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Jenga For All

Posted by eph21920 on November 21, 2023 in Children, Family, Fun, Grateful, Life

Since my grandchildren were out of school, we decided to have them over to play some games today. My mom was having a very good morning, so that was a blessing. When the kids arrived, we had Jenga all set up and ready to play. It can be challenging to find a game that an 8 year old, teenager, young adult, me, and a 91 year old would all enjoy, but Jenga fit the bill. We played a couple of games and expressed a loud “awww” every time it fell. My grandson has been taking violin lessons and we were happy that he brought his violin with him. He played a few notes and practiced bowing. My mom encouraged him to keep practicing. Then she played a piece on the piano. We all had a fun visit. I am so glad they are close and enjoy coming over.

I Found God today in a visit with my grandchildren.

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Selfless Saint

Posted by eph21920 on November 20, 2023 in Begin, Connected, Death, Generosity, Hope, Life, Opportunity, Youth

Our friend came over today and brought with her an article from the local Catholic Herald. It was the obituary of an elderly gentleman who I had met a couple of times. He was the founder of the Fostering Hope organization that I volunteered with a few years back. The goal of the organization was to help transition young adults out of foster care into a safe independent lifestyle by building a supportive community around them. When the volunteer opportunity for the new group was presented at the church, I went to the meeting to see what it was all about. I met the gentleman there and at a couple later meetings. He was soft spoken, gentle, and had a heart for the youth. He was a visionary and gathered people around him to help make his vision a reality. In doing so, he succeeded in changing the lives of hundreds of individuals so far. To me, he was everything I think a saint would be. He will be deeply missed, but I am certain his legacy will carry on and multiply.

I Found God today remembering a saintly man.

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Admitting Weakness

Posted by eph21920 on November 19, 2023 in Answer, Faith, Humility, Jesus, Life, Struggles, Trust

I have been continuing to listen and reading along with the book, “The Imitation of Christ.” It is deep and heavy for me, but truthful and thought provoking. I’m glad each session is only a few minutes in length. Today was the chapter entitled, “Admitting our weakness and the miseries of this life.” While it can seem that it is a negative connotation, to me the point is to get out of myself and put my attention on God. After all, He is the source of all goodness. A sentence that struck me was, “Often what depresses and troubles me is a small thing.” While it is difficult to care for my mom as she declines, we are so blessed by God to have all of our needs met. The big things are taken care of. Yet, I find myself getting upset over little things. That brings me to another part speaking of temptation that read, “And when I think I am fairly safe, I suddenly find myself all but defeated by a light breeze.” Later it talked about how annoying it is to live in constant conflict. I spent some time thinking about this chapter today. It does my soul good to realize my frailty as it helps me depend more on God and less on my random thoughts or emotions that may pop up.

I Found God today realizing my need to depend on Him.

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Situations

Posted by eph21920 on November 18, 2023 in Answer, Life

I saw a quote from TobyMac today that made me stop and think. “We ask God to change our situation not knowing He put us in the situation to change us.” I can easily become overwhelmed or frustrated with circumstances. This quote helped me to try to think about things from a different perspective, which I appreciated.

I Found God today in encouragement to change my thinking.

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Sister’s Call

Posted by eph21920 on November 17, 2023 in Birthday, Connected, Family, Joy, Life, Relationship

I share my birthday with my (favorite) aunt – my mother’s sister. We called her, but she was having trouble with her phone. So we sang “Happy Birthday” to her on a voice mail. We texted over the past couple of days and finally were able to talk on the phone today. She still had not been able to hear the message, so we sang to her, which she really enjoyed. I loved hearing the sisters talk and thought about what a blessing it was that they still have a close relationship even though they are far away from each other.

I Found God today in my mom and her sister.

