Changing Seasons

I’m seeing the realities of a new season in life – new seasons, really, because seasons are constantly changing. But, the reality right now is, my baby is 6, and, my oldest just earned his Bachelor’s degree. One thing about having a big family is that my kids cover a large span on the developmental spectrum of early childhood to young adulthood. 

  

Some seasons seem longer than others. Sometimes we feel like certain seasons will never end.  I spent many years in the newborn and baby season. That season where just when you’re ready to walk out the door, the baby poops, where someone needs your help to get dressed, to find their shoes, to take a bath, to have a snack, to wipe their nose, to open a door, to buckle their car seat, to go potty, to get a drink of water, to wipe their little rear end.  You never get a good night’s sleep – for years on end. You are always being touched and climbed on. Your body isn’t your own. You barely find time to take a shower. You don’t get to go to the bathroom by yourself. Even now, I only sometimes get to go to the bathroom by myself and I rarely get to shower uninterrupted. But, it's all worth it.

My season of having a baby did come to an end, and I actually sold my stroller! I had a stroller for 22 years! I mean, not the same stroller, but a stroller. That was a little weird for me. It actually sat in the garage for quite some time before I sold it. I couldn't bring myself to do it. It came in handy on day trips to a zoo or amusement park. But, I found it very freeing the first time we went to an amusement park without a stroller. We put what we needed in a backpack and got around very easily.

Baby season is over in our house. Even toddler and preschooler season is over. I’m disappointed with that and OK with it, all at the same time. I now have 6 self-sufficient (to one degree or another) kids at home and one who has been on his own for several years.  I love seeing them grow up and become responsible adults. I love seeing their different personalities and strengths.

As the seasons change, some things are easier and some things are harder. It’s all just different. Before I know it, my kids will be married and out on their own. (And, I’ll have grandkids!  Woohoo!) It doesn't make me sad that they’ll be moving on. I look at my adult kids and feel like they've grown up into awesome adults – adults I’d like to hang out with, adults that will make society a better place. My goal is to work myself out of a job as my kids become adults and embark on their own life. I see my relationship with my two oldest daughters transitioning from mom to friend. I will always be their mom, but they’re adults, and I want to be their friend - when they live in my house and when they move out. Before I know it, they will all be adults ready to conquer the world.

  

I still have years of little ones, and not-so-little ones filling my house with laughter and fighting and silliness and joy and arguing and … you get the picture. I do my best to enjoy the good times. We never know how long we have with anyone in this world, so I strive to make the most of the relationships I have. That’s what’s important. Relationship. Relationship with our Father and our Savior. Relationship with our Family. Relationship with our Friends. That’s what makes life worth living.

Family Closet

For years, we have had a family closet. I got this idea from the MOMYS list. I mentioned this in my post on laundry. Our family closet has varied depending on the space available and the number of children using it. We use it only for the youngest children. Right now, it’s the 3 youngest. It was the 4 youngest,  but when we rearranged recently, our 14 year old moved her clothes upstairs.

I like the family closet for a couple of reasons. When I kept clothes in the kids’ rooms, they didn’t take very good care of them. Instead of putting clean clothes away properly, they often ended up on the floor. Then, they got mixed up with the dirty clothes and I ended up getting unworn, clean clothes back in the laundry. I get really irritated when clean clothes end up in the laundry pile. And, it seems that clothes in the kids’ bedrooms are just a recipe for a mess. So, we keep the bedrooms for beds, the kids’ personal belongings and a few toys.

After I’ve washed and sorted the laundry, the big folks take their laundry to their bedroom. The littles put their clothes away in the family closet. We have an alcove in our garage that we are using for the family closet now. I will admit it doesn’t always stay clean. My wonderful husband helped the little guys clean up the area the other day. So, I took advantage of the cleaning job to take pictures for this post.

