Leave a comment

Respectful Grocer

Posted by eph21920 on October 26, 2017 in Connected, Hope, Stranger

Today as I was having my food rung up at the grocery store, I was watching an elderly gentleman in the adjacent lane. He had a Veteran’s ball cap on. The two young men who were helping him were chatting with him and very patient as he dug for his change. When he was finished, the young man who bagged his food passed the full cart to him. Then I heard him say, “Thank you for your service,” as he shook his hand. I couldn’t hear what the elderly man had to say, but the handshake lasted a while and they looked intently at one another as the man responded. I was impressed with the sincere and respectful young men and thought the exchange between the two generations was beautiful.

I Found God today in a respectful young grocer.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Enjoying Projects

Posted by eph21920 on October 25, 2017 in Family, Grateful, Home, Knowledge, Life, Past

My sister is very creative and has made several beautiful scrapbooks. She has helped my mom complete her family history book and is now helping my dad put together some of his treasured memories. A couple of weeks ago, they completed a page honoring my grandfather and nephew who trained in the same Navy base 100 years apart. My dad decided the next subject matter should about his father as a magician. My grandfather was a hobby magician since before my dad was born – and a pretty good one. He also owned a car sales company. His business cards read, “Magic is my hobby. I sell cars to make a living.” He did shows for several events and co-founded the Houdini Club of Wisconsin. My dad tells stories of the animals that he had in the house that were used in the shows. I remember many of the tricks and shows he did for us kids. My favorite was his zippered banana. Today my dad pulled out some of his old slides. He found pictures of his father performing and many other old pictures from the 1940’s and got busy printing. He very much enjoys working on these types of projects. This is one of the times when I am most grateful that I am able to be with my parents in their house. They can continue to do their things and I get to learn so much about their history – my history.

I Found God today enjoying my dad enjoying his project.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Holds Me to Task

Posted by eph21920 on October 24, 2017 in Children, Family, Grateful, Life, Relationship

Today one of those reminders popped up on my computer that shows what you did so many years ago. It was the blog post I wrote 4 years ago on my son’s birthday. I loved it – it brought back memories and at the same time I realized how some things don’t change. Among other things I wrote, “Of all my friends and family, he is the one who will call me out and hold me to task. He makes me want to be a better person.” This still remains true. He isn’t afraid to tell me when I am off track and/or out of line. Most of the time this is done in a loving manner, so I don’t feel too bad. I know I can get his truthful opinion and appreciate his honesty. I am continually grateful for our relationship.

I Found God today appreciating my son’s honesty.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Love Yourself

Posted by eph21920 on October 23, 2017 in Answer, Faith, Life, Love

Tonight I met with a “Small Church Community” that I connected with a few months ago. I really enjoy being with them and discussing faith. Tonight we talked about the scripture when Jesus announces the two greatest commandments – to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and to love your neighbor as yourself. I remembered a young woman who asked me what if you don’t love yourself? That led to a whole other discussion about loving yourself. Sometimes people feel like if they have faith, everything will work itself out. However, sometimes people get very depressed or struggle during a difficult time in their lives. Then, if they can’t pray their way out of it, they think there is something wrong with them. Sometimes we just need to go get help from others to make it through. One of the people in the group pointed out that even doing that is loving yourself. You find yourself worthy enough to seek the help you need instead of doing nothing about it, or just worrying. You want what is best for you. That made so much sense. One thing I love about meeting with the group is it helps me to see things in a different perspective.

I Found God today in a reminder of the ways to love yourself.

Permalink
Leave a comment

What Belongs to God

Posted by eph21920 on October 22, 2017 in Answer, Creation, Faith

Today, the Gospel reading at church included Jesus’ famous response, “… repay (render) to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” I thought the priest gave a great interpretation of the message. Perhaps I had heard it before, but it really struck me. The coin that was used to pay the Roman tax had the image of Caesar on it. Jesus acknowledged that belonged to Caesar and should be given to him. However, what belongs to God? Those with God’s image. What is that? All of US. We are told in the very beginning of the Bible that God made man in His own image. Every person in the world bears God’s image and belongs to God. It should be our response to first give ourselves to God in prayer, contemplation, and a loving heart. Then we can help give others to God in prayer and action. The message just touched my heart and reminded me that all of us regardless of race, income, physical ability, age, political ideas – we all belong to God and should be treated as such.

