Leave a comment

Fall Arrived

Posted by eph21920 on September 22, 2024 in Children, Connected, Family, Food, Grateful, Joy, Past

The weather today was perfect for ringing in the first day of Fall. It was cool, wet, and cloudy with the sun peeking through towards the end of the day. I was happy to get out my olive green wool jacket to wear to church today where I saw my son and his fiancee. She was wearing a cozy, fluffy sweater that was so soft I just wanted to keep hugging her. After church I broke down and got my first pumpkin spice coffee of the season. It was delicious. My sister and I inadvertantly both wore our orange long sleeve T-shirts, which worked well for me as I watched the football game. We organized some scrapbooking supplies and came across many photos of years gone by. It was good to share them together with joy, sadness, and gratitude. We find treasures every day. A couple weeks ago I purchased some candy corn and candy pumpkins. Today it seemed appropriate to open them. It was another nice treat. There was definitely a different mood in the atmosphere as things are changing dramatically.

I Found God today celebrating Fall.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Help Others Love Music

Posted by eph21920 on September 21, 2024 in Family, Love, Music, Teacher

Today I organized a bookcase best I could. I got together all the books about composers and music techniques and found some notes in a calendar that my mom had written regarding her piano students. I remembered how much she loved teaching. And she put all her earnings into her own account to get special things she wanted and to save for the future. I also found the music to “Clair de Lune” by Debussy, which is my all time favorite. It makes sense as I am pretty fascinated with the moon. When I think about it, the piece kind of depicts both my mom’s love for music and my dad’s love for space. I pulled out the music and looked at it to see if there was any way I thought I could play it. After reviewing it, I put it back in the pile. Perhaps some day I’ll pull it out. I remember my mom playing it for me when she was able to as she knew how much I loved it. I was somber, but enjoyed the good memories. My mom loved helping others love music.

I Found God today remembering my mom’s love for helping others love music.

Permalink
Leave a comment

You Are Here For a Reason

Posted by eph21920 on September 20, 2024 in Faith, Friends, Generosity, Grateful, Hope, Life, Love, New

When I worked as a youth minister, I was blessed to meet an amazing woman who was a youth minister for a neighboring parish. We became very good friends and talked about what we might do when we were no longer working with the teens. She is an incredibly faithful, compassionate person and I have always admired her insight. She recently wrote a book titled, “You Are Here For A Reason”. I saw today that she also created a video to introduce the book. Her wisdom, encouragement, and hope spoke to my heart as I pictured her reading the words. She made a huge difference in the lives of many families and I pray her book will bless even more. You can see the video here.

I Found God today in the blessing of an inspirational friend.

Permalink
Leave a comment

The Prayer Drawer

Posted by eph21920 on September 19, 2024 in Faith, Family, Grateful, Past

Today I went through my mom’s “prayer drawer” in her nightstand. It’s where she kept all her religious articles and prayer books. I found many treasures. There were prayer cards and Mass programs for friends and family who had died. I found a prayer book over 100 years old that my mom had signed her maiden name in cursive on the front cover. There were a few rosaries, pins, and scapulars. One scapular was very tiny and old. I’m sure it was the one she received for her first Holy Communion. I also came across the small hard covered prayer books that both my mom and dad were given for their first Communion. In the papers was a booklet arranged by their beloved nun from high school who was the choir director. The mimeographed, stapled 30 page booklet was uplifting musings and quotes. I’m not sure I had ever seen that one before. It was easy to identify which prayer books were my mom’s favorites. I prayed some of them with her and am grateful for those memories. They went back into the drawer along with the keepsakes. Many other items were fairly new and had been sent by different organizations. I collected all those to donate to an outreach chapel. It was a blessing to look through the drawer and appreciate the faith that my mom had. I’m grateful she shared it with me.

I Found God today in my mother’s faith.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Painful Yet Productive

Posted by eph21920 on September 18, 2024 in Answer, Death, Family, Grief, Healing, Struggles

Since we had the floors replaced in my parents’ room, we decided it was the time to sort through everything in there. Some of the items were painful memories of my dad’s time in the memory care center. Getting things ready to donate was also a sorrowful reminder that my mother is no longer here. But I have been trying to allow the feelings to come as I work. And I put on my Christian music and sing along. That really does help put my mind and spirit in a better place. I didn’t want to have to keep going back to the closets full of things, so I have just been plowing through. Sorting, donating, putting things aside to keep or try to sell, and organizing as I go. As difficult as it has been, it does feel good to make progress. I do feel there is healing in it.

