Christian

Six Thoughts on Saturday: A Diagnosis, Books, and Newborn Snuggles

Hello and happy Saturday! What do you have going on today? We’re going to be working on our back patio renovation project with my sister and brother-in-law. Can’t wait to see them!

I’ve got six things on my mind today.

1. Affordable Books. Our library is still closed due to COVID and we’ve been re-reading all our books, going to our neighborhood Little Free Library, and “splurging” on books under $4.

Mouse Paint book by Ellen Still Walsh to teach colors to children

Three we’ve recently been into around the Zottola household are Mouse Paint, Biscuit Loves the Park, and The Story of My Life by Helen Keller. Mouse Paint has been perfect for teaching Sadie colors and it’s adorable. What are you currently reading?

2. Gardening. Our sad little cucumber plants gave us another cucumber! Oh, and we’ve been harvesting lots of squash and a few cherry tomatoes.

Squash, cucumber, and tomatoes from vegetable garden

3. Park Days. We attended our church’s weekly Youth Summer Days at a local park on Friday and had a blast with our church family. I brought Niva along and she soaked up all the attention she could get from the kids.

Toddler and Siberian Husky at park

4. Meeting Isaiah. Our friends from church had their second baby on Monday and brought him to the Youth Summer Days on Friday. I soaked in all the newborn snuggles I could get with sweet Isaiah ❤

I totally forgot just how tiny newborns are. It’s wild! I loved studying his little toes, feet, fingers, and eyes when he opened them up for a second!

Newborn baby

5. Cousin Sleepover. My sister offered to take Sadie home with her after the Youth Summer Days so her daughter and Sadie could have a little impromptu cousin sleepover! I didn’t have anything packed, but it was no biggie because Sadie and Caroline are so close in age that they can share clothes and diapers. I absolutely love being in the same stage of life as my sister!

The girls fell asleep on the drive home and Hannah sent me this snapshot once she arrived at her house and it melted my heart.

Toddlers sleeping in carseats

6. Sadie’s Eye. About a month ago, I noticed Sadie’s left eye looked glazed over and teary all the time. It didn’t seem like a big deal because it wasn’t bothering her, but it just didn’t seem right. I called our ophthalmologist and brought her in on Thursday to have it looked at.

I feel like I could write a whole post on getting a toddler to cooperate during an eye exam (LOL), but I digress. She was diagnosed with a nasolacrimal duct obstruction. We have to massage her eye each day and try to put antibiotic drops in her eye to prevent infection. If that doesn’t get rid of the obstruction, we’ll have to do something a bit more invasive, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

In the meantime, does anyone have tips for putting eyedrops in a toddler’s eye?!

Stepping on toes…

I’ve meant to write this blog post for a long time, but I always put it off because I didn’t want to cause any controversy. I realized that I’m allowed to say whatever I want on my blog, so here we go…

On Friday, a few people at the gym asked me if I was going to be running the Pittsburgh Marathon on Sunday, and I told them what I tell everyone every year: no. I don’t usually elaborate any more than that, but one person pressed further and asked me why.

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I told him that I wasn’t running the Pittsburgh Marathon because I refuse to miss church. I specifically refuse to miss partaking in the Lord’s Supper, or as some call it: Communion.

I’m a non-denominational Christian, so to me, the Lord’s Supper is something that Christians do every Sunday in remembrance of Jesus Christ. We eat bread and drink grape juice to symbolize Christ’s body and blood that He sacrificed for us in his death.

Recieving Communion #2

This scripture shows that Jesus asked his disciples to remember Him:
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-24

This scripture shows that Christians are to partake in the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week:
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

communion

Partaking in the Lord’s Supper is a huge part of why Christians attend church each Sunday morning.

I truly try to keep Christ at the very center of my life. I want Him to be #1 in my life. Always. To me, if Christ comes first, that means that I remember Him every Sunday morning by partaking in the Lord’s Supper.

That means that I don’t run races on Sunday mornings. I don’t sleep in on Sunday mornings. I don’t go to baseball games on Sunday mornings. I don’t miss church and partaking in the Lord’s Supper unless I absolutely have to (like if I was sick).

I believe that Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sins. He asked that I remember Him on the first day of the week through Communion. Why would I miss partaking in Communion to run a race?

I’m running in a much more important race throughout my life:
Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1

The-Race-of-Faith

This belief may seem strict, but I’m holding to it firmly.

Is the Pittsburgh Marathon “wrong?” No! I’d love to run it, but I won’t run races on Sunday mornings. There are plenty of races on Saturdays that I can run without missing the Lord’s Supper.

I’m not perfect. I sin every day. I’m not trying to judge anyone who runs races on a Sunday or isn’t a Christian. I don’t believe I’m better than anyone and didn’t write this post to make anyone feel bad or condemn people who ran the Pittsburgh Marathon.

I just felt like I needed to get that off of my chest and explain why I personally don’t run Sunday morning races.

Feel free to leave a comment or contact me by email (aks5313@psu.edu) if you have any questions!