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Family Joy

Posted by eph21920 on February 9, 2016 in Baby, Connected, Family, Joy

I was so happy today to video chat with my son, his wife, and their kids. I am used to my brothers calling and seeing one face on a phone or ipad, so the 5 of them really filled up the screen. We recapped the football game and my dad put on a bit of a fashion show of previous Super Bowl shirts. My son gave us a video tour of his home office where they were all huddled around his computer. The older grandson has been a teenager for 2 months now and I noticed his voice is getting lower. He was also happy to announce that he is as tall as his mom and has some hairs growing on his upper lip. I was impressed with the expanding vocabulary of my younger grandson. He is as enthusiastic as ever and now in a more articulate way. He really makes me laugh. My granddaughter is now sitting up on her own and of course chewing on everything. Her older brothers loved to make her laugh. The family is just so full of positive energy and life that comes right through the computer. It filled me and my parents with joy.

I Found God today in the contagious joy of family.

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Political Hot Spot

Posted by eph21920 on February 8, 2016 in Connected, Friends, Grateful, Opportunity

There is nothing like politics in New Hampshire. When I first moved to the place, everyone told me about it, but when I first experienced it for myself, I understood. People take politics and their candidates very seriously. And because NH truly is state with small communities, during campaign season candidates turn up literally anywhere. I met a few when I was there and heard many. I no longer live there, but still keep in touch with people who do. Yesterday I got a text from a friend who said she attended Mass with Jeb Bush and his wife and was so excited. Then on social media, another friend said that she just had just offered Communion to Jeb Bush – she was a Eucharistic Minister at the same Mass. I watched some of the recent debate and scanned the crowd but couldn’t make out any faces. Today I came across some pictures of all the candidates in different settings. I recognized many of the places. One in particular is a restaurant that my daughter-in-law’s mother takes the family for breakfast on Sunday mornings. I looked further and came across a photo of a candidate at a “house party”. I actually saw someone I know who was in attendance. All of this reminded me of what a great opportunity I had living in a political hot spot and being able to experience our political system at the grass roots. Regardless of what one might think about the system or the candidates, we are privileged in this country to elect our leaders. I was also reminded me of all the people I know who are going to the polls tomorrow to exercise their freedom to vote. As the motto goes – “Live Free or Die”.

I Found God today in remembering the freedom of the country we live in.

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Celebratory Day

Posted by eph21920 on February 7, 2016 in Birthday, Connected, Family, Fun, Happiness, Laughter

We had such a great celebratory day today. First we had a birthday party for my sister who is turning 50. She and her husband bought a farm last year and are preparing to get some chickens in the next few months. She has also already purchased all the special seeds for her garden, which she will be expanding this year. My parents talked about how my sister was a plant and animal lover from the beginning. Earlier in the week, my dad got a great idea to make her a photo album of her and her pets and plants throughout the years. It was so much fun watching her look through the album as we talked about the memories the pictures invoked. My sister and I made a cake that looked like a garden, complete with fondant carrots, tomatoes, pumpkins, and lettuce. I was so grateful that a friend taught me how to use the stuff last year. We also made my sister a flock of origami ducks out of paper money to help her buy her chicken things. We would have made chickens, but couldn’t find a pattern for that. After her party, we switched gears for the for the Super Bowl party. My nephew decorated the basement and we brought down tons of snacks. My sister put together a family football pool, so that was a fun way to stay connected to people who were not physically present. And I found some football bingo cards that made it even more fun to keep track of the game. I was glad it was an exciting game, and even more glad that the Broncos won. I was indeed rooting for them. We laughed, celebrated, and ate from about noon until the end of the game. It was such a fun day.

I Found God today enjoying a wonderful celebration with my family.

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Being Creative

Posted by eph21920 on February 6, 2016 in Birthday, Family, Joy, Plan

This afternoon my sister and her son came over to help get ready for the big party. My other sister is turning 50, so tomorrow we are celebrating her birthday in the early afternoon, then having a Super Bowl 50 party later in the evening. My sister, nephew, mom, dad, and I all were busy being very creative as we put the finishing touches on the plans we have been making for weeks now. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to tomorrow.

I Found God today in being creative with family.

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Sharing Joy

Posted by eph21920 on February 5, 2016 in Answer, Family, Grateful, Joy

My dad has been a photographer since he was a teenager. He worked for school newspapers and yearbooks, and has been involved in several camera clubs and organizations through the years. He has thousands of photos, negatives, and slides; some that date back 80 years or more. He printed his own pictures with darkroom equipment for years. As time progressed, he used computers and professional scanners and printers. The house is like a museum with the walls filled with displays of different themed photos – keyboards, people working, super close ups, overseas tours, red flowers, pets . . . and he changes them from time to time. My dad got a new computer a while ago and had troubles getting any of the printing equipment to work, which was very frustrating. He spoke to the support team the other day and finally got it working. Today he got out some old slides and negatives announced that he was able to get some scanned that he never was able to do before. I love looking at the photos he takes and hearing the stories behind them. It was great to see his frustration turn into joy and excitement.

