No Spring Cleaning

It’s Passover season! I mean, seriously Passover season. Not Passover is in 3 months season. But, Passover is really close season. HalleluYah! The new moon has come and we have less than 2 weeks. Passover has been on our mind for a couple of months. But, now we’re in the serious preparation phase. 

Since I’ve been blessed to celebrate Yah’s appointed times all my life, this will be my 49^th Passover. We have been rehearsing this for a long time now.  And, over the years, we have done many different things. There were many years where we spent hours and days cleaning our house - Spring cleaning to remove the leaven.  It was a tradition of the church we grew up in. People even cleaned their windows and such preparing for Passover. Other than the natural yeast that is in the air, I’m not sure how much leaven I will find on the windows. I've even cleaned out my linen closets in preparation, but I’m pretty sure no one eats in the linen closet. At least I've never found any leaven in there.

So, we searched the scriptures for instruction on Passover preparation. There isn't a lot of instruction on preparing. Exodus 12:15 says: “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses.” It doesn't say “you shall begin cleaning your house for weeks in advance to make sure every last crumb of leaven has been removed.” It doesn't say, “Clean all your walls and windows so the naturally occurring yeast from the air is disposed of.” Especially since it will come right back.

I've learned a couple of things about preparing for Passover. One is that, no matter how much I clean, I always forget something. It might be that rogue chunk of someone’s leftover toast that was hidden behind the school room organizer. Or it might be that box of leavened something or other that I somehow overlooked and it is right in front of my face. It might be that thing that you never would have guessed in a million years was leavened. I mean, Grape Nuts are way too rock hard to be leavened, right? Wrong. Or, it might be that we forgot to empty the vacuum cleaner bag. Or, maybe the bag of yeast in the freezer.

So, we use a different technique now. A couple of weeks before Passover, I go through our food and set aside leavened foods. I make a list of leavened foods that are in the refrigerator and freezer so we can make sure to use them, or throw them away when the time comes. Then, that’s it, until a day or two before Passover. At that point, we make sure every room has been swept. We don’t really eat much food upstairs, so this can be done a couple of days ahead of time. Then, the day of Passover, we make sure the downstairs floors, especially the kitchen/dining area are swept well. And, just before Passover, we throw away our leavened food. That’s it. Passover cleaning in a nutshell. That means the weeks before Passover I can focus on spiritual things instead of being distracted by physical things. 

How Did I Manage Quiet Time in the Chaos of Small Children?

Sometimes I'm not even sure of the answer to that question. It's all kind of a blur. I read this blog post the other day and it really had me thinking.  She states the realities of mothering a newborn so well. I thought about how it’s not just newborns, It also applies to toddlers and preschoolers. Mothering young children is a tough job, yet, it’s also full of rewards.

As you’re going through it, you’re exhausted. Sometimes you’re tired beyond belief and you feel like you’re never going to get enough sleep again for as long as you live.  Sometimes, the thought of changing one more diaper is enough to push you over the edge. The thought of refereeing one more round of “she touched me” is enough to make you insane. Being on call 24/7 is overwhelming and exhausting. Even so, the joy of the little things they say or those chubby arms wrapped around your neck is all the payment you need.

  

 When you’re in the trenches it feels like you’ll never make it through. It’s only a season, but it’s a long season – longer for some, than for others. For me, it was about 20 years. Sure, I longed to go places and yearned to do things that just weren’t feasible with little ones in tow. Sometimes I was desperate for a moment to myself, but that wasn’t feasible, either. I mean, really, I’m just now getting to the point where I can go potty by myself; although, showering without interruption is still a few years off, it seems.

 

One thing that is difficult to figure out is how to have quiet time with God when there are little ones running you ragged. Having a half hour or more of quiet time with God is great, but, as babies came along, I started to wonder how on earth I would accomplish that. I know there are moms that wake up early to get that quiet time in. But, with my kids, it seems like no matter what time I woke up, someone woke up with me. I usually tried to stay up late, but often I was too exhausted after the little ones went to bed.

This was compounded by the fact that I could rarely listen to a sermon or teaching of any kind because I had little people to run after and mommy duties to take care of, whether I was at home or sitting in the wiggle room at congregation. This was my season for noise and interruptions, not for sitting and spending long hours studying the Bible. But, I also realized that God knows exactly what it’s like to take care of a baby. He is the one who created them, after all. So, He wasn’t surprised that I found it difficult to devote long periods of time to Him.

