Passover 2018

Our Passover Table for 4

We so LOVE celebrating the LORD's feasts!  I think it's mostly because the focus is on YHWH [God the Father] and Yahshua haMashiach [Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed One].  Each of YHWH's Moedim [Appointed Times, Feasts] focuses on our Amazing and Awesome God; instructing us to humbly make sure our hearts & lives are clean & dedicated to Him -- to repent & obey His instruction, and celebrating His bountiful blessings -- the first being the love that YHWH has bestowed upon us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Yahshua our Saviour.

Although I love repeating myself, I won't go into every detail about Passover in this post.  Much of the basics are in my past PASSOVER POSTS.  119 Ministries has a very good series on Passover & Unleavened Bread.  Jews for Jesus also has a very good presentation/video called Christ in the Passover that has become a classic during this time of year, connecting the elements of a traditional Jewish Seder [i.e. "the telling"] with the message of Messiah's redemption.  There are literally hundreds of ways one can observe Passover as the Scriptures only give us a few guidelines, but of course, the most important thing is to focus on Yahshua our Messiah and the redemption He provided for us. 

With every passing year I/we continue to learn and grow and mature and change in light of what we learn and study in Scripture.  It was about 14 years ago when we really began to see the difference between His Ways vs. mans tradition, starting with our  holidays -- reevaluating the well-intended "Jesus is the Reason for the Season"; discovering that pretty much every element of our traditional holidays came from pagan practises; in other words, we were trying to honor God/Christ using very pagan practises and thinking God is pleased with this as long as we "Christianize" it and say, "That's not what it means to me".  Yet, GOD SPECIFICALLY SAID NOT TO DO THAT (Deut. 12:4,29-32; Matthew 15:3).  And although the pagan stuff is not what it means to you and me, it's surprising just how many, even in this 21st Century, mix the holy with the profane and know exactly what they are doing -- I was recently watching a travel show about how people celebrate various holidays and was shocked at just how many of our innocent traditions are used by the masses around the world, as they worship their false gods or the devil himself the same way we celebrate our "Christian holidays"; and they have been doing this for centuries, long before Christians adopted like or exact practises and gave them a Christian meaning.  That is to say, no, they didn't mimic our Christian holidays, we are mimicking their pagan practises!  YIKES!!  Even many American witches & satan worshipers marvel at what us believers do in the name of Christ (as they know these traditions are pagan), and I'm sure the devil laughs.

Anyway, this aha moment lead to many more aha moments as I held everything I thought I knew to be true to Scripture, as a Berean (Acts 17:11).

But I digress, so getting back to Passover...  

We have observed a traditional Passover Seder in some years; which is beautiful and so richly points to our Messiah; and some years we have had a rather minimalist approach, often due to illness or as in last year, my mother's recent passing.  This year, we took an in-between path, forgoing the lengthy traditional Seder, yet retaining, of course, the elements given in Scripture.  So here's a brief photo journal of our Passover 2018...

First, I clean!  (no photo, ha)   I try to remove all leavening agents from our house!  (Exodus 12:15,19; I Cor. 5:6-8)  Thankfully, I make nearly everything from scratch, so boxes of processed food with yeast of any kind are minimal here.  Honestly, I don't go crazy in this step, I remove the leaven, but not all grains & flour -- they are NOT leaven unless you buy the self-rising flour.  Yes, I clean the kitchen better than normal, but I don't follow what many Rabbis teach with their fences upon fences.  I load up a couple boxes of stuff and Jeff puts them in our sauna haus' changing room for the week.  (Sorry, I don't throw them away).  I really didn't miss any of it, except for the baking soda that I use in brushing my teeth (I still use my coconut & essential oil tooth suds - lest you think I don't brush my teeth for a week :)).   

My décor is minimal, but I included a red sash over our patio door reminding us of the blood that was sprinkled on the door posts. 

