, and it would benefit us if we started preparing for it now. The priest talked about God’s “End Game” – His ultimate goal and desire is for each of us to spend eternity with Him.

I Found God today in a reminder of His desire to be with us.

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Appreciating Siblings

Posted by eph21920 on August 3, 2019 in Birthday, Family, Laughter, Life, Relationship

Today I celebrated my brother’s and brother-in-law’s birthdays with the family. It was a good time filled with laughter as usual. On the way home my son commented about how he always looked forward to family get togethers. We always enjoy each other and laugh a lot. I thought about how much my siblings and I relied on one another when we were younger. We moved around a lot, but we stuck close as family. I do feel blessed about that.

I Found God today appreciating my siblings.

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Angel of the Intersection

Posted by eph21920 on August 2, 2019 in Angel, Answer, Children, Family, Past, Travel

There was a big rainstorm here this afternoon and I got a notice that a certain intersection was flooded. My dad said he remembered that my mom had some incidents in that same intersection. Many, many years ago, my mom had all 5 of us kids in the car and had gone to the grocery store. On the way home, the car broke down and wouldn’t move. A young man saw what had happened and came up to the car to offer his assistance. He ended up putting everyone and all the groceries in his car and took us all home. Then, he went back and took care of the car. My mom doesn’t know exactly what he did, but the car ended up at a garage near the breakdown. My dad took care of it from there. Another time in the winter, the roads were a sheet of ice. My mom was driving kids to school and neared the same intersection. The traffic light turned yellow and my mom tried to stop. However, the car was just sliding, heading straight into the intersection. The light turned red. Suddenly, the light turned back to green and my mom just went right on through. It seems she has had a special angel looking after her especially at this particular intersection.

I Found God today in divine intervention to keep my mom – and us kids – safe.

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Skipping the Line

Posted by eph21920 on August 1, 2019 in Answer, Generosity, Stranger

My mom hasn’t been feeling well lately, but today she felt up to making a short trip to the store. Of course, the items we needed were as far away from the front door as you could get. When we got to the checkouts, the lines were pretty long. We stopped in one line and I thought I would see if I could find a shorter one. As I was passing one woman, she offered to let us in front of her. Fortunately, I found the line next to her had just opened. I thanked the woman and my mom and I headed over there. I just thought it was very thoughtful of the woman to offer. Oh, and my mom did great.

I Found God today in a thoughtful woman.

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