Our 2014/15 Curriculum Choices

Okay, I've tried 3 times to post this to my pages, but I keep coming up with an error, so for now, here it is as a post.  Please forgive me, the spacing copied all wrong, but I'm tired of messing with it.  

 

Our 2014-2015 Curriculum Choices:

It's hard to believe that we are now entering our 16th AND FINAL year of homeschooling here at Prairie Hill Farm. Our baby is graduating Spring, 2015 from our homeschool and we have plum ran out of students. The memories are sweet and we cherish each day with our two Blessings!

This year's theme is "Finish Strong!"
(for more on my theme choice, click HERE)

Labor Day 2014, Start-of-School-Year Family Coffee Outing Selfie
Jeff, Jane, Anna, Amber



We graduated our oldest in May of 2012, who runs her own home business/Etsy shop, Downy & Floral, selling her homemade vintage-inspired creations; as well as picking up neat-o jobs like working at a local U-Pick berry/apple farm, and using her natural gifts in various childcare opportunities to supplement her income. Jobs like these afford her the freedom she currently needs while leading a Bright Lights girls' Bible study and other ministry & volunteer endeavors such as being an Awana leader, volunteering at Operation Christmas Child (seasonal), playing violin for weddings/church, and still helping out around the farm. Oh, and she still enjoys joining us in Hebrew & history dvds, and reads a plethora of books (by/about great men (historians, leaders, pastors, missionaries) such as Wilberforce, Bonhoeffer (Eric Metaxas) 1776, John Adams (David McCullough), Edwards, Spurgeon, Rushdoony, Augustine, etc., and most of all, the Bible.

Our baby, Anna Grace, is now in 12th grade and in addition to carrying a full load of studies in her final year of homeschool, she also helps lead in Awana, volunteers at Operation Christmas Child (seasonal), plays piano, guitar & ukulele, and helps with the farm. Additionally, she started to teach beginner piano this past winter and is exploring additional studies towards a career with animals.

(For our Educational Philosophy & Teaching Approach, and how we started homeschooling, please see my "Homeschool" page, above.)

The Schedule:



Days of the Week are in Hebrew -- Second Day, Third Day, etc....

Our schedule has pretty much kept the same look throughout the years, with only the yearly curriculum change. I don't plug in any "times" for my own sanity, but Anna & I are morning people, so we are usually at it right after 6:30/7 a.m. barn chores & breakfast, so around 8 or 9 a.m.. Subjects are listed in my self-determined order of importance so if our day is interrupted, at least the more important subjects were completed, but subjects are often completed out of listed order for various reasons (ie, we are not a slave to our schedule). This year we start on Tuesday, September 2nd (the traditional day after Labor Day). Every year I think we should really wait until October 1 to start as harvest/canning/freezing is in full swing, but we love school and my daughter is anxious.

You will note that we don't have a separate subject for "Bible". This is because most all our subjects are saturated in Bible and we all have our own personal quiet times as well as family devotions plus extra Bible study time on Shabbat (the Sabbath). One thing I really LOVED when I attended Christian high school/college was the weekly chapel times, so you will see on the schedule that we have a "Video Chapel" once a week.

The Curriculum:

So here we go with this year's curriculum choices (in the order of how they appear on the schedule)....

*Note: I buy almost all my books used, so even though the links might show some pretty pricey books, you might be able to snatch them up for a song like I did. My favorite go-to places are Amazon, Homeschool Classifieds, Ebay, & CBD.   I ALWAYS buy way too much curriculum! Much of this year is a continuation of last year as I knew I had so much material that much of the year had grown into 2-yr. courses. Like last year, we are incorporating a lot of dvds/mp3's into our lessons by people who are smarter and far more eloquent than I. On the down side, with recorded material, Anna will not be able to rush through school like she is accustom -- after all, you can't speed up an hour-long dvd and it still make sense.

Biblical Hebrew (God's perfect language):

This is a continuation of our multi-year Hebrew studies. We first gained a good foundation using Zola's Introduction to Hebrew for a couple of years and then switched to "Biblical Hebrew" (a great study, but it moves a little fast, so I'm glad we had that foundation first). We (Amber joins us) only have two more lessons left in this book (which includes a short lesson from me and the accompanying workbook, dvd, and cd songs) and then we move on to Part 2 of the book with Hebrew Songs Copybook.