And Yahweh spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.  Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.  And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.  And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh's passover.  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the mighty one's of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am Yahweh.  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.  And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to Yahweh throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.  Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.  And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.  And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever.  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.  Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.  Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.  Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.  And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.  For Yahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.  And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever.  And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.  And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?  That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. ~ Exodus 12: 1-27

~~~~~~ 

 The table was semi-dressed up, very similar to last year, with the addition of CHARGERS this year!  Woohoo!  I finally broke down and spent practically nothing with a coupon from Hobby Lobby.  They are kind of a light gold/silver, maybe a gliver (I just made that up).  At any rate, I think they make my everyday dishes look pretty dapper. :)

Anna placed our plague décor around the flower vase in the order of the plagues.

Hears a close-up for the plague décor.

(blood, frogs, gnats/lice, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locust, darkness, death of firstborn)

I was excited to FINALLY find the stretchy frogs -- at a zoo gift shop for 37¢ each.  I would have liked to have kept all this out throughout the week of Unleavened Bread, but Amber's cat, Dorie, loves fuzzy balls and before you know it, she is playing with them and I just found one she had stashed away in the family room.

 My dinner menu is pretty much the same every Passover with of course, matzo, Bubbie's horseradish (for the bitter herbs), and organic grape juice.  Usually I fix lamb chops, but changed it up a little with the smoked leg of lamb.  Some have a conviction against having lamb at Passover, we don't.

I need to make a note to put in at least one leave into the table next year as it gets pretty crowded with food & dinnerware.

Passover 2018 Menu 

Smoked Leg of Lamb

Greek Salad

Marinated Feta Olives

Herb Roasted Parmesan Potatoes

Oven Roasted Carrots

Horseradish w/Lettuce for Bitter Herbs

Organic Grape Juice

Matzoh

Chocolate Toffee Matzoh Crunch

A plate full of yumminess!

If you have never had smoked leg of lamb, it tastes a lot like smoked ham, but much less fat.  I haven't eaten pork in 6+ years, but I buy a lamb or at least a half a lamb from my organic meat supplier/rancher every year and eat lamb all year round.  Our favorites are lamb chops, lamb steak, and smoked leg of lamb.  I think lamb is best served hot, or reheated, one never hears of cold lamb sandwiches -- it tastes kinda yucky cold.

Chocolate Toffee Matzoh Crunch is so seriously good!  As of this writing, we just finished off our  3rd pan full!  You can find my recipe HERE [scroll down at link].

It's really good to have a menu planned not only for Passover but for every day of Unleavened Bread as well, otherwise, at least for me, it's so easy to announce to the family that we are going to have sayyy "Pancakes" and get their taste buds all worked up for them, and then remember, oh, right, that has leaven in it.  Never Mind! 

Following dinner and putting away the food, we gathered in the family room and read Scripture about Passover with discussion, and continued to do so a couple of nights after.

Passover is just one night, one dinner really, and then starts the time of Unleavened Bread which lasts 7 days.  It is also the start of Counting the Omer for 50 days up to the day of Pentecost.  This is the flip thingy that I made for Counting the Omer.  My blog post about how to make this counter always becomes popular this time of year from visitors from Pinterest. :)  Here is the link to THAT.

I so love our times together as a family, feasting, and celebrating our LORD!  With the girls' crazy work schedules and knowing that someday they will be off starting their own family traditions, I soak in every moment together.

So, I think that about wraps things up for this year's Passover post!

We have a busy springtime planned -- once the snow melts (sigh).

The MN Horse Expo is coming up; a short vacation; and some other exciting plans!

I am also very late in posting about our foyer makeover, but enough for tonight.

Blessings Dear Friend!

Love, Jane

footnote: I know I'm not consistent in always using the sacred name as most of my readers are not use to reading Hebrew, and I don't think it's beneficial to write in a way that few can understand, nor to have to keep defining every word.

Please read as you are comfortable.

   

A Year Ago Today My Mother Smiled...

... A Year Ago Tomorrow, My Mother Was Gone (Deceased).

