Tuesday 4: Your Life

Your Life


Welcome to Tuesday 4 kept up in Toni Taddeo's memory.


Easter and Passover are coming quickly. Both are about life, so let's talk about life this week.

I kind of already talked about Easter and Holy Week a bit in my Monday Reflections post, HERE.

1. Is your life different this year? If so, how and what has changed?

Hmm, how is my life different this year from last?  Well, for one thing I believe we all have a lot more freedoms this year than we did last year. This time last year we were still having to wear masks everywhere and many people were still staying at home rather than venturing out to church or other activities or family gatherings.  Here in Florida, where I live, we were not quite as "locked down" as everywhere else, but we still had some restrictions to deal with.  HERE is a link to our EASTER service from last year, and we had just moved back into our church sanctuary for services but were still "socially distanced" and wearing masks.  I am so thankful we are past that now and for the most part life is back to "normal", whatever that is. Someone said "normal" is just a setting on your washing machine. LOL.

2. Are you satisfied with your spiritual life or could it be better? What do/will you do to make it better?  I am mostly satisfied with my spiritual life, in that I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord. I know that when I die I will go to live in heaven with Him for eternity. I am very thankful to be God's child and I just can't praise Him enough for loving me so much that He was willing to actually die a brutal death on the cross to take away my sins.  However, I believe I can always strive to make my spiritual life better by staying faithful to the study of God's Word, the Bible, and by spending time with Him in prayer and in fellowship with His Body, the church.  I try to have a daily prayer time and do regular devotional readings in the Bible every morning. There is no better way to start my day than to spend time with the Lord. However, it's not limited to just the mornings. I've learned that God is always just a prayer away. I can communicate with Him anytime at all...He is always there waiting. I cannot imagine living my life any other way. It would be a very empty existence without that relationship with Him.

3. What are you busy with today? Will this matter in 1 year? 3 years? 5 years?

Today is probably not a good example. (written on Monday evening) I haven't felt well today so I've been pretty much just resting and not doing much at all. (Had a bout with some vertigo).  But I have spent some time here writing this morning and again now, in getting this post ready for tomorrow.  I've enjoyed a good supper with my husband and our son who lives with us when he got home from work.  Will what I do today or tomorrow or yesterday matter in 1 year or more? Well, I like to think that every day of my life matters. It matters to God, and it matters to my loved ones and those with whom I communicate.  Like any of you, if suddenly you were not here, it would matter to me and to many others. I don't have to be doing something "important" in the world's eyes to matter to God.  His purpose for my life is not measured in my physical or vocational or other kinds of accomplishments.  It's measured in my devotion to Him...my love for God and for my fellow "man".  But it's also measured in God's love for me. Even if I never accomplished any real thing in this life except just to exist, if that is what God created me to do, then my life would matter. 

What we write here in our blog posts matters. It doesn't matter how many likes or comments or followers we have...it matters that we stay true to our hearts and our purpose in writing. If it is just for the fun of it, well so be it. If it is to connect with others and maybe find ways to encourage one another in our daily lives, then that certainly matters. I know that I have learned so much from so many of you...your stories do matter. Your life does matter. Your concerns and hurts and sorrows do matter. Your celebrations and joys matter. It all matters to us, to your family and friends, and especially to God.  So yes, whatever I am busy with today or tomorrow or even yesterday does matter. It matters a lot.

4. Do you serve others in life? How do you do that?

I believe we serve others here in our blogs. We reach out to each other in love and respect and try to lift each other up in any way possible...even people we may never meet in person on this earth.  And certainly, as a wife and mother and grandmother and sister, I do serve others every day.

BTW: speaking of being a grandmother, our grandson just sent these pictures to us today from somewhere in Arizona. If you recall he is on an adventure journey across the country, camping with friends. Occasionally he sends me some pictures that he knows I will appreciate. If you notice below, there is a person standing next to this cactus to give you a perspective of how tall it is. If that is my grandson, which I think it is, he is 6'4", so that tells you this cactus is pretty tall!!!  

I am thrilled that he takes the time to send me these pictures every so often, just to keep in touch. That truly blesses my heart. And yes, it matters a lot to me.

 By being faithful to my calling in life in those positions what I do matters.  And I serve others in my church by fulfilling my responsibilities to participate in worship, Bible Study (except I had to miss today (Monday) because I was sick), by singing in the choir, 

attending Sunday School, serving as the Secretary to our church Administrative Board, and just by being there as a faithful member and also giving my tithe each week.  I serve my extended family by staying in touch and caring and praying for them...celebrating birthdays and other holidays together as often as possible.  I don't do a lot of volunteer work in the community or otherwise anymore, but I try to do my part when able.  

Now to shift gears a little bit, here's some ladies who also serve God and our community and our church by their ministry:

These are a few of the ladies from our church who get together weekly as the "Sew and Sew Quilt Group." They make lap quilts to donate to the Ronald McDonald House and Hospice house and wherever needed.  Just a week ago they took 100 lap quilts to the Ronald McDonald house at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL.  For such a small church and group, this was pretty amazing. I do not participate in this group, but I love and support what they do. 

Here's a couple of other quilts...

And this one, which actually was for sale. They were having a Yard Sale over the weekend to raise support for their ministry. I purchased this Gators Lap Quilt and am saving it to give as a Christmas gift to someone in my family who graduated from Univ. of FL.  

I like this sign they have hanging in their little Quilt House:

And this is actually their quilt house (below). This little house used to be the church parsonage years ago before they got the newer bigger house that I've shown you before. This is right on the church property, and serves as a wonderful place for these ladies to meet and sew and have fellowship while they work together every week.

Oh, I bought one other thing at their yard sale:

I spent a whole 25 cents on this delightful placemat, with is made with Mary Englebreit fabric. They only had this one like this or I would probably have bought them all if they'd had them:

Here are a few close ups of the special places on this fabric that I just fell in love with

I wonder if you can tell why I loved it so much?

It just "spoke to me"...

And that little Scottie dog made me think of our son Scott who lives with us. It says "So Cute"...and he's been told that he's "so cute" many times in his life, because he is. LOL.

And so of course I had to figure out where to use it, and decided to have a little tea party for me, myself and I out on the back porch overlooking Still Waters Pond:

My hubby took this picture of me...it was a very windy and cool day on Saturday afternoon, as you can tell by my hair...

I was reading from this little book that my sister gave me several years ago for Christmas:

The pictures kind of reminded me of where I was sitting at just that moment:

And I liked what this said:

"Gratitude is the memory of the heart."  

Yes, I have great gratitude in my heart for so many who have been my friends, family, confidantes, and mentors throughout the years.  

And grateful for a friend who looked into my heart and thought I needed a special little friend to have tea parties with when no one else was available!  Lily Grace and her doggy friend Bailey are always ready for a tea party! (This was on Sunday afternoon...still cool and lovely on the porch, but not so windy!!)

Yes, I have great gratitude for people who do make a difference in our lives...sometimes it's the little things that matter most.  Perhaps sending that card to encourage a friend who is not feeling well or who is grieving...sending little messages to cheer us on our way...a phone call just to say hello...(Yes! A REAL phone call and not just a text, even though texts are nice and I appreciate them, but a REAL phone call, where we can hear one another's voices and share our thoughts with each other back and forth...oh that is divine!)

Yes, those things do matter now and even next year and five years from now!

Sometimes it's the little things that matter more than we ever knew!

Thank you, Annie, for coming up with these special questions each week. You make us think and reflect on our lives, and that's a good exercise!  

Now let us go see what our other friends are sharing in response to these questions on this weeks Tuesday 4.