Biblical Hebrew

Once they have completed the lessons & songs, they will move on to the curriculum's Jonah Copybook: An Interlinear Hebrew Translation Workbook where they will translate the entire book of Jonah using the Copybook and Hebrew Bible.

Hebrew Lit.:

As part of the Biblical Hebrew study, we also do read-alouds (LOVE these books!):

Listening to the Language of the Bible by Lois Tverberg, Bruce Okkeman (started last yr.)

The World Jesus Knew by Anne Punton

Stones of Witness: Images of the Holy Land by Stewart Custer

History of Christianity and the Christian Church:

We began with Genesis and move chronologically until modern times in America. This was started last year and we ended the year at Luther, so this year we will do a short review and then forge ahead. I know the below list of curriculum looks rather intimidating, but I am listing everything I plan on using just so I don't leave anything out (for my records). Most of these are not used on a daily basis and many don't begin until later in our studies. Although a continuation from last year, I have not pictured what we completed last year (mostly Vision Forum & Drive Thru History dvds/cds - Super Great Stuff) and some fails (Sonlight & it's accompanied reading). Amber often joins us when we watch the dvds.

History of the World 2006 Mega-Conference with BC/AD by Vision Forum (10 dvds & 40 mp3)

The History of Christianity and Western Civilization by VF (over 50 mp3 & dvd lectures)

History of America: A Christian Study Course by Vision Forum (10 dvds & 60 mp3s)
Sketches From Church History by S.M. Houghton (text & workbook)

Homeschool In The Woods: Renaissance & Reformation Project Passport (started last yr)

History Through the Ages: Record of Time (Timeline book - I print out my own online images)
Reformation Time Line by Rose Publishing
Drive Thru History American History Series (Episodes 1-12)
Drive Thru History Foundations of Character study guide & dvd

100 Most Important Events in Christian History by Curtis, Lang, Peterson

Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History by Richard M. Hannula
50 People Every Christian Should Know by Warren W. Wiersbe
From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions by Ruth A. Tucker

and Bible Geography:



Trail Guide to Bible Geography and Bible Lands Activity Maps from Geography Matters ♥♥♥ Love this Study so much I'm doing it too!!!

Hammond Atlas of the Bible Lands (out of print, but worth the hunt)

Soul Winning & Inspiration of Scripture:

Soul Winning Elective by ACE/School of Tomorrow (1 Pace/57 pgs);
once she has completed this Pace, then she will move on to
The Inspiration of the Scriptures B160 by Landmark's Freedom Baptist Curriculum (1 book/185 pgs)

Christian Worldview:

Understanding the Times by Summit Ministries

We are excited to be starting this study -- the material is excellent! However, it reminds me of the days when some of my college professors seemed to think their class was the only class on earth and would pour on the homework. Yes, your child can earn college credit for this course (I recommend purchasing the course early to understand the requirements -- essays/research papers, tests, exams, extra credit service projects, etc. if you wish to go that route), we don't care about that though. Just to give you an idea of how labor-intensive this course is, in the first 7 days alone, Anna will be reading 50 pages in the college-level textbook, plus 14 pages of essays & questions in the Student Manual, plus writing a 1-2 page essay, plus watching the dvd-ROM (not in that order). Oy! We will see if we can keep up with this one, so far Anna is doing fine and even a little bit ahead.

Economics & Civics:

Economics and US Civics
ACE/School of Tomorrow
Each course is 6 Paces/30 Pages each for a 1/2 yr credit of each course



 ACE Paces are rather de jevu for me as the Christian high school I attended also used ACE. It's good solid Christian instruction that covers the material. Anna will be doing Economics the first half of the year and then switch over to US Civics when Economics is complete. If she does 3 pgs/day, she will finishing in fine shape.

Music:

Amber

Amber took violin lessons for over 14 yrs.. She now enjoys playing for pleasure and when she has time, will play for ministry, special events, and weddings.






Anna

Anna started in violin, but now prefers guitar, ukulele, and especially piano. Although she has taken piano for only a couple of years, she has quite an ear for it and sometimes teaches beginner piano and may do more teaching.

