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!


 

Classroom Reveal & First Week of School

Okay, so it's now our 16th week into this school year, and I'm finally posting my classroom reveal and our 1st week of school (blushing).

 

First of all, the classroom reveal....



The Before Picture

This has pretty much been the look of our classroom/computer/etc. room for many years.  For more pictures you can click HERE.  (note: the fluff at the bottom the picture is part of Elsa, our dog -- I guess I should have cropped that, haha).  I sold one daughter's school desk and Jeff had to dismantle the big old desk to get it out of the room.  The room was always nice, but it's time to turn the page to a new chapter in our lives. 

 

The After Pictures

(don't worry, the room is small; this will be a short tour)

The view as you enter our classroom.
   

I had a lot of wishful-uses for this room (office/computer room, school room, craft room, and a guest bedroom, but since the room is only about 8'x10', I had to be realistic with my expectations and just do what I could.  Jeff had only two requirements: (1) that there were at least 2 desks so that on occasion, when he works from home, he has his own desk, and (2) that I didn't make it too girly. :)  He knows me, I love pastels and I love girly, but for his sake, I toned down my wish list.

 

The wallpaper did put up a bit of a fight to remove, but the girls helped and we had it off in a few days.  Next, I chose Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue for the walls (a Pinterest find that changes color as the light changes), getting in my pastel, yet telling Jeff it was blue for boys :).  Actually, most of our house is in warm & woodsy dark Craftsman colors, so this room is a refreshing change.

All the lower desks/cabinets are IKEA.  I love that the printer can now be tucked under and pulled out when needed.  The decorative shelf, now painted antique white, if you will recall use to be sage green and above my coach in the familyroom about 3 years ago; and everything on the shelf, except for the inexpensive Walmart plants, are just things I already had around the house.   

 

 

  The shelf tower is three "Store In Style" cubes stacked (These cubes are hard to come by (aka Crop In Style), I  purchased mine through Oriental Trading, but I don't think they have anymore of the individual cubes left).  I specifically wanted this brand of cubes as they are a good, sturdy cube and they were the only ones that were wide enough to fit the baskets I already had.

 

 

On the opposite wall we brought up my sewing machine cabinet as nobody ever enjoyed sewing in our somewhat chilly, isolated-from-the-family basement.  Yes, I know, the walls are rather bare yet.

And well, the room has a deep & very narrow closet with a file cabinet stuffed full of papers that are mostly important only to me -- mostly school & Bible related.  I did a lot of purging -- it's time to let go of my denial that I just bought way more curriculum than is humanly possible to teach in X-number of years.  Jeff was a sweetie & installed a top shelf to store more stuff, Yea!

 

I still need to recover the chair (I have a blue brushed-denim fabric waiting) and find a curtain or make one.

~~~~
 

And, our first week of school

 

We usually go to our favorite waterpark either just before school starts or shortly after (One of the beauties of homeschooling).  The wave pool is my favorite, but Jeff & I agreed that by the end of 3 days of constantly being jostled around by waves, we were ready to go home (can't be we are getting old, can it???)

 

and we ate at a neat restaurant where our food was served by train.  The ambiance and novelty of the train were wonderful, the food was just average, and the prices were steep, but it was a fun one-time visit.

 

 The morning after our return, we celebrated a new school year by going to our favorite coffee shop (Caribou) since daddy still had one more day off.

 

I always fix a special breakfast or take the girls out for breakfast before we get started.  This year it was Perkins.

 

Even though Amber is graduated, she still enjoys joining us for Hebrew (pictured) and History.

 

 Anna watching a Vision Forum History dvd.  (We are sad of the events that have transpired over the last couple of months with VF, but still appreciate the dvds & cds).

 

Anna practicing piano is very much a part of our school day.

 

 

 MUS Stewardship

 

 Anna doing vocabulary while Amber was working on her business card design.

 

Dorie is always such a good helper when doing school work.  She swishes her tail non-stop and it's always over what we are reading or... in the face. :)

 

 

 Art Class in session.

 

That about wraps up Week One.  If interested, you can find more information on our curriculum choices for each subject by clicking on the "Curriculum" page above. 

 

