Leave a comment

The Big Mailing

Posted by eph21920 on September 29, 2017 in Family

One of the ladies in my small church group works for the parish as a ministry leader. Recently I offered to help her with some tasks that I might be able to do at home. So, I have been helping her with some mailings. My mom and dad have been helping to stuff envelopes as well. Today I went to the church and picked up a very large mailing that needed to be put into envelopes with a letter, church bulletin, and a flyer. The woman from the office and I counted out approximately how many bulletins I would need and I headed home where my mom and I got to stuffing. The amount of bulletins I brought home was the exact amount we needed – perfect. But, I did run out of the flyers. I headed back to the church and scoured the places where there were more. I did find just enough to finish putting the mailing together. Maybe this doesn’t sound miraculous, but I have done enough mailings to realize how frustrating it can be to run out of things. It just pushes the project back further. I was happy to get it all done and to have my mom’s help.

I Found God today being able to complete a large task and having my mom’s help.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Meeting People

Posted by eph21920 on September 28, 2017 in Connected, Family, Friends, Joy, Life, New

It is difficult to meet people and make friends when you move to a new place. Since my son moved here a few months ago, he has gotten to know a couple of people he works with, and met a couple people at the gym. A friend of mine’s granddaughter is part of a young professionals group that she really enjoys, so I passed along the information to my son. He attended one of the events tonight and had a great time meeting new people. He told me all about it. He even met someone else that works in his company that he didn’t know before. Most of all, he was excited that he now had a foundation of people to do things with. I knew it would take some time to get a group of friends together and glad that the evening worked out so well for him.

I Found God today in my son’s joy.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Their New Ramp

Posted by eph21920 on September 27, 2017 in Answer, Generosity

When my mom is at her Parkinson’s exercise class, I chat with some caregivers of the other participants. Today, one of the ladies whose husband has Parkinson’s showed us a picture of the new ramp in her garage. Her nephew came to visit for a few days with the purpose of constructing a ramp for them. She said he has spent a lot of time on mission trips where he built many ramps and other structures for people who needed them. He also accompanied youth on some of the trips. She said she was grateful for that, as she did her best to help him and he was very patient with her. They were going to see some sites while he was here, but the rainy weather made that less appealing. Instead, he did some work on the landscaping in between raindrops. He sounded like such a caring, giving individual, and the ramp he built was truly a work of art. I thought the woman and her husband are very blessed to have such a nephew.

I Found God today in a loving, talented individual who brought much joy to his family.

Permalink
Leave a comment

More Than You Think

Posted by eph21920 on September 26, 2017 in Family, Life

Last week, my dad and brother worked hard at replacing some siding on the cabin. Today, a friend was over and my dad was telling her about the labor intensive task. He said he was pleasantly surprised as to how much physical work he was able to do for several days in a row. The friend replied that we are really able to do a lot more than we think we can. So true. Yesterday, my mom went to her Parkinson’s exercise class and had a very difficult workout. When she was done, her back was hurting and she groaned just getting into the car. She said she didn’t think she was even going to be able to move by the afternoon. However, today she didn’t have any more pain than usual and was zipping around the house. She and my dad went for a walk and she went all the way around the circle of the complex – 1/2 mile. She hasn’t done that in a very long time.

I Found God today in both my parents being able to do more than they thought they could.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Not Just Lip Service

Posted by eph21920 on September 25, 2017 in Answer, Connected, Faith, Life

I met with a group of people from my church tonight. We do a bible study of sorts, reading over scripture for the upcoming week and discussing it. Then when I hear the Gospel at church and listen to the homily, it is more meaningful. Tonight we talked about the Parable of the Two Sons – Matthew 21:28-32. We got stuck on the fact that when the father asked the first son to go work in his vineyard, the son said he would – but he did not. We just kept coming up with so many examples in our own lives of promising to do things and then not doing them. It made me want to try to be more intentional of what I do and why – not just going through the motions and paying lip service.

I Found God today in a reminder to think about what I am doing – to be more intentional.

Permalink
Leave a comment

What is Fair

Posted by eph21920 on September 24, 2017 in Answer, Faith, Grateful, Life, Love, Mercy

In our society, we seem to have the need to put a value on everything and everyone. At the same time we want to make sure that everyone is treated fair and equal. Those two notions can – and do – clash. I think it depends on your view of what is “fair” and “equal”. Today’s scripture readings at church included the story of the owner of a vineyard who paid each worker the same amount of money – regardless if they worked for 1 hour or for all day. This didn’t seem fair to the workers who were there all day long. Of course, the story has a deeper meaning that was explained by the priest. God is like the vineyard owner and He will keep His promise of eternal life in Heaven to those who turn to him – whether that be early in life, or later. That may not seem fair to people who have lived long lives doing their best to follow God, when others live a life doing whatever they please and turn to God much later. In reality, doing whatever we want in life doesn’t necessarily mean being peaceful, happy, content, or joyful. One of the other readings pointed out that God’s ways are not our ways. His love and mercy extends far beyond what we are even capable of understanding. That is what I am most grateful for.