Anna instructing her cousin.

Anna just started a 6-wk. online course for Piano Teachers.
Coursework includes piano methodology, pedagogy, repertoire choices, and business sense.

Vocabulary:

High School Vocabulary (1 word/day from a list I have from Inge Cannon)
Writes word in a notebook, finds definition, writes a sentence using the word, and discusses it with mom.

Math:

Landmark's Freedom Baptist Curriculum Business Math (LFBC)

Last year we combined two great math curricula, MUS and LFBC. Anna completed most of the work in both, but preferred LFBC as she believed they explained things better.  (I love Mr. Demme, however the material seemed to assume the child had already experienced buying a car or getting a job where taxes are withheld.)   So this year she will just be finishing up (14 weeks left) the second workbook of LFBC which concentrates less on consumer math and perhaps more on the business end. I like LFBC because they delve into the spiritual and moral aspects of some math issues; for example, they not only teach about taxes, but address the issues of whether Americans should even have a "Social Security". Love that!

Science:

See that stack of magazine on Anna's headboard -- they are all animal related!

Don't tell her I drug out all magazines for a photo shoot.
Some teens read Glamor, some Teen Beat, my daughter reads Natural Dog, :).

Anna has always had great natural ability and interest in animals that hasn't wained over the years. She reads and studies college-level zoology books just for the fun of it and always takes the initiative in doing extra farm chores and researching natural remedies for our own farm animals -- she's always been my go-to person for all things animal. She would really like a business or career in the animal industry and is exploring additional studies that doesn't compromise our young-earth creationist and holistic beliefs.

More casual reading.

Anna may be looking into some/all of the following certification & training:

• American Red Cross Dog First Aid and CPR
• American Red Cross Dog First Aid and CPR certified instructor
• Understanding Canine Body Language and Other Communications Signals
• Jan Fennell Foundations Course in Pack Behavior and Canine Communication
• Jan Fennell Advanced Course in Pack Behavior and Canine Communication
• Pet Care Services Association (PSCA) – Level 1 Pet Care
• PCSA – Level 2 Pet Care
• How Dogs Play Course
• Off-Lease Play Groups Course
• How to Safely Manage Doggie Daycare Course
• Pet Boarding and Daycare Educational Expo
• PCSA Annual Educational Conferences
• ABKA Certification
• Possible online college-level zoology courses
• Other CEU course work
• Part-time work in an animal-related facility such as Stone Mountain Pet Resort

Art:

See the Light Art Class by Pat Knepley 1 day/wk (a 9-volume dvd Christian art class by a master artist)- continuing from last year. Anna has nice artistic ability, but since art always seems to be the one subject that gets pushed off, we press on.

Tada! That about covers

Finishing Strong!

Some new curriculum -- just a fraction of the material we will be using in Anna's 12th grade of homeschool.

Finishing Strong!
(words from my heart)

Just the mere title of today's post brings tears to my eyes for three reasons...
(besides the fact that I'm a highly emotional person anyways)

First, this will be our 16th year of homeschooling and our baby bear's 12th grade of formal education. (sob, blubber)  Our youngest child will be graduating from our homeschool in the spring of 2015 and I have plum run out of children to teach. (sigh)  Both of our girls have been homeschooled all the way through and it has been nothing but pure delight!  Oh sure, there have been a few tears along the way, but the girls have always been so compliant and self-motivated -- they love learning at home and I have loved every moment of being their mom and teacher.  We have built wonderful memories to cherish for a lifetime and I don't regret a second of it.