~~~~

 

Don't worry, I still haven't forgotten, posts on

 

Tour de Chicken Palace

 

and

 

Inductive Bible Study (my way)

 

coming soon. ♥ 



Happy Thanksgiv-Birth-ukkah!

This has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime week for us -- as if the usual stuffing ourselves silly with a tableful of comfort food on Thanksgiving isn't fun enough, festivities in our home have been in high gear with the convergence of Hanukkah and my husband's birthday, thus
Thanksgivbirthukkah!
 

 

Our Thanksgiving



We usually prepare and pack up half the feast and head to my mother's house on Thanksgiving Day, but being she was just starting to recover from the flu and didn't feel like feasting yet, we postponed that until Saturday and instead had Thanksgiving at home and invited Jeff's parents to join us, thus a table for 6.  Sorry, I was too busy in my element (the kitchen) and didn't take any pictures, but we had all our normal feast...

Turkey Breast
Double Smoked Ham*
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Sweet Potato Casserole
Dressing
Jello
Tuna Noodle Salad
Green Beans
Rolls & Butter
Pickle Assortment
Pumpkin Pie & Real Whipped Cream
Pumpkin Bars (MIL's) 
Brownies

*Half of us don't eat pork, but I still bake a half a ham to make the men folk (and dog) happy.  And I didn't do cranberries this year as my mom is the only one that really insists on them.

It was nice being able to stay home this year and we had a nice time.  It's always been our tradition to watch the parades & dog show too.  Thankfully I missed it, but I've read about Macy's intentional and shameful Broadway/transvestite performance propaganda.  Personally, I've never liked their Broadway inclusions as they are often immodest (thanks to a  cold snap, I think there was less of that this year) and often sooo worldly, and really don't reflect the mindset of most Midwesterners.  I'd much prefer if they would skip the show biz and just stick with a family-friendly PARADE, you know... bands, balloons, floats, and horses.  I was also disappointed in seeing how much more air time NBC celebs received as opposed to non (like the Duck Dynasty float) -- I blinked and practically missed it.  Thankfully the dog show is always good.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto Elohim. ~ Philippians 4:6

Our Hanukkah

As many of you know, we celebrate the Feasts of the Lord as described in Leviticus 23 (and elsewhere in our Bibles) and have been turning from secular and pagan-rooted holidays over the last several years (since about 2005).  I have to confess, the transition has been a longer process than I'd like as ties to tradition run deep, but I do my best.

Hanukkah/Chanukah (Hebrew for Dedication) is not one of the 7 Feasts of the Lord (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles), however, we do find it in the Bible.
In John 10:22-23 we read,

"And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.  And Yehshua walked in Solomon's porch."

So, even though the Word does not state that we should celebrate Hanukkah, neither is it condemned.  I won't go into a long explanation of what Hanukkah is all about, but if you are interested, a couple of my favorite posts on it are found here:

The Chanukah Story by Norm Franz
and
The Festival of Chanukah by Hebrew for Christians

      Since we stand with Israel and as believers can see all the deep Biblical meaning, history, and prophesy wrapped up in this feast we have chosen to celebrate it as well.  Our family doesn't get too wrapped up in the unbiblical traditions of any of the feasts -- some of it's fun, but rather we focus on looking back to what God has done and looking forward to what is yet to come.  With Hanukkah, we focus on:

1) The miracle of God's deliverance of the Jewish people that were living under the oppression of a pagan/tyrannical king through the Maccabees.  (There's nothings too hard for God!)  Btw, the Temple was desecrated for 3½ years and then there was a rededication; hum, sounds like something else we know will take place in the future.

 2) The cleansing/rededication of the Temple (Shall we rededicate our temples (bodies) for His use.?!)  Jesus did not condemn this festival, but as we read in John 10, He was directing the people to the Good Shepherd -- a right focus!