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Blustery Walk

Posted by eph21920 on November 16, 2023 in Creation, Family, Happiness, Weather

We always check the weather in the morning at breakfast. When we saw that today would be one of the last warm days before a cool down, we decided to go to the park. We went to one that was close to the house and not too big. It was a place that the city uses for sports and included a paved walkway around the outside of the fields. When we started off, the breeze was warm and comfortable. After a few minutes, I noticed the trees up ahead suddenly blowing like crazy and leaves blowing our direction. I stopped and told Mom to hang on as her hat went flying up. Luckily it was on a strap under her chin so it didn’t blow completely off. But it did cause her hearing aids and sunglasses to get all out of sorts. I turned the wheelchair around so the wind was at our back and we got her all situated again. In hindsight, I should have turned around before we were hit by the gale. In any case, we continued our walk but were a little more aware of upcoming wind gusts. I was glad it wasn’t actually windy the whole time. Other than that, we had a good time looking at the stream, seeing the dogs, and watching the guys throw the discs at the disc golf area. It felt so good to be in sunshine and fresh air. I was grateful to get my mom outside again for a while.

I Found God today getting outside.

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Always Have God

Posted by eph21920 on November 15, 2023 in Answer, Connected, Faith, Hope, Life, Present, Struggles

Today was a particularly challenging day. As always, God showed up. It was in today’s meditation from “Jesus Calling” which my mom read to us after dinner. It said at the end,

“You will always face trouble in this life. But more importantly, you will always have Me with you, helping you to handle whatever you encounter. Approach problems with a light touch by viewing them in My revealing Light.”

I Found God today in His words at the end of a challenging day.

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Loved To the Moon and Back

Posted by eph21920 on November 14, 2023 in Birthday, Connected, Family, Generosity, Grateful, Love

I received a birthday package from my brother today that was so touching it made me cry. There were 3 items with tags that said, “Giving”. There was a soft, cozy wrap around shawl with a tag that said in part,”…always know you are being thought of, cheered on, and loved for exactly who you are…” There was a candle with a note that said in part, “this candle can be a moment of comfort in the world…” And there was a necklace with a dangling crescent moon and star. The note in the box said in part, “loved to the moon and back.” That one hit me the hardest as I remembered one of the last times I took my parents shopping individually to buy gifts for one another. They each chose a gift that said, “love you to the moon and back.” I felt so blessed by the thoughtfulness of my brother.

I Found God today in my thoughtful brother.

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Sweet Celebration

Posted by eph21920 on November 13, 2023 in Birthday, Family, Food, Friends, Generosity, Grateful

Last week, our friend who visits on Mondays asked what treat she could bring for my birthday today. I told her I would have to think about it and get back to her. During the week I thought about chocolate eclairs, but I didn’t want our friend to go through that much trouble. Then I remembered the delicious doughnut shop was close to her house. So I asked for chocolate glazed doughnuts. She showed up this morning with hands full of two boxes. She said when she received my request, she had already gone to the Dutch bakery and purchased chocolate eclairs! Then she stopped and got doughnuts on her way this morning. Also my neighbor stopped over with her annual thanksgiving pumpkin bread. And my sister bought a small carrot cake. It was a sweet celebration of a day. I felt blessed by such thoughtful people.

I Found God today in thoughtful people and sweet treats.

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Church Adventure

Posted by eph21920 on November 12, 2023 in Faith, Family, Generosity, Grateful, Life, Problem, Service, Stranger

This morning my mom decided she felt good enough to go to church, so off we went. Unfortunately, we arrived a little too late to get a handicapped parking spot. Nevertheless, mom used her walker and walked into the church. She was glad to be there and I was glad to take her. When it came time to leave, she took several steps to get moving, but it became obvious that she wouldn’t be able to walk back out to the car. I found a bench just inside the doors of the church. She was able to make it there and sat down. I asked her to stay put and went out to the car and got the wheelchair. I got back in and got mom settled in the wheelchair. Then I was trying to figure out how I was going to push the wheelchair and the walker at the same time out to the car. Luckily, a woman nearby noticed our predicament and offered to help. So I pushed mom in the wheelchair and the woman followed with the walker. On our way out, someone held the door open for us. It was a woman I know who saw me whiz by with the wheelchair. Her husband is struggling with cancer, but they were both at church. After she got him settled in the car, she came back to see if I needed help. I felt so blessed to have people help when I felt so distressed.

I Found God today in the blessing of helpful people.

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