 

Unfortunately, it's that bittersweet time of life when we are happy for our children that they are growing as God intended and looking forward to what God has for their future, yet it's oh so hard to turn to the next chapter in our lives -- loving and leaving behind what has become sweet memories; knowing things will never really be the same ever again.

 
bittersweet

And although I would like to think that I could keep up this way of life for at least another 16 years (nevermind that I'll be in my early 70's), God knows our future and I know He will guide and direct my every step. ♥  Thankfully, although the girls are growing up, at least we don't have to say good-bye on top of that.  As most will agree, just because one has a diploma in hand doesn't mean they stop learning & being a vital part of the family.  Amber, who graduated in spring of 2012 still runs her home business of Downy and Floral, sometimes picks up additional jobs like recently working at the local berry farm (and sometimes has to turn down job offers), leads a girls' Bible study from home, still plays violin & wants to get a mandolin soon, reads a plethora of books (by/about great men (historians, leaders, pastors, missionaries) such as Wilberforce, Bonhoeffer (Eric Metaxas) 1776, John Adams (David McCullough), Edwards, Spurgeon, Rushdoony, Augustine, etc., and most of all, the Bible), and helps me a great deal.  Likewise, Anna is taking additional on-line course work towards her future, plays piano, guitar, & ukelele, serves, and is a big help around the home & farm.

 

 Secondly, on a more somber note, the term "Finishing Strong" makes me think about all the events that are currently going on in our nation and around the world and wonder how much more time we have left here on this planet.  It grieves me to think that our children will not see and fully experience the same life we had growing up -- where God, family, and country were honored by most Americans and people were kinder and more courteous.  Our faith and our way of life is becoming increasingly threatened from all sides.  To me, the term "finishing strong" means that now is not the time to freeze or numb ourselves in mindless sports and entertainment that is of no value in light of eternity, but now is the time to make every moment count!  Share our faith.  Walk in Truth no matter the cost!  Teach our children as if it may be our last year/week/day/words with them; for our lives are short, but eternity is forever.

 



 

Lastly, the term "Finishing Strong" has a particularly dear meaning to me in that it was the title of the sermon a dear pastor friend preached at my beloved daddy's funeral back in the fall of 2000.  Although the timing of that sermon title came somewhat amusingly as Pastor Morton had just prepared the sermon, or at least the basic concept of the sermon, to preach to the Minnesota Vikings football team that same week, and although it was no doubt very applicable to the Vikes, yet, God knows, the sermon was also very applicable to my daddy in that he was a man of faith throughout his life and although very weak in body the last few years, yet a spiritual giant and example in my heart & mind forever.  May I not falter but be that same example.

 

 

 

May I, and our children, Finish Strong!

 

II Timothy 4: 1-8

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; ² Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; ⁴ And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  ⁵ But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.  ⁶ For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.  ⁷ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

 

For the Glory of God.

 



Counting the Omer Project

Hi.  It's me again... back... finally.  Yes, I do want to blog more, I've just been too busy living life and doing projects.  In fact, projects pretty much make up my summer.  Hubby & I are DIYer's from the get-go, although somehow he manages to finish his BIG projects much faster than I do my little ones.   There's always another project waiting in the wings around here, although a lot of that comes from home & farm ownership as many of you well know.

 

As far as projects go, I can't say I'm a crafty person really.  I have a creative side and I'm a DIYer, nothing more.  I rarely have an original thought (afterall, there's nothing new under the sun); most of my creations were an inspiration from some truly creative person, but then my eclectic side takes over and I always have to embellish upon it and make it my own.  But after I make one for myself, it's time to move on to the next project.
 

Anywho, today I'm more than a little excited to share one of my latest projects (of many) that is FINALLY completed and ready to use ... next year.  It is somewhat of a follow-up of the last post on our Passover and the Spring Feasts.  For those of you that aren't super familiar with the Spring Feasts, as a quick review, they go like this... in quick succession...

 

Passover/Pesach (Seder "The telling" of the blood over doorposts/Messiah shed His blood for our salvation)

Unleavened Bread (starts next night/for 7 days, leaven=sin, eat matzah, Jesus was pierced for our sins) 

First Fruits (Resurrection! Dedication of Harvest/Christ is our Firstfruit I Cor. 15 (some call it easter))

Counting the Omer (the 7 wks from the wave (sheaf/omer) offering to Pentecost; a time of repentance/sanctification) 

