April Showers Bring May Flowers

The past few weeks have been very busy and yet joyful for our family. We started off the month of Tishri with the Feast of Trumpets, then moved on to Yom Kippur and are now in the middle of Sukkot. The shofar has blasted many times in our little village, we joyfully fasted, and are now sleeping in our tents (inside of course). Wow! How great Adonai is to give us these wonderful feasts that all point to the Messiah.

Yes, Messiah has been here once, but these feasts also point to His return. There are many out there that view these feasts, along with the others, as unnessasary. If they were not meant to be followed for all times then HaShem would not have given them and told us to keep the feasts for all generations. We really do miss out on Adonai and His joy when we ignore Him.

Once we let go of our man made traditions and step out in true faith then we are able learn who HaShem truly is through the Bible. We will yearn with an overwhelming desire to learn more and more and we will be appalled at how we have disobeyed Him. The truth lies between Genesis 1 and Revelations 22, all we have to do is seek it. Throwing away our preconceived notions, praying earnestly for understanding and being open to hearing Him is the beginning to casting off the old man; dying to self and living to Messiah.

“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be eaten by the sword”; for the mouth of Adonai has spoken. Is. 1:19-20

We are getting ready to celebrate our first Rosh HaShanah in a couple of weeks. I am very excited and nervous at the same time. Derek has been practicing with the shofar and I am very impressed. I think the biggest problem I have is what to cook. I want to make something extra special and fun. My husband has a request though so I will probably go with that. I finally have been able to make the challah the right way but will take my first go at make it into a circle. That will be fun too.
Adonai has been so gracious to us as of late and it seems we can’t get Him off our minds. He keeps “cropping up” with all these thoughts and ideas and revelations. It is so exciting!!! I just feel happier even when things seem to be going all wrong. I also feel more shame and regret as I ponder all the ways He’s been so good to me and loved me unconditionally. Why was I chosen? Why I am blessed enough to be receiving His truth? These kinds of questions always bring me back to His words, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.” There’s no way around that but it makes me sad for those who refuse to “die to self”. I know where they are, I’ve been there.
In light of this new found knowledge I have, I have been changing not only my dress, behavior, thinking, but also my words are chosen with more care (most of the time). I am still struggling, but now I know my end goal. Now I want to obey all of Torah, all the time. For the first time, I have true joy in worship and a real excitement as Shabbat gets closer. What will come next I don’t know, but I am excited for it and even welcome it. Shalom!

I have noticed so much more lately, how much the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) has been teaching my family. It has been amazing and wonderful. I find myself wanting more and more and yet, the other day I had to stop. I asked my husband to let us have a break because I had taken in a lot and needed some tiem to digest it all. The break made Shabbat yesterday so much more sweeter. We actually had to tell the children that we were taking a break to rest our minds and eat some lunch. That was at 130, we eat lunch way before that. It was so nice.
I have also realized in myself that I feel naked without my tichel (head covering) on. It is really neat how much I have begun to look upon this simple piece of cloth as part of my daily wardrobe. It not only covers my hair to show my submission to my husband (he never once asked me to wear one, it was my idea) and Adonai, but also protects from those with shifty eyes. I have recently learned just how erotic men see long hair on women, I had no idea. Another way our heavenly Father has set out to protect us. After more study in the old Testament I learned how even the fallen angels (sons of God) came to the “daughters of men” once they perceived the beauty of the women. Must keep my head covered all the more now that I know that.
Today we went to the store, as a family, and a man at the check out made a comment to us. (With my four children always dressed appropriately people don’t easily forget seeing us). Well, the man looked at my husband and said that something was missing. Thinking he was talking about children Derek said the girls were over there. The man responded with, “No. On their heads. The boys had something on their heads last time.” We had gone to the gym this morning and Derek and the boys left their kippahs at home. They won’t be doing that again. Derek said he felt so convicted after that. It just goes to prove that you never know who is watching you. We make many more impressions with our actions than with our words.
Praise be our Saviour for revealing these “little” things to us and encouraging us to keep on the path that leads to Him. Obedience to His Torah (law) is a big deal and my head covering is a part of the Torah. We must always remember that He is paying attention and small things matter so much to Adonai.
Shalom friends. 