Each kid has two shelves to put their clothes on.  Or, at least they have the space of two shelves. One of them has bins on the floor in place of one shelf. Another has a basket/shelf combo area. As you can see, the shelves are also used for storing other household items, Costco paper goods, stuffed animals (finally, a place for the stuffed animals!), clothes to grow into, etc.

We have carabiners to hold the tzitzit collection. This works well because it’s easy to get the set they want, but, it closes so they don’t end up falling all over the floor. In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, they wear these on their clothes – usually their belt loops. Numbers 15:39 says “you shall have the tzitzit that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of Yahweh and do them.”  

We also have a hanging rack for their hanging clothes.

I love this black shelf. My husband got it for me when Borders Books was going out of business. It’s very sturdy and it rolls. We had it in the school room for a long time to hold school supplies. We didn’t need it in there anymore when we added built-in bookshelves. (That’s another blog post for another day.) So, now we’re using it for the baby doll and dress up clothes collection.

And, last, but not least, we have the baby dolls. Lots and lots of well loved baby dolls. 

We have mostly had our family closet in a varying configurations in the garage. Some people have it in their laundry room. Others have made a bedroom into the family closet. If you like the idea, be creative. You'll find a way to do it.

Musings of a MOMYS

I've been a part of the MOMYS (Mothers of Many Young Siblings) email list for many years now. Having a large family isn't easy in this society and it's not popular. Quite often when a MOMYS vents about how tired she is or how overwhelmed she is, all she gets is a reminder that she chose to have a large family and she should deal with it, but, that doesn't make her any less tired or overwhelmed. And, being tired or overwhelmed doesn't mean she loved her family any less or wishes she could change it . It's just a reality of mothering a big family.Sometimes all she needs is a listening ear or a tip on how to handle the day to day life of a large household.  The support I have received form this group over the years has been my lifeline so many times. A new MOMYS cookbook is being published and I was asked to contribute a little something the cookbook. Here is what I wrote:

Children teach us so much. When I had my first child, I began to better understand how incredibly much God loves me. I know He loves me infinitely more than I love my kids. But, to love my own child is a love I can’t express. It must be experienced to be understood.

I’ve been a mommy for a long time - twenty-three years, actually. I’ve been pregnant for 6 years of my life. I’ve nursed babies for 16 years of my life. I’ve homeschooled for 19 years and I have 12 to go. I’ve spent over 100 hours in labor and rejoiced as I brought each child into the world. I’ve kissed boo boos, held sick kids through the night, danced in the rain, searched frantically for a pacifier, laughed, cried, spent time in urgent care, celebrated over 100 birthdays, sniffed newborns, played hide and seek with a little person in plain sight, been thrown up on, pushed kids on swings, taught kids to read, felt like a failure, watched their face light up when they really understand 1s, 10s and 100s, graduated young adults from high school, responded innumerable times to “Mommy, watch me!”, been hugged by chubby toddler arms, wondered if I’m teaching them enough, walked and bounced countless hours trying to make baby happy, rejoiced with a child when they accomplished something new, forgotten to pack diapers in the diaper bag, leaked breastmilk all over my shirt for months on end, enjoyed a newborn cry, endured a newborn cry, delighted in baby laughter, taught kids not to whine, peed with an audience, showered with an audience, tickled tiny knees, played one too many rounds of Candyland, had my lap filled with kids of all ages and sizes, been discouraged, been encouraged, been drained and been rejuvenated, all because I am filled with an inexplicable love for these people who started out doing nothing more than eating, sleeping, crying and pooping and are in the process of growing up - each into a unique creation, each one so different and each one so awesome.

All those experiences and so much more, the good and the bad, have taught me numerous lessons and made me the person I am today. Being a mommy is hard work. It requires a constant giving of yourself. I’ve found that I wished I balanced just a little bit more of taking care of me, mostly because I’m overweight and out of shape…and I wish I’d spent a few more hours scrapbooking. And, I think a little more hubby and me time would have been good. But, that’s about it. I don’t wish I’d spent more time mopping the floor or drilling math facts or diagramming sentences or going shopping or going out with my friends or dusting the furniture or running the kids to endless activities. I do wish I’d spent more time enjoying the moment, because, those moments are fleeting.