It's been a rough & busy year, yet my last days/year with Mom seem like yesterday.  The last time I visited Mom at her hospice bed in the nursing home was a year ago today.  She hadn't been very cognitive the last couple months of her life, but a year ago this morning she was a bit more alert!  Surprisingly, she had eaten a couple bites of toast for breakfast, and after a relatively short visit, as Mom was now sleeping most of the time, I told her we were leaving and she somewhat excitedly said, "Oh okay" and even nodded her head and gave me a smile -- something I hadn't seen in quite some time.  So as Anna & I left, I felt better about her condition than I had for the last week or two and actually thought she might have more time than I expected; forgetting that often folks have a really good day just prior to their death -- at least that has been our experience with some of our family.  It's hard to say exactly when she passed, it could have been anywhere between 4:30 p.m. that evening and 8 a.m. the next morning as I don't think anyone had really checked on her to notice she was gone until the morning nurse arrived with medications.  I'm sorry I wasn't with her that evening/night.  

Daddy & I love watermelon!    Dad & Mom down south visiting Mom's sister.

I miss both my parents!  I was the apple of my Daddy's eye (an only child) and he was the best Daddy in the whole world to me!  I miss everything about him!  Dad's humor, his love for the LORD and standing singing hymns along side of him in church (some hymns really bring on the tears), or going fishing -- he was my world.  Dad passed away in October of 2000, just a month shy of his 87th birthday.  Mom passed January 31, 2017 at the age of 88.  Mom wasn't the easiest person and she didn't seem to know how to love me or our family so much, yet I hold on to the good memories.

This past week I've been going through my calendar, bank statements, etc., preparing for the tax man, which was like walking down memory lane as my mind played back each "mile marker" of this past year: the daily visits to the nursing home, funeral planning, cleaning Mom's townhouse, the estate sale, hiring a painter & preparing her home to sell, selling her townhouse twice when the first buyer fell through, finally the odd closing, paying bills & closing accounts... still getting mailings from flippers wanting to buy her place!

Thankfully, outside of an occasional mailing to Mom, everything is now completed.  There are good days and hard days emotionally.  I sometimes feel emotionally drained, but it usually doesn't last for a whole day.  Just this past week I was filling out a form that had to do with something of Mom's and for the first time since Mom's passing, I had to give the name/address/phone of my nearest family not living with me.  Hmm, that set me back a little as I'm kind of an orphan now, although an adult with a family of my own, I have no close relatives from my childhood.  I do have one relative, my only cousin who is 11 yrs. older and his family, whom I cherish greatly, but live over an hour away and unfortunately we rarely see each other.  So I had to put down my in-laws!  And although I love and appreciate them, it was rather sad.  

I don't know if there's a day that goes by without thinking of my parents, not that I wish them back in the state they were in -- in poor health; I am happy that they are now resting in the sight of our Saviour.  But I miss them and I miss how it use to be.  I miss having a home base with family.

It's funny how often the less significant things bring on the tears...

for instance, these two pots were my Mom's.  In fact, Mom used these as long as I can remember.  She used them when I was a little girl and I just wonder if they might have been her mom's at one time.  She had a few newer pots too, but these were a constant.  The big one our girls call the mashed potato pot because Mom always made mashed potatoes in it when we were at her place for the holidays.  My Calphalon cookware was wearing out, so now these are my everyday cookware full of good memories, and so I have to fight back the tears almost every time I use them.

This isn't the best example, but Mom had very nice handwriting right up until her fall.  Some days my handwriting looks just like hers, but I'm never consistent.  She had a little ID-type card in her checkbook that she had written "daughter", my name & phone number that somehow I cherish.  While taking care of Mom's bookkeeping over the past 1+ years, I saw her handwriting often and it was like time stood still (more tears).

I miss my home town.  Just last week I returned to close out Mom's bank accounts and for days prior to going (delayed because of a snowstorm), the very thought of doing it brought so many tears.  It was the very last reason where I had to return to the area I grew up in, the area I absolutely love and have so many good memories.  Seriously, I prayed that I could hold it together and wouldn't break down crying in the bank, as silly as that may sound!  But it was good for me to go as so much has changed in the last 25 years with mansions all around.  I found out what I really missed were the memories of how it use to be, which I will always hold close in my heart.  And of course I have a car, I can visit and shop there any time I want.

Yes, it's all the little things that flood our hearts with joy & sorrow

that make up life and love.

That's a good thing.  And I'm thankful that YHWH (God)

has given us a Comforter for just such times.

And now I snap back into the present with much comic relief, like Anna bringing me a beautiful bouquet of flowers in memory of Mom's passing and Inky (cat) knocking them over, breaking the tall vase full of water, half of which poured into my purse.  I now have everything in my purse laying out to dry. :)   

Thanks for that final smile Mom.
I'll remember it forever!
Love, Jane