The Candy Cane

 

Look at the Candy Cane

What do you see?

Stripes that are red

Like the blood shed for me

White is for my Savior,

Who's sinless and pure!

"J" is for Jesus My Lord, that's for sure!

Turn it around,

And a staff you will see.

Jesus my shepherd

Was born for Me!

Many years ago, a candy maker wanted to make a candy at Christmas time,

that would serve as a witness to his Christian faith.

He wanted to incorporate several symbols for the birth, ministry,

and death of Jesus. He began with a stick of pure white hard candy;

white to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus;

hard to symbolize the solid rock, the foundation of the Church;

firmness to represent the promise of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J"

to represent the name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior.

He thought it could also represent the staff of the Good Shepherd,

with which he reached down into the ditches of the world to lift out

the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker,

stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes,

to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received,

by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the

blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the

promise of eternal life. Unfortunately, the candy became known,

as a candy cane - a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time.

But the true meaning is still there for those who have,

eyes to see and ears to hear.

 

Thanksgiving eve

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING

if you will be traveling please drive safely, if you get sleepy, stop and walk around your family would like you there not going to your funeral.     Please do not drink and drive, your life is at risk along with that innocent person you hit and killed.

I used to make pies with mom on this day, that has sure been hard.  If you have your grandparents, parents tell them you love them and its not good bye, it's "I'll see you later, never be too busy to talk to them, go and visit, or take to lunch.  When they are gone it will never be the same,

Enjoy the memories being made and cherish them always

To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

—Romans 16:27

Tuesday 4 Thankful

 

Thankful

 Hello friends and welcome to Tonis Tuesday 4

Thanksgiving Day is about here. Let's talk about the holiday and thankfulness.

1. Whether you are from the USA or not, thankfulness is beneficial to a nation and people.  Is it a natural thing for you to think of being thankful or is it something you must be reminded about?  Its a natural thing, we always have something to be thankful for

2.  Plymouth Plantation is the site of the original settlement and everything is authentic to the 1600's including how they speak.    Have you been to Plymouth Rock?   How about the Plymouth Plantation (yes that is the proper spelling). Would you like to go visit these places? What places are you thankful for having seen?   I haven't been to either place, but on my bucket list.  I have seen the Alamo, and the 7 missions around San Antonio,  St. Augustine FL, St Louis Archway, Petrified Forest, Superstitious Mountain, Grand Ole Opry,  Builtmore house,  Myrtle Beach, Gulf Coast, Pacific Ocean, Smokey Mountains, (the list could go on forever)

3. Do you tune into the Macy's Parade ?  YES its a tradition!   This year my cousin will be marching in the parade, from Texas Tech University (Great job going band, and ABI)

4. What will you be eating on Thanksgiving Day this year?  traditional meal,               Turkey, ham, stuffing green bean casserole, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes with giblet              gravy, rolls, cranberry, pies. After lunch we play games, with the kids, then              exchange names for Christmas.

Linking up with Tuesday 4

Automobiles

 Hey there... welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

We rely on cars to get just about everywhere today, so maybe we should talk about them a bit. Okay?

1. What is the earliest car you remember your family owning? Do you recall the color or the plate number?

2. What does your states license plate look like? Do you like it?

3. What color is your car now?

4. Did you have a car as a teenager?   If yes, what kind was it?

1.  Mom and dad had a 1963 GMC pick up they said it was nothing but a lemon (they got rid of it when I was 5 or 6 *born in 67*  I do not recall the tag#

 What does your states tag look like?

This is the newest tag it a scissor tail fly catcher *state bird*

this is a sample of my car tags as I am disabled

also have this so if I ride with anybody else in another vehicle

3.  What color is my car now?

4.  Did you have a car as a teenager? what color was it?

I did it was a 1967 baby blue Ford Mustang.  Wasn't a convertible but man did those old cars have some long hoods

.

around my yard

The asters are so pretty this year

painted ladies were loving the sweet flowers

another painted lady

even the grasshoppers were enjoying the sweetness

common buckeye, she opened her wings pretty for me

even a monarch

what do you see around your yard?

 

September Bible Journaling Gods Wisdom

 

September Bible Journaling

God’s wisdom

Week 1:  9-8-23

Proverbs 25:11

 11 Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances.

God’s wisdom is very valuable in today’s time and age.

