This evening after dinner, I received a text from a friend and neighbor. She said she left something for us on the porch and was thinking about us. I went to the porch and found a beautiful bouquet of flowers. It was certainly a joyful surprise and we felt pretty special.
I Found God today in surprise flowers.
This afternoon my mom and I went out to porch to sit in the sunshine. We weren’t out too long before the clouds came over. Then it started to rain big drops. It wasn’t windy and the temperature was fine, so we sat out for a while as the large drops dotted the sidewalk and edge of the porch. We talked about how the sound of the rain is so calming and soothing. My mom also said that the air felt so fresh. It was a simple, enjoyable moment.
I Found God today enjoying the rain.
Today my mom had a visit from a Hospice volunteer. The woman was super sweet and engaging as she asked my mom about herself. We had the photo albums on the table, so they looked through part of one together. She was full of encouragement and positivity. As they talked, she told my mom how blessed she was and what a wonderful life she led. I thought about what a blessing she was that she would volunteer her time to bring some reassurance and cheer to others that she has never met in what can be a very difficult situation. The visit was a little overwhelming for my mom as it takes a tremendous amount of energy for her to follow and carry on a conversation. Even so, I greatly appreciated the time, generosity, and affirmations of the volunteer.
I Found God today in a Hospice volunteer.
Today I started listening to a podcast of “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis, on the Hallow app. It started out by acknowledging that the literature is challenging. But to encourage the listener, a quote was read from the book that could be beneficial in many situations, “Do not be detoured, nor quickly cast down when you hear about the way of the perfect. Rather, be inspired to reach great heights, or at least aspire to attain them.” That in itself is challenging. It means I have to focus on what is most important for my soul and not get caught up in the sidetracks that our world has to offer. It also means I can’t live in apathy – not trying to improve myself and being comfortable where I am. I look forward to going through this book and hope to learn how to better follow Jesus Christ.
I Found God today staring a new spiritual guide.
My cousin shared a video of her granddaughter today that was just so adorable. The toddler was striking up a conversation with the mannequin at the store. At my cousin’s prompting, she said, “See you later!” Then, “Bye!” in that cute toddler voice. Then she trotted off down the aisle making clappity sounds with her sandals. The unbridled joy of children is contagious and we loved watching the video over and over again.
I Found God today in the joy of a child.
My mom slept well last night – until 3:00 am. Then she was up and down for hours with a bit of a stomach upset. I was sleeping in her room, so I was up and down with her. At one point, after she laid back down, I just meandered through the house as I was tired of lying down and getting up. It was early, before dawn, and I took a peek outside. I noticed the sliver of the moon and so many stars in the sky. Then I saw the constellation Orion almost directly over head. I was immediately reminded of the night my dad died when we looked up and saw Orion. I felt that through my exhaustion, I wasn’t alone. My dad was still here looking after us. I felt comforted, smiled, and was able to rest a little.
I Found God today in a reminder that my dad is still with us.
Tonight as I was making dinner, we turned on the TV and the movie, “Back to the Future” had just started. It has always been one of my favorites. We watched for a while and my mom said she knew the name Michael J. Fox, but couldn’t place him. I told her that he has Parkinson’s Disease and has a foundation to help combat the disease. I showed her some pictures of him now. Then she remembered who he was. She then also remembered that Muhammad Ali had Parkinson’s as well. She and my dad saw him light the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. As I looked up more information about him, I came across a picture of both Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali together as they spoke to Congress advocating for Parkinson’s Disease research. Both men had Parkinson’s Disease for over 30 years. While Michael J. Fox is still in the battle, Muhammad Ali fought the good fight. Their stories were heartbreaking, yet inspirational to both me and my mom.
I Found God today in stories of perseverance and advocacy.
This morning, I heard a lot of commotion outside the garage door. I went to investigate and saw a fire truck and ambulance parked next door. The EMTs were actually at the home of the “roof mate” of our neighbor’s. Several people were outside, concerned for the residents. The man who lives in the home was helping to care for his daughter who had been battling breast cancer. We recently discovered that she was having a difficult time and they were asking for prayers. They did take the daughter by ambulance to the hospital. Some of the neighbors were present to the father and sister who had arrived. I love how this community rallies around one another. While I was outside, I was talking with our neighbor who has had a couple of accidents resulting in brain injury. He said he recently is struggling with memory loss and at the same time has more awareness of where he is physically. He said his new outlook is “I don’t like IT; IT is; I am thankful for IT”. We can relate the IT to whatever circumstance we have right now. There are things that I certainly wish were different. But, as my neighbor said, we need to be thankful to God as He is glorified in all things. I thought that these were beautiful examples of steady faith.
I Found God today in steady faith.
Mom had a stellar day today. When our friend was here, she went for a walk, finished the big puzzle they were working on, played the piano, and helped get lunch ready. She napped a little after that. Then we had a smoothie while she read and played some games on her iPad. She became tired again and laid down for a very restful hour long nap. After that she had good energy and sat outside, did some bedtime stretches and listened to a meditation before getting ready for bed. She moved well and ate well all day long. I thanked God that her anointing was so effective so quickly.
I Found God today in my mom’s great day.
We were blessed to have the new priest from our parish come over to the house today. He was young, soft spoken, gentle, and caring. He talked with my mother for some time and asked her what she thought Heaven would be like. She said she pictured it as full of clouds with an organ in the middle surrounded by people in blue and white like the sky. The priest said they must all be waiting for her to come and play that organ. She laughed and agreed. She said she hopes that’s where she goes and not to the “other place”. He said that’s why he was here – to make sure she doesn’t go to the “other place”. He explained that he would annoint her, hear her Confession, and give her Holy Communion – Viaticum. In the past, that was a scary word that meant one was about to die at any moment. The priest explained that “Viaticum” means “provision for a journey”. As a person gets closer to leaving this life, Jesus in the Eucharist can bring strength, hope, peace for the transition to everlasting life. He said he would hear Confession of my sister and I also if we wanted. Granted, none of us were particularly prepared, but each of us did go to Confession. Then the priest said the prayers, dowsed is with Holy Water, put his hands on my mom’s head, annointed her, read scripture, and we all received Holy Communion. It was truly a gift. Later in the day, my mom said she had just been thinking that she had not been to Confession in a very long time and that she really wanted to go. The celebration did make her a little nervous, but she felt better afterwards. I was so grateful that the priest was able to provide some spiritual support and comfort to us all.
I Found God today in spiritual support and comfort.
Still Finding God 