3) The oil & lighting of the Temple menorah.  The miracle of just enough oil for one day lasting 8 days may just be tradition, a legend by a rabbi, we don't know for sure, but we can still celebrate the True Light of the World.  And as being lights of the World because of Him, we desire to use these 8 days in ways to spread His light -- giving to missions & ministries, packing Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes, etc.

4) When one knows the math and takes our clues from Biblical and historical events, it is strongly believed that Jesus was conceived on Hanukkah.  I don't think it a coincidence that the Light of the world was conceived during the festival of lights (and He who Tabernacled with us was born during the Feast of Tabernacles; NOT December 25th).

5) Comparable with end times described in Revelation & Daniel, Antiochus is a type of the antichrist who desecrated the Temple for 3½ years.  The end-times prophesy of Daniel 9:27 parallels events similar to Hanukkah -- not unlike pagan Antiochus, we see our world spiraling downhill at breakneck speed.  Worldwide immorality and idolatry are the norm.  We must be modern day Maccabees!!!

"And what agreement hath the temple of Elohim with idols? for ye are the temple of the living Elohim; as Elohim hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith Yahweh, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith Yahweh Almighty.  II Corinthians 6:16-18.

Our Hanukkah table.
Being the 8 days included Thanksgiving and a birthday, the menu took on various forms -- BBQ Bison Brisket the first night, Roasted Chicken the last, Perkins Restaurant one night (we did candles & played dreidel later), Turkey birthday brats, and Thanksgiving leftovers.

I made Potato Latkes two nights.  I had never tried them before and thought they were good, but didn't understand why some make such a big deal about them.  I like hash browns and these are basically...hash browns.

 

Festival of Lights

I saw the cute floating wick menorah (left) idea in a BH&G magazine and I had to try; and then bought a pretty little ice cube candle holder menorah on eBay.  We also lit the oil lamp (you can see a bit of it bottom left) that David, a Jewish friend bought for us in Israel.  And we played dreidel with chocolate coins and exchanged gifts in lieu of the usual Christmas exchange.  The Shalom Hanukkah table square is a Michael Miller designed fabric that I bought from someone on Etsy that we just love.  I bought 1 yd. and Amber squared it up & sewed the edges for us.   

 

 



  Anna completed the Hanukkah lapbook from Heart of Wisdom which I thought turned out really pretty. 

       Happy Hanukkah!

Birth-a-day

I always like to say Birth-a-day because that is what my German grandma called it.  Anywho, Jeff's birthday (another year younger) was Sunday and that didn't quite go as intended.  We drove a while to our nearest good shopping and I was able to get him some new clothes as planned; I also wanted to buy him a new Bible, but knowing the old Christian bookstore was open Sundays, I forgot to check if the new store was open -- they weren't.  Also, Jeff wanted to go to the new Chick-fil-a, and of course, we forgot that they are closed on Sundays also (Saturday Sabbath does mess one up sometimes).  So then we decided to try the Buffalo Wild Wings next door (never been there before) and haha, oh my.  First off, we didn't realize it was more or less a sports bar, and add to that it was a Sunday and the Vikings were playing.  We certainly were a minority in a sea of purple jerseys.  Let's just say it was an experience.  The wings were good though.

We will shop for the Bible & do Chick-fil-a another day.  But for now, we are in a winter storm and it's snowing to say the least -- expecting perhaps 6 - 10" today.  Awana has been cancelled for tonight.  My dear hubby will be leaving work early (yea!)

Time to go put the Hanukkah decor away, ttfn.

(although the calender says Hanukkah goes through Thursday, we went by the 119 Ministries calender, so we started/end early)

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying,

I am the light of the world:

he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness,

but shall have the light of life. ~ John 8:12

Why We Don't "Do" Halloween

Now that harvest/canning is nearing an end, I'll be able to resume my school/life posts soon, but in the meantime, here is a repost (please excuse the margin mess-up in the transfer)...

