Leave a comment

Virtual Reality

Posted by eph21920 on March 4, 2018 in Answer, Faith, Life

Today’s reflection at church was given by the deacon. He said that his son gave him a set of the virtual reality goggles and showed him how to use them. The deacon described his experience. First, he watched some of the Olympics and was amazed at the clarity and 360 degree view. Then, he tried some skiing of his own. He felt like he was truly there and could almost feel the snow and wind in his face as he enjoyed flying down the hill. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. It was his son telling him to be careful. He didn’t even realize he was off-balance and about to fall. Luckily, the kitchen counter was right in front of him to grab and hold on to. As he took off the goggles, it took him a few minutes to get acclimated to his real surroundings. The deacon compared his experience to that of our life with God. As we live our lives in this world, it can seem unreal. The things of this world can captivate us and we can get caught up in materialism, gluttony, drugs, or even violence, and think that is the way life is. We can get off kilter without even realizing it as we head down that slippery slope. Hopefully there will be someone there to remind us to be careful. We can reach out for God and hang on to Him as he grounds us in truth and love. I thought it was a great analogy.

I Found God today in a meaningful analogy of virtual reality.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Speaking of Micah

Posted by eph21920 on March 3, 2018 in Bible, Faith, Forgiveness

Yesterday, I wrote about a police officer who was tragically killed in the line of duty. His name was Micah. When I opened up the scripture readings for today, the first one was from Micah. He was one of the prophets from the Old Testament. In the scripture, he spoke of the incredible forgiveness that God offers to us, “. . . removes guilt and pardons sins . . . does not persist in anger . . .will again have compassion on us . . .” This is the forgiveness that Micah’s wife was talking about  – the kind that prompted her to forgive. I thought it was an amazingly timed scripture and gave me reason to contemplate.

I Found God today in His well-timed scripture.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Faith of a Grieving Widow

Posted by eph21920 on March 2, 2018 in Death, Eternity, Faith, Forgiveness, Hope

Not too long ago, there was a tragic shooting resulting in the death of a local police officer. Since then, there has been an outpouring of support for the family – even 2 men in prison sent them some money. The wife has remained out of the spotlight until the other day. She read a statement she prepared, then talked about her choice to forgive the man who killed her husband. She said, “I know that Jesus forgave me of things I absolutely did not deserve to be forgiven for, and that he commands us to forgive as we have been forgiven,” she said. “But it’s really important with forgiveness to remember that forgiveness is not saying that what that other person did is OK, that I should allow them to continue doing anything of the sort or that I do not continue to be in pain because of what they did.” It was a beautiful example of living faith. You can see the full story here.

I Found God today in the strength and faith of a grieving widow.

Permalink
2 Comments

Be Careful What You Pray For

Posted by eph21920 on March 1, 2018 in Answer, Doctor, Faith, Family, Patience

I have heard “Be careful what you pray for – you just might get it!” I pray for patience on a regular basis. Today was an exercise in that virtue. My mom and I left the house this morning after breakfast for her first doctor’s appointment. I even left the breakfast dishes in the sink to make sure we arrived on time, which we did. After 45 minutes of waiting, they finally called her in for the first exam and questions from the nurse. Then we went back into the waiting room before going into another exam room to wait for the doctor. When he arrived, he spent about 2 minutes with us, which was really all we needed, but we ended up finally seeing him after being there for over an hour. We had planned on going home before her second doctor’s appointment, but didn’t have time so we headed straight over. Luckily we did have time to split a salad at the hospital cafe before needing to check in. When we arrived at the check in desk, we found that she was scheduled for the wrong doctor. We changed the appointment and headed back out. The hospital has a valet service that we used, which makes it much easier for my mom. But we had to wait over 30 minutes for them to retrieve the car. We were able to make a quick stop at the bank and drug store on the way home, so we were a little productive. When we finally got back home almost 5 hours after leaving, I was greeted by the dirty breakfast dishes waiting for me. As a priest friend always says, “Oh, sigh…” All in all, my mom and I did a pretty good job not losing our cool. I also have heard that if you pray for something, such as patience, God may not just give it to you, but give you the opportunity to grow in that way. That seemed very true today.

I Found God today practicing patience.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Worried Wife

Posted by eph21920 on February 28, 2018 in Answer, Doctor, Friends, Grateful, Happiness

While my mom participates in her exercise class, I chat with the other caregivers. One woman, whose husband has had Parkinson’s for 12 years now, shared the other day that they were very concerned about the way the disease was progressing. At the encouragement of the physical therapists, they made an appointment with a movement disorder specialist. She was very worried leading up to the appointment that there may be something more serious wrong with her husband. They spent the day yesterday with the doctor. They were in my mind and I prayed for them throughout the day. Today the gentleman was at exercise class and I was able to talk with his wife. The specialist did not find any other reason for concerns other than Parkinson’s – which is enough on its own. He increased the dosage of medication for the man and hopefully there will be an improvement now. The wife was so relieved.

