I received a Christmas card from a friend today that has the perfect prayer:
“Bless us Lord this Christmas, with quietness of mind- Teach us to be patient, and always to be kind. Show us that in quietness, we can feel your presence near, Filling us with joy and peace, throughout the coming year.” Helen Steiner Rice
I Found God today in a perfect Christmas prayer.
Today was cookie day. I took over the kitchen, put on my peaceful Christmas music playlist, and made 22 dozen cookies. While I was working on them, my parents worked on their Christmas cards. It has been quite a project. They recovered their mailing list and called my aunt to get new addresses. They had to decide if they wanted to send a note, how long it would be, and what kind of paper it should be printed on. They embellished the notes with stickers, signed cards, printed labels, and stuffed the envelopes. In doing so, they had the cards they received from last year. They read them over again and reminisced. I loved listening to their conversation in the background. It was a sweet way to spend the day.
I Found God today listening to my parents working together.
Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. My parents and I got out our prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes that we try to say every night and we talked about the different devotions there are to different “Lady’s”, yet all being the same Mary the Mother of Jesus. As we prayed, it occurred to me that each of the “Lady’s” had their own story, yet each always stressed the importance of having a relationship with God. I think people can identify with diverse and different experiences with Mary, just as they can with God. And I think that is part of the draw and beauty of her.
I Found God today pondering the diverseness of Mary.
This morning I heard from my friend who told me yesterday’s story. Today her niece had to have surgery. She came through it well and even went home this afternoon. The family was grateful that her mom and dad were able to be there to help take care of her. Her dad is the same person who was attacked in yesterday’s story. I feel that God kept him safe from the attacker so that he and his wife would be able to be present to their daughter who needed them.
I Found God today as He cared for a family.
I checked on a friend this evening as many of her loved ones are having difficulties right now. She told me a crazy story about an incident her brother in law had yesterday morning. He was sitting in a diner alone having breakfast. There was another man there who was agitated and giving him dirty looks. The brother in law avoided eye contact so as not to upset him further. Suddenly the man threw a knife at him. The brother in law saw it coming and was able to dodge it as the knife hit the window behind him. Then the man charged. Luckily, another man who saw what was happening tackled the man and held him until the police arrived. It is a crazy story for crazy times. My friend’s sister said she was grateful for the guardian angel in the diner who kept her husband safe.
I Found God today in safety for a friend through a dangerous situation.
In my Bible class tonight, my teacher told a story about a monk who wanted to see Jesus before he died. While in prayer, Jesus said He would meet the man the next day. The following day, the monk awaited eagerly in his room to meet with Jesus. He didn’t attend Mass as usual. He didn’t serve others as he would normally do. When a fellow monk came to check on him, he sent him away. By the end of the day, the monk had not seen Jesus and prayed asking Him where He was. Jesus answered that he was in the Mass, in the people he should have served, and even in his brother who he sent away. I loved the story and wanted to get all the details right before telling my version here. So, of course, I googled it. I was amazed that the first thing that popped up was a blog post of a priest friend of mine. The post is his homily from Advent 8 years ago almost to the day. In the post, my friend tells a similar story, but it highlights a monastery who is told that one among them is Jesus. All the monks begin treating each other just a little differently because any of them could actually be Jesus. Of course, the lesson in both stories is that Jesus dwells in each one of us, and in each person we encounter. I loved the message. And I love the fact that God pointed me directly to a friend who has been instrumental in my faith life and that of my children.
I Found God today remembering Jesus dwells in each of us and He cares very much for us.
I saw a story that was shared today about an 82-year old woman who is an award winning bodybuilder. Evidently someone broke into her home. She defended herself against the young man who was almost twice her size. She used furniture as weapons and even jumped on him when he was on the ground. By the time the police came, she said he was relieved to get into the ambulance. It was a great story and made me laugh out loud. See the story here.
I Found God today in an elderly woman who was able to defeat an intruder.
This morning in church, we sat in our “usual spot”. There were 5 multi generational women sitting in front of us. They seemed to be a mom with her 2 daughters in the middle and 2 grandmothers as the bookends. One daughter had special needs. She would occasionally speak out and was constantly tapping her mom or trying to get her attention in some way. She had some blue clay that she would manipulate in her hands from time to time. And she was glued to the grandmother next to her. Her mother seemed annoyed with her, never smiled, and spent most of the time trying to correct her. The grandmother allowed the child to be who she was and tried to guide her continual movements. She had enough patience for both of them. At one point, I heard her say to the little girl, “We’ll take care of each other.” While I felt bad for the child – and the mom, I was blessed to have seen the beautiful, loving interaction between the girl and her grandmother. I have kept them all in prayer today.
I Found God today in an example of loving acceptance.
I had to stop in the grocery story today as did probably half the city. Most people were being kind and patient. Some were in a hurry as they tried to pass others when they had an opportunity down the narrow aisles. At one point, I was making the big turn from one aisle to the next. I stopped to make sure no one was whizzing by, when I saw what I am assuming was a mom with her 2 daughters. She was pushing the shopping cart slowly with the older girl walking beside her. The younger girl was sitting in the seat of the carriage. The older sibling had a children’s book in her hands that she was reading to the younger girl who was completely enthralled. As I admired the sweet scene, my eyes met those of the mother. She was watching me watch them. We gave each other a smile that relayed the message of how caring the older daughter was. It was a knowing moment exchanged by strangers.
I Found God today in a knowing moment with a stranger.
Today is my grandson’s birthday. We gave him a video call this evening. After we sang Happy birthday to him, we were completely entertained for about half an hour. My granddaughter had to make sure she got her share of air time. We saw the rest of the family too, but the majority of the time we simply watched the antics of my grandchildren. They bring me so much joy.
I Found God today watching the antics of my grandchildren.
