Tuesday 4: "What Do You Think?"

Writing Happy Things

 

What Do You Think?

Annie came up with some provocative and interesting questions for us to answer this week. I will attempt to do my best to give appropriate answers from my own personal perspective. If you wish to join in and share your thoughts, you can link up over at the Tuesday 4 link up HERE

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. It's so nice to have you here.

Let's talk about you this week. Let others know your feelings and convictions. Give some advice and some wisdom. And remember to visit the other contributors to get to know them and find out their opinions too!

1. What do you believe the purpose of life is?

HERE (click on link) is a list of Scripture verses that give us an idea of what God's purpose for our existence is.  There are so many that I can't list or quote them all for you here, but I will share a couple that stand out to me:

Micah 6:8 NKJV

"He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?"

Psalm 145:1-3

I will extol You, my God, O King;

And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable.

Matthew 22:36-40 NKJV

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Romans 12:1 NKJV

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

2. How do you handle stress ? What do you recommend to others who are stressed out?

"If you long for a mind at rest, and a heart that cannot harden...

go find a gate that opens wide into a secret garden."

Yes, to relieve stress, go find a quiet place to sit and rest and watch God's beautiful creation around you. Talk to the animals...listen to the birds singing, sing hymns of praise and glorify God...and soon the stress will go away...

The Sand Hill Crane Family came to visit while I was sitting in the Memorial/Secret Garden...

Also, this sweet little Dove of Peace came and followed me around while I was watering the plants and filling the birdbath.

I guarantee this to be a stress reliever...

3. What enjoyable things do you wish you could do more often? How would it improve your life?

Spending time with my family is one of the greatest things I love to do. I am blessed with these special people in my life, and more...this was on Sunday afternoon...and it truly blessed my heart to be with these guys...our two sons and our grandson, who is the son of our other son who is in heaven.  Also our daughter in law and granddaughter in law to be were here and we had a belated "Cinco de Mayo" taco dinner! 

Being with good friends, family, and maybe doing some traveling to beautiful places in our country...that is something I truly love and would love to do more of...

How would it improve my life? Well,  I believe having happy times with loved ones and visiting beautiful places releases the tension in our bodies and helps us to feel much better about life in general. I am a people person and enjoy interaction with like minded and interesting and funny people.

4. Do you believe in God? Why or why not?

Yes, I believe in God... The Apostle's Creed sums it up pretty well:

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;

He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting."

Psalm 19 NKJV

1The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

2 Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,

And its circuit to the other end;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold,

Yea, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,

And in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can understand his errors?

Cleanse me from secret faults.

13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;

Let them not have dominion over me.

Then I shall be blameless,

And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Psalm 8

1 "O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth,

Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have ordained strength,

Because of Your enemies,

That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4 What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit him?

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen—

Even the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the air,

And the fish of the sea

That pass through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth!"

Ephesians 5:1-3 NKJV

5 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

I hope these verses help to sum up how and what I believe about God and also about our purpose in life.  I believe that I am here on this earth to serve God and to let my life be a testimony of His marvelous grace and love.  There can be no greater purpose.  I may not always succeed at this, but hopefully even when I fail, Christ shines forth in the midst of my failures.

1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."