Newness
Rain
Discomfort
Change
Standing in the gap
Friends who listen even when you’re not fun to listen to
Life
Love
Wholeness
Peace

Very Grateful for

Fathers

a long road of obedience in the same direction

patience to let everyone talk (his patience, not mine!)

honor and respect

hearing the words “we are all we need”

and receiving blessings

recognizing blessings as they are received

and a welcomed, pleasant surprise

in the mint-infused air of Sunday

To him the stars seemed like so many musical notes affixed to the sky, just waiting for somebody to unfasten them. ~Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis

We are attending a funeral in alliance this afternoon.

Though Judy was only 79 she began to leave us years ago as Alzheimer’s affected her memory.

She became childlike and afraid. Thank you that I am confident and strong.

Thank you for a clear mind and clear memories.

So grateful to be able to care for myself.

We mourn not because she has left but because we remember who she was and how that faded.

So goodbye Judy! May you be welcomed by the one waiting for you and may you recognize them!

– ability.

– to shift perspective

– sweets

– my baby Mariella

– law & order

– the kindness of others

– good teachers

– objectivity

– wonderment

– hopefulness

1. Our heavenly Father, all fathers, and all fathers-to-be!
2. My sister went to church with her daughter
3. The generous lunch provided at church for all parishioners after Mass to celebrate Father’s Day and it included my dad’s favorite food!
4. Seeing that very personable, humorous, and “everybodyness” quality that both of my parents have
5. My sister has been more patient and kind lately
6. Jesus was praying with me today! I was praying my post-Mass conversation with God when suddenly the words that came out were not my own. I heard it first, and then no longer than one second later I was saying it to God. It was as if Jesus was praying through my mouth and with me, which has happened multiple times before. Today He said, “Help us to carry your love to all.”
7. When I woke up this morning, I was thinking of how love naturally makes us want to give. Then I started to think about all the things that we can give. We can give time, prayers, our listening ear, our full attention, acknowledgement to someone that we are listening to them and that we care about them, words of reassurance and peace, comfort, encouragement, positive words of strength, hugs and warm affectionate resting of our hand on someone’s shoulder or back, holding someone’s hand, our friendship, forgiveness, we can play with them, we can make someone laugh and tell jokes, we can provide help for them, give necessities such as water/food/shelter/clothes/shoes/linen/toiletries/money/books/etc., give them a ride somewhere, help them carry things, fix something for them, help them find something, cook for or feed someone who can’t feed themselves,  hold someone’s arm while they’re walking with a walker on the other hand, visit someone when they’re sick and see what we can do for them, giving directions to someone who is lost, healing, gifts, handmade things, etc. After that, I went to Mass and during the homily, God responded to my giving list and told me that the most important thing we can give to others is ourselves, and that is precisely what God gives to all of us. God gives us His very self through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and now every day through the Eucharist. Then I thought about Luke 10:38-42 and that if I ever have my own home and have guests over, I should not be concerned about making sure that they are dining with the finest plates, bowls, forks, knives, cups, etc. or sitting in the finest furniture or eating the most upscale foods or drinking the best wine there is. These are all worldly things and none of it matters. We don’t want to help others focus on the material things in life, but to focus on what is lasting, what is permanent, i.e. God, our relationship with God, our spiritual purity and holiness, the state of our soul, love, kindness, joy, peace, forgiveness, etc. The best thing I can give them is myself.
8. Receiving good advice from a real estate agent
9. My mother took us out to celebrate Father’s Day and I got to see my uncle!
10. So much food in the fridge! Thank you God for your abundant providence!
11. My next door neighbors have relatives visiting them and I got to meet and talk with them! They are wonderful! :)
12. Seeing children love one another, get along with one another, give to each other, play with each other, share, make each other feel loved and welcomed, how they appreciate and deeply value and take care of the gifts they receive from other children, and how they learn to give because they first received someone else’s giving. I learn so much from watching children love each other. We learn to love because we first received love from God directly and indirectly when God loves us through our parents, friends, relatives, teachers, mentors, neighbors, priests, nuns, coworkers, cashiers, and even strangers.
13. Perfect weather for Father’s Day!

