Well, I cant believe its been a week since I have unplugged from facebook and I cannot tell you how wonderful it feels! I am so peaceful and just know that I made the right choice in obeying Jehovah and my hubby. I have had more time to study the Scriptures and read some books that I have had sitting around for awhile now. Plus I am able to be very active on a forum that is just a great place to learn and share without being treated rudely for differing beliefs.
So its after 1am and yes I am still awake! LOL My littlest one just drifted off to sleep and I need just a few minutes of quiet time to myself. So I figured I would update my blog as a way to unwind before bed. When I wake up I have tuna casserole to make and a huge crock of chili for our fellowship that meets this Saturday afternoon. House is pretty much tidied up and I even made a special treat for Sabbath... Peanut butter m&m cookies!
I cant wait till sunset tomorrow when we sit at the dinner table and share a meal together over candle light. When daddy plays guitar while we sing worship songs with the children. While we huddle around while I read a Bible story and share alittle about the Torah portion for the week. I cant wait till we have our bread and grape juice and the children hold it up and help us sing the blessings over them in Hebrew. I cannot wait to sleep in a little extra on Sabbath morning and wake up to fresh coffee and warm cinnamon rolls. I cant wait to study Scripture with my husband and uncover amazing gems along the way. I cannot wait until we get to go to our fellowship and hear some more teaching on the Scriptures and then we get to discuss it and eat a wonderful meal together as one big family. I cannot wait for this incredible weekly gift that my Father has blessed me with! Its one of the greatest gifts He has given to His children. Its a time to cease from working and to rest in HIM. Its a time of spiritual renewal and physical renewal. Its a time for families to draw closer to one another and to the ONE who created them. Thank you Father for your Shabbat! May I never forget what a blessed gift it is from YOU to me. Shabbat Shalom!
Thus heaven and earth were completed with all their array.
On the seventh day God had completed the work he had been doing. He rested
on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing. God blessed the
seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he rested after all
his work of creating (Gen 2:1-3).
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six
days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath
to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor
your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals,
nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens
and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the
seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy"
(Ex 20:8-11).
This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and
do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness
will soon be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds
it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand
from doing any evil.… And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD
to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who
keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-these
I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer….If
you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please
on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy
day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing
as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the
LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast
on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has
spoken (Is 58:2-3, 5-6, 13-14).
There must still be, therefore, a seventh-day rest reserved
for God's people, since to enter the place of rest is to rest after your
work, as God did after his (Heb 4:9-10).
Friday, November 2, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Quotes from Charles Spurgeon
We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas:
first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it,
whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly,
because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as
the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority.” (Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on Dec. 24, 1871).
When it can be proved that the observance of Christmas, Whitsuntide, and other Popish festivals was ever instituted by a divine statute, we also will attend to them, but not till then. It is as much our duty to reject the traditions of men, as to observe the ordinances of the Lord. We ask concerning every rite and rubric, “Is this a law of the God of Jacob?” and if it be not clearly so, it is of no authority with us, who walk in Christian liberty.” (from Charles Spurgeon’s Treasury of David on Psalm 81:4.)
Our family no longer celebrates Christmas for many reasons but I just wanted to share this as I thought it was really interesting that Spurgeon shared our belief not to celebrate this day. We do love to celebrate Messiahs birth around when He was most likely born which would be the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. A week long celebration in the Fall and one our family now looks forward to every year!
When it can be proved that the observance of Christmas, Whitsuntide, and other Popish festivals was ever instituted by a divine statute, we also will attend to them, but not till then. It is as much our duty to reject the traditions of men, as to observe the ordinances of the Lord. We ask concerning every rite and rubric, “Is this a law of the God of Jacob?” and if it be not clearly so, it is of no authority with us, who walk in Christian liberty.” (from Charles Spurgeon’s Treasury of David on Psalm 81:4.)
Our family no longer celebrates Christmas for many reasons but I just wanted to share this as I thought it was really interesting that Spurgeon shared our belief not to celebrate this day. We do love to celebrate Messiahs birth around when He was most likely born which would be the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. A week long celebration in the Fall and one our family now looks forward to every year!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Storm Update
Just figured I would update everyone on here as to the status of the storm in our area. Hurricane Sandy is set to make landfall early this evening and already our wind gusts are around 40 mph and are expected to rise to 75 mph. Our Governor has declared a state of emergency and many of our interstates have been partially shut down and will most likely be totally closed tonight. We were told to prepare for power outages of up to a week in worst case scenario. We are as physically prepared as we can be with flashlights, candles, water, food, camping stove and kerosene heater. But what is most important is that we are spiritually prepared and we know that safety is not found in the absence of danger but in the presence of Jehovah! We appreciate all the prayers and I will update when I can.
Honor Your Father and Your Mother
Ok.. wow. I cannot believe how Yehovah works in our lives and brings things to our attention. Many times He uses other people and sometimes those people bring something to our attention in a way we do not like. I know I had just that experience a few days ago and I was NOT happy with the way my Father was trying to speak to me. Looking back now I am extremely grateful for the gentle and loving rebuke because it really made me see myself for what I really am. So thank you to that sister who obeyed Yehovah and lovingly rebuked me.
