God’s Appointed Times

Sometimes I just can’t get over the incredible blessings of meeting God when He says to meet Him. In Leviticus 23, he tells us the dates on the calendar that He has set aside to meet with us.  How cool is that?!  The Creator of the universe has set aside specific dates to meet with us and focus on His plan for our lives!

The appointments for the year begin this week.  We have been counting down for months – anticipating and preparing for Passover.  This is a great opportunity to share the plan of salvation with our children.  After all, this is the holy day when God specifically talks about teaching your children why you do what you do. (Exodus 13:8, 14-15)  The children are a central part of the Passover celebration.  In order for them to ask questions, as God expects, they have to be involved in it and taught what God has done for His people.

During our service, we sacrifice a stuffed lamb (which we chose on the 10^th day as they did in Exodus 12:3).  Then we brush the (strawberry) blood on the doorpost. We discuss who in the room is a firstborn and how they would have been protected from the death angel because of the blood of the lamb.

We review the Passover in Exodus and how it foreshadows what Yeshua (Jesus), our Passover lamb did for us - a reminder that we are all saved by the blood of the Lamb. We also take the bread (Mark 14:22), representing Yeshua’s body, and wine (Matt 26:27-28), representing His blood. We follow his example of washing one another’s feet. (John 13:1-7)  After we have reviewed the more somber remembrance of his crucifixion, we celebrate with dancing and singing in thanks the sacrifice he has made for us. And, to top it all off, we finish up with physical food – a Feast!

As if that isn’t blessing enough, the next day is a commanded assembly.  So, we have the honor of meeting with family and friends for fellowship, and, of course more worship and dance. After Bible study, we stuff ourselves physically and spiritually. We share in a potluck meal and, once again, study God’s word together, late into the night.  And, this particular year, the first holy day led right into the weekly Sabbath.  So, we had a double Sabbath! We got to enjoy one more round of worship, Bible study and fellowship.  Our cup runneth over.  HalleluYah!

As instructed in Leviticus 23:15, on the day after the Sabbath, we offer the wave sheaf offering.  This pictures Yeshua’s resurrection and His ascension up to our Father in Heaven.  This day isn’t a Sabbath or a holy day, but the wave sheaf is a commanded offering.  The Bible doesn’t give us much detail on what to do, so we do our best with the information we have.    

What an awesome week we have had!  For a couple of days we are back to normal life.  Well, normal other than constantly baking unleavened almond bread to keep up with the demand. J Lev 23:6 commands us to eat unleavened bread.  We remove the leavening, which pictures sin, and fill ourselves with unleavened bread, picturing our sinless savior.  When the prescribed 7 days are finished, we get to enjoy the last Day of Unleavened Bread with friends and family, spending time in dancing, worship and study of His Word, once again.  With so much meaning built into the days that God set aside to meet with us, we have no desire to worship Him with manmade celebrations.  They just don’t measure up to the celebrations that He created just for us.

A Busy, Blessed Week

Whew!  What an awesome week we have had.  Preparing for Passover and then the day finally arrived.  Such an awesome time to share God’s truth with our children.  After all, this is the only appointed time where God specifically talks about teaching your children. (Exodus 13) So, not only do they help with the physical preparations, resulting in a table like this,

They are a central part of our Passover celebration.

Part of our service is sacrificing the lamb (which we chose on the 10^th day) as they did in Exodus.  Then we brush the (strawberry) blood on the doorpost.

We discuss the Passover in Exodus and Yeshua’s fulfillment of it.  We also take the bread (Mark 14:22) and wine (Matt 26:27-28)  as He instructed us. And we follow his example of washing one another’s feet. (John 13:1-7)

And, don’t forget celebration and dancing in thanks for what He has done for us.

And, we finish up this evening with physical food.

As if that isn’t enough, the next day is a commanded assembly.  So, we have the honor of meeting with family and friends.  We have time of fellowship.

And, of course, worship and dance.

And, once again, studying God’s  word together, late into the night.  And, this particular year, the first holy day led right into the weekly Sabbath.  So, we had a double Sabbath.  By that time, our cup was definitely overflowing.  HalleluYah!

As instructed in Leviticus 23, we took the time on the day after the Sabbath for the wave sheaf offering.  This year, we grew our own wheat. Actually, the chickens planted it and my daughter harvested and prepared it.  We used part of it for our wave sheaf and the rest was baked into our Passover bread. 

And, for a couple of days we are back to normal life.  Well, normal other than constantly baking almond bread to keep up with the demand.  And, before the week is up, we get one more appointed time with our Creator to celebrate the last Day of Unleavened Bread.

Climbing the Walls

I realized, as I was planting the garden, that I have this large wall on the north side of the yard that we could grow climbing fruits and veggies on.  All we need is something for the climbing plants to hold onto.  So, I enlisted the help of my handy dandy husband. He got the little guys out in the yard so they could build a trellis on the wall.  

He got some pieces of wood that they cut to size and attached to the wall.

Then they added some wire lattice, which he attached to the wood.  The wood holds the lattice off the wall so we have room to weave the plants in and out of it.

Now I just have to decide what to plant there! Berries?  Dragon fruit?  

And, here are pictures of the happy helpers.

Passover Preparations Begin

Today, I finally got around to removing all the leavened products from the pantry.  I put them in a crate so we see them and make sure to eat them before Passover.  Of course, the crate is pathetically sparse this year.

