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Back To It

Posted by eph21920 on July 7, 2025 in Eucharist, Faith, Friends, Generosity, Grateful, Life, Prayer, Relationship

I have had visitors since I returned from my vacation. My brother left this afternoon, so I was alone once again for the first time in 6 weeks. I ended some of the activities that kept me busy before vacation, such as physical therapy and counselling. But today I picked back up with other commitments that I am continuing. This morning I visited an elderly woman with dementia that I have been bringing Holy Communion to on a weekly basis. We just picked up where we left off, though I’m not sure she really knows who I am, and it doesn’t even matter. I pulled up a picture of the United States and told her about the different places I had visited. She is just a joy to talk and pray with, and her family is so gracious. In the afternoon I met with my prayer group. It was good to see them, visit, and pray with as well. I also shared some of my travel stories. As I got back to the “normalcy” of life, I was happy to reflect again on my trip. I felt so grateful and blessed to have amazing people in my life in 2 completely different locations and situations.

I Found God today in the amazing people He has put in my life.

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Rainy Camping

Posted by eph21920 on July 6, 2025 in Creation, Family, Food, Fun, Life, Past, Weather

Tonight my brother and I were invited to our neighbor’s for dinner. She wanted to have an outside picnic. The weather was questionable, but seemed ok when we sat at the outside tables. It did start sprinkling on the guys, so we had to rearrange a bit. We got to talking about camping in the rain. Our neighbor said how much she disliked camping in general, mostly because it would always rain and she would just be wet and cold. I remembered and told the stories of my camping days. Many years ago we had a big pickup truck and would go camping every weekend that we could. Usually we were joined by family and/or friends. We started in a tent, then had a topper on the bed of the truck and would sleep inside, then had a cab-over camper that was really too big, and finally settled on a pop-up camper that sat in the bed of the truck. We used that for years. It did rain often, which was expected when you do things outside, and there were a couple of occasions that I got wet and cold. But, in general, we enjoyed camping so much that the rainy times didn’t dampen our spirits. Those were wonderful times being outdoors and enjoying friends and family.

I Found God today remembering outdoors camping.

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Healthy Plants

Posted by eph21920 on July 5, 2025 in Answer, Creation, Family, Grateful

This morning one brother and my sister said goodbye and went back to their places. I was grateful for the time we all spent together. Later, I got a call from my son who unexpectedly invited us over for dinner. He has a smoker and was cooking a large amount of pulled pork to share. So, my brother and I went on over and enjoyed the delicious food. While I was away on my recent trip, my son’s fiancee took care of the plants in the house. They were so beautiful when I got back home. And one of the orchids had grown a new flower stem. I thanked her for the TLC she showed to my plants.

I Found God today in plants and family.

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Pink Pearl

Posted by eph21920 on July 4, 2025 in Family, Fun, Grateful, Happiness, Joy

My brothers, sister and I had a wonderful 4th of July. We took turns cooking our specialty meals and making homemade ice cream. When I was on vacation, one of our stops was Lake Eerie. While we were there, I bought a packaged fresh water oyster that was promised to have a pearl inside. I gave it to my sister. We took it outside to open it as per the recommendation of the sales clerk. My sister looked up the directions and managed to pry open the oyster. It did have a rather fowl smell and we were glad we were outside. And she found the beautiful pink pearl that was hiding inside. It was so much fun. We visited and went through some estate items. We played games, laughed, and watched the nearby fireworks. I really enjoyed having most of my siblings together and was grateful for the day.

I Found God today with my siblings.

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Playing the Accordion

Posted by eph21920 on July 3, 2025 in Children, Connected, Family, Joy, Music, Past

Both my brothers, one sister and I got all together tonight. It was a mini reunion. We were only missing our younger sister. The 4 of us went to our favorite German restaurant and ordered our favorite German foods and drinks. It was delicious. At the end of our meal, the accordion player came out donning his lederhosen. He was quite a showman. We remembered how our mom played the accordion and how we tried to. It was a very heavy and burdensome instrument. I remembered my mom telling me which buttons to push while she played the keyboard and pumped the bellows. Those were good memories. She was an amazing musician and she passed her love of music to each of us.

I Found God today remembering my mom’s love of music.

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Gift at Cathedral de Santiago

Posted by eph21920 on July 2, 2025 in Answer, Connected, Faith, Friends, Prayer, Priest

Several weeks ago, a friend of mine who is a priest shared that he was going to be walking the Camino in Spain – The Way of St. James. He said he would bring intentions that were shared with him, so I included one. I had seen photos of when he and his group arrived, but had not really been on social media while I was on vacation. Today I looked him up and saw the details of his trip. It looked like an amazing journey. Then I saw that he actually had the incredible honor and privilege of concelebrating the Holy Mass at the main altar of Catedral de Santiago de Compostela. I was in awe as I looked at the photos of him in the huge, ornate cathedral. I thought about how he was bringing prayer intentions with him and what a blessing for them to be brought to this altar. In his post, he said he was so grateful for the gift of his priesthood. There are likely thousands who are also grateful for his priesthood. I am one of them.

