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Her Hands

Posted by eph21920 on March 25, 2024 in Creation, Family, Grateful, Happiness, Home, Life, Music, Prayer, Service

Yesterday I took a picture of my mom’s praying hands and shared it. When I read the comments, it gave me reason to pause and contemplate. My mom’s hands did indeed reflect those of God’s servant. For most of her life, my mom played the organ for the local church. Even while they moved often, she managed to find a parish who needed an organist. Those hands played the piano forever, brought joy to so many and always kept our home full of music. Her hands have raised children and held the hands of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She taught us how to make the sign of the cross and pray. Her hands took care of the family by cooking, ironing, washing, bathing, wiping, and nurturing. Now, we do our best to care for those hands. We keep them warm and lotioned. My sister gives her a manicure. And my son’s girlfriend gives her a hand massage almost every week. We pray together and make sure she blesses herself with the Holy water. My mom’s hands held and cared for us, now we hold and care for her.

I Found God today in the beauty of my mom’s hands.

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Accept, Access, Action

Posted by eph21920 on March 24, 2024 in Answer, Faith, Hope, Jesus, Lent, Life, Opportunity, Priest, Sacrifice, Struggles

Today I listened to the Palm Sunday homily by Fr. Mike Schmitz. He did a great job of wrapping up the reflections of the past 5 weeks of Lent based on the book, “He Leadeth Me” by Fr. Walter Ciszek. The whole series is based on surrendering our lives to God. That includes acknowledging that every circumstance in our lives are from God and part of His Divine Plan. I have been trying to surrender and at the same time wondering exactly how to do that. Fr. Mike described 3 steps – Accept, Access, Action. First we must accept that our life right now is exactly as it should be and is part of God’s divine providence. In the reading of the Passion of Christ, Jesus asked God to take the suffering away that He knew He would face. He didn’t necessarily want to go through the upcoming pain and suffering. Yet, He surrendered to God, knowing that it would bring about salvation. We can enter into that story as we accept our circumstances and suffering. Next, we give God access to our lives, our souls, our hearts. When we surrender, we don’t give up, but we allow God to enter our pain, our sadness, our sorrow, our failures, so He can transform it. Then we have to take action. That is, making a conscious decision to unite our struggles to that of Jesus’ and join in carrying the cross. We are able to be a part of the story of salvation for ourselves and those around us. Deep thoughts and challenges, but encouraging at the same time as we enter Holy Week.

I Found God today in encouragement to unite my struggles with that of Jesus’.

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Bonus Laughter

Posted by eph21920 on March 23, 2024 in Family, Laughter, Life

Today a caregiver was here which is both helpful and somewhat stressful. She is really good with my mom and also likes to talk. We try to keep things calmer for my mom. But when we talk, the caregiver has lots of stories to tell and makes me laugh. That felt like a big bonus today as I was feeling a little low.

I Found God today in laughter.

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Previous Lives

Posted by eph21920 on March 22, 2024 in Answer, Grateful, Life, Past

We had a Hospice CNA come over today. She gave my mom a little pampering with lotion and oils. Then she got out a pack of question cards that she picked up. She had told me about them before and was very excited to use them. She told us about some of the questions and answers that she had heard so far. We talked about the importance of remembering that the people she visits have had full lives. They had parents and relatives, jobs and hobbies, schools and friends. And the lives of those much older than us were very different from what we experience now. The card that my mom picked was to describe her siblings. Unfortunately, she wasn’t in a very talkative mood, so the conversation was pretty short. But that was also ok. The young CNA was so thoughtful and compassionate. She was definitely a blessing to us and certainly for others as well.

I Found God today in a compassionate young woman.

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You Are My Sunshine

Posted by eph21920 on March 21, 2024 in Family, Grateful, Happiness, Music

Today after lunch, our new caregiver, me, and my mom were all in the kitchen. My mom was sitting in her wheelchair while we were cleaning up. Suddenly, I heard my mom singing, “You are my sunshine…” The caregiver and I joined in, “my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you never know dear, how much I love you, please don’t take my sunshine away.” Then we all clapped. I was grateful for the beautiful sing-along.

I Found God today singing along with my mom.

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Clear the Blockage

Posted by eph21920 on March 20, 2024 in Answer, Faith, Life

We’re very happy that my mom still reads our devotion from “Jesus Calling” every night. The last few sentences from tonight’s reflection were particularly meaningful and we read it over again. “When your mind is stuck on a negative focus, you see neither Me nor My gifts. In faith, thank Me for whatever is preoccupying your mind. This will clear the blockage so you can find Me.” It helped remind me to find Him tonight.

I Found God today reminded to clear the blockage of negative thoughts.

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In Our House

Posted by eph21920 on March 19, 2024 in Answer, Family, Home

I asked my mom how she found God today. She said she found him right here in our house pointing emphatically to the floor. My heart swelled.

I Found God today here in our house as well.

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Flossing

Posted by eph21920 on March 18, 2024 in Answer, Family, Food, Grateful, New, Problem

After dinner this evening, my mom has something stuck in her teeth. We had to stop saying our prayers so that she could get it out. However, she couldn’t do it. My sister got her a piece of dental floss to see if that would help. Unfortunately, my mom couldn’t figure out how to use it. So I volunteered. My sister held a light and my mom opened her mouth best she could. I tried to make my hands small as I flossed the teeth in the area I saw her poking at. It only took a couple tries before I found the annoyance and got it out. I felt pretty good about accomplishing that without any negative effects. Every day brings a new “first”.

I Found God today able to help my mom.

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Best Ships

Posted by eph21920 on March 17, 2024 in Friends, Grateful, Life, Relationship

Today I was in a texting group of some friends that I have had for over 35 years. Everyone was posting Happy St Patrick’s Day messages. One of them shared an Irish toast that I thought summer it up:

There are good ships and wood ships,  Ships that sail the sea,  But the best ships are friendships, and may they always be.

I Found God today in the best of friendships.

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Laughter

Posted by eph21920 on March 16, 2024 in Answer, Family, Grateful, Laughter, Sick

My mom has been feeling pretty bad for quite some time and her cognition continues to decline. Last week we found that she has had a UTI for who knows how long. She is currently on her 2nd round of antibiotics. We have also made some adjustments to her other medications. It was good to see her eyes brighter when she got up this morning and she said she felt better. She also started eating more. There were several times during the day when we all laughed out loud. She would say funny things or do funny things on purpose, which made it all even funnier. It was a good day.

I Found God today as my mom felt a little better.

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