After a couple of weeks of warm sunshine we have a cold wet day today. I hear tell it will be warmer next week and that’ll be nice. I don’t mind the rain and cold, I just think that it’s funny that after it being 95F at my house (that doesn’t happen often), then today it may be about 65F. Just goes to show that we aren’t in control and we never know what our Father has in store for us.
We are now at the start of the month of Elul and are very excited. This is our first time celebrating the Fall Feasts so we are a bit nervous. But Adonai is gracious and He understands that that we are still learning, always learning. Last night Derek was able to blow the shofar (ram’s horn) for the first time, with Adonai’s helps. It was loud and it was great! The children laughed and begged for more. According to tradition he is supposed to blow it everyday leading up to Rosh Hashanah so they will get their fill over the next 40 days. I need to get a picture of him blowing it.
With all that said we have a very neglected house (spent most of the week outside in the dirt, I was actually reading) so we must clean for Shabbat. How sweet that day of rest is. Our Father in all His wisdom knew how much we would need it and I am so thankful for it. Shalom!

It’s a been a long time since I blogged. Being without internet for 4 months, vacation for a month, catching up on life & so forth has really had me behind here. I am still learning how to be a submissive child of Adonai & He has been showing so much to me that I am excited each day.
Our school days have been slow & short, but steady. Our summer arrived a bit late this year, but we are so thankful for it. Elijah lost another tooth & Hannah will have one less when bed time comes tonight. If she doesn’t get it out her Daddy will. Speaking of our hero. He got rid of a mouse carcuss for us yesterday. We don’t know if it was one or two, but the cat could have taken it all in the grass, not our front walk. Yuck!
Bean is reading really well & I am so proud of her. Never had a 4 year old read before so it’s exciting. I guess with her being smart & then hearing the others it just sped her up. I wonder what Super Sweet will be like when he starts book learning.
I don’t know when the German children go back to school, but I hope we have a few nice days once they do so we can go to the pool without them. The last time we went Hannah got slammed into the slide wall because of their impatience. It wouldn’t hurt them to wait a few seconds for a smaller child, but many don’t care about others.
We went apple picking this morning & that was fun. Will have to go back in a few weeks for more goodies. Now I have to put some of these up & turn others into apple sauce. So much fun. The homemade laundry soap works real well, except for grass stains. Don’t worry though, it was Hannah’s bloomers, not Elijah’s shorts. Girls. What can you do with them? That’s right. Love them & lead them to the Adonai, along with their brothers.

The weather is warming, the trees and bushes are in bloom, the children are running wild and I am still without internet. I want it but am not breaking my neck to get it reinstalled. Yes, some things would be easier with it at home, but I have been working on some projects that need my attention and the computer isn’t stopping me. We finished school yesterday and the children are very happy about that. We have the Passover feast tomorrow followed by the Feast of Unlevened Bread. We as modern believers miss the fact that Adonai told us to celebrate these festivals forever and  miss so we miss out on the blessings and fun. With this busy week coming up I glad we don’t have school to worry with as well. Derek decided on a two week break from school, which means only doing 15mins a day and that will be good for all of us. Next week I’ll start going through clothes for our month long trip. Boy, will that be an adventure.
While the big ones were out playing yesterday I put Super Sweet out with them. He was on his truck until Peanut moved him to the walker. A bit later Big E told me that Super Sweet was wet. Odd I thought to myself, he’s in the walker, how would Elijah know that. Well, I went down and sure enough the boy was wet, with mud. They had him sitting on the cold wet dirt. Don’t worry, he was as happy as pie. His hands were brown, his fingernails black and so forth. When he bored of them he crawled into the house and put on a hat, until he saw me eating something. After a bee line to me he slipped on the rug while trying to stand. His sweet little nose hit the leg of the chair. A bloody nose was the result, but was cured with a bath. The bath is his second favorite place to be. The most exciting thing to happen lately was that this past Friday Super Sweet took two steps to me. Saturday he took some more, in groups of 4 and 5. I am the only one he’ll walk to that’s ok too. He is “talking” up a storm and not afraid to point at what he wants. My little Super Sweet is growing as fast as the others and I think it’s the dad’s fault. At least he doesn’t have to leave my room yet. After sharing a room with him for this long I don’t know what I’d do when he moves to another room. Happy Passover! Shalom!

Yesterday was a fun filled day. We were sitting upstairs doing school when Big E, basking in the sun, announced he was going outside. He stated that he couldn’t stand it any longer and had to get out. With that the boy was gone and two girls followed close at his heels. An hour and a half later I served them some lunch, outside of course. Then they came in for our prayer time and a snack. While snacking they informed me that they were 23 Indians and 2 parents. The oldest Indian girl didn’t know the name of all her brothers and sisters and she was ok with that. They soon left the table and proceeded with an inside game. It would be another 30 mins. before I got them back to school, but it was so worth it. Today Big E is not sitting by a window or may have escaped already. I did tell them that if they finish early we would go for a walk. That doesn’t seem too exciting for some children, but when you live on the side of a mountain with woods all around your exploring senses kick in and you can’t wait.
On another note, I think my site has been pinged by some odd thing leaving messages. I will wait and check this out further when I am at the library tomorrow. Those pcs are better able to filter junk and not get hacked. So, I may also be switching over to my other site or just biting the bullet and paying for a site so as not to have this problem. Either way, Adonai is good to me and I can’t complain. Have a great day!