I Found God today in the reminder that all people were created by God for God.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Birthdays

Posted by eph21920 on October 21, 2017 in Birthday, Family, Food, Fun, Happiness

Today was one of my sons’ birthday, so I wished him a Happy Birthday from afar early this morning. My other son’s birthday is in a couple of days and he lives in the same town, so we celebrated his birthday today. His girlfriend was visiting from the east coast, which made it even more special. My son, his girlfriend, my sister, and I went to a local Halloween Brewfest in the afternoon while my other sister and her husband visited with my parents. My sister brought a box of costumes and as we picked something out to wear, my dad – even my mom – would try on assorted things. At the event, there were lots of people dressed in clever costumes – a scary clown on stilts, Barbie dolls in boxes, Bob Ross the painter, and two guys in those funny t-rex blow-up outfits. I went with the basic cat. This was the first time I went to an actual “adult” type event with my son. We all had a great time. Once we were back at home, I called my other son on video chat while I still had on my cat face. My granddaughter looked a long time before she said “kitty”! We made meowing sounds back and forth for a while. My son said he wanted a pumpkin birthday cake. I thought for a long time how I might decorate it. Then I saw a an idea on one of the TV programs and took off from there. I made small pumpkin shapes using small bundt pans and pumpkin cake batter that I got from a woman who made cupcakes. Once baked, they were drizzled with orange colored cream cheese icing. Last night my mom covered strawberries in melted white chocolate, which I put faces on to make ghosts. We made scary trees out of licorice and wire and fence posts out of pretzels dipped in chocolate. All the accessories went on top of a thin brownie topped with chocolate frosting and crushed Oreos to resemble dirt. It all came together very well and was delicious. It was such a fun day for everyone.

I Found God today in a fun family day.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Caring Support Group

Posted by eph21920 on October 20, 2017 in Friends, Stranger, Struggles

I have missed the monthly Parkinson’s Caregiver support groups recently due to various reasons and was happy that I was able to attend today. There were some new faces and some familiar ones. One woman who I chat with frequently told us that her husband has been in a long-term medical facility for about a month now. She told us the story of how he fell and hit his head. He was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and then moved to a facility in another city. He is in a pretty bad way, but there are signs of improvement. Of course, she is really struggling. Everyone in the group let her know that she is not alone and offered ways to help. People asked how she was taking care of herself and encouraged her to do what she needs to stay healthy. This is such a wonderful group of people who truly are there to support one another.

I Found God today in a group of caring, supportive people.

Permalink
Leave a comment

A Welcomed Invitation

Posted by eph21920 on October 19, 2017 in Creation, Grateful, Happiness, Joy

Today I took my mom to her exercise class and sat in the waiting area as always. There are usually a couple other caregivers there, but today I was alone as I watched the class. After about 20 minutes, a woman who I have met a couple of times walked in. She invited me to go outside for a walk. I happily accepted. As we walked, we compared notes about doctors and medication and such. I enjoyed walking and talking and taking in the sunshine and fresh air. I was so glad she invited me to join her.

I Found God today in a welcomed invitation.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Still Walking

Posted by eph21920 on October 18, 2017 in Answer, Family, Healing, Life

Due to her physical ailments, I think my mom has come to the grocery store with me maybe once or twice since I moved here 3 years ago. I had to make a grocery store run today and she decided to come along and help. So off we went. We split up the list and headed in different directions. When we reconnected, I was surprised that she still had more energy in her. We finished the shopping and went back home where she took some nice long rest time. She said she was exhausted from the experience, but at the same time it was so good for her. She had to figure out where things were, how much to get, and how to open those crazy produce bags that are so difficult (to me anyways). It was a challenging outing for her, but in a good way. She even took another walk around the complex this afternoon.

I Found God today as my mom challenged herself and is able to do more than anticipated.

Permalink
Leave a comment

St. Anthony Comes Through Again

Posted by eph21920 on October 17, 2017 in Answer, Faith, Family, Miracle, Prayer, Saint

A week ago Sunday, we went to church, then out to lunch as usual. Later that day, my mom realized she was missing an earring. We looked all over the house and the car to no avail. We said a prayer to St. Anthony and called the restaurant and the church. Neither had the earring, but I left a description and my information just in case. Nine days went by and we gave it up for lost. This morning as my mom took a necklace out to wear, a necklace with a St. Anthony pendant came out with it. My mom looked at the pendant, remembered her lost earring, and said a prayer to St. Anthony as he is the patron of lost items. This happened without my knowledge. As I was running errands this afternoon, I received a call from the restaurant saying they found an earring that sounded like the one we lost. I headed over there and sure enough – it was the missing earring. When I arrived home, my mom was elated and told my dad and I the story of her prayer. That made it even more amazing.

I Found God today in an answered prayer.

Permalink