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Celebrating and Resting

Posted by eph21920 on January 15, 2017 in Birthday, Family, Friends, Fun, Happiness, Laughter, Life

Yesterday, my sisters came for the day. We celebrated one of my sister’s birthday. I really enjoy putting together events, even small family parties. I have so much fun deciding what kind of cake to make and what kind of dinner to have. After the family celebration, we went to a painting party to celebrate some friend’s birthdays along with my sister’s. This was the second time I had been to this kind of event. This time I wasn’t as afraid to begin putting paint on the blank canvas. I was surprised at how much I had learned from the first experience and was able to make some adjustments that actually worked. Of course, much of the fun is spending time with friends. As we visited, I realized that I hadn’t seen some of the people in a year. I just don’t know how that time goes by so fast. The evening was filled with creativity and laughter. When we returned home, my sisters, my dad and I lovingly critiqued our artwork. I put my picture next to my first and was happy to see some improvement. It was a wonderful day. So wonderful, that I slept more than my fair share today.

I Found God today celebrating followed by resting.

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A Parkinson’s Story

Posted by eph21920 on January 14, 2017 in Answer, Grateful, Opportunity, Sick, Struggles

My mom and I went to the Parkinson’s support group. I was excited to hear about a new therapy that is available. The medication is received via a pump and a tube that is inserted into the stomach. One of the big benefits is that the patient receives the same amount of medication throughout the day even during hospitalizations. This was such a big problem when my mom was in rehab. She wasn’t getting her medications on time and it was a constant battle. I heard a little about the new therapy and thought it sounded like a great idea. One of the patients spoke about his own experience with the device and how much it had helped him. He was struggling to have get his symptoms under control without having dyskinesia or uncontrolled movements. He would go from one extreme of not being able to move to the other. I was so impressed with this man’s courage and ability to share his story with the group. Even though he was not perfectly controlled, he was clear in his message and humorous. It was difficult for him, but he had such a great attitude. However, the more I heard about the device, the more I realized the system would be too complicated for my mom. I didn’t say anything, but my mom did as we were standing in line for lunch. She said point blank , “I don’t think this system is for me.” I agreed. It is so good to be on the same page with my mom as we look into more information about Parkinson’s and find the best way to manage the disease.

I Found God today in a courageous man and learning more about my mom’s disease and the treatment options that are available.

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Secure Your Mask First

Posted by eph21920 on January 13, 2017 in Answer, Friends, Life

I had lunch with a friend today. At one point we were talking about how challenging life can be at times. She said how important it is to take care of yourself. Her motto follows the instructions you hear in the airplane before you take off – in an emergency, an oxygen mask will drop down, if you are travelling with children or someone who needs assistance, secure your own mask first, then assist the other person. My friend said that makes so much sense. You can’t be much help to anyone if you aren’t taking care of yourself first. It isn’t selfish – it is necessary. I loved her analogy and appreciated her words of wisdom.

I Found God today with a reminder of how important it is to take care of myself.

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Barnacles on the Ship of Life

Posted by eph21920 on January 12, 2017 in Answer, Doctor, Grateful, Humor, Laughter

My dad had another doctor appointment today. This one was with the dermatologist. My dad had a couple of spots that were concerning to my mom and me. The first one to see him was the intern. He made the rounds with his can of liquid nitrogen and froze some pre-cancerous spots. Those that we were most worried about turned out to be fine. The intern called them “wisdom spots”. My dad liked the sound of that. After a bit, the doctor came in for a double check. My dad proudly told him about his “wisdom spots”. He took a look at them and agreed they were nothing to worry about. He said they were “barnacles on the ship of life”. I thought that was one of the funniest things I heard. We laughed about it all afternoon. We were all happy for two appointments in two days with good news and joyful doctors. It helped to re-energize my dad.

I Found God today in good news and joyful doctors.

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Not Judging

Posted by eph21920 on January 11, 2017 in Answer, Doctor, Family, New, Stranger

My dad had another appointment with the cardiologist today. He doesn’t see his doctor every time he goes, though. When he last saw the doctor, he made adjustments to my dad’s blood pressure medication as they try to get that more controlled. Today’s follow up appointment was with one of the Nurse Practitioners. The office called a couple of days ago to change the time of the appointment. That was fine. Then they called yesterday and said the NP was not going to be available and they would like to schedule him with their new NP. My dad reluctantly agreed, but tried to keep an open mind. I could tell he was nervous going in. The woman he saw was young and pretty and smiled a lot as she spoke with my dad. That helped immediately. She had read the previous notes and was familiar with the changes made to the medication. She fully understood the situation and everything that my dad brought to her attention. She reassured him that he is really doing very well and gave more guidance on the blood pressure issue. My dad felt fully confident in the appointment. When we talked about it later, he said that is why we shouldn’t judge people right off the bat. So true.

I Found God today in a good example of not judging people.

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Don’t Overthink

Posted by eph21920 on January 10, 2017 in Answer, Connected, Family, Job

Each morning my parents and I have been reading a meditation book with a paragraph or two that gives us food for thought to carry throughout the day. This morning the first line was, “Beware of overthinking things.” My dad talked about the importance and need to look at things from all angles before making a decision. I agree to some extent, but I can make myself crazy thinking and rethinking things over and over again. The message was to live in the present moment, not worrying, and putting your attention on God who has you in the palm of His hand. Later in the day, my brother called. He has been taking an online course and has been talking about starting his own business. I was glad we were on video chat so we could see his excitement as he told us that he took the steps to begin his business. He settled on a name, websites, tag line, and description. As we talked, he said that he had recently watched a workshop about getting started and the advice was, “Don’t overthink it.” It was very helpful to him and got him motivated. We figured today’s meditation was meant specifically for him.