It has been an exciting week around here. Last week’s learning fair went well and even though it was raining no projects got ruined. We started off our week celebrating Purim and it was a lot of fun. I tried to make these traditional Jewish cookies, but I messed up. The dough was still good, but we couldn’t eat it according to the directions. Next year we’ll do better. Starting next week I will be planning out my Passover and Unlevened Feast menus and that will take a bit of manuvering. Eight days without yeast foods will be harder to pull off for breakfast then for supper. I also need to make Derek’s costume. That won’t take more then a couple of hours since I did it once before, just a different color.]
This past Tuesday was Belinda’s birthday. She turned 6. I walked downstairs and the saw the entire assembly of friends that gathered for her party. I didn’t see any “adults” right away because they were getting the food ready. Once all the plates and cups were passed around and the children properly sitting, we (me and my children) sat down to lunch. Little did I know that once lunch was over that Belinda would be served a cake, with the happy birthday song and all. She even blew out the candles. I took many pictures of this party and once all the cake was gone I told the “adults” to clean up mess, get the attendees put away and get ready to finish school. I had no idea there were that many childrenn and animals in this house until I saw them all gathered for the celebration. Maybe next time I’ll post pictures of the party, my camera is downstairs and I feel lazy today. Have a great one!

Last Friday was Peanut’s 6th birthday. My, how time does fly. It was another one of those bitter-sweet days in my life. I can’t believe she’s so tall! She used to be so tiny, curled up on me. Now she is huge! Ok, huge in my eyes that can still see the 1 hour old baby. She still likes a good cuddle with mom and I hope that never changes. As far as the world knows she is an independent girl who doesn’t mind being on her own. But I know she needs and wants me, I hope that lasts for a long time to come.
I was over at Life In a Shoe last night and saw where KimC is giving up shampoo. Now my interest was peeked. I read on and looked at what other women had to say on this issue and am now thinking of going this route myself. Yes, I already use organic shampoo made in a nice lady’s kitchen, www.sweethollowfarm.com is the place if you are interested, but maybe I need to go even more natural and save some more money. I am even looking into making my own laundry soap. I know, some of you out there think I am off of my rocker but I am ok with that. Why do I have to buy everything and depend on others? It’s bad enough that I don’t have a yard to grow some of our food in, but one day I will: if the Lord sees fit. I have big dreams for living “off of the land” and some like to call it. But these plans don’t include getting rich or being famous. This is finally a dream to glorify God in my living. Yes, I can do that now with many things but so far my food isn’t in that relm and for that I need to repent. Perhaps we won’t have to wait too long before supporting ourselves, but until then I will continue to wait on the Lord. His timing is good.
I was also reading on the Kansas Milkmaid’s site about being fruitful and multiplying. Now there is another fun subject to get in on. Like Christina said, so many Christians are against this command from God and yes it was a command. He told Adam and Eve to fill the earth, not stop when you get 2 or 3 children. He didn’t say you need forms of birth control because He’s in control of the womb. Just ask Abraham and Sarah. They had to wait a mighty long time before getting Isaac. There wasn’t any prevention except God’s hand. The Jewish community knows that this command was to be taken seriously, but our modern know it all Christian groups frown if you have many children. They ask what possessed you, how you can do it, you must be glutton for punishment and so forth. I guess those nay sayers don’t truly believe God’s Word: Children are a blessing from the Lord. Blessed is he who’s quiver is full of them. The Lord should be only determinate as to when our quiver is full, we shouldn’t have an opinion other then: is that all?
Shalom!

Many wonder what little people do around the house while the mother teaches the older children and folding laundry at the same time. No, I am not trying to be a show off because I multi task. I am stating what I usually do while teaching school. No need to hover over children, I can stand 20 feet away and supervise. Some little boys, Super Sweet namely, like to take advantage of this freedom. They do all sorts of things when the mother is standing near the ironing board or school table. They climb on workout machines (I really need a picture of that), they put pink underwear on their heads (I didn’t get the camera fast enough), they color on chalk boards (even if someone else is working there), they climb onto trampolines, squeal at doll babies, pull school books off of shelves and so forth. But what they do near mother’s feet is something to sweet to not get on camera.
He’s dumping out wash cloths in this picture.
He’s looking in the basket now.

I was able to get a couple more shots of this act of kindness of his before he was bored of the game. Needless to say, I got to put the wash cloths back in the basket, without his help. So now you know how a little boy stays busy or out of trouble while mom is other wise distracted.