Leave a comment

Surprise Flowers

Posted by eph21920 on March 21, 2019 in Creation, Family, Joy

Today as my mom and I were out for a walk near the house, a flower delivery truck drove by. I wondered if he had delivered flowers to the house. When we got back home, we saw a big bouquet of flowers on the counter. We all thought for a minute, wondering if it was a special day. The card envelope said it was for my mom. My dad said he asked the delivery guy who it was from, and he didn’t have that information with him. My dad thought she might have a secret admirer. My mom read the card that said, “Happy Spring! Lots of love, hugs,” We still wondered who they were from. My dad read the card also and couldn’t find a name. I looked over the card too, then realized there was an additional card stuck to the first. It finished the message and was signed by my sister. It was a fun mystery for a few minutes and beautiful flowers to celebrate Spring.

I Found God today in an unexpected flower delivery.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Experiencing Shen Yun

Posted by eph21920 on March 20, 2019 in Family, Fun

In the past few months, there has been lots of advertising for the show, Shen Yun. Every time my mom saw it, she said she wanted to go. Eventually my dad bought the tickets. Today was the day of the show. The purpose of the dance company is to try to keep the ancient Chinese traditions and culture alive. According to the directors, the society is being controlled by the communist regime. Each individual dance in the show was introduced by a telling of the story we were about to see. The music was interesting, the costumes were stunning, and the athleticism of the dancers was unbelievable. There was also an Eastern spiritual tone that was played out focusing on peace and goodness. The backdrop included an animated video in which the characters would pop in and out. It was a beautiful and entertaining event. In our house, we never know what is going to happen from day to day,. We were all very happy we were able to get out and experience this fascinating show.

I Found God today in a captivating show.

Permalink
Leave a comment

God’s Timing and Encouragement

Posted by eph21920 on March 19, 2019 in Answer, Faith, Friends, Grateful

Today a friend stop by unexpectedly to return some dishes and stayed for a few minutes. While she was here, she offered some encouraging words and shared a bit about her faith. She did not know what perfect timing she had and how much I appreciated hearing what she had to say. I love it when God puts people in places at specific times and they have helpful words of wisdom.

I Found God today in God’s timing and encouragement.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Positive with Challenges

Posted by eph21920 on March 18, 2019 in Life, Struggles

One of the teacher’s at my mom’s exercise class is always full of energy. I learned today that she has a child in her 20’s who has special needs, a child in junior high, and a child in first grade. Her mother in law and father in law also recently moved in with them. Her husband travels from time to time. And she is working on her master’s degree. It is amazing the stories people have and the challenges they live with. I would not have thought her to have such a full plate and continue to be so bubbly and positive. Just proved to me again that you never know what people are going through.

I Found God today in the positive attitude of a woman with many challenges.

Permalink
Leave a comment

St. Patrick’s Breastplate

Posted by eph21920 on March 17, 2019 in Faith, Prayer

Today is St. Patrick’s Day – of course. We went to church at our usual church, St. Patrick’s. Before Mass started, we said the complete prayer known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate. I think most people know the part, “Christ before me, Christ behind me . . . etc.”, but I had never said the complete prayer before. It was beautiful.

“I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the innocence of holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through
The strength of heaven,
The light of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through
God’s strength to pilot me,
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.

I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul;
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.”

I Found God today in the complete prayer of St. Patrick’s Breastplate.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Back Outside

Posted by eph21920 on March 16, 2019 in Answer, Creation, Friends, Grateful, Opportunity, Weather

It is hard to believe we had a blizzard just a couple of days ago. Today there was not a cloud in the deep blue sky and the sun was warm and bright. My mom and I went out for a walk early in the day. But I needed more. I called a friend and she was available. So I went over to her place in the afternoon. She lives in the foothills and we just hiked from her house. Many parts of the trails were muddy, slushy, snowy, or icy. But that just made the trek more interesting. I was happy the spur of the moment idea came to fruition. It felt so good to be back outside.

I Found God today enjoying the outdoors and happy for an impromptu adventure.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Response to Anger

Posted by eph21920 on March 15, 2019 in Answer, Faith, Family, Humility, Life, Past, Prayer

This morning, my parent’s and I read a reflection on the scripture where Jesus says,

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment…”

We were to think about a time when we were angry, why, and how we responded to that anger. My mom said she doesn’t really get angry, which is true. But, she said she remembers probably the last time she was angry – about 40 years ago. I won’t go into the details, but in my opinion it was justified. She said she still remembers the incident and has a hard time letting go of it. She continues to pray about it. My mom is a saint.

I Found God today in my mom’s reaction to her anger.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Young Mother

Posted by eph21920 on March 14, 2019 in Baby, Grateful, Life, Opportunity

Today a friend and I visited a young woman who had a baby. The little guy is about 2 weeks old and so sweet. The young woman unfortunately doesn’t have the support of the father and is doing her best on her own. She lovingly held and stroked her newborn as she told us how things were going. I remembered that I was her age when I had my first son. And I remembered how I had no idea what I was doing. I was grateful for the people who were patient with me and helped me along the way. Today I was grateful for the opportunity to try to be a little of that for her.

I Found God today in a young mother.

Permalink
Leave a comment

The Blizzard

Posted by eph21920 on March 13, 2019 in Family, Friends, Grateful, Weather

For the past few days, the weather people have been forecasting a blizzard to hit our area today. They were right. By mid morning the snow was flying in the tremendous hurricane force wind. Although the lights flickered several times we remained inside, safe and warm. I conversed with my siblings and kids and with friends who were also all safe and warm at home. We compared notes and photos of what was happening around us. One of our trees blew over, yet not all the way down, leaning horizontal to the house so there was no danger of it harming the house. Overall it was a relaxing day with naps, meals, snacks, and movies. I was grateful for our safety.

I Found God today safe and warm in a blizzard.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Cooking with Family

Posted by eph21920 on March 12, 2019 in Connected, Family, Fun

My daughter in law has been doing some live videos of her cooking. I was able to get on the computer today and my parents and I watched. It was like sitting in her kitchen with the family as my son and the kids popped in and out too. They said hello to us as we had some interaction. It was quite fun and uplifting.

I Found God today watching my far away family being a family.

Permalink