I Found God today in my brother’s example of not overthinking things.

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Uprooted

Posted by eph21920 on January 9, 2017 in Faith, Grateful, Problem

Every morning when I open my curtains, I peer out my window and up the window well to look at the top of a tree so I can see what the weather is like. This morning I looked up, but didn’t see the tree top. I had been listening to the wind blowing and as I strained my neck, I could see the top of another tree blowing like crazy. I heard my parents chattering as they opened the blinds upstairs, so I went up to take a look. There was my morning tree leaning into another with half of it’s roots and a big chunk of earth coming up from the ground. As the wind gusts rose to near 100 mph, the tree bounced up and down, tearing the grass from around the rest of it’s base. We were waiting for it to come all the way down and land on the fence, but the other tree that it was leaning on kept that from happening. We were very grateful that it fell the opposite direction from the house. Several people including my dad called the HOA of the complex and they sent out a tree crew. When they arrived and assessed the situation, they realized that the tree had likely been planted incorrectly from the beginning as it didn’t have the large tap root that was necessary to anchor it in the ground. The tree couldn’t be saved. My parents and I and other neighbors watched as the crew got ready to cut it down. I had taken some pictures and videos and thought it necessary to also record the tree coming down, so I stood at the window with my phone aimed at the action. It didn’t take long for the guys to realize they were on camera. They all turned and waved before they got into position. They tied a rope to the top of the tree and then tied that to the base of another tree to hold it in place. Three of the guys held the rope while the fourth started the chain saw. My parents and I watched in anticipation. It only took about 2 minutes to cut through the trunk of the tree. At the last cut, the guys on the rope pulled hard and the tree top fell right between the trunk in the ground and the fence. We were very impressed. One of the guys made the sign of the cross and pointed up. My dad went out and congratulated the crew on a job well done. He came back in and reported that they were a family operation. The crew included the dad and his 3 sons. They gave my dad their business card so I could share some pictures and video with them. On the back of the business card was written Psalm 121. I looked up the scripture and it speaks of how God is our protector. I thought it was an incredibly appropriate and beautiful verse.

I Found God today in protection from a fallen tree and in a family business who shared their faith.

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Unexpected Memories

Posted by eph21920 on January 8, 2017 in Fun, Grateful, Joy, Life, Past, Youth

This morning when I looked at my phone, the first thing I saw was a picture from 10 years ago. It was me and the youth group I worked with at that time. Included with the picture was a thank you from one of the guys. I was overjoyed and humbled at the same time that the young man took the time to send the picture. It brought back so many memories as I looked over the faces of about 25 teenagers who are now young adults. We had some great times and, although they say they learned from me, I learned so much from them. I also saw the young man who died in an accident a few years later and remembered what a difficult time that was for everyone. These young people and their families changed my life and compelled me to grow in unexpected ways. I am in touch with some of them and feel blessed to see how they have grown over the years. It brought me joy all day to go back and look at the picture, read the note, and to pray for each individual.

I Found God today in a special memory shared by a considerate young man.

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Productive Without a Plan

Posted by eph21920 on January 7, 2017 in Answer, Family, Home, Plan

I used to wake up with a plan for the day and think of all the things that I wanted to accomplish. More times than not, I would have too many things on my mental list and not enough time to do them all, which would frustrate me. I have learned that things work better if I get up early, exercise, pray, and then see what is going on with my parents before I continue on with my day. That is what I did today. I had no plan. As I made breakfast, I noticed the kitchen throw rug needed to be vacuumed. I looked at the rest of the hardwood floor and saw that the whole kitchen floor needed to be cleaned. I figured I would clean the small table and take care of the floors after breakfast. After I did the dishes, I moved everything aside to wipe down one of the counters and realized it was in need of a good cleaning as well. So, I cleaned off the kitchen chairs and table, moved everything on all the counters and scrubbed them, shined the stove and microwave, and vacuumed and washed the floors. Oh yeah, I also did two loads of laundry. I even was able to get my mom outside for a walk and took one myself in the brisk winter air. I just kept doing the next thing that needed to be done. I could not believe how productive I was for a day that I had absolutely nothing planned.

I Found God today being productive without stressing about it.

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Remaining Joyful

Posted by eph21920 on January 6, 2017 in Answer, Children, Faith, Family, Joy

I used to have the ability to go to Mass just about every day. While admittedly, I sometimes felt it as an obligation, I always felt more at peace if I kept it up. One of my “resolutions” this year in my quest for peace is to try to get to Mass more often than just Sundays. I thought I would start with attending Mass on the first Friday of each month. I didn’t think about it again until this morning. I don’t know the reason, but I suddenly realized it was the first Friday. I looked up the Mass schedule for the nearby church and the time fell right into place for the day. I knew it was God giving me a nudge and I wanted to listen, so I headed to the church at noon. My parents and I had gone to this particular church before and my mom said that the deacon reminded her of my brother. He was there today and gave the homily. He talked about being a grandparent and how excited he and his wife are to see pictures and videos of their granddaughter who lives too far away. I could totally relate to everything he said. He expressed how the world around us can make us fearful, worried, and anxious. But if we trust in God, we can – and should – remain joyful. He said thinking about his granddaughter brings him tremendous joy. When we start to feel anxious, depressed, or worried, we can try to push away those thoughts and replace them with those that bring us joy. I appreciated his words and took them to heart.

I Found God today in a reminder of the joy in my life.

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