Have you known someone who speaks so beautifully that it is like a work of art, especially when they are very passionate about it?

        Apples are used often in the art scene, here Solomon, used apples as a word scene telling us to be wise in our speech and our words.

        When this verse was written there was no social media to use to get ideas, only paintings or sculptures arranged decorations.  Maybe Solomon had something directly in front of him when he wrote this verse?  (Where he makes this analogy) Golden apples, sitting in a silver bowl?

        A beautiful combination of both color and image that is how words are that are spoken at the right time.   Truly wonderful and a beautiful gift, to the people who need them.

        Our parents gave us words of wisdom from where they had been before us, those words protected us a beautiful reminder how those words of wisdom transfer over to our heavenly father and how He speaks to us through His word.  

His words are beautiful (make us want to write them down, journal and keep them in a place where we can review them from time to time.  Bible times were involved in the writings *His word* even the people of Nazareth couldn’t believe how well He spoke, Mary couldn’t get enough of His words and wanted to sit at His feet, even His enemies praised His speech.  We get to delight in His work as they have been written in the Bible.  We should use His speech as a guide to our speech.

How beautiful are your words would be for those that hear them, compare our speech to a beautiful work of art.

When we spend time in the word of Jesus and studying the life of Jesus the fruit of His spirit grows on us, we exemplify Christ as our spirit, our words will bring beauty to those around us.

 

Week 2:  9-2-23

Proverbs 7:2 2 Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

        “Apple of your eye” tell us we are the apple of God’s eye, but what exactly does this mean?  It is a favorite expression of the Old Testament written to indicate something or someone who is valued above all other things.  To bring up close and personal this phrase refers to a tiny little reflection of yourself that you can see inside another person’s pupil when you are standing really close to them.

         To be the apple of someone’s eye clearly means you are being focused on and that you are being closely watched upon by that person.  Your image is central in the eyes of that person.     That is how God sees us, however in the verse keep His word as the apple of your eye, what does it mean for us to see His word that way?    His word needs to be the central focus in our lives and the way that we will live and keep it close and personal to us.   This verse is an encouragement to us to understand the length which we should keep our focus on the word of God.  Requires us to have a love and desire for it and to hold it with care.   WHY?  Gods’ commandments or teachings give us life.   It is worth having Gods word as our central focus.   He gives us protection in the truth, are the instructions that He gives us in God’s word, being taught to protect ourselves disregarding His words or forgetting them being too busy to obey them.   The reason why we want to do this is so that we may rely fully on Him.   His word is life shows us how to live and gives us valuable wisdom when we need it most.   *Journaling is an excellent road map for our hearts when we focus on Gods truth*   Life for us shows us how to live every single day- keeping the teachings of God’s word as the apple of our eye.

 

 

Week 3

 1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no man deceive himself if any man among you thinks that he is wise in his age, he must become foolish so that he may become wise.

We are at a time in history when as God’s people, more important than ever we pay attention to this verse.

Paul is saying:  following Jesus, we could find ourselves being called fools for how we choose to live.  Is also encouraging us to be truth tellers in a world being taken away from truth tellers and a world that is hostile to God’s word. 

Because we do not belong to this world as believers, we know that our king is Jesus and that we are kingdom dwellers we are just passing through and that we are going to spend eternity with Him.  God’s word teaches us how to have that eternal perspective, that perspective should be the lens that we look at our own wisdom.  We need to be careful when we put human accomplishments, celebrities, human philosophies, worldly successes on a pedestal above Gods truth.  Be careful to think that we have life figured out (the truth) We need to rely on God every single day and we do not need to have everything figured out.   Foolishness is thinking that we do.   There is a lot of relaxation in knowing that we do not need to have everything figured out.    His words are there to guide us when we pay attention to what he is saying, we can trust He will lead us in the right direction.  Not being wise in our own eyes, we are fearful not to trust our own way, accidentally disregarding Gods instructions in His word.   We all get busy and do not take the time to look into what His word says.

Having an eternal perspective means that we do not follow in the footsteps of a fool, living as someone who forgets who we are to our heavenly father.   Having faith in God is NOT a rejection of human wisdom but a recognition of our limits.   God gave us immense capacity for intelligence, creativity, ingenuity all these things are given to us so that we can face humility and awe from our creator God.

When we are humble and wise, we more easily see that everything points back to God and His love for us.    

