Tuesday 4~Simple Questions

 Simple Questions

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. I hope you are enjoying these questions. Let me know if they can be improved and if you have any ideas for subjects!
Here are just 4 simple questions for you this week...

1. Do you have any superstitious beliefs?

That's easy to answer: NO!

2. How often do you check the weather? Where do you get your weather reports?

We check our weather app on my phone every morning. Actually, hubby and I play a little guessing game every morning. He doesn't look at the weather app,  and I ask him to guess what the current temperature is, and he has to get it within one degree to get a point. Then I ask him what the high will be for the day, and then what the conditions are/or will be all day, such as sunny, cloudy, partly cloudy, rainy, or FOGGY, like it was this morning:

 then the wind speeds, percentage of actual precipitation for the day, and the percentage of humidity.  Again, all answers have to be within 1 degree or 1 percent of the actual answer. There is no prize...just a good test of his mental acuity in the morning while drinking his coffee.  Some days he does pretty good and gets most all of them right...but when the weather is so changeable like it has been lately, it's been a bit more challenging.  I'm glad he's the one doing the guessing and I hold the answers on my phone! LOL.  For me, I guess the weather by whether or not my joints are extra stiff in the morning or not. LOL.  We do also check the weather on the TV when there's a question about any serious weather conditions (like hurricanes or tornadoes, or this winter...freeze warnings have been rather frequent for us, more so than usual for this part of the country.)

Current view outside our front door: Full Moon tonight:.(Monday night)  This was around 7:30 p.m.  I plan to try and remember to get up and look at the lunar eclipse of the moon early Tuesday morning, and if I can get some decent pictures, I will add them before I post this.

(I don't know what that aqua blob is on the picture. Maybe a UFO. LOL.)

3.What time of your life was the happiest and why do you think that was? How could life improve for you now?

That's really hard to answer, as I've been happy in every season of my life, even though there have been some very sad and difficult times as well, but even so I have a deep down joy in my heart because of Jesus living in me.   Without Him, I would not have been able to get through some of the very difficult times. 

This was probably one of the happiest times in my life...our sweet little family...our boys were still young and happy and healthy and innocent. Hubby was the Pastor of a beautiful church and we seemed to be "sitting on top of the world" for a while.  Life definitely got more difficult as the years went by, but this was a time of joy and many blessings.  (I was just 30 years old in this picture. At the time I thought I was really getting old! LOL)

To answer the rest of the question: "How could life improve for you now?"

I think for the most part things are going pretty well for people of our age, but if anything could improve, it would be to have our strength and health renewed and restored back to a time of a bit more strength, energy, and stamina.  But truly, we are very very thankful for everything we have at this stage in life. We look around us and realize that it could always be so much worse, so we are extremely thankful to God that He is taking very good care of us.

4. What things would you ordain to make everyday life happier, kinder, more prosperous, for everyone?

Here are some verses from the Bible that summarize what I believe makes life happier, kinder, and more prosperous.  If everyone could "drink of the water that (Jesus) shall give him", he would definitely have the kind of joy that never fails, no matter what the circumstances of life.

John 4:13-14~ 

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. 

But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Isaiah 12:1-3

1 "And in that day you will say:

“O Lord, I will praise You;

Though You were angry with me,

Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.

2 Behold, God is my salvation,

I will trust and not be afraid;

‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;

He also has become my salvation.’ ”

3 Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation."
 

Psalm 89:1-2 NKJV

1 "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;

With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

2 For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;

Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”

My thoughts: there really isn't anything this world has to offer that will bring lasting happiness and prosperity.  Everything here is temporary.  Here is what Jesus said on this subject:

Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

All this "stuff" we have here to make us more comfortable and "happy" is just that, STUFF.  It's okay to make ourselves comfortable here, but don't ever think any of it is permanent. Ask someone who has had a tornado rip through their home, or a fire or a flood. They are extremely thankful when they can escape with their family intact and the clothes on their back (if they are so blessed to be able to do that).  All that STUFF is gone in a puff of wind or a torrent of water...but our souls are eternal.  That is the ONLY thing that lasts for eternity, so we best consider where we will be spending eternity while there is yet time.