Shavu'ot (Feast of Weeks/Pentecost) (Conclusion of Passover; remembering the giving of the Torah exactly 7 weeks after the Exodus; spent in Bible reading/study/rededication) 

~~~ 

I know, it can seem complicated, especially if one doesn't grow up observing the mo'edim (holidays); and what made it even more confusing for me when we first started celebrating the Feasts is that most of these observances go by more than one name and overlap. oy!  I'm not going into detail here about them.  You can read my last post for a little more clarification or do your own research, but today I want to focus on a little project I made for Counting the 50 days of the Omer from Passover to Pentecost.
("Omer" is a Hebrew term for "sheaves" of a harvested crop -- think "wave offering").

 

Counting the Omer
 

And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto Yahweh.
~ Leviticus 23:15-16

 ~~~

Over time, I have been gradually getting rid of our former traditional holiday decor and gathering a nice collection of decorations to make the Feasts of Yahweh far more special (as unto the LORD) than anything this ole world could offer, but I didn't have anything for Counting the Omer.  I often see cute ideas, similar to things used to count down the days to Christmas, but most are geared towards preschool/elementary-aged children.  I wanted/needed something our whole family of young adults and less-young adults could enjoy.  Then, with the inspiration of an online friend and with the help of something I saw on another website, the creative juices began to flow -- I could envision it all....

 

Tada!!!

It's kinda like a flip calendar, only with 50 scenic devotional pages (+ 2 more pages - a cover page, & a page with Lev. 23:15-16 & the daily blessing)

 

INSPIRATION for this Project

Inspiration came from my very-creative online friend, Brenda Tipton, who was posting beautiful daily "Counting the Omer" graphics on her FB timeline at the time as well as giving detailed instructions on her blog of the neato devotional box she made for her family. 

 

 

The original frame design of the flip calendar I stumbled upon here.

 

Thanks to my amazing hubby, he quickly constructed the wood frame!

 

My flip calendar frame is...

Base: Oak 6" x 3" x ¾" thick (scrap from the barn)  

Side Dowels: ½" Oak, 6½" tall

Top Dowel: about 4½" long (tucked in wide dowels)

Stain: Golden Oak (2 coats)

Satin Polyurethane

(I only had to buy the inexpensive dowels, the rest I already had around the house)

 

Each of my cards has the following:

 

"Counting the Omer"

 

"Day 14" (or what ever day it is)

 

That Day's Devotional Scripture Reading Reference

 

Most of the cards have a portion of a verse from that day's reading

 

Each card's background is a pretty picture, mostly scenic nature scenes, a couple photos from home, animals, scrolls & shofars, and scenes from Israel (pictures that have meaning to our family) -- most graphics I chose from googling the daily Bible reading (more about that below) and would look up that day's Scripture portion and see what images I liked best that correlated with the day's Scripture.  Some pictures have nothing to do with the day's Scripture, but I liked the picture and perhaps that day's Scripture didn't conjure up any pretty images.

 

Here is another page.  I chose this scene since my hubby loves canoeing in the Boundary Waters (BWCAW).

 

The Daily Counting the Omer Scripture Reading Ideas are from the book

"Celebrate the Feasts" by Martha Zimmerman

 

Day 1 – The Law of the Lord Psalm 119:1-8

Day 2 – Obedience to the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:9-16

Day 3 – Happiness in the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:17-24

Day 4 – Determination to obey the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:25-32

Day 5 – A prayer for understanding Psalm 119:33-40

Day 6 – Trusting the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:41-48

Day 7 – Confidence in the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:49-56

Day 8 – Devotion to the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:57-64

Day 9 - The value of the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:65-72

Day 10 – The justice of the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:73-80

Day 11 – Prayer for deliverance Psalm 119:81-88

Day 12 – Faith in the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:89-96

Day 13 – Love for the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:97-104

Day 14 – Light from the Lord of the Lord Psalm 119:105-112

Day 15 – Safety in the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:113-120

Day 16 – Obedience to the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:121-128

Day 17 – Desire to obey the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:129-136

Day 18 – The justice of the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:137-144