I Found God today seeing a friend’s pilgrimage experience.

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Enjoying Outdoors

Posted by eph21920 on July 1, 2025 in Creation, Family, Joy

The same day I returned from my trip, my brother arrived for a visit. We have been going out and about, enjoying the summer weather and scenery, and having fun. We have gone on a hike, went to the zoo, and went to lunch at our favorite German restaurant. We reminisced about visiting the same places with our mom and dad remembered how much they loved them. It was bittersweet as there was happiness talking about the fun times, but also sadness of the difficult times and in our missing them. At the same time, we have truly appreciated the beautiful outdoors, the animal antics, and the delicious food. It’s been tiring, but in a good way.

I Found God today in His Creation.

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Trip Reflection

Posted by eph21920 on June 29, 2025 in Connected, Creation, Faith, Family, Food, Friends, Generosity, Grateful, Joy, Love, Relationship, Travel

I have missed my weekly Zoom meetings with my siblings for several weeks now since I was traveling. So, I was happy to connect with them today. I told them a couple of stories about the trip. I also visited a neighbor and told them a couple of stories too. Talking about the road trip got me to think about the experience and the blessings. We were away for 31 days, went through 22 states and put over 6500 miles on my car. I went to the beach several times, saw beautiful countryside, picked fresh strawberries, went to Mass often, walked downtown, walked in nature, and ate a lot of fresh seafood. I got to know my grandson in a whole different way. Pretty early on the trip we learned how best to communicate with each other and how to be patient with one another. One example is that my grandson was warmer than me. When we arrived in the hotel room, he would crank up the air conditioning and claim the bed next to it. Right before we went to sleep, I would turn the air conditioning down, leave the fan running, and build a fort with the extra pillows as I didn’t like to feel the blowing air. We were both very happy that the air conditioning in the car had a separate control for the driver and passenger. We also learned that we have many things in common such as enjoying chess, farmer’s markets, thrift stores, taking photos, and chatting with new people. My grandson got to see his friends who were still in the area and his aunts and cousin. I visited with more people that I can even count. I didn’t realize how much I missed them and the faith community. God was present and active in every conversation and meeting, regardless of the length of time. The generosity, love and encouragement I felt was at times overwhelming. What started in my head as a road trip to visit some friends turned out to be an amazing experience that I could never have anticipated. I continually thank God for how good He is to me and my grandson.

I Found God today reflecting on the incredibly blessed road trip.

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Picking Out the Suit

Posted by eph21920 on June 28, 2025 in Family, Grateful, Life, Love, Marriage, Shopping

Today I had the amazing privilege to go with my son to pick out a suit for his wedding day. He had tried a couple of stores, but struggled to find something that fit him properly. He picked me up and while we were on our way to the shop, he told me about the place. It was a custom suit designer where the buyer was able to pick out everything – fabric, liners, exact colors, even down to the buttons. I was getting a little worried as I knew nothing of such things. Luckily, one of his friends who is also a groomsman met us there. He has very good fashion sense and I was glad he was present. The young man at the store said he had created over 600 suits. He started by measuring my son in all the ways that are needed, then had him try on a pair of pants and jacket. The salesman made notes about where the clothing needed to be taken in, or let out some. Then we got down to the business of the details. My son and his friend had photos of the suits the groomsmen would be wearing and discussed the color palette. The 2 of them made all the needed decisions. My contribution was to show the difference designs of the suits that were on display and to be supportive. At the end of the session, I feel they created a beautiful suit that is going to look amazing on my son as he marries the love of his life. I felt so blessed that my son invited me to go with him, even though I really wasn’t much help.

I Found God today helping my son prepare for his wedding.

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Home Safe

Posted by eph21920 on June 26, 2025 in Answer, Family, Grateful, Life, Travel

My grandson and I made it home today from our big road trip. It was a long, yet quick 5 day drive back. I dropped my grandson off first. When we pulled into his driveway and turned off the car, we looked at each other and together said, “We did it!” He was so excited to see his family and there were hugs all around. We shared a few stories and he was overjoyed to give his mom the gift he got her. Their dogs seemed to be in disbelief that he was home and their newest puppy had grown so much in a month. After we unloaded all his things, I headed home. Some of the neighbors were outside and welcomed me home. All the plants and flowers outside were so lush and big and beautiful. I felt like I had been gone so long. My grandson and I had an amazing trip on so many levels. I am grateful for so many things – mostly for safety. Now we are both looking forward to sleeping in our own beds tonight.

I Found God today arriving home safe after a wonderful trip.

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