1. Starting the day off with a delicious organic breakfast!
2. Got to view three beautiful units today as I continue looking for a home of my own
3. The kindness of the leasing agents
4. Natural sunlight that enters through the windows
5. Newness
6. Having a fully-stocked refrigerator
7. Beautiful weather!
8. Late-night productivity!

1. Wonderful Father’s Day to all

2 spent a good day with my husband a father to two sons. One who hasn’t acknowledged his dad

3. Family time with relatives and their young families. So lively

4. Unity minister addressing   How God is recognized as male by most . To me it is difficult to give up that image. But I do know I am grateful for a divine presence, for the comfort in knowing I am part of that.

5. Marie callendars  cherry pie. My husbands absolute favorite.

6. Amazing young male golfers with such strength power and drive

7. Thankful for Eva my unity pal. Miss her presence when we don’t see each other at church

8 thankful for this day this weekend and God above.

1. God
2. My father
3. His encouragement and belief in me
4. I’ve written about his generosity and think of when my cousin told me how my father helped him when he was young and starting a new family with a baby. I was proud to say that’s the kind of man he is.
5. He instilled in me a love of music, mostly because there was always music playing in our house (and still is, presumably,) on the radio or with records, or he would play the piano or harpsichord
6. We could sit in silence for long times, driving some distances, then he would ask me questions
7. My father is always reading. Some books he’s read multiple times. I think he’s particularly fond of Dickens, Trollope, Jane Austen, and also likes biographies.
8. I had no curiosity about his work and it wasn’t until early in my working days that I discovered some of what he worked on, cited in a reference book, data compression algorithms that eventually made possible the graphics interchange format, commonly known as the .gif.
9. He worked hard and supported our family. When the news came that the research center where he worked was going to move to Virginia, his question to the company was will you move my wine. When it became clear he needed to change jobs, he didn’t make a fuss, but essentially walked down the road and found himself a job and worked for another dozen years.
10. And his kindness to my children
11. He still does crossword puzzles, double crostics even, and loves that ken ken
12. Still quite active in his 80s, though sometimes gets disoriented and flummoxed by life (so do I.)
13. My mother told me yesterday he was riveted with watching the golf tournament, interesting because he didn’t golf to my knowledge when I was growing up.
14. Happy Father’s Day, Dad
13.

1. Thanks to my mother for taking our whole family out to dinner to celebrate an early Father’s Day at a restaurant we’ve never been to before and every dish was amazing!
2. Becoming friends with the nice diners sitting next to us at the restaurant because they also had a baby with them. It turns out their baby was only 2 months older than my niece, their baby and my niece have very similar names–only one letter difference, and both have short curly hair!
3. Chocolate gelato is on sale!
4. I got to try my sister’s cookie butter ice cream for the first time and it was delicious!
5. The kindness of the cashiers and the other employees at the grocery store! They always ask how I’m doing first, genuinely care about people, are humble and down-to-earth, and extremely helpful!

1. Leftover fried chicken lollipops from last night’s dinner was delicious for lunch today!
2. The strong roof over our house and the garage to protect us from the rain and thunderstorms
3. That refreshing feeling I get from the rain and how God washes everything outside for us–our patio furniture, our cars, our stairs, our windows, our doors, etc.
4. Being able to take my parents out to a nice dinner at a French restaurant to celebrate an early Father’s Day and they both LOVED the food! Everything was cooked juuuuuust right! The waitress was absolutely wonderful too!
5. Every time we’re looking for a parking space, I ask St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost items, to pray for us and to help us find a good and safe parking space. I find him to be very quick and reliable every single time. I’ve always found one immediately after asking him and he has become one of my most familiar saints! Today was no different and we instantly found a great and safe parking space directly across the street from the restaurant on very busy street at a very busy time!
6. My parents were able to communicate cordially and kindly to each other all day!
7. Spanish food!