My mom not only plays the piano, but was a phenomenal singer as well. She doesn’t sing very much any more as her voice just isn’t what it used to be. Today she read an article that talked about how good singing is for Parkinson’s. So, she sat down at the piano and accompanied herself as she sang some Christmas carols. Later she got teary eyed as she said she now knew that God gave her musical talent to help her in her old age.
I Found God today in my mom’s gratitude to God.
As I listened to my mother play the piano today, I realized even more how much music is the way she shares who she is. It is more than playing the notes or exercising her fingers and hands. It is more than staying mentally active. As the music ebbs and flows, my mother expresses who she is. Her passion comes through in the allegros and adagios, the fortes and pianissimos of each piece. She bears her soul. It is beautiful and I am blessed to witness it daily.
I Found God today witnessing my mother in her music.
Every Monday night, I attend a Bible class. This course takes the participant on a 4-year journey through the Bible, reading it in the light of salvation history. We started at the beginning in Genesis and have made it to Leviticus. I have tried to read the entire Bible front to back on my own, but have gotten confused, bored, or frustrated not understanding exactly what is going on. Tonight in Leviticus, God lays down the law as to how the Israelites are to worship and behave. They have already rebelled against God once, so He spells things out to Moses who intercedes on behalf of the people. God tells them to be holy, because God is holy, and the people belong to God. Fast forward to Jesus Christ and today – the message remains the same. But, I know with the realization of all my faults, I cannot be holy. The only way to do this is to allow God to work within me, to allow His grace and mercy to wipe out my guilt and replace it with love. It is something that I need to be reminded of often.
I Found God realizing I cannot be holy without Him.
My mom and I got hooked on watching the new series, “God Friended Me”. The story is more complex and intriguing than I had anticipated. Tonight, something particular stood out and has stayed with me. It is that you can see God in every smile. I believe that is a simple, yet profound truth. God is all goodness and joy.
I Found God today remembering that He is in each of us and can be witnessed in our joy.
This morning, my mom and I went to the Parkinson’s Christmas party. We saw that one of the new-comers was a couple that we sit behind in church, so we went over and chatted with them for a while. We see them almost every week, but sometimes the husband who has Parkinson’s does not attend. We didn’t know until today that was the disease he was battling, though my mom suspected. The woman was just super grateful that we had gone to say hello and made them feel welcome by seeing a familiar face.
I Found God today in a familiar face.
My parents and I went to church tonight to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. After, we decided to look at Christmas lights. A friend told me where there was a house that had the lights synchronized to music. What I remembered from the directions was to go up a certain road almost to the end and turn right when you see the lights – you can’t miss them. So, we started driving up the road. We passed a couple of spots where the houses had nice displays, but I kept going. Then, we saw it. We turned right. The lights were bouncing and flashing, obviously in a rhythm. There was a sign in front of the house that told us which radio station to tune to. It was an amazing show. We sat and watched about 4 different songs. On our way out, we came across another house that was jammed packed with angels, giant nativity figures, and signs about Jesus – all lit up. It was another amazing sight. We all enjoyed the evening and felt it is a good way to continue through Advent.
I Found God today celebrating Advent in church and lights.
During the past couple of days, I have seen some of the coverage and comments regarding the death of George H.W. Bush. He was remembered time and time again as a truly devoted, loving man with commitment, faith, dignity, respect, compassion., and humility. Although it was a sad event, it was refreshing to see such virtues highlighted. Even the politicians seemed to be on the same page.
I Found God today in important virtues being highlighted.
A friend shared a sweet story today. He was at the beach with his family, including his son and granddaughter. When they visited the shops, the little girl found a shell that she just loved. Her dad bought the shell without her knowing it and when they returned to the shore, he hid it in the waves. There was happiness all around when the little girl found the precious gem. She was elated and everyone watching her excitement were also overjoyed.
I Found God today in the story of thoughtfulness, love, and joy.
We got a few inches of snow last night. But evidently not enough for the snow plows to come into our complex and clear the driveways and road. So, I got out early and started at it. I cleared about half the area in front of our garage when a young man with a larger snow shovel showed up. He was on his way to shovel the neighbor’s sidewalk. He stopped and looked at me. I stopped and said hello. He responded and I could see he was struggling with what to do. Evidently he worked with the contracted company to shovel the sidewalks. He asked if I would like some help and I was happy to accept. It took him only a few swipes to make good progress. He said he knew the people in the complex and was happy to help, but that his boss would not be happy if he knew that he was shoveling the roadway too. Our sidewalk was already cleared, so I figured it was OK if spent the time helping me on the driveway. In any case, he worked on it for about 3 minutes and had it almost completely done. I was very grateful.
I Found God today in a helpful young man.
My mom made it back to exercise class after 4 weeks recovering from painful sciatica and bursitis. When we arrived, there were some noticeable changes. One of the college students is pregnant and due to give birth in about 2 weeks. I think her baby doubled in size while we were away as her tiny frame enhanced the size of her basketball shaped belly. But the most noticeable change was almost miraculous. One of the ladies in the class had such stooped posture with her neck and head bent over so far that if you wanted to talk to her face to face, you had to crouch down. When we saw her today she was almost completely upright. It was amazing. She was just beaming as she told us how much work she was doing with the teachers of the class. We told her how awesome it was to see such improvement and to see her beautiful face. She is such a source of encouragement.
I Found God today in an amazing improvement for a persistent woman.
Still Finding God 