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Praying Like an Angel

Posted by eph21920 on April 7, 2019 in Angel, Children, Faith, Prayer

Today in church, a woman whom I had met before and her young son came and sat at the end of our row. After I received Communion, I headed back to my seat. The woman was behind me, but her son had already made his way back into the row. He was kneeling with his hands clasped, eyes closed, and head bowed in prayer. Unfortunately, I was unable to get by him to get back to my seat, but I didn’t want to disturb him. His mom caught up to me and I told her he looked like a little angel and I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt. She smiled and said that he was actually doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing. She whispered his name. He opened his eyes and sat back so his mom and I could get back to our seats. Once we passed, he resumed his posture and went right back into prayer. It was a precious sight.

I Found God today in an angelic boy.

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Crossing the Bridge

Posted by eph21920 on April 6, 2019 in Family, Healing, Joy

A couple of years ago, my sisters and I went on a hike. A couple of years before that, my sister had broken her leg. This hike was the first one she had done and promised to be a good test. She did pretty good, but was very careful on the more precarious spots of the trail. At one point we reached a boulder bridge to cross the stream. They were like giant stepping stones positioned just far apart enough for a decent jump. Luckily, my sister was able to rely on the help of some very kind strangers to help her across. Today, we went back on that same hike. Early on, my sister was worried about the boulder bridge. I assured her that if she didn’t feel that she could make it, we would just turn around and go back the same way. On the trail, we came across some icy patches where the snow had not melted yet. She did great. She even jumped down some of the higher places. Then we arrived at the boulder bridge. My sister wasn’t sure about trying it and gave it some thought. There were people struggling across, others contemplating it, and still others who simply turned around. The hardest part looked like getting on the first rock and making the first jump. One man coming from the other direction came over the first rock kind of in a climbing stance. I tried it to position myself at the end of the rock so I would be balanced and ready for the first jump. I showed my sister how I did it and had faith that she could too. I made the jump to the second rock. My sister was ready to try. She used the same technique and got herself positioned. I was ready to try to help stabilize her after the jump, even though I was pretty sure we would both end up in the water. In any case, she did it beautifully. The rest of the boulder bridge was easy enough after that. Once we reached the other side, we celebrated. My sister felt very accomplished and I felt very proud of her as well for facing her fears and doing it well. She literally crossed that bridge when she came to it.

I Found God today as my sister conquered a fear.

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Defying Gravity

Posted by eph21920 on April 5, 2019 in Children, Creation, Death, Jesus, Life, Miracle

I was happy to make it to the Stations of the Cross at the church tonight. It was led by the children’s choir made up of youth from Kindergarten to high school age. They were very well spoken as they described the stations and the short song for each one was lovely. A commentary that stuck with me was at the ninth station where Jesus falls for the third time. The reading said that gravity keeps things down and without it, we would be spinning out of control. When Jesus fell, He kept getting back up against the odds. Not only that, but when He died, He rose again completely defying gravity and the rules of nature to show us that there is much more to this life, this earth, than what we can see. Without Jesus, we will be spinning out of control. To me, it was enlightening.

I Found God today as He broke the rules of nature to show us there is more.

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Another St. Anthony Answer

Posted by eph21920 on April 4, 2019 in Answer, Faith, Family, Friends, Prayer, Saint, Uncategorized

Yesterday I talked with a friend who lost a very precious rosary. I told her the story of when my son lost his rosary. He was about 9 years old and had brought it to school. He went through every pocket in his backpack and again when we got home. It was not to be found. So, we said a prayer to St. Anthony. The next morning he told me he had a dream and St. Anthony was in it. I asked what he looked like. He said he couldn’t really say for sure, but he knew it was St. Anthony. I asked what he was doing. My son said he was pointing to a certain pocket in his backpack. I asked if he looked there yet. He had not. I watched as he dug in the pocket and pulled out the rosary. We both burst into tears and thanked St. Anthony profusely. Last night, my friend also prayed to St. Anthony. Today, she found the rosary in a pocket of a pair of pants. She had the same reaction.

I Found God today in answered prayers to St. Anthony.