I Found God today sharing in my dad’s joy.

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Thankful Day

Posted by eph21920 on February 4, 2016 in Faith, Grateful, Prayer

I talk to God a lot about needs. I ask Him to help me with this or that, I ask His protection over friends and family, I lift up people and situations to Him that are in need of particular help at the present time, etc. And all this is good. We should pray about all our cares and concerns and trust that God will take care of us and those we love according to His perfect plan. But part way through, I realized that I don’t thank God enough for all that He provides for me and my friends and family every day. Years ago, a very wise woman taught me how to be more grateful. She said to thank God for everything during the day. Instead of feeling burdened with doing the dishes, for example, thank Him for the food we have to eat, the dishes to put the food on, the people to eat with, and a place to share a meal together. I decided that I need to work on a more grateful attitude, so today I would try to remember that and thank God during the day. I thanked Him for breakfast food. I thanked Him that my parents both were up and functioning. I thanked Him for the morning prayer, which by the way said to have an attitude of gratitude. And so it went. When it was difficult to push the shopping cart through the non-snowplowed parking lot, I thanked God for the food, the money to purchase it, the people who provided the food, for the vehicle to drive to the store, and for the snow that made nature look more beautiful and provided necessary water. Doing this throughout the day helped to keep my mind on God’s goodness.

I Found God today in realizing His goodness more fully and being grateful for it.

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Unexpected Encouragement

Posted by eph21920 on February 3, 2016 in Faith, Friends, Joy, Mercy

Today I received an encouraging note from a beautiful soul that I haven’t seen in over a year. We would see each other in church meetings and such and talk about how best to reach out to other people. She was always a kind face that reflected her loving heart. It meant so much to me that she would take the time to write. Her words were unexpected, uplifting, and supportive. I got choked up when I read it. To me, it was God in her heart touching my heart.

I Found God today in unexpected words of encouragement.

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Quiet Snowy Day

Posted by eph21920 on February 2, 2016 in Family, Weather

I got up this morning and just like a kid ran to the window to see the result of the snowstorm that came through. As I suspected, the world was covered in a blanket of white. It snowed on and off the whole day. My mom cancelled her therapy appointment, so there were no worries about having to travel. I had stocked up at the store a couple of days ago in preparation, so no worries about needing anything. We just stayed in and stayed warm and dry. I enjoyed watching the weather go from windy and blowing snow, to moments of sun peeking through, to snow showers with large flakes, to pieces of blue sky. My parents and I worked on an upcoming birthday party for my sister. We also worked on a puzzle that we got out a couple days ago. We watched the news about how the homeless are being taken care of and how people are helping those around them. That made me happy. It was really just a quiet day at home – thankfully.

I Found God today in a quiet day staying in and watching the beautiful weather.

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It’s Not About Me

Posted by eph21920 on February 1, 2016 in Answer, Faith, Family, Prayer, Service

This morning in prayer I was thinking about what it takes to best serve others with love. The words that came to my mind were, “It’s not about you.” It is truly freeing when I think about things in this way. If someone says something that hurts my feelings – It’s not about me. More often than not, it is about the other person being insecure, or in a bad situation, or just plain cranky. That doesn’t mean I have to take it to heart. If I can think of hundreds of things to do other than helping someone out – It’s not about me. I should be able to put my selfishness aside and think of the other person instead. If I think God isn’t listening to my prayers and requests – It’s not about me. God is God and I am not. Faith is about trusting that God loves me and those around me and will direct all things for my – and His – greater good. I decided to try to keep those words in my mind. When I opened my email later in the morning, the first words I saw were, “It’s not about you.” Not once, but twice! I chuckled. It was the title of a blog I follow that I somehow received twice. Interesting. Then at breakfast with my mom, I read a daily inspiration that I also receive. It said, “I know this for certain. God is at work in your life. Look for him in people, events, and circumstances and you will find him beckoning you.” My mom said that is exactly what she was thinking about when she woke up and she was going to try to keep that in her mind. Funny.

I Found God today in affirming words.

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Love is Patient . . .

Posted by eph21920 on January 31, 2016 in Faith, Life, Love

One of my favorite scriptures was read at church today – 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. It includes “Love is patient, love is kind . . . ” These words remind me of how I should be conducting myself. It also reminds me of how I should be treated and not to allow myself to be run over or abused. The deacon at church said we can replace “God” for the word “Love”. This makes sense, since God = Love. “God is patient, God is kind . . .” I thought about that and realized how true it is. In my own experience I have found that God has always been gentle with me. Things do not always turn out the way I want, however God has been there with me and for me lovingly guiding me along. Whenever I have felt in turmoil, anguish, or fear, I have cried out to God and He has brought me peace – either immediately, or a little at a time as I continued to go to Him.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

I Found God today in a description of Love.

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