The Steps of a Good Man

For several months, I've been thinking about writing scripture on our stairs.  You know how you see those clever pinterest posts or other internet ideas that you think are great, but you never get around to doing them?  Well, I finally got around to doing this one.  First, I had to decide which scripture to do. As I was perusing the Bible for a good candidate, I came across the perfect scripture. It is one of hubby's favorite scriptures and it's perfect for the stairs.

I wanted to surprise my hubby. So, when he went to a Bible study conference for a few days, I knew this was my chance. Of course, this was a late night project.  I had to do it after the little guys were in bed.  So, sometime after midnight, I started painting scripture. When I got done, I realized two things: 1 was that I needed to make the words on the top step higher up so they could be seen from the ground level; 2 was that I had skipped a line. O.o So, after scrubbing off almost half the steps, I redid it.  And, I must say, I was very happy with the final results.

This is the view from the front door.

 Ps 37:23-24

23 The steps of a good man are ordered by Yahweh,
And He delights in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For Yahweh upholds him with His hand.

Be Careful Where You Get Your Advice

I was doing Elijah's reading lesson with him the other day.  He mentioned that he had gum in his hair and showed me the gum behind his ear.

I told him we would get it out in a little bit and I continued with our lesson. But, as he was reading, my mind started mulling over the large clump of gum he had behind his ear. And, I asked him, "were you storing your gum behind your ear like Violet Beauregarde?"  Sure enough, that was his plan.  As Violet says, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "Well, I'm a gum chewer, normally. But when I heard about these ticket things of Wonka's, I laid off the gum and switched to candy bars, instead. Now, of course, I'm right back on gum. I chew it all day, except at mealtimes when I stick it behind my ear."

It wasn't a very good plan.  And, he didn't enjoy the process of me getting the gum out of his hair.  But, I sure found the whole thing entertaining. :)

Today, my baby turns 5. Which also means … I have no more babies. For some reason, I’ve always thought of age 5 as a milestone for my kids. I mean, they’re not a baby anymore. They are somewhat independent. Diapers and diaper bags are a thing of the distant past. If I ask them to get their shoes and get in the car, they can do that entirely on their own. They can even buckle their own seatbelt. They pour their own drinks – unless it’s from a full gallon container. They toast their own toast. Serve their own cereal. Do school work. They can sit quietly. And, usually, they can even listen to reason.

Even though it’s easier in a lot of ways – I can’t help but miss those babies. No more babies for me. The baby factory is apparently shut down. It’s a new chapter in life. We’ll see what exciting things God has for us in the future. Happy birthday, Arianah!

Breakfast in a Jar

Several months ago, we downsized our 15 passenger van to a minivan. It cut our gas bill tremendously.  But, it also gave us a car payment.  We brainstormed ways to cut our expenditures elsewhere in the budget to help make up for the new payment.  One of the biggest expenditures we cut was breakfast and lunch for my hubby.  He had been eating out a lot for those meals.  So, we decided he would take breakfast and lunch each day.

One of the most common breakfasts I have been making for my wonderful, hard working man, is breakfast in a jar.  http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal These are so delicious.  I often whip up a batch on Sunday afternoon, and he has breakfast ready for the whole week.  Yes, I make them that far in advance, using raw milk. He likes to grab breakfast, pack his prepared lunch and head out the door.  He eats breakfast on the way to work.

This week, I got a little lazy and made a quick breakfast parfait with yogurt and frozen fruit.  I know he likes granola with his yogurt, but we were out last night.  So, I made some this afternoon.  When I make granola, I make a big batch.  Three large cookie sheets full. (Sorry, the picture is a little blurry.)

Then I whipped up this jar of breakfast parfait.  Honey Greek yogurt, frozen berries and granola.  Maybe he'll like this even better than this morning's version.

And, now the kids can eat granola for breakfast, too.  Cereal is a treat around here.  It disappeared quickly with the budget cuts. 

Now, I need to come up with some more interesting lunch ideas.

And, here is my granola recipe.  I cook it at low heat to keep it healthier.  One of my sons doesn't like it that way.  He says it's not crispy enough.  But, I think the health benefits are worth it.

                  

                                 Granola

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method

--------  ------------  --------------------------------

  10              cups  rolled oats or combination of grain flakes

  1                cup  wheat germ

  2               cups  shredded coconut

  2               cups  slivered almonds

  2               cups  sunflower seeds

  1                cup  sesame seeds

     3/4           cup  honey

     3/4           cup  maple syrup

     1/2           cup  coconut oil

  1                cup  sugar, rapadura or brown

  2          teaspoons  vanilla

  2          teaspoons  cinnamon

  1           teaspoon  salt

Combine all grains and seeds.

Mix remaining ingredients in a small saucepan.  Warm gently on stove until coconut oil is melted.

Pour over mixed grains and seeds. Mix well.

Spread on 3 large cookie sheets. 

Cook at 145* for 3 hours.

Yom Teruah

Last week, we celebrated the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Yom Teruah. It was an awesome celebration.