 

I did a post last year about Why We Don't "Do" Halloween, which became by far my most viewed post EVER!  So, since it's "that time" again,  I thought I'd  repost with just a few updates (mostly additional images).

May the LORD be glorified!  

Most of the month of October and particularly October 31st is a time of avoidance for our family:

• Our family tries to avoid going to stores where we are bombarded with displays of witches, haunted houses, ghosts, & the like, and sometimes costumed employees.  And where check-out clerks use to ask the girls what they were going to dress as;
• We avoid going out to eat at most restaurants with again costumed wait staff and when the children were little we would avoid all those Happy Meal-type toys that took on a more ghoulish theme.
• And I would cringe when the girls were little and in gymnastics or swimming and it never failed, the instructor always thought she had to go around the group and ask what each child was dressing up as on Halloween.

Not that we think we have to stick our heads in the sand or that we are stuck-up or holier than Thou, far be it!  We just take to heart God's Word when He says:  

 

^{I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. ~ Psalms 101:3}

 

^{Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. ~ Philippians 4:8} 

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.   Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. ~ II Corinthians 6:14-17

Now, I can't say we have always had such a diversion to Halloween.  Both Jeff & I grew up thinking Halloween was more or less a harmless fun night.  Our parents, I guess, didn't seem to know or understand what all was behind such a holiday and so we dressed up in costume like everyone else (mine were probably more of the princess variety, as I know my parents didn't allow the scary kind) and went around collecting candy.  For my family (mom, dad & me), we moved a lot, but I recall one time when we lived in a neighborhood that had a lot of young families and for the fun of it, we counted with hash marks the number of trick-or-treaters that came to our door one Halloween that year -- 500!!!  That was a fun year!  So what I'm about to share, I certainly don't judge or condemn anyone for their degree of participation in this yearly ritual and ask that you please provide our family with the same courtesy.  The last thing I want to seem is self-righteous or condemning.  I have no idea who is going to read this, if anyone, and I don't know what your family does on October 31, so really, I'm not pointing fingers at anyone.
With that said however, I just felt I wanted to humbly share why our family doesn't "do" Halloween.  For some, it may seem controversial and narrow. but for our family, it has become an area we feel very strongly about and will not compromise our convictions.  I know there are others of you out there that feel the same way and I hope this encourages and reaffirms your beliefs; and for others perhaps you feel an uneasiness about joining in on the festivities, but didn't realize the extent of the deep darkness behind the holiday; ...or perhaps you are just curious why some of us odd ducks don't join in on the fun of October 31st.

Like many families a generation or so ago, and most families today, Halloween is considered just a make-believe fun holiday.  In fact, I just read that for the first time in history, more is spent on Halloween than Easter and the average family spends $80/yr on costumes, candy, and decorations.  I'm no expert on Halloween (or anything really), but have done a little research on the subject as a way of apologetics.  So lets just address each of the main elements of Halloween and see what God's Word says about it, shall we?

1. Halloween's Pagan Roots:

Not being one who enjoys reinventing the wheel, please go to the following site:

http://belief713.hubpages.com/hub/Why_Do_We_Celebrate_Halloween

I think this site sums it up pretty well.  NOTE:  Do watch the short YouTube videos there, but I wouldn't recommend watching the third video entitled "Halloween Origins" with children in the room, it's pretty frightening.  And the first video on that site is marked private for some reason, so you won't be able to view it, but the rest are good.

But if you don't have time to look up the link now (I hope you can find time later, it's excellent), in a nutshell, Halloween can be traced back to the ancient Druids, who were a highly educated or 'priestly' class of the Celts of the time. The Celts worshiped many false gods, including Samhain, the lord of the dead, on October 31.



Modern Druids at Stonehedge

It was (and is) believed that on October 31st, "the lord of the dead would gather all the souls of the evil dead who had been condemned to enter the bodies of animals. He then decided what animal form they would take for the next year. (The good dead were reincarnated as humans.) The Druids also believed that the punishment of the evil dead could be lightened by sacrifices, prayers, and gifts to Samhain (the god of the dead).