2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV

"2 For He (Jesus) says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,

And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

I will try to finish this in the morning, if I can get some pictures of the "blood moon".  

Okay, here I am, 6:15 a.m. Tuesday morning.  I did go out and watch the eclipse for the first half...and I apologize for the poor quality of my pictures. I am certain many of you may have better cameras for moon shots than I do, so I expect there will be some out there with really good photos. But here's what I have, so you will know that I did what I said I would do!

I had a lot more pictures, but they really were too fuzzy to be worth showing.  So how many of you went out to watch the eclipse?  I can't wait to see your pictures!

Blackie says, "Okay, it's time to post this and get on with our day! "

He finds the most precarious spots to just lay himself down and rest a spell from his wanderings...seems like he's always right on the edge of something!  (Sometimes I feel like that too, don't you?)

Okay, my friends...be blessed and enjoy this day.  

"This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!"  

Psalm 118:24

Tuesday 4~ Advice: 5 Cents

 

Advice: 5¢

You are very welcome here at Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. We look forward to your participation and seeing your answers to the questions we provide. It's enjoyable to get to know more about blogging friends.

We all take and give advice at least once in our lives.
Oxford dictionary says that advice is: guidance or recommendations offered with regard to prudent future action.

1. Is there one piece of advice you were given that you feel has been very important in your life?

This scripture verse below was shared with me prior to marriage, and it was the best advice ever given to any married couple:

Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,"
Obviously, every couple will have disagreements about many things, but it is important to not allow those disagreements to carry over into the night and not be settled as much as possible before you go to sleep. Sometimes you may have to "agree to disagree", but do not allow things to fester and grow bigger between you. Try, with as much as is within you, to settle the little issues before they become bigger issues. "Kiss and make up" and get a good night's sleep.  If you have to discuss things further in the morning, at least you will have had time to "sleep on it" and you may have a different perspective in the morning.

2. What advice do you think is important for building good personal relationships?

Practice forgiveness as much as possible.  Even if they don't ask for forgiveness, settle it in your own heart and mind and don't allow unforgiveness to cause you more pain. Sometimes you have to just move on and pray for God to deal with the other person in His own way.  Don't allow other people's problems to destroy you.

Matthew 18:21-22 NKJV
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Matthew 6:14-15 

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

3. Do you give advice to friends when they have problems to solve or do you refrain unless asked?

I usually wait until asked, unless I see that someone is headed for something really bad and they need to be warned before it's too late. But that would be an unusual situation. And it also depends on the person. Some people wouldn't listen to good advice no matter what, while others might really appreciate someone's words of wisdom.  It really depends on the relationship and the level of trust between you.

4. What advice can you give us today?  The only good advice I have comes from God's Word. Here is a passage that I have found helpful and comforting throughout the years:

Psalm 37:1-8

"1 Do not fret because of evildoers,

Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,

And wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him,

And He shall bring it to pass.

6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,

And your justice as the noonday.

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;

Do not fret—it only causes harm."

The best advice I can give to anyone is to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, before it is too late. Our world is rapidly spiraling into a major conflagration, even as I sit here writing and hearing what is going on in Israel as we speak, and for those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, the results could be extremely catastrophic.  

2 Corinthians 6:2

2 For He says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,

And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

John 14:6 NKJV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through Me."

I realize that this post is pretty heavy on the Scripture, but my heart is truly burdened right now for our country and our world and for so many who really do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. While I am sitting here writing right now, Iran is bombing Israel, Israel is fighting back on many levels...we've had major weather related catastrophes here in our part of the country this past weekend, and there have been fires and earthquakes in many parts of the country and world.  There are also some major financial issues going on throughout the world that could have a serious impact on our own American dollar. If you know anything about the prophecies concerning the end times and the Rapture and the Tribulation, you will realize that Christ's return could be imminent.  I am not a fear monger...just a person who sees the signs of the times and realizes that life as we know it could be changing very rapidly.  

Today, being the first day of October, I will share this one new calendar picture for today, especially because of the verse that is attached, "Pray without ceasing".  I Thessalonians 5:17.  

And with that I will close for today.  Please pray for Israel, and for all of our world.

Amen.