There were days that I wished to have hours for quiet time. The thought of sitting and listening to a sermon was just a dream. And, I’m sure there are many days that I complained to my friends that my husband didn’t cover my motherly duties enough. But, when it comes down to it, that’s not his job. If I have an infant or toddler, they basically are attached to me wherever I go. Daddy spent time with them and gave me a break now and then, but, the everyday responsibilities belonged to me. I didn’t expect him to take care of the baby after he came home from a long day’s work. I never thought he should be caring for baby while I did in-depth Bible study or listened to a sermon. It is better that he should be listening and learning and growing so he can lead the family.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean Dad’s should be hands off, by any means. It’s great when Daddy gives Mommy a much needed break. But, generally speaking, Mommy duties are mine. God equipped me to take care of baby - simple as that. This was not my season to dig deeper into scripture on a daily basis. It wasn’t my season to let Daddy hold the baby while I listened to a teaching or sat in on a sermon. God instituted the family. He made the man head over his wife. The husband is the spiritual leader. God put this in place so the man can lead his wife and children. I think God had it figured out pretty well by not putting the spiritual leader of the family in charge of baby duties. 

This is not to say I shouldn’t have my own quiet time. But, it looked different when I had a little one (or little ones). I prayed throughout the day whenever a prayer need popped into my head. I could certainly find a spare minute or 2 or 3 to talk to Him. Talking to him was often interrupted by littles, but the same was true of any conversation.  At night, when I woke up to nurse baby, I would talk with my Abba. When they got older, they could sit in on my prayer time and maybe add a prayer

of their own.

I could devote 5 minutes at a time to read a Bible passage. If the Bible was out and open, it was that much easier. And, usually in the evening, after they were all in bed, I spent some time studying a topic of interest or working on my Bible study lesson. Realistically, my lesson wasn’t always done when I went to Bible study, but it was done sometimes. And, if I prioritized properly, I managed to spend quality time with God, at least in small bits.

For me, that seemingly endless season is winding down. My baby is 6, and a mature 6, at that. She is mostly self-reliant. As I transition out of mothering little ones, my time with God changes, as well. It’s such a blessing that He knows our life and understands our limitations. And, He equips us to do what He has given us to do.

Conquering Mt. Washmore

Being a mom of many, I have definitely had my moments (OK, maybe years, not moments) of never being caught up on laundry; or, of having a permanent large pile of clean laundry on my bedroom floor. It never seemed to get folded and put away. We would just rummage through it when we needed something. But, the laundry was always out of control and it drove me nuts!! After much trial and error, I have come up with a solution that has been working well for over 10 years now.

Basically, I wash all the clothes twice a week. Monday and Thursday work best for me.  I don’t have kids wash their own clothes for a few reasons; although, they do help me when I need it. I don’t mind doing the laundry myself. As I do it, I can make sure the clothes are in good condition and pull out any torn or outgrown clothes, etc. I also don’t want to compete for time in the washing machine if others in the house are trying to do their own laundry. And, I don’t want people running tiny loads of laundry when I can fill up the washer.

We have several spots where we collect dirty clothes – one in the garage, where we keep all the younger kids’ clothes, one in the master bedroom and one in the kids’ bathroom upstairs. In the morning, I have the kids round up the dirty clothes and take them to the garage.  I sort them into piles by color. I know many people that don’t separate their colors, but I like to do my best to keep the colors from becoming muddy, hoping to be a good steward of the clothing God has given us. In the picture below, I have 5 piles of regular laundry. Behind those, I have a basket of cold water wash, which I usually only do once a week.

My laundry room isn’t very large and it has 2 doors and cupboards that open onto it, so keeping  anything on the floor in the laundry room doesn’t work well. Since my garage is just outside the laundry room, it’s a good place to sort the clothes. When a load comes out of the dryer, I take it back to the garage where I have an area set up for laundry.  The setup has varied over the years, depending on the space in the garage and on how many kids I am doing laundry for. This is our basic setup now. Each kid has a basket of their own, and I use one basket for my husband and me.