It was taught that evil spirits roamed the earth on October 31st and villagers had many practices to scare them away. They would light huge fires, dress in grotesque masks and costumes, and make both animal and human (usually infant) sacrifices in hopes of appeasing the gods and keeping their families safe. Sacrifices like these are still made today in many pagan circles, although it is seldom talked about or revealed.

~~~

Now, I'm very careful not to get too carried away with rejecting everything that has pagan roots to the point of being ridiculous because if one goes back far enough, most anything can have some history of the pagans using it for their heathen purposes.  Even many of our English roots, suffixes, and some of the letters of our alphabet have pagan history, but I still use them to speak English if you get what I mean.  But, when it comes to Halloween, there is absolutely nothing Christian about it, nor is it a neutral fun night.  The devil is very clever at making things look fun and wonderful on the outside that are very wrong on the inside -- Halloween is one of those things.

When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer [those that communicate with the dead]. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God ~ Deuteronomy 18:9-13

2. Whom Do we Honor on Halloween?

For most of our American holidays, arguably, we honor (show great respect for) someone by setting aside a special day, a holiday, to remember some important person or event.  If one celebrates these holidays in the Christian tradition... they celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmastime; thank God for His blessings at Thanksgiving; and celebrate our Risen LORD at Easter.  But whom do we honor at Halloween???  In many parts of the world Halloween is a religious holiday -- a holiday when people worship Satan and honor evil.  It's the biggest holiday on Satan's calender!    

  In Exodus 20 (the 10 Commandments), what does it say?  We are to honor the LORD our God and Him only.   In Isaiah 42:8 God says He will not share His glory with another!  And many times over God states that He is a jealous God.

3. What About Trick or Treats?

(Speaking nothing of the health "benefits" of all that candy -- are our children really so sugar deficient come this time of year?  Or does the Bible okay gluttony certain times of the year?).

Going back to Halloween's pagan origins, it all began as ancient cultic ceremonies and witchcraft rituals, honoring and appeasing evil spirits, and communicating with the dead.  People (Celts) worshiped statues and nature (sun, stars) and believed that the spirits of the dead could control the living.  They believed the souls of wicked people who had died (evil spirits) returned on Halloween, roaming villages, going from house to house, and if the families did not appease the evil spirits, they would harm & scare (haunt/torment) those living in that house.  So in order to keep the evil spirits happy, they set out sweets and treats to appease the evil spirits.  So when children Trick or Treat, they are taking part in the playing out of a very real pagan belief, whether they know it or not.  And when people offer treats to the children, they are acting out the tradition of offering sacrifices to evil spirits or Satan, whether they know it or not.  We have always had a rule in our home that it's never okay to emulate evil or to play or be entertained by anything that God calls sin.

I say the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God participants with demons. You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in the Lord’s table and the table of demons. ~ I Corinthians 10:20-21 

4. What About Jack-O-Lanterns?

According to one story, Jack-O-Lanterns started from the Irish legend of "Irish Jack", a stingy drunk who tricked the devil into climbing a tree for an apple, but then carved the sign of the cross in the trunk to stop the devil from climbing back down. Jack then forced Satan to promise never to come after his soul, to which the devil reluctantly agreed. When Jack died, he was turned away at the gates of Heaven and was sent to the devil, who also rejected him. Jack was then condemned to wander the earth. As he was leaving hell, Satan pitched a piece of burning coal at him. Jack put the coal inside a turnip and was forced to forever roam with no resting place, holding only his 'Jack o' lantern' for light. The turnip was eventually traded for a pumpkin, and villagers then set the pumpkins & turnips outside their front gates to scare away the evil spirits who might think Jack was there.  Whether one goes by that legend or other thoughts, the whole idea was/is to scare away evil spirits!

  

 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. ~ James 4:4

5. What About Costumes?

First indoctrination.

Halloween costumes also originated from a time when costumes were used at pagan festivals often to change the personality of a person to allow for better communication with the Spirit world. The Celtic Druids wore large animal heads at rituals, in an attempt to pull energy sources out of that particular animal.  Costumes are used in Halloween tradition to either ward off evil spirits, blend in with the evil spirits, or appease evil spirits.  Even today, most costumes are often intended to be scary or risque´ -- not wholesome, and pure, and God honoring.  Personally, I don't know anyone who dresses their children in costumes with the pagan intent in mind, however, even if we dress our child in the most adorable costume, it doesn't make Halloween any more righteous. 

 

As you can see, Halloween centers around evil, scary things.  Many costumes picture witches, ghosts, skelatons, and evil creatures that are enemies of God.  God calls witchcraft a sin!  (I Samuel 15:23, II Chronicles 33:6, Micah 5:12, Galatians 5:20).  Jesus does not want us to have anything to do with evil.  If we are His children, how can we please God if we look & act like His enemies?  We want to be like Jesus!

 

 

6. What About The Religious Aspect of October 31st, All Hallow's Eve, and All Saints Day?

 