The last couple years, due to budget cuts and wanting to improve our health, we have bought very little prepared food.  So, all we have is some crackers (which can easily be eaten in no time in this house), some baking soda/powder and three candy bars from Daddy’s candy stash.  The candy bars were consumed by the kids before I even sat down to write this blog post J

I also have a list of foods that are in the refrigerator and freezer.  That way I don’t forget about it and we can make sure to eat that food, too.  If we don’t get around to using it, I can remember to throw it away and not find it in the back of the freezer halfway through the Days of Unleavened Bread. But, even that list only has about 5 things on it. 

Tonight is new moon.  So, only 2 more weeks until Passover!! So, it’s also time to start thinking about the 10 plague adventure J

Preparing the Melon Patch

Last week, four of the kids and I took the better part of a day to prepare the melon patch.  We plant this area Three Sisters style each summer.  In the winter, we put the chicken tractors on it.  It’s doubly great because we don’t have to move the chicken tractors around the lawn, and the chickens prepare the soil for the next planting.  This is how the area looked when we began.

We started by watering the area.  I mean a serious watering.  It hasn’t been watered in months other than the pathetic California rain we get.  So, we used the jet setting on the sprayer to stir the dirt, wet it and loosen it up all at the same time. 

Then we started weeding the area.

Before too long, the mud became irresistible J

Once the irresistible mud play was over, we worked on making the mounds for planting.  I raked the soil to loosen it and get it ready to be moved to the mounds. Before we formed each mound, we put down a layer of steer manure.  Then I raked the piles of dirt on top of it.  Hannah formed the mounds with a slight indentation on the top to help hold water.  And, Lucas covered each one with mulch.  I added more mounds this year, so we have a total of 11.

We also prepared to plant potatoes.  These are the bins we used for potatoes.

And, these are the seed potatoes ready for planting.

The littlest ones planted corn on top of each mound. 

Lucas planted onions all around the edge of the patch.  And, Hannah planted potatoes in the buckets.  She put about 6 inches of garden soil in the bottom, then she spaced the seed potatoes around the bucket.  After that, she covered them with a couple of inches of soil.  As the plants grow, we will slowly continue to cover them with soil.  The ultimate goal is to have buckets full of potatoes.  We’ll see how it works.  We haven’t tried this technique before.

I put the buckets in the melon patch because I can’t seem to keep anything alive if it’s not planted in the garden.  So, I’m hoping that if I put the buckets in the garden, the potatoes will do well.

And, here is the final product.  Actually, it’s missing the white potato bucket.  But, since this was taken, Jim drilled drainage holes in the bottom and planted potatoes in it also.  So, we’re ready to see how our harvest turns out.

The First Feast

There is something special about each of God’s feasts.  These are appointed times that the Creator of the Universe set aside to meet with us!  I mean, what could be better than that?  He gives us special days once a year, which are awesome.

He even gives us an appointment every week – His Sabbath.  And, I want to point out that this is not the “Jews Sabbath” as so many like to call it.  This is His day.  He very clearly says “these are My feasts”.

The Sabbath is always a blessing.  But, once in a while, a Sabbath is extra special.  Recently we had such a Sabbath.  We began with Sabbath dinner and praise & worship with visiting friends.  The next morning, we had more praise & worship, along with dancing, in the morning.  Then we had our fellowship with more praise & worship and dancing and time in the Word and eating and fellowshipping with friends.   The teaching even continued on into the first day of the week; although, not quite past midnight as it was in the early church. (Acts 20:7) What a day!  We were completely filled spiritually.

As the Sabbath came to a close, we were discussing how it was like a feast day.  And, we were reminded that this is the first feast listed in Leviticus 23.  No wonder God asks us to set aside that day for Him.  It’s because He loves us so and wants to bless us.  

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.  'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.  ~ Lev 23:1-3

Girl Time with Crunchy Mamas

Last summer, my friend and I decided to host a Bible study for moms of little ones.  It’s often so hard for moms of little ones to get a chance to spend time with other moms.  They’re in the trenches of diapers and laundry and dishes and diapers and laundry and dishes.  You get the point.  So we wanted to help facilitate some bonding with other moms by sharing a weekly Bible study time with us.  And, really, the only way to make it feasible is to bring kids.  If everyone was in attendance, we had 16 kids age 11 and under running around the back yard and/or crawling around our feet. Since most of us tend toward more natural means of parenting and health care (hippie, crunchy granola style), we called it the Crunchy Mama Bible Study.

Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that group Bible study is difficult at best with kids everywhere.  But, we would have a time of prayer and then turn on the Beth Moore video and listen as best we could.  Between refereeing kids, changing diapers, nursing babies, quieting children, etc, we did manage to get some Bible learning in and deepen friendships. 

Now, some of us are back in a school year Bible study, so the weekly Bible study isn’t feasible. But, we still get together just to share each other’s lives.  What a blessing that is.  There’s nothing like having a group of friends that are there through thick and thin – the trials and the triumphs.  Friends to laugh and cry with, to encourage and exhort.  After a day like today, I feel so blessed to share life with these women.  Today we shared a new pregnancy, a strengthened marriage, adoption in progress, advice about getting married, child rearing techniques and the trials of a baby born with a rare disorder, along with many other topics of conversation.  It runs the full spectrum of emotions.  And, I am thankful to have these women in my life.