I set the basket of freshly cleaned clothes on the table and start sorting.  The upper shelf is for the older kids. The basket on the far left of that shelf is giveaways. So, when things are outgrown, they go into that basket. (I used to have a whole system for storing outgrown clothes to save them for the next child, but we don’t need that anymore.) My basket is on the left of the table. And, the younger kids’ baskets are under the table. I simply pull a piece of clothing out of basket and put it in the basket of the person who owns that item. If it goes in my basket, I fold it first. The blue basket on the floor in the picture is socks. I throw all socks in there and everyone finds their own. (Although, last week I did attempt sorting socks into each basket again. We’ll see if that lasts.)

Simple as that – as each basket comes from the laundry room, I sort it. I rarely let the baskets of clean clothes pile up. This way, when the kids say “Mom, have you seen my (insert specific item of clothing here)” I can either tell them I remember washing it and it’s in their clean clothes basket. Or, I might tell them it’s in a certain dirty clothes pile. And, of course, there are those times when I don’t know where their missing clothing is. (As a matter of fact, right now, two kids are looking for their rock climbing shirts in the dirty clothes pile.)

To help me sort clean clothes, each child is assigned a certain number of dots. For instance, my oldest daughter gets one dot put on the tag of her clothing. My second daughter gets two dots, and so on. One thing I would change to this system is that I would not do a 1, 2, 3 dot for the boys and a 1,2,3 dot for the girls, basically because, in my case, a boy/girl of similar size ends up with the same number of dots. Usually that’s not a problem, but when we get matching shirts from Sukkot or theater, it’s hard to tell whose is whose. But, we’re too far into the dot system to change it now.

As we get new clothes, we put on the dots before they enter the clothing collection. When clothing gets handed down from one child to the next, we just add a dot. Simple as that. And, it makes sorting laundry so much easier for me!

After the laundry is sorted, each person is in charge of putting away their own laundry. When my children were smaller, and we used the big kid/little kid buddy system, big kids were in charge of putting away their little buddy’s laundry or helping them put it away, depending on the age of the little buddy. But, since my littlest is 6, she is old enough to put away her own laundry. So, everyone does their own. This way, even when clean clothes haven’t been put away in a timely manner, we can still find what we need pretty easily.

In between clothes washing days, I wash towels, sheets and any other miscellaneous stuff that needs to be washed. And, I usually take the weekend off from laundry.

The School of Messi Antics

Those of us in the Torah observant/Messianic/Hebrew roots movement - it goes by many names, but you get the idea – we’re all disciples, disciples at the same school. We’re all students. We’re just at different levels of education. And, on top of that, we have different interests. We have our core curriculum, which is the Bible and more specifically, the Torah. But, we have different electives. Some focus on temple rituals, others on Hebrew language, the names, calendar issues, extra-Biblical books, new moon, when the Sabbath starts, Shavuot timing, Passover timing, certain terminology, etc. The list goes on and on.

The thing is, with our main textbook, there is no way we’re ever going to know all there is to know about it. We can study and study and study and still be a novice. This isn’t the type of school where you learn the majority of what you need to know and graduate in 4 years. No, this is a lifetime school. So, we have plenty of time to explore electives. But, we need a good enough foundation in the basics to ensure that those electives don’t lead us away from the core curriculum.

Some of us have been attending this school longer than others, so it’s important to remember that we’re all at a different level of education. Those that have been at the school a shorter amount of time might very well know more about some of the electives than students that have been here much longer. And, students that have been here a lot longer might have a lot more education than the new students think. It appears to me that the new students start getting a little more education and begin to think that the long-time students don’t know about this information because they disagree with their conclusion.

I often get the feeling that newer students think I’m ignorant or complacent if I’m not excited about the elective course they’re taking. As I look at the younger students, I realize that I’ve taken many of the courses they’re taking. What I’ve done with that knowledge might vary from what they’re taught. Different understanding on a subject leads to the idea that I’ve never looked into it before, but different understanding is not necessarily because I have no knowledge or interest in the subject. Just because young students haven’t seen me study certain topics or don’t see me living out what that teacher says should be lived out, doesn’t mean I haven’t studied it.