Hundreds of years ago, Rome passed a law that everyone had to accept Christianity as the new state religion.  Most became Christians because they had to, not because they wanted to.  Instead of giving up their pagan beliefs and the worship of many gods, they added these to Christianity.  When the rulers of Rome tried to stop Halloween parties, the people revolted.  They saw nothing wrong with mixing their many false beliefs with the the worship of Jesus.  Jesus was just another god to their collection.  So the Roman rulers moved a Roman Catholic holiday, All Saints Day, to November 1st and gave October 31st the name Halloween, which means Holy Evening.  Then they told the people to pray for the dead on Halloween instead of praying to other gods. (Note: The Roman Catholic Church officiated the solemnity of all saints and also called All Hallows or Hallowmas as a solemnity celebrated on November 1st in honor of all the saints, known and unknown.  All Hallow's Eve mean the "eve of all holy" because it's the night before All Saints' Day. All Saints' Day is specifically a Catholic feast day celebrated on November 1st.)  So basically, All Hallow's Eve and All Saints Day are a holiday of the Roman Catholic Church (not of the Bible).  Halloween takes place on the day before and was always a religious holiday, but it was never a Christian holiday.  It still isn't!  Changing the name of something doesn't change what it is, it's still a pagan holiday.  I don't ever recall anyone celebrating Halloween because it glorifies God.

 

Holiday of the Roman Catholic Church

A Holy Day to the LORD???
It's not in the Bible!

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.   He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. ~ Romans 14: 5-6

7. What About Attending A Church's Harvest Celebration, Family Fun Night, Church Carnival, Or Some Other Church Alternative On October 31st?

First of all, I don't see anything wrong with attending a church's Harvest Celebration, but I question why some churches think they have to have it on October 31st?  Usually harvest is long over by the end of October (at least it is here in Minnesota).  I would think if it is truly a "harvest" theme, it would be better held around Thanksgiving or better yet, at Sukkot.  I've also heard about some churches that have called their October 31st celebration a "harvest" celebration, but when families arrived there, they found it nothing but a Halloween party, complete with haunted house.  Or why would a city or suburban church even hold a typical agricultural-based event anyway?   If a church is really working that hard to distance itself from Halloween, enough to throw a distinct celebration, why are we linking ourselves to it by having it on the same night?  When we pull out of the driveway, do our neighbors know we are going to church to honor and glorify God or might they presume we are headed to a Halloween party?  Might it hinder our testimony if what we are doing requires an explanation?  The Bible clearly insturcts us to:

"Abstain from all appearance of evil." ~ I Thessalonians 5:22 

Personally, I believe God cares very much about the methodology of our orthadoxy and orthapraxy.  That is to say, he cares about the method in which a church does things.  Is it Biblical?  What saith the Scriptures?  Are there any verses or examples found in Scripture that support what we are doing?  A church event on the devil's holiday so that we Christians might not feel left out of secular fun just doesn’t sit well with me.  It really sounds like an updated version of what the Roman Catholic Church did hundreds of years ago to appease the pagans that were forced to be "Christians".  Another argument I hear is often times churches put on events to attract the unchurched or bring others in to a non-theatening environment "to see what the church is all about".  About what?  The church of fun & games???  A Christian Club Med???   Is that really what the church is all about?  And how many new attenders/members/Godly/growing Christians did this event attract?  And most importantly, did Jesus do that? 

Is it really that hard to treat October 31st just like we do any other non-holiday?  Would we be guilty of child neglect if we did?  Many people (including many Christians) will argue that Halloween is "no big deal".  They feel that by completely rejecting the holiday and refusing to celebrate it in any way, places their family as being 'over the top' - over-reacting.  For our family, the question lies in, "whom does this holiday glorify?".  The roots of Halloween are wickedly pagan, the past and present-day associations are directly connected to Satanism.

We are without excuse

Let's face it. When most of us were little, we didn't realize there was really anything wrong with Halloween -- yes, we probably knew (or not) that we shouldn't dress up as witches if we grew up in a Christian home, but neither us nor our parents knew the details of Halloween's darkness. Information was not as easily attainable as it is today with personal computers and instant internet access. So really, as today's Christians, we are without excuse. Even though one probably won't hear about it from the pulpit (shame on churches), information is readily available. All's one has to do is Google "Halloween Pagan", "Halloween Christian", "Why We Don't Do Halloween", or similar searches and one can find a whole slew of articles on the history of Halloween and why Christians should not be participates of this pagan holiday. Even many secular websites question why Christians continue to celebrate "the devil's holiday".

Those of us who now know the truth about Halloween are accountable for the information we have received and must answer to God someday.  We have been intrusted by our LORD with the nurture, protection, and spiritual training of the children He has blessed us with.  Dispite any human reasoning, good intentions and fond memories are no justification for ignoring God's Truth.  If we know the Truth, we are accountable; and if we choose to close our eyes & ears to the Truth, we are accountable before God for that as well.  What you do with this information is between you and God, but for our family, we found it was time to draw the line in the sand and say, "As for me and my house, we will serve [and honor, and glorify] the LORD!"

 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. ~ Ephesians 5:11

 

Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.   And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.   And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods; ~ Joshua 24:14-16