For those who dont know I grew up in a home where my parents were almost always at odds with another and I was often put in the middle of the situations which I resented very much. I dealt with watching and receiving alot of emotional and mental abuse and really became familiar with all the ways of a dysfunctional family. My parents always stayed married (still are) and presented themselves and all of us as an amazing and wonderful family. But behind closed doors my home was not a safe place for me emotionally and its something I have struggled with into my adult life. Sadly I carried alot of the baggage of childhood with me. I have worked through alot and done ALOT of healing in the past year thanks to an amazing sister who has been a mentor to me and an even more amazing Father. I was always the strong- willed child (still am today) and I was always a leader, never a follower. Mom always told me this was a wonderful trait if used correctly and I see what she means now. My spiritual journey has taken a turn from the traditions and ways in which I was brought up in and that has been a source of contention between my parents and I. From my perspective my parents have become less interested in the things of God and more interested in compromise. I feel my life has gone the opposite way and it bothers me to feel like spiritually I am losing the connection with my parents. I do love them but they can tend to be a source of frustration, anger and sarcasm for me. In my most recent "issue" with them I left the conversation feeling very angry, very hurt, very frustrated and so many other negative things. I vented to some friends like I typically do and it was brought to my attention that I was violating the 5th commandment - to honor my father and my mother. I felt convicted and so I decided to study just what honor really meant and I will share below what I learned.
The Hebrew word for honor is "kabed". It is literally a word about weight. It means "to be heavy". Honor is to give weight to someone. That is a metaphor for important, respect, consideration and value. Honor means to treat your parents with the gravity that their position demands. The opposite of honor is "kalel". The word is always translated as "to curse", but its literal meaning is to make light of. One curses ones parents not only if one directs curses at them, but if one treats them lightly. h
The Bible has some pretty strong things to say about this and below are just a few of the verses that speak about this.
Proverbs 30:17 The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
Proverbs 20:20 Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
Leviticus 19:3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
I know I have been convicted and need to talk to my parents and ask their forgiveness for not truly honoring them. I am so thankful I received a rebuke from the Father. There is so much flesh still in me and I try to crucify it daily, but I often fail. These are the times I so thankful for grace and mercy.
What about you.. if your parents are still alive, in what ways do you honor them? Just something to ponder and pray about.
For those who dont know I grew up in a home where my parents were almost always at odds with another and I was often put in the middle of the situations which I resented very much. I dealt with watching and receiving alot of emotional and mental abuse and really became familiar with all the ways of a dysfunctional family. My parents always stayed married (still are) and presented themselves and all of us as an amazing and wonderful family. But behind closed doors my home was not a safe place for me emotionally and its something I have struggled with into my adult life. Sadly I carried alot of the baggage of childhood with me. I have worked through alot and done ALOT of healing in the past year thanks to an amazing sister who has been a mentor to me and an even more amazing Father. I was always the strong- willed child (still am today) and I was always a leader, never a follower. Mom always told me this was a wonderful trait if used correctly and I see what she means now. My spiritual journey has taken a turn from the traditions and ways in which I was brought up in and that has been a source of contention between my parents and I. From my perspective my parents have become less interested in the things of God and more interested in compromise. I feel my life has gone the opposite way and it bothers me to feel like spiritually I am losing the connection with my parents. I do love them but they can tend to be a source of frustration, anger and sarcasm for me. In my most recent "issue" with them I left the conversation feeling very angry, very hurt, very frustrated and so many other negative things. I vented to some friends like I typically do and it was brought to my attention that I was violating the 5th commandment - to honor my father and my mother. I felt convicted and so I decided to study just what honor really meant and I will share below what I learned.
The Hebrew word for honor is "kabed". It is literally a word about weight. It means "to be heavy". Honor is to give weight to someone. That is a metaphor for important, respect, consideration and value. Honor means to treat your parents with the gravity that their position demands. The opposite of honor is "kalel". The word is always translated as "to curse", but its literal meaning is to make light of. One curses ones parents not only if one directs curses at them, but if one treats them lightly. h
The Bible has some pretty strong things to say about this and below are just a few of the verses that speak about this.
Proverbs 30:17 The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
Proverbs 20:20 Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
Leviticus 19:3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
I know I have been convicted and need to talk to my parents and ask their forgiveness for not truly honoring them. I am so thankful I received a rebuke from the Father. There is so much flesh still in me and I try to crucify it daily, but I often fail. These are the times I so thankful for grace and mercy.
What about you.. if your parents are still alive, in what ways do you honor them? Just something to ponder and pray about.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Unplugging!