I for one do not mind being regarded as a fool in this world because it means that I know the God who is above it all and that is wisdom.

 

 

Week 4

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to you a heart of wisdom.

Unlike other Psalms this particular chapter was written by Moses as he was reflecting on his time in the wilderness.  

Remember, as a kid when we wished to be old enough to drive, be out of school, get a job, be 21?  Whatever we wished for, that time would go faster?  When we reached adulthood, we were like woah, wait a minute this isn’t what I signed up for, this is hard.  Now, time flies faster than ever, the older we get the faster it goes.  Life if short as time really does pass faster.

Moses was realizing just how fleeting life is, he asked God for wisdom to account for our time, time flies, life is uncertain, and eternity is forever.     This is why it is important for us to value the time and days God has given us, use them wisely to further God’s kingdom.

There is no way for us to know what the future will hold, why it is important to be intentional how we hold out each day.  Live sensibly and with a purpose but do so “ONE DAY AT A TIME”.

If we think about the background of Moses, the man who wrote this chapter, he watched entire generations of his people dying over a 40-year period while they wondered in the wilderness, thousands of men, women, children died in front of him.   While it just became part of life, Moses was a man who saw most of these people living their lives in complete rebellion against the same God who rescued them and continued to love them.

Picture Moses, sitting on a rock on the side of the mountain looking out over all of Israel, somehow feeling compelled to ask God to teach him, to teach us to number our days and gain arts of wisdom.

Consider the life of Jesus and the life He left for us.  Jesus, amazes me for so many reasons; 1 reason He accomplished so much in a very short span of time (relatively speaking) as He was crucified at the age of 33 and His earthly ministry only lasted 3 yrs.  During this time, He accomplished all that the father had for Him to do.  He was busy with people, ministry, healing, teaching, preparing to die for us and yet He still took the time to slow down and teach 1 woman at the well, took the time to stop and bless all the little children, spoke to a tax collector up in a tree.   When we look at not only the words of Moses, also, the life of Jesus. 

This is how we learn to live with intention from His example.  This is how we gain heart wisdom.

 

 

 

Jesus, I truly thank you for the ability to gain heart wisdom and that you have given us immense capacity for our brains to continue learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gods written word week 4

 Week 4 God's written word

2 Corinthians 3:2-4

2) You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men.  3) being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, no on  tablets of stone but in tablets of human hearts, 4) Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.

We are a letter from Christ, not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living god on tablets of human hearts.  Our heart is what holds the message from Christ and the written word of God.  It is our lives that people often read about.   

When Jesus walked on earth He did not write any letters or leave any penned words behind.  Only, 1 time He wrote in the sand.  He did not need to leave written letters, He spoke the words that others wrote.  He is the word and His word lives in our heart.   Our changed lives and transformed hearts is proof of His gospel, why it is so important for each of us to know our story and understand how Jesus connects to that very story.

We are an open ended written letter for Jesus, showing us His grace, mercy and His love, faithfulness to us.  {Through our bible journaling (this is what I do) becomes part of our stories or a letter } or story he places in our hearts from day to day.

When we journal God's word and our personal experience in His word has been engraved in our heart

The truth we are learning then spills out in our actions, and our spoken words to others.  Others around us get to learn about Jesus through this ongoing letter/story of our lives,

Here is a quote from Mother Teresa:  "I am just a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world"      Are you that little pencil?  

Jesus, I want to be a messenger to God's love to the world by the way that I live my life.

Gods written word week 3

 2 John 1:12

12 Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made complete.

How God's word impacts our lives.   John is speaking to us about using pen and ink but takes it to deeper lever.  "I have so much to share" with you that now I want to talk to you face to face.  {shows how invested he was in those lives in his circle of care.  {Shows us when he couldn't visit and have face to face interactions like he wanted to, he took the time to write profound and heartfelt letters.

The message that John was conveying in this written letter in 2 John is very important, over all letter itself he is warning them of false teachings and purging them to continue in love and truth.  He wanted to continue this conversation in person.  "So that our joy may be complete."

Face to face fellowship is important and we can learn about the attitude of 2 John 1:12  Be very mindful how we use our words to encourage others, whether we write, text, email or even posting on social media.   It is beneficial to get together with like minded people, fellowship, small groups, bible studies, book groups, activities ect.

Isn't it amazing how the power of the Holy Spirit connects others to our hearts from those we have just met?