The Bible doesn’t say a lot about the Feast of Trumpets. 

Lev 23:23-25

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'"

From this we know it’s a day of rest or a Sabbath.  We also see that we are supposed to blow trumpets and meet together with other believers (holy convocation).

Num 29:1-6

'And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets. 2 You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish. 3 Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 4 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; 5 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, to make atonement for you; 6 besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.

Here, we see a little more detail on the offerings to be made on that day.  Really, God doesn’t give us a whole lot more detail.  Each of the holy days have prophetic meaning.  Some of those have already been fulfilled.  Many people have ideas of what the day represents. But, the fall holy days have not yet been fulfilled, so we get to look forward to the day that God reveals their meaning.

We are so blessed to meet with God on these appointed times that He has set aside for us.  So, taking the information that we have, we joyfully celebrated Yom Teruah.

We enjoyed a festive meal with about 50 people.  After the meal, we made a teruah.  Lev 23:24 says it is a “memorial blowing of trumpets”. The word translated as “blowing of trumpets” is teruah. The definition of teruah is clamor, i.e. acclamation of joy or a battle-cry; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarm. So, in our backyard we did just that.  We made a lot of noise – with shofars, voices, noise makers, etc.  And we made a noise for quite some time.  It was awesome J

We have no temple in which to offer sacrifices.  But, we can bring a sacrifice of praise (Heb 13:15) So, that was what we did for the rest of the evening.  We sang praises and danced and rejoiced in Him.  

It was such a blessed evening. And, I am so thankful to have wonderful people to celebrate with.

Communion

I've had a blessed Sabbath today – unlike any I can remember.  It all started with Jim registering for a weekend training in Las Vegas.  After he reserved his hotel room, he mentioned that I should go with him to enjoy the room since he would only be there at night.  After a little coaxing from him, and the older girls saying I should go, I decided to go with him. 

I don’t like Las Vegas.  I don’t like the strip.  I don’t like the city. I don’t like gambling.  And, I don’t like the heat. But I knew I would appreciate having some quiet, alone time (in an air conditioned room).  I love alone time.  I always have.  And, with 6 kids at home, it’s not something I get much of. That’s not a problem for me. I just enjoy the snippets of quiet time I do get.  But, I thought this trip to Las Vegas was a great opportunity for a mini-retreat.

So, today, I have been alone in a hotel room all day.  And, today is Shabbat.  So, I’m not going to do normal, everyday things. I’m not going to watch movies or do paperwork or go shopping (that’s another thing I don’t really like, anyway) or do an hour on the elliptical. It’s a day to rest and spend time with our Creator.  And, today it’s just Him and me.  I started by sleeping until almost 10:00, since it is a day of rest.  I think that’s the 2^nd time I’ve done that in the last 20 years, so that was a treat. I read the Bible. I practiced praise dancing, since this room has a little 6x6 foot square just big enough for one dancer. And, I watched a teaching that I had on my to-do list for weeks, but hadn’t gotten around to watching.

http://vimeo.com/40825903

Ironically, this teaching was about communion.  Not about taking communion.  Not about eating the bread and drinking the wine.  But, about having communion with God. About regularly setting aside time to have communion with Him.  Why is that ironic?  Because watching the teaching has been on my to-do list for weeks and I can see that my time of communion is often put on the back burner just like that teaching.

To think that He’s there ready and willing to meet with us whenever we want and we put Him on the back burner!  In our busy lives, we have too many things that take priority over Him. And, often, when we do spend time with Him, it’s in a rushed, distracted sort of way.  We combine time with Him with other things.  And, I realized that I need to change that.  I need to get back to time of communion with Him.

I’ve been through a long season - 20 years of baby/toddler in the house.  It was a blessed season, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But, that’s a whole different life and it’s hard to find time for communion when you’re living in that season.  (It's also hard to find time to take a shower or even go to the bathroom by yourself, but that's a whole different subject.:)) I’m not making excuses or saying that making communion a low priority is OK when you have little ones. I’m just saying that it’s much harder in that season of life. That’s reality. And, for me, that season was much longer than for most people I know.

So, here I am with my baby 4 ½.  I can easily set aside a time each day for communion.  And, I need to do that.  I’m off to a good start with my mini retreat here today. (I should do this more often, actually. But, that’s a different topic.) I’ve spent most of the day in communion.  And, I have a chance to be still and know that He is God.  I don’t often get that chance, because even when I’m still, the kids around me aren’t. J So, He has to talk louder so I can hear Him.  But, I’m ready to listen.  And, I’m ready to make communion a higher priority in my daily life.

Praise Him in the Dance

Ps 150:4-6
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance ;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!

Ps 149:3
Let them praise His name with the dance ;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.

Eccl 3:4
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance

Jer 31:13
"Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance ,
And the young men and the old, together;
For I will turn their mourning to joy,
Will comfort them,
And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

Ps 30:11
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing ;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness

2 Sam 6:14
Then David danced  before the LORD with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.