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?
No I don't but from time to time I think of things I heard a lot as a child from neighbours, children and so on.
For example, when we used to walk on the sidewalks there were sayings like "step on a crack, break your mother's back". Then there were things like it's bad luck to walk under a ladder or to have a black cat cross your path. I'm sure the ladder saying had to do with common sense so that you didn't have a ladder falling on you as you walked under it for example. As for the black cat belief I read that it originated in Medieval times and was rooted in fears of witchcraft and heresy. Last, but not least, I used to hear that 'bad luck comes in threes". I guess this last belief comes from ancient superstition about the spiritual significance of the number 3 both in Christian belief and Greek/Roman traditions.
2. How often do you check the weather? Where do you get your weather reports?
I check the weather at least once a day and a lot more often if bad weather is expected here at home or further abroad. I have family and friends spread out near and far so I like to see what the weather is like elsewhere. Also, if weather is bad here at home, I want to know when it will improve.
I check the weather in a variety of ways: on my phone, on the television's weather channel, on the local news weather report and on line through the weather channel or on Bing. If I'm watching You Tube on the television I also watch the weather updates on a variety of American news channels.
3. What time of your life was the happiest and why do you think that was? How could life improve for you now?
I've been blessed to have many 'happiest" times in my life. I guess they aren't actually the 'happiest' times because there were so many. They are just 'happy' times and for a variety of reasons, usually when I've celebrated a personal or family milestone, gone travelling to an especially nice place, spent good times with friends, heard an especially good worship service or, talk, the list goes on. But I would say that probably the personal or family milestones achieved over the years are the main things that makes me happy. It's a given that salvation is also one of the happiest things. It gives a sense of peace to know or believe that you know you are going to be with the Creator in eternity and so many other people that you know and love.
Life could improve for me and others, if I could know that suffering would end now for everyone. That sounds very Polly-anish and I know it won't be happening until the Lord returns. Even then suffering will only really end for those that are in the faith family. If you are reading this and you don't believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit that is okay. It's your choice but that is how I believe. While I and many others wait for Jesus to return, I choose to do my part in feeding the hungry and bringing a bit of hope and good news to those I meet, many in Kenya and other places as I'm able. Even very small efforts are huge to those that are in desperate need.
I haven't written about the missions in Kenya for a very long time but my husband and I are still doing some small things here and there. At the moment, we are not doing it full-time or with the same emphasis as when he lived in Kenya. The season in our lives is a bit different right now but we do what we are able because the needs are still there. In some cases, the needs are even greater than ever because of global inflation which has increased hardships even here at home.
4. What things would you ordain to make everyday life happier, kinder, more prosperous, for everyone?
I think I answered that in question 3 but if there is any doubt, I just wish that people would choose to be kind and choose to be nice and also helpful to others they come across daily.