This is a very special connection when we are  face to face , that happens when 2 people who love Jesus get together and talk about HIM.

We all have a circle of influence that God has given each one of us, we have unique opportunities to encourage those around us with face to face interactions.

Always us face to face to encourage those around  you and point them to Jesus.  "That is where we will find complete JOY."

Girls weekend August 11 thru 13

we stopped at a winery in AR first time some of us had ever been to one (including me)  this is the gang that went 

The back patio on the top floor what an awesome view

the trail that leads down to the lake

Beaver Lake Garfield Arkansas

Maddie the weather girl got to forecast the weather and she was spot on!

This is War Eagle Mill entrance a working water mill since the Civil War

Some of the gang walking to the mill, the old bridge is still driven across today

Some history about the mill

The bridge and creek

 

The water wheel turning

we got busted at the moonshine house, not really it was all in fun, but told family at home it was 500 per person and there were 7 of us.

Nothing but God's beauty as far as the eye could see

a different look out point

This was up the hill from the air bnb we stayed at.  I could live here with no guilty feelings.

back of our bnb so beautfiul

the trail to the lake again

This cemetery was really cool

Old Ruddick School house established 18 something (what the sign says)

Old country church all of 4 cars there

Pearidge War Park

I see you baby peeking at us.

over view of Pearidge!  4300 acres what a sight to see.

a storm is brewing with the cannons in the background

we had a fantastic weekend, and we are all ready to go again.  I am so thankful for God's beauty and the friendships made.  I and 1 of the gals have been friends since 1976, one was her sister, another was sis n law and her 3 daughters.   I left home with 2 nieces, 1 nephew, 7 great nephews, 1 great niece, 2 brothers.  I came home with 3 sisters, 3 more nieces, 4 great nieces and 3 more great nephews   Family isn't always blood!

August Bible Journaling Gods Written Word week 1 and 2

 

August bible Journaling

Gods Written Word

Week 1 Luke 4:16-20

 ¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him.

Jesus is reading about Himself as the prophet Isaiah had written about Jesus many years before.  Gods written word is pointing toward the living word, Jesus.

This is the story of Jesus holding the scrolls of Isaiah, reading these words that were written about Himself.  This scene pops open for what would have been like to have been there and hearing His voice.  The bible wasn’t in book form back then just a collection of scrolls, even today these scrolls are prized possessions in the Jewish Synagogue, they are hand copied, decorated and are very expensive to create, there are elaborate files showing where the scrolls are kept.

Jesus preached His very first sermon that day, where He said “The scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.  Proclaiming who He was, basically saying He came and was there to address issues, freeing their hearts, heal the broken pieces as he still does for us today.  He has removed all binders from me (MY CHAINS ARE GONE) The living working power of Gods written word that became flesh in Jesus coming to earth.  Jesus began His public ministry reading a scroll, holding the written word, describing the character, compassion of the living word, which was Himself.

Week 2 John 5:36-40

Testimony of Works

³⁶ But the testimony I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

Testimony of the Father

³⁷ And the Father who sent Me, He has testified about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. ³⁸ Also you do not have His word remaining in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent.

Testimony of the Scripture

^39 [a]You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me; ⁴⁰ and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

           

Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees about the verses above, the leaders who were supposed to be leading the people.  It is as Jesus is condemning them for reading and studying the scriptures so diligently.  It is a sobering warning in the truth He speaks for us today.  The Pharisees were reading the word, but not turning to Jesus and weren’t allowing the words to point toward Him.  God’s word, <don’t get stuck on the words we are studying but, that our focus stays on the word, which is Jesus, THE LIVING WORD.>

Through our bible journaling it builds a personal relationship with Jesus, it becomes a help tool, hep us grow in Him, gives us Guidance, deliverance, provider, giver, translator, wisdom when we need it the most.  When we need a reminder of God’s word we can go back through our journaling.  The same God who rescued us back then is the same God who has the same power for us today.  Let’s all stop and think for a moment, about the people closest to us are the people we tend to spend the most time with, those we talk to and share with.  We read about and follow a person on social media, we know of them, and know a few things about them, but do not know them on a personal level.   Knowing Jesus is about the relationship we have with Him, not just reading abut Him in the bible.  We must let those words point to Him, His living word.   Our study of God’s word should {ALWAYS point to Jesus and draw closer to Him}