Day 19 – Prayer for deliverance Psalm 119:145-152

Day 20 – Plea for salvation Psalm 119:153-160

Day 21 – Dedication to the Law of the Lord Psalm 119:161-168

Day 22 – A prayer for help Psalm 119:169-176

Day 23 – True happiness Psalm 1:1-6

Day 24 – Confidence in the Lord Psalm 11:1-7

Day 25 – What God requires Psalm 15:1-5

Day 26 – The Law of the Lord Psalm 19:7-14

Day 27 – A prayer for guidance Psalm 25:4-10

Day 28 – Longing for God Psalm 63:1-8

Day 29 – A song of thanksgiving Psalm 67:1-7

Day 30 – God and His people Psalm 78:1-16

Day 31 – God and His people Psalm 78:17-31

Day 32 – God and His people Psalm 78:32-39

Day 33 – God and His people Psalm 78:40-55

Day 34 – God and His people Psalm 78:56-72

Day 35 – God the King Psalm 93:1-5

Day 36 – God the judge Psalm 93:12-23

Day 37 – A song of praise Psalm 95:1-7

Day 38 – God the Supreme King Psalm 96:1-13

Day 39 – God the Ruler of the World Psalm 98:1-9

Day 40 – God the Supreme King Psalm 99:1-9

Day 41 – The love of God Psalm 103:1-22

Day 42 – God and His people Psalm 105:1-11

Day 43 – The Lord’s goodness Psalm 106:1-5

Day 44 – In praise of the Lord Psalm 111:1-10

Day 45 – The happiness of a good person Psalm 112:1-10

Day 46 – The reward of obedience Psalm 128:1-6

Day 47 – A prayer for help Psalm 130:1-8

Day 48 – A call for the universe to praise God Psalm 148:1-14

Day 49 – A prayer of thanksgiving Psalm 138:1-8

Day 50 – Praise the Lord Psalm 150:1-6

 

After I selected an image, I would save it to my photo files and then edit them using GIMP, adding wording in complementary colors and fonts.  Once I was done with all 50+ images, I copied them to Word Doc, 6 per page and printed them on photo paper (cardstock just didn't give me a very brilliant image).  Then, I cut out each image, eliminating all white photo paper boarders.  My images are 3" h x 3¾" w.  Next, something has to be done with the photo cards or they will curl (Trust me, I know this one).  So next I laminated them and cut them out leaving approx. 1/8" boarder (just eyeballed that one).  The laminate gave them a nice clear/durable window and a very stiff/straight weight.  Btw, my laminating machine cost just under $20 at Walmart which I think is a good investment since I want to redo all of the recipe cards (another project). 

 

Lots of cutting!

Lastly, I had purchased (Sams Club online $5.38/25) some "HOLDit! Ring Binder Insert Strips" that have multiple holes and an adhesive strip to easily attach it to the back of each photo card (one can eliminate this step if they leave about ¾" margin at the top of photos to punch holes or not print to the tippy top of the photo cards and just hole-punch through the image).  Then attach cards to the horizontal dowel with metal rings (package of rings was $1.88 at Walmart).

 

and, wala...

 

  a rather impressively-thick photo flip thingy.

 

 

Praise the LORD!!!

(I can hardly wait to use it -- next year!)

 

and now on to my next project...

Passover 2014

I'm sorry I've been so woefully neglectful of my blog -- I just haven't had that much newsyness going on in my life lately, but I promise I'll try to do better.

 

As you can see by the title of this post, "Passover 2014", I'm a little late in posting as Passover was nearly a month ago, but a friend asked me to share our Passover, so I will gladly do my best if my memory holds out.



First a little background of why we do Passover...

No, we haven't always celebrated Passover.  My husband & I grew up in typical Christian homes where we dyed eggs, had Easter baskets full of chocolate, Sunrise Service, and ate Easter ham with extended family.  We had "Easter" break from school, and I always looked forward to Easter because I knew mom would buy or make me a beautiful new dress; and of course it meant I could wear white shoes again because NOW it was Springtime.  I was always taught of Christ's death/burial/resurrection reason for Easter, but as a young child, all the other things were probably my real focus.

When Jeff & I married in 1993 and our first child arrived in 1994, although we had fond memories of many holiday traditions with our families, we determined to exclude Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Halloween from our little family celebrations because, after all, we wanted to honor Christ and only teach the "real" reason for Christmas, Easter, and well, nothing is Christian about Halloween so we totally don't do that one.   For several years we thought we were doing good just by eliminating fictitious characters and teaching what I thought was the "real" reason, but yet retaining "innocent" fun things like dying eggs and Easter baskets.