In the decades that I have been at this school, I have done plenty of unlearning. I’ve taken some courses many times. Sometimes, I end up believing the same as I did when I started. Sometimes, I realize that I had things really wrong, or that something isn’t as important as I originally thought. Sometimes when the course is over, I realize that my conclusion is different from someone else’s, and their conclusion is just as valid.

I’ve attended this school my whole life. I’ve taken lots of and lots of electives. Some, I’ve taken many times. Some I’ve just taken once. Some, I didn’t even take the whole class. The overview was enough for me. I find it best to keep reviewing the core curriculum. That doesn’t mean I never take electives. It means that I spend much of my time focusing on the core – the basics, arithmetic, if you will. I can’t do well in algebra if I haven’t mastered addition and subtraction. So, I often go back and review the basics. Then I study other subjects that require a good foundation in the basics. And, with a foundation in the basics, I am more able to discern wrong teachings, wrong attitudes, wrong actions – in myself and in others.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time sharing with students that think I’m uneducated or apathetic; or with students that think they know it all or have all truth in any one (or more than one) topic. I don’t want to discuss my viewpoints with those that say they’re respectful of others’ viewpoints when their words and actions clearly show they aren’t. I want to spend time with students that realize they don’t know it all, are respectful of other students’ beliefs and are striving to be better educated and, most importantly, live out that education in all areas of life.

Musings on the Sabbath

I’ve kept the Sabbath all my life. And, I’ve done many different things while keeping the Sabbath. I’ve followed man made rules and I’ve ignored manmade rules. I’ve bought and not bought. I’ve gone swimming on a hot day and not gone swimming. I’ve gone for hikes and not gone for hikes. I’ve used the computer and not used the computer. I’ve done homework and not done homework. I’ve gone out with friends and not gone out with friends.  I’ve watched movies and not watched movies.  I’ve made it special and not made it special. I’ve put my whole heart into it and I’ve made it mundane. I’ve washed dishes and I’ve used paper plates. . I’ve set aside extra time for God and I’ve not set aside extra time for God.

There are so many grey areas when it comes to keeping the Sabbath.  God didn’t give us a long list of do’s and don’ts. He didn’t specify every little thing we should or shouldn’t do. Basically, what He told us to do is not work – you and your entire household. (Ex 20:8-11)

So, the main thing that I, and we as a family, have always done is not work on the Sabbath.  When we interview(ed) for a job, we say we don’t work from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Because of that, we might not get the job. But, if that’s the case, then it’s not the job for us. When contractors ask Jim to work on Saturday, he declines. The kids’ chore charts are noticeably blank on the Sabbath – except for grooming themselves and feeding the pets.

There aren’t very many things we can DO that are a sign between us and God. He says in Exodus 31:13, 17 and Ezekiel 20:19-20 – “they will be a sign between Me and you”. I find that pretty exciting!  I can follow His laws and keep His Sabbath.  And, the Sabbath is specified in addition to statutes, judgments and laws. I see that as significant. If there is something that is a sign between me and Him, I want to do it!! I want to give it my all.

I don’t always accomplish this perfectly, or even as well as I’d like to. I’ve had times when it would be more convenient to keep working as the sun set. I’ve had times when I haven’t finished my chores or my work. I’ve had times when I didn’t get all the cleaning done or when I didn’t pay that bill I meant to pay.

I’ve had times when the dust on top of that eye-level cupboard top in the kitchen or the bay window is screaming out to me after sunset. But, when I ignore it, I know the dust will still be waiting for me after Sabbath is over, the laundry will wait patiently, anything that needs to be done will still be waiting. And, that’s OK.

Understand, that even though there are times when I might be inconvenienced or I might want to do something else, I LOVE the Sabbath. We LOVE the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not a burden. We look forward to it all week. The little kids count down the days. We enjoy setting aside that time.

If we make it a point to set aside the time God has put in His calendar for us, we will be blessed. Simple as that. He doesn’t ask much of us. Just as the kids know that Daddy will be home for the Sabbath, I know that my Abba will be ready to meet with me as I set the Sabbath day apart and obey Him. We stop our work as He commanded. We dance, sing, pray, study, worship, laugh, eat, enjoy.  We delight in His Sabbath (Isaiah 58:13). We make it a set apart time – a restful time, a holy time, a kadosh time, a peaceful time.

Shabbat shalom!