I Found God today in good news for a worried wife.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Generous Mom

Posted by eph21920 on February 27, 2018 in Family, Food, Generosity, Stranger

My mom, her friend, my dad, sister, and I all went to lunch this afternoon. My mom ate half her very large sandwich and boxed the other half to take home. On the way home, we stopped at an intersection and noticed a man standing there. He held a sign that read, “Homeless and hungry, anything helps.” We looked around the car for a water bottle to give him, but there were none. My mom read his sign out loud and looked at her sandwich. I could see her wheels turning and noticed the sandwich as well. She said she wanted to give it to the man, so we asked him if he wanted it. He said yes, thank you, and seemed grateful as he took a bite before our light turned green. I hope he enjoyed it. Later, when I thought about him, I said a prayer for him as well.

I Found God today in my generous mom.

Permalink
1 Comment

Miraculous Vision

Posted by eph21920 on February 26, 2018 in Answer, Family, Grateful, Healing, Miracle

Since my mom had her first cataract surgery last week, the results have been questionable. Between all the eye drops, she has been trying to see assorted things at different distances. While there has seemed to be some improvement in clarity, it has still been blurry. Tonight after I finished putting in the drops, she looked at the TV and exclaimed, “I can see!” Evidently the eye suddenly cleared. My mom could see the TV clearly and the colors were very vibrant. She said she had never seen it like that before. She could even read the small print. She said it was a miracle and began tearing up, but didn’t want to cry and wash it all away. She stayed up a little later enjoying the new vision and was sad when she finally had to get to bed. We all rejoiced in the moment.

I Found God today in my mom’s miraculous new vision. Continue Reading »

Permalink
Leave a comment

Call to Action

Posted by eph21920 on February 25, 2018 in Answer, Life, Plan, Struggles

At church this morning, the priest opened his homily by saying, “I haven’t been sleeping well lately – only about 3 hours a night.” I wondered where this was going. He explained that since the school shooting in Florida, he has not been able to get the tragedy out of his mind. He met with some of his staff people and volunteers and went over safety issues in the church building. They outlined some changes that needed to be addressed. How sad, I thought, that this has to be a topic for discussion. At the same time, I was glad that he wasn’t just burying his head in the sand and was being pro-active. He continued by saying how easy it is to point fingers and blame a disaster on this person or that person, this reason or that reason, this thing or that thing. But, we must first look at ourselves. He challenged us to think about how we treat one another and to do better. We should concentrate on reaching out to others, to act with kindness towards each other. This is, after all, what Jesus did and as Christians, we should emulate. He spoke powerful words with a powerful voice and received a round of applause when he was finished. His call to action was energizing and empowering.

I Found God today in a resounding call to action.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Speaking to Strangers

Posted by eph21920 on February 24, 2018 in Connected, Friends, Grateful, Joy, Stranger

I was grateful to be able to attend a Caregiver Pampering Day today. A couple other ladies I have met in caregiver groups were there too. The day was inspiring, collaborative, joyful, relaxing, and encouraging. At dinner with my parents tonight, we read the scripture and meditation for the day. It was based on Jesus’ teaching that we are to love even those who don’t love us. The reading challenged us to get outside our comfort zone and speak to someone we don’t know. We thought about it and each had an example of how we did that today. At the event I went to, I sat with the ladies that I knew. Another woman was sitting next to me. It seemed that she was alone, so I chatted with her a bit. I know what it feels like to be alone in a crowd like that. I bumped into her again during the day and we talked more. Then she sat with us during lunch. As the other ladies talked, I made sure she was introduced and included in the conversation. When my dad walked down to the community mailbox, he met a new neighbor and struck up a conversation. My sister took my mom to a home and garden show this morning. As they were walking around, my mom said she noticed a man who was watching her. She nodded and said hello. He had a basket of chocolates and brought them to her, so she even got a reward. It can be uncomfortable being the first to speak to a stranger, but each of us found joy in doing it today.

I Found God today in joy speaking to strangers.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Griping to Grateful

Posted by eph21920 on February 23, 2018 in Grateful, Humility

We watched another episode of Olympics tonight and saw an interview with Mikaela Shiffrin. She said after she won her gold medal, she took the time to enjoy the moment when she is usually thinking about what she has to do for the next event. She soaked in the moment and showed her emotions. After that, things did not go well for her and she found herself getting upset about the delays and not being able to race. She said she was asking, “Why do bad things happen to good people? Like it was the end of the world.” Then she realized that she was lucky to have won the gold medal when so many others do not win a medal at all. She talked about how she realized her thinking was all wrong. She started to think more positive and be more grateful. She did win a silver medal as well. But she talked about how much more she has learned through the process – how competing is about more than just winning medals. It was a thoughtful, uplifting interview.

I Found God today in a thoughtful young woman.

Permalink