I Found God today making some progress organizing the house.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Watching Art

Posted by eph21920 on September 17, 2024 in Creation, Family

My sister signed up for some online painting classes. I colored a little bit last night while she painted – that fits me a little more. I went to bed before she finished and saw her water colored butterfly when I got up this morning. She is so talented. Tonight I went to dinner with friends and when I returned, she was back at the table working on her next project. I sat and watched for a while. It is relaxing for me to watch her mix and blend the colors while listening to the soft voice of the instructor. During the introduction, the instructor made the comment that nature is the best artist. I agree. God has provided us incredible beauty in nature that we can’t replicate no matter how we try.  But my sister does make beautiful art too. 

I Found God today in beautiful art.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Bonus Adoration

Posted by eph21920 on September 16, 2024 in Eucharist, Faith, Friends, Grateful, Peace, Prayer, Priest

Although I wasn’t planning on it, I ended up going out and about today. It’s still very strange to me to be able to just go and do whatever at a moments notice. Since I was out, I thought it would be nice to stop at a church for Eucharistic Adoration for a while. But, the I decided to go to Mass where I could visit my priest friend at the same time. I was a little early, so went into the church to pray for a bit. And there on the altar was the Blessed Sacrament. I was able to spend about 15 minutes in the presence of Jesus before Mass. I didn’t really say much, or hear much. I did experience the much desired peace. It was good to see my friend celebrate Mass and listen to his words of wisdom. We visited for a little while after. I felt very blessed with his friendship, being able to attend Mass, and for the time I spent in Adoration.

I Found God today in a priest friend, in Mass, and in Adoration.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Worship in Music

Posted by eph21920 on September 15, 2024 in Answer, Connected, Death, Eternity, Faith, Family, Grief, Hope, Music

Today at Mass, the offertory hymn got me teary eyed – so much so that I couldn’t sing any more. I tried to remember the hymn, but not surprisingly, I can’t. It was about offering what we have to Christ. The last verse was something to the effect of giving God our final breath after using it to sing His praise during our life. Of course I thought of my mother. I thought of her singing in all the different choirs during her life. And I thought about when she took her last breath. I really wanted to push that thought out of my head immediately. Instead, I remembered what my counselor suggested. I just sat with the image and feelings for a while. Then, they turned to how my mom must be singing praise right now in Heaven. That also brought tears to my eyes. Not in sadness, but in more of a how awesome that must be feeling. I was grateful to be able to switch into a more hopeful mindset. This afternoon, I listened to a Hallow podcast about prayer through music. There was a reminder that there is music and singing in Heaven right now. The saints and angels are singing. And when we sing praise, we are joining in their song. St. Augustine said that singing is like praying twice. They also talked about the transcendent nature of singing. It’s different from just listening to music. There is power when you sing the truth of God. Everything they said in the podcast was exactly what I have experienced myself and it was beautiful validation. I also knew that all those years that my mother participated in her own prayer through music is what helped form her into the saintly person that I knew her to be.

I Found God today in the power of praying through music.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Strength

Posted by eph21920 on September 14, 2024 in Family, Happiness, Life

Today my son participated in a power lifting competition. My sister and I went this morning to watch. We saw him do the squat and break his own state record. Some of his friends were there so we visited with them too. There was some lag time between each event, so my sister and I went to lunch. We sat outside which was nice and quiet compared to the loud rock music at the sports center to help keep the lifters hyped up. After lunch, I went back to the competition. My son had a whole new set of friends there to support him and visit with. We were all impressed by the unbelievable amount of weight that people were able to pick up. But my son has always been strong. It had always been a part of him. I have always told him it was one of the gifts God gave him and to follow the path to learn how best to use it. I watched him do the bench press followed by the deadlift. He again broke his own record in the deadlift. He came in first place for his class. I was pretty proud of him. Overall, it was a blessing of a day spending time with my sister, my son’s fiancee, visiting with young people, and being amazed by the strength my son has been gifted with.

I Found God today in my son’s strength.

Permalink
Leave a comment

Old Family Bible

Posted by eph21920 on September 13, 2024 in Bible, Connected, Family, Past, Peace

There are many treasures that I come across in this house. Today I picked up the old family Bible. It was a pretty comprehensive Bible including pictures, prayers, and maps. I found a prayer card tucked away in it from a priest’s 25 anniversary of ordination in 1973. The book also contained a place for the family history. The names and dates of the family tree were written by my mom. I envisioned her taking the careful time to write the details of the events. It warmed my heart and I felt peaceful.

I Found God today in the old family Bible.

Permalink