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Just Happier

Posted by eph21920 on February 29, 2024 in Family, Grateful, Happiness, Struggles

We have been having a difficult time managing medications for my mom. One drug will cause unwanted side effects, then another would be added or increased to counter act that. And there are many medications that interact with the Parkinson’s disease and that specific medication. I am certainly not a fan of adding more and more into my poor mom’s body. This week we made a change that seems to be effective so far. For the past several days, she has been happier. She still rummages, wanders, and is somewhat impulsive and anxious. But my hope is that if we continue down this new path, she will be able to experience more relief. For now, we are grateful that she is in a better mood and even acknowledges that she feels better.

I Found God today in my happier mom.

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Mistake or Grace

Posted by eph21920 on February 28, 2024 in Answer, Faith, Family, Life, Plan, Problem, Struggles, Trust

I admit I do have a problem with trying to be perfect. When I was younger, I thought if I made a mistake, that meant I wasn’t good enough. Now, however, especially caring for my mom, I don’t want to do anything that will harm her, or make the situation worse. Today in the continued story of Fr. Walter Ciszek, a particular quote struck my heart, “I was no longer afraid of making a “mistake”, since God’s will was behind every development and every alternative.” This is a great thought for me to keep in mind as I continuously work on trusting in God’s perfect will and plan.

I Found God today seeing mistakes as grace.

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Sharing Good News

Posted by eph21920 on February 27, 2024 in Bible, Faith, Friends, Generosity, Jesus, Love, Service, Teacher

Some of our friends are what I consider to be missionaries. They recently returned from a trip in a foreign country and came over this afternoon to share photos and stories. While they were there, they visited some schools where they taught English, helped the teachers to teach the language, and helped with projects. At the same time, they helped to introduce the students to Jesus and the Scriptures. Most of the people were very poor and even the schools lacked the simple necessities such as desks, chairs and supplies. Our friends provided what they could and the classes were overjoyed when they received a hand crank pencil sharpener. It’s hard to imagine that kind of poverty. Yet they were joyful, generous with what they had, and extremely grateful. They witnessed first hand what Jesus asks of his disciples – go and spread the Good News.

I Found God today in my friends sharing His love.

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Failure Equals Grace

Posted by eph21920 on February 26, 2024 in Answer, Faith, Grace, Priest, Struggles

I have been enjoying listening to the Lenten reflections on the Hallow app. It is based on the book He Leadeth Me by Fr. Walter Ciszek. He was a priest during the cold war and desired to minister to the people in Russia. When he was younger he would push himself to his physical and mental limits. This served him well when he was arrested and placed in solitary confinement in the most feared prison in Russia. However, even with all his preparation, strength, discipline, and faith, he eventually broke and signed a confession to false charges. This left him at his lowest point and he questioned himself and God. But, then he began to see things in a different light. He realized that all the trials that led up to that point were in fact moments of great grace. He understood that he had still been relying on himself instead of fully relying on God. He said, “… that moment of failure was in itself  a moment of great grace, for it had taught me a great lesson. Severe as the test had been, God had sustained me and was now instructing me by the light of his grace.” I look forward to hearing what happens next.

I Found God today in a stark reminder of the necessity to fully rely on God.

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Keeping Busy

Posted by eph21920 on February 25, 2024 in Answer, Family, Happiness, Life

Today at lunch, my mom was talking about driving – how she hadn’t driven for a long time, and never driven the newest car. She wanted to go out and give it a try. I thought it might be a good idea to take her for a ride. She liked the idea too and was able to make her way down the 3 stairs in the garage. As we were out, we stopped by my son’s house. He and his wife and their kids all came outside for a little visit. They took turns sitting in the car to visit with my mom. They went car shopping a couple weeks ago and bought a new car and my grandson bought a new truck. I think the ride and seeing the new cars fulfilled my mom’s brief car obsession. She took a short nap after that and when she got up, she headed to the kitchen to make pizza. I told her that I didn’t have all the ingredients to make pizza, but did have what we needed to make a jello dessert, so we made that instead. That quenched her cooking desire. Before dinner, she wanted to get her pajamas on and have a pajama party. So, we all got our pajamas on. Our party consisted of dinner, prayers, dessert, Yahtzee, coloring, and bedtime stretches. It was a good day keeping mom busy and happy. My sister and I are praying for sleep tonight.

I Found God today keeping my mom busy and happy.

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Plant Day

Posted by eph21920 on February 24, 2024 in Creation, Family, Happiness

Saturday is plant watering day. My sister and mom watered her orchids, which are beautifully in bloom right now. My mom always makes sure we have the right water temperature and that the plants are soaked for the appropriate time – 5 minutes. Later in the day, we refreshed the 4 bouquets that we had from Valentine’s Day and reduced them to 2. Then we re-potted a couple plants that have been sitting around in tiny pots for a very long time. There is truly something soothing about working with plants and admiring their beauty.

I Found God today in the beauty of flowers and plants.

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Blessed by Young People

Posted by eph21920 on February 23, 2024 in Grateful, Life, Love, Prayer, Youth

We have a new caregiver coming over twice a week. She is young, patient, kind, and wonderful with my mom. The best thing is that mom is very comfortable with her. She was over this afternoon for a few hours. When we said our prayers after dinner tonight, we thought of people we wanted to pray for specifically as we always do. My mom wanted to pray for “all the young people who come here to visit because they are such a blessing.” It was a beautiful prayer.

I Found God today in my mom’s beautiful prayer.

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From Bartender to Priest

Posted by eph21920 on February 22, 2024 in Faith, Hope, Life, Priest, Struggles

Today on Hallow I listened to Fr. Frankie Cicero tell his faith story. While his mother was pregnant with him, she learned that he had severe physical problems and the doctors encouraged her to get an abortion. Instead, she surrendered her son to God. During his lifetime, he has had  many abdominal surgeries. But the biggest struggle he faced was when his father left him, his sister, and his mother when he was 18 years old. In fact, his father told him he wasn’t the son he wanted and that he wasn’t good enough to be his son. Fr. Frankie was understandably angry and left the faith completely. He followed a path that led to drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, and money. But, his heart was empty. After an encounter with God, he turned around and became a priest. It was a heartfelt, inspiring story of surrender and faith. You can see him tell the beginning of it here.


I Found God today in a dramatic story of surrender and faith.

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Getting Out

Posted by eph21920 on February 21, 2024 in Death, Faith, Friends, Grief

A couple of weeks ago, one of the men in our prayer group died. We all went to his funeral and prayed for and with his wife and family. Both he and his wife had been joining the group via Zoom shortly after he got ill. Later, only his wife would participate. Tonight was our regular scheduled meeting. His wife initially said she would join online. I reached out to her this afternoon and asked if she wanted to come with me. It took her a while to reply that she did want to go and it would be good to get out. I was so happy to spend the time with her. And it was wonderful to have her present in person at the session. She was a little somber, but there was no awkward silence or trying not to talk about her husband. We were all blessed to be together.

I Found God today being with and praying with a grieving friend.

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Good Eyes

Posted by eph21920 on February 20, 2024 in Answer, Doctor, Family, Grateful

My sister has been having trouble with her eyes recently. They hurt and she was seeing zig zag lines of lights. She called the eye doctor today and they wanted to see her right away. After the testing, the doctor concluded that she had ocular migraines. He said it should subside on its own. Other than that, her eyes are healthy. We were grateful for the good and reassuring news.

I Found God today in reassurance that my sister’s eyes are healthy.

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