As the years passed, little-by-little I began learning more & more about the pagan roots and meanings behind the symbolism in almost all of our American and "Christian" holidays.  So, now armed with ever-growing information and great determination to focus on the "real" Christian meanings, I would tweak our celebrations yearly until there was very little left that resembled our holidays of yesteryear.  In fact, once I realized that the REAL reason behind all of the holidays (Thanksgiving being the exception) was pagan and that history/tradition shows that Catholics or Christians just tried to Christianise them, it pretty much put a kibosh on it all.  God never told us it was okay to take something He called an abomination and now turn it into a "Christian" holiday, like pretending it's His birthday or celebrate Christ's Resurrection mixed with the celebration of "Easter (Ishtar)" (the name of the pagan sun goddess "Queen of Heaven").

 

 

There is much that can be said about the pagan roots of our holidays, but since I don't believe in re-inventing the wheel as there are several good books and websites that can articulate it all far better than I, I'll just leave it up to you to research.  Let's just say it's quite eye opening.

Then around 2004 the Holy Spirit tugged at my heart about several things that I had been reading in Scripture that didn't match up with what I had always been taught.  Not that I hadn't wondered about these things in the past, but having grown up in a Christian home, attending a Christian school & college, and sitting under the teaching of many wonderful big-name Bible scholars, I figured these Bible experts must know and I would just take their word as the gospel truth since I must be missing something somewhere (ahem).  Thus the Holy Spirit started me on a journey -- one that has taken me on a big renewing of the mind; testing everything to Scripture, not just taking for granted what I'm taught, no matter how well-respected the teacher or accepted the belief may be (Acts 17:11).  How could it be that so many have been so wrong??  Could it be that they were taught thus & such in seminary, as I, and accepted it too without question?  The teachings just weren't lining up with Scripture!  So getting back on track with the subject at hand, Passover.  One of the areas that I began to explore was that of our Christian celebrations.

We know honestly that the Bible never tells us to celebrate Christmas, Easter, or any of our traditional holidays; but what does the Bible tell us?  Well, in Leviticus 23 we find Yahweh's (God) instructions to keep HIS feasts. In Lev. 23 and throughout the Bible, we find these feasts as God's Feasts, not Moses' feasts or the Jews' feasts, but God's.  God has given us 7 wonderful feasts, far better than the world or man's tradition could ever give us that honor and glorify God and directly point to what God has done & will do soon.  

Passover is the first of the Spring Feasts and the Bible has quite a bit to say about it, in fact, there are 86 verses about Passover (http://www.openbible.info/topics/passover), and none of them tell us that it's been done away with.  In Exodus 12:24 we are commanded: "And ye shall observe this thing [Passover] for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons FOREVER." (emphasis mine).  Passover was not just for the Jews!  Scripture repeatedly instructs that Passover (& the Feasts in general) was given to not only the native born Israelite, but the the mixed multitude (Ex 12:38, Numbers 9:14, Joshua 8:33, etc. ~ it's amazing how many times "foreigner" & "strangers" are mentioned as included in God's Covenant/Law).  Not only that, but if we believe Romans 11 to be true -- that we are grafted in (i.e. We are 100% Israel).

Anywho, our family has found that celebrating the Feasts of the LORD are so much more fun and have such a beautifully deep meaning to them that why would we choose to do anything else.  And the girls both agree that the Biblical Feasts are so much more FUN!  Now, I wish I could say that we jumped in with both feet making the switch from traditional holidays to Biblical overnight, au contraire, some do, but for our family, it's been a very gradual learning process.  We have been on quite a learning curve and I'm thankful that the Father knows our heart. ♥  What probably makes it harder is we just have a smattering of local friends who also celebrate the Feasts, no one close by to help instruct us, so we make mistakes along the way, but we are learning and it gets easier and sweeter with every passing year.  This Passover was the BEST...