I Found God today holding fast to His promise of love and mercy.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Perfect Timing

Posted by eph21920 on September 23, 2017 in Answer, Friends, Fun, Home, Uncategorized

At the beginning of summer, my dad and brother worked on a plan to replace some of the siding on the cabin. It took a while to decide exactly what to do and get all the needed materials. Since then, it has been a waiting game. They needed a few days of dry weather in a row to get the project underway. That finally happened last week and the work was completed yesterday. Just in time, as there was a lot of rain today. Today, my sister came to spend the day with my parents. I took advantage of the situation and a friend, my son, and I went to the local chile festival. When we arrived, we were going to park and take the free shuttle in, but the line was so long we decided to try to find a parking place. As we made our way around the area, we came to the entry gate and turned down a packed street. Just then, a car was pulling out of a spot and we were able to park only about 1 block away. Perfect timing. We had a great time at the festival and the rain held out for us. As we left, a car followed us and asked if we were leaving and if they could have our parking spot. Perfect timing for them too. When we got home, it was pouring, so we hung out for a while. My sister lives an hour away, so she kept an eye on the weather radar. When there was a lull in activity outside, she saw an opening in the storms passing through and made her way back. When she arrived home, she said the rain had just started about 15 minutes from her house, but she was glad she made it before dark.

I Found God today in perfect timing.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Eventful Drive

Posted by eph21920 on September 22, 2017 in Humor, Life

Our drive home from the cabin today was interestingly eventful. I had only been driving about 5 minutes when a small buck came onto the road and started crossing right in front of me. I had to put the brakes on to avoid hitting him. I guess it scared him too, as he turned around and went back into the trees. A little while later, I noticed something was spilled onto the road in my lane. I slowed way down and as I passed on the other side of the road, we realized it was boxes of long nails. I was thinking the words when my dad said we should go back and get them out of the way. I turned around, found a pull off, and my dad and I got to work. There were probably hundreds of long screws, huge nails, and giant bolts. Another person stopped to help and took them all with him once we got it all cleared. We continued on. Soon, we came to another deer at the edge of the road on the other side of a fence. She had that, “I’m going to jump over this fence.” look about her, so I slowed way down. She did jump the fence, but luckily she waited until we passed. We also saw 2 police offers inspecting a car on the side of the road. And at a stop light in the city, a beggar holding a sign standing in the median ended up in front of a line of cars trying to turn. He was in the street, people honked, then he was back up on the median again. My favorite unexpected occurrence happened just inside the city. I saw a man walking on the other side of the road, but headed in my directions. He had a fist in the air, a sign around his neck, and was pulling what appeared to be a wagon full of children. as he got closer, I could read his sign – “Be Positive”. He was in fact pulling 3 wagons with not children in them, but large stuffed animals – a giraffe, lion, tiger. It made me laugh and I gave him a fist pump right back. It was quite an eventful drive that kept me on my toes and I was happy to make it back home safe and sound.

I Found God today in an eventful, yet safe drive.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Handiwork

Posted by eph21920 on September 21, 2017 in Faith, Family, Grateful, Home

My mom and I made a trip up to the cabin today where my dad and brother were doing some repair work. After lunch I offered my assistance and did some priming. It reminded me of all the “Workcamps” I had been to with teenagers when I was a youth minister. Those experiences were always challenging and amazing at the same time. Each resident had a unique story of struggle and hardship. Our crews of 5 teens and an adult did the best we could to repair and/or repaint their homes. We prayed our way through many difficult situations and praised God in the successes. I learned a lot about people and God. I also learned a lot about home repair and was happy to practice it at my own house when necessary. At the cabin, my dad and brother replaced some siding. The goal for today was to get everything ready to paint tomorrow. There was some caulking that needed to be done as well, which is one of my favorite things to do. My dad asked if I had done that before and if I could make it nice and neat. We went outside and I demonstrated my handiwork. He was impressed and I felt accomplished.

I Found God today being grateful for what I learned and able to accomplish.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Grandson Grandma Evening

Posted by eph21920 on September 20, 2017 in Children, Family, Friends, Fun

Tonight was the monthly get together with friends I have known for many years. However, my dad and brother were away, which left my mom and I. I asked my mom if she would like to come to the restaurant with me, but it is difficult for her to hear in such places. So, I asked my son if he would like to come over and have dinner with his grandmother. He accepted. While I was gone, he finished preparing the meal. Then they played games – evidently my mother was the big winner. Then my son gave a little concert by playing the piano and singing. They had a very enjoyable evening together.

I Found God today as my son and mother enjoyed an evening together.

Permalink