~~~

And now a few practical tips on what a family can do on Halloween

First of all, it's best to never even start celebrating Halloween.  When our first born was yet a baby, my husband and I agreed that we wouldn't do Halloween (or Santa, or the Easter Bunny for that matter).  However, there's nothing like the present to make changes.  Pray about it and as a family sit down and humbly make confession and explain the changes that will be made and why. 

 

When our girls were young, I found at a Christian bookstore, the book, "Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween?"  by Linda Hacon Winwood, and read that to them every Halloween.  The girls never questioned why we didn't do Halloween, they knew, and easily accepted it.  This year we will be reading and viewing the YouTube videos from the link I gave you (under #1 above).

Some years we have gotten together with other friends that we knew didn't do Halloween as well and would have a potluck supper, sing worship songs, talk, & laugh (a lot) around a campfire.  Very fun Christian fellowship!

Most years we do nothing special and treat it as any other day.  This year friends are coming to visit (who don't do halloween) in the afternoon and then this evening we will enjoy a very quiet family night.  We are planning to cook out on our firepit.  Perhaps play some board games or watch a dvd (non-halloween related) and just enjoy eachother's company.  We live at the end of a quiet dead end road and never have any trick-or-treaters visit, thankfully, however, we keep the front lights off not to encourage any newcomers either.  To us, it's just another day and we never feel deprived or like we are missing out.  This is the day that the LORD has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it.  (and never give place to the devil).

May the LORD be Glorified!