Jeff leading our family Passover Seder (order) from a Haggadah (the telling).  I forget why now, but this year's Passover was a bit hurried in the preparation, so the table is less than perfect, but it was still sweet.  We make a point of trying not to follow rabbinic oral law & traditions (Talmud), but mostly stick with just the written law (Torah).  There are over 3,000 ways of doing the Seder.  This year we chose to use the simple Haggadah found in Robin Sampson's book, "A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays" (a great book for beginners).   Some Seders can take hours, but Jeff did a beautiful job and it took less than an hour (not that I was timing him, teehe). 

 

The 4 Spring Feast come in pretty fast succession and some overlap.  First there is Passover and our special Sedar dinner, then the Feast of Unleavened Bread comes right on the tail of Passover.  We eat nothing with yeast for a week (yeast represents sin in the Bible) so we eat lots of Matzo... we tried a fantastic garlic flavored one this year.  Matzo is great, but prepare for crumbs everywhere. :)  I do try to have several special suppers for the family such as Beef Brisket and Lamb with Mint Sauce for the week.  The young guy at the meat counter at Whole Foods seemed amazed that I asked for lamb, but perhaps he was just trying to make conversation as he kept looking at my daughters, haha.  I have a lamb ordered from a organic farm now, so perhaps we won't have to pay the high store prices next year. (rolling eyes)  First Fruits also overlaps the 7 days of Unleaven Bread and begins at the time Yeshua (Christ Jesus) arose from the grave -- He is our First Fruit.  Then we Count the Omer 50 days (Lev. 23:15-16; Deut. 16:9-10) to Shavu'ot (Feast of Weeks/Pentecost) which is a time of rejoicing; when Moses received the 10 Commandments and the Holy Spirit was given to believers.  It's a 1-2 day (depending if you are reform) time of "refreshing", rededicating ourselves to the study of God's Word, even staying up all night reading/studying/memorizing (a good time to watch the movie, The Ten Commandments).  Pentecost ends the Spring Feasts. 

 

The Friday following Passover we joined Jeff's parents at their church for "Christ in the Passover".  This is the third time we have attended this Jews for Jesus presentation, but it was a special treat to see David Brickner, the Executive Director of JfJ give the presentation.  We saw several friends there.  Very fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBGz3k37kDE

 

We chose not to make a big issue of us celebrating the feasts with our extended families.  We still spend Resurrection Sunday (First Fruits) & Christmas Day with my 85 yr. old mother; at this point in her life, why bother making a rift in the family?  And we spend Christmas Eve with Jeff's side of the family more as a family time.  Jeff's mom seems to have a new found interest in all-things Jewish (including the feasts) after discovering that perhaps she has some Jewish ancestors (her maiden name is "Abrahamson" (ya think? haha)).  But as for our immediate family, beside the fact that we are at the Grands and aren't really home for these holidays, we no longer exchange gifts at Christmas (now we go all out at Hanukkah); and we would rather celebrate Passover instead of Easter (I've gotten rid of all my Easter decorations and set up Palm Sunday and Passover things). It makes for a much more focused time on the TRUE Biblical meanings.  Not that one can't celebrate Christ's resurrection, but the Bible never instructs us to.

So Pretty!  Whenever we visit my mom on a Sunday, we attend a favorite church near her.  This was just a fraction of the floral decor they had on Resurrection Sunday.  I wish I had thought of snapping a picture earlier, before everyone stood up to leave.   

So I guess there you have it -- our 2014 Passover and some of the whys & wheretos to boot.  We are still always learning which is part of the fun!  Please don't get me wrong.  We still believe that salvation is by grace through faith; it always has been.  This has nothing to do with legalism, earning one's salvation, or gaining better favor with God.  It's not bondage, far from it.  Each Feast is a beautiful picture -- each of the Spring Feasts are a picture of Christ's first coming.  Jesus was sacrificed for our sins on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread, arose on Firstfruits, and sent us His Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  The fall holidays are a picture of His second coming and of things to come.  The LORD willing, I will share those with you later this year.

Like I shared with my friend, I don't really wish to be labeled as Messianic or Hebrew Roots (or I suppose any denomination for that matter).  Each has it's share of flaws and kooks that I don't really care to be recognized with thank you very much.  Not that we are perfect, but we just simply desire to love God and His Word and seek to obey Him in all Truth -- following Scripture rather than the traditions of man.

Truly these are the LORD's Feasts, and they are glorious, for they glorify Him!