What a journey these past two years have been for me and my family. The depths of the Scriptures have been a treasure we have uncovered too wonderful for words. The change it has brought in our family has been nothing short of amazing. It has not been without its difficulties I can assure you, but it has been worth every hardship and tear we have endured. Living life abundantly (and I dont mean financially) has been the theme of these past two years for sure! So now its been over a year since I last posted on this blog and I thought it was time to resurrect my blogging skills! I have been so caught up in the Facebook world that I could hardly remember what life was like before it. Now dont get me wrong.. it has been a source of truth, wisdom, encouragement and growth for me these past few years for sure. However, it has recently become a time waster for me and a source of confusion, stress and frustration. After some recent events the Father made it very clear to me that it was time to UNPLUG! It was time to BE STILL and just KNOW that HE IS! My husband confirmed this was what I was to do and I knew it was time to be obedient to my husband and to my Father. I cannot tell you the sweet relief that rushed over me when I hit the DELETE button for my FB account. It was as though a weight lifted off my shoulders and I was free! I no longer had to worry if there was a "fire" somewhere that I had to put out or a post that I had to research the validity of. I didnt have to hear the latest nonsense about a teaching that I believed based on the WORD was totally false. I no longer had to see people parrot information that was inaccurate and I no longer had to hear sad tales of those who had walked away from my Messiah Yeshua! Of course I realize that I still have to live and I live in an imperfect world and will hear negative news for sure even outside of FB. But for now.. the FB drama is behind me! I can now focus on Scripture and submitting to the Spiritual leadership of my husband. I am SO blessed to even have a husband who cares about the things of Yehovah. So this is my first blog entry since I have unplugged and it feels wonderful. I will try my best to write regularly on here and to share as I feel the Father leads me to. I hope you all will along on this journey and feel free to comment and share your life with me. I have much goal setting to do and priorities to set in order now that I have unplugged from a very addictive social media outlet. I cannot wait to begin this new journey.. one of more peace and quietness than I have experienced in the past I believe. Thank you for taking an interest in my journey and I pray the Father blesses each step you take on yours! Shalom!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Whats New With Our Family
I haven't written in a REALLY long time and I apologize for that. Life has just been so busy. I dealt with about sixteen weeks of nausea and now that has finally subsided and only occurs once in awhile. We found out last week that we are expecting a little girl. Nathan is SO excited to be getting a sister. He said he prayed for one :) My little guy is happy about it being a girl to and of course mommy and daddy are thrilled as well. We continue to pray for her health and well-being until delivery and for my health and well being until then as well. Having had two previous csections causes me to pray even more often and more diligently for my uterus to become stronger and hold up well during labor and delivery as well as my scar, etc. I am traveling over an hour away to a see a group of midwives (and their Dr) who are willing to let me try for a VBAC. If I need to have a csection then I am willing to do that but if I can try for a VBAC I would prefer that as each major surgery does not come without risks. My due date is December 12, so we shall see when this little girl arrives.
In the meantime my hubby has enrolled at our local community college for classes this Fall. He will be studying Computer Repair Technology and hopefully he can find a decent paying job in that field when he graduates. He is currently receiving unemployment since losing his job in March. He has filled out several applications trying to get a part-time job but so far not one place has called him back. As long as we are in our foreclosed home we can squeeze by with only his unemployment check but once we are told we have to leave or we find a rental before then.. he will need to have a part-time job in order to be able to pay rent. We are trusting that God knows exactly what job to give him and when to give it to him.
On the rental situation that has been discouraging. Trying to find something within our budget, with enough bedrooms in a safe area has been a huge challenge. Then when we have found rentals that are in our price range once we tell the landlord our income he immediately is not interested in renting to us thinking we wont be able to pay him. Wish I could explain to them just how frugal our family is and just how efficient we are at managing with a very low income. Once again, I have to trust that Abba has just the right place for us and He knows when to give it to us. Its been a HUGE walk of faith these past few weeks. But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. When HE is all I have to rely on that is when my faith and hope grow stronger. When I am weak, then HE is strong!
We continue to walk down a path filled with uncertainty but we know that He knows every step of that walk and will carry us through each step of the way!
In the meantime my hubby has enrolled at our local community college for classes this Fall. He will be studying Computer Repair Technology and hopefully he can find a decent paying job in that field when he graduates. He is currently receiving unemployment since losing his job in March. He has filled out several applications trying to get a part-time job but so far not one place has called him back. As long as we are in our foreclosed home we can squeeze by with only his unemployment check but once we are told we have to leave or we find a rental before then.. he will need to have a part-time job in order to be able to pay rent. We are trusting that God knows exactly what job to give him and when to give it to him.
On the rental situation that has been discouraging. Trying to find something within our budget, with enough bedrooms in a safe area has been a huge challenge. Then when we have found rentals that are in our price range once we tell the landlord our income he immediately is not interested in renting to us thinking we wont be able to pay him. Wish I could explain to them just how frugal our family is and just how efficient we are at managing with a very low income. Once again, I have to trust that Abba has just the right place for us and He knows when to give it to us. Its been a HUGE walk of faith these past few weeks. But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. When HE is all I have to rely on that is when my faith and hope grow stronger. When I am weak, then HE is strong!
We continue to walk down a path filled with uncertainty but we know that He knows every step of that walk and will carry us through each step of the way!
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