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Diary of Life

Posted by eph21920 on April 3, 2019 in Answer, Death, Friends, Life, Relationship

A friend told me today that she used to visit specific people in nursing homes – typically those who had no family or friends. When she was visiting one woman in particular, the woman said she was thinking of writing a diary, but there wouldn’t be anyone to read it. My friend said she would read it. After some time and not hearing about it again, the woman passed away. When my friend went to her funeral, the presider of the service said he had something for her. Yes, it was the diary. The gentleman used it to speak of the woman at the funeral, then gave it to my friend. She said she really enjoyed reading it and getting to know the beautiful life story of the woman who seemed to have no one. She kept the diary as it is still very meaningful to her.

I Found God today in a woman who shared her life with another.

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Valuable Insight

Posted by eph21920 on April 2, 2019 in Answer, Connected, Doctor, Family, Hope, Life, Sick

Today my parents both had a normal follow up doctor’s appointment at the cardiologist. The nurse who did all the paperwork and checking in spent some time with us on a completely unrelated topic. My dad has a yet to be diagnosed condition and the woman told us all about her husband who had a similar disease. She gave us her rendition of what happened when and who was helpful in their situation. Yesterday, at a different  appointment, the doctor told us about some of his experiences. Listening to the opinions and ideas of other people is not only interesting and helpful, it made me realize that people face difficulties all the time in all different ways. And when they have made it through to the other side, they have valuable insight to share with others.

I Found God today in valuable insight.

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Wisdom of Rules

Posted by eph21920 on March 31, 2019 in Answer, Death, Fun, Life

Sadly, a friend and neighbor of my parents’ passed away last week. Today we attended his memorial service. Several family members and friends spoke of the man’s character and faith. It was clear how much he loved God, valued his family, and desired to make the world a better place. Several people talked about how he was such an eloquent writer. Many years ago, my dad wrote the newsletter for the housing complex. He would receive and include articles written by the friend. After the service, when we got home, my dad found his collection of the newsletters and one of the articles. As in most groups of people, some will follow the rules, and some will not. The article was written to address this issue. It read in part, ” . . . Rules are known as covenants and inevitably disharmony evolves when some homeowners abide by the covenants while others flaunt them. Laissez-faire attitudes can foster frustration and hopelessness which only in time give way to a general abandonment of rules originally intended for the welfare of everyone. Let us not forget that there is security and purpose in rules and therein lies harmonious living.”

I Found God today in the wisdom written by a caring man.

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Explosions

Posted by eph21920 on March 30, 2019 in Family, Life

My sister bought a book about making candy. I want to learn more about it, so I started reading from the beginning. It reads like a textbook. It begins by describing different ingredients – how they are formed, how they interact with other ingredients, and how they behave under certain conditions. It was a lot for me and my sister to digest. I described the book to my dad who understood it fine. He told us about the chemistry set he had as a young teenager and the experiments he and his friends would do. My dad described two explosions that occurred. One of them involved a drain, and one involved my grandfather. Evidently, my dad had his chemistry set in his room. One day his dad came in to investigate. My dad explained one of the experiments, but when he was occupied with something else, his dad inadvertently caused the explosion. My dad said there was glass from the test tube and chemicals all over his room. Laughing, he said that was the last time his dad came into his room.

I Found God today in funny stories from my dad about some of his younger antics.

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Never Such a Party

Posted by eph21920 on March 29, 2019 in Birthday, Friends, Fun

The people who I exercise with in the morning are just wonderful and very good friends. Today was one of the mens’ 80th birthday, so the instructor arranged a surprise party for him. After our water aerobics class, we all met in one of the community rooms. The birthday boy was overcome with emotion. He was teary eyed as he thanked everyone and said how much it meant to him. He said he never had a birthday party like this one. At the prompting of the instructor, we each gave him 80 big ones – pennies that is. Everyone was to come up with a creative container and/or way of wrapping the pennies. There were some imaginative receptacles including a pool noodle, an inflatable earth, a pinata, a money tree, and even an old message holder from the late 1800’s which was perfect as he is a history buff. The gentleman is so sweet and caring, and tells such great stories. It was nice to celebrate him, especially seeing how much it meant to him.

I Found God today celebrating a caring man.

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Effective Prayers

Posted by eph21920 on March 28, 2019 in Answer, Friends, Prayer

Last night I met with a group of friends. One of them asked specifically for prayers as she has been struggling with her health and had a doctor’s appointment today. Later today I found that the appointment went well and she is on a good path for feeling better. That was good news.

I Found God today in effective prayers.

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