I am thankful for all the minutes, hours, days and weeks I’ve had with these children. And, I am thankful for the support and sacrifice of my husband, Jim. He works hard to support us so I can stay home with the kids and we can have the freedom to homeschool. Mostly, I am thankful that God blessed me with the knowledge of Him and has allowed me to share His eternal values with my family, my heritage.

Missi – MOMYS to 7, plus 5 bonus kids

Color Coded Dishes

I’ve been a member of the MOMYS (Mothers of Many Young Siblings) email groups for many years. It has been a lifesaver for me many times. There are several very simple tips I have learned to help out with the everyday chaos of raising a big family.  One of those is color coded dishes. Back before I color coded my dishes, I often had the issue of kids leaving their dishes out on the table or counter, instead of putting them in the dishwasher. And, inevitably, no one knew whose dish it was. Or should I say the dishes belonged to the ever elusive Not Me.

For our dishes, we chose Fiesta ware. Since, this company has been around for a long time, I know that I can get replacement dishes, when necessary. Being a little OCD, I like to know I can get the same dishes, so my stack of dishes doesn’t look mismatched. Breakage is certain to happen, but even with tile floors, it doesn’t happen too often. When we had preschoolers, they used plastic plates. Now everyone has ceramic plates, but I do keep some plastic plates in stock for guests.

For a long time, we used plastic drinking cups – usually Tupperware, because, again, I knew I could replace the cups. But, we are using plastic less and less, so this is our new drinkware. I tried several things to distinguish one glass from another.  I used little stick on drink charms, but they didn’t stay well. Rubberbands were too hard to find in different colors. So, I ordered drink bands from www.drinkbands.com  They work great. We just leave them on the glass and put it in the dishwasher at night, so everyone’s clean glass is ready to go in the morning. The glasses on the left are clean because those kids spent the night at Grammy's and haven't been home all day. The ones on the right are dirty, and I didn't feel like washing them for the picture. Just being real. :)

 With preschoolers, I used a silicone case for the small mouth 8 oz mason jar. These are made for baby bottles, but they fit great on those 8 oz jars. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SRJTXQ/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1  And, they saved the jars from many a fall onto the ceramic tile in our great room.

So, now I know who left their dish on the table so they can take care of it. And, we know whose cup is whose, so we minimize the number of cups used each day.  Just one of the little things that makes my life easier.

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.

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.

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.

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

The State of the Kitchen

This was a big week in kitchen transformation.  Most of the week involved us not being home. The paint and lacquer fumes were a little too much.  But, I was glad that we weren't home much because this is the current kitchen.  The laundry room sink and counter are currently in use as the washing area.  It's tiny, but it sure beats using the bathroom sink, which is the only other sink on the same floor as the kitchen.

And the great room currently serves to hold everything we took out of the kitchen. It's not very organized, I can tell you.  But, it serves the purpose. And, it's easy to access the stuff I  need.

This was the week of the painters.  They came in one day and prepped all the surfaces and taped and plasticed (is that a word?) off the kitchen. By the end of the next day, the kitchen looked like this.

By the end of the week, it looked like this.  Now, it may not look very different from earlier in the week, but the paint has been distressed and the final coating has been applied.  It looks great!

I love the beadboard.

And, here is a close up of the distressed beadboard. 

Can't wait til the kitchen's all done.

Write Them on Your Doorposts - or the plywood under your counter

Day 6


We had the whole family working hard today.  We removed all the cupboard doors and the hardware from the cupboards, doors and drawers - hinges, magnets, drawer pulls, door pulls, etc. 

We numbered all the doors and the places they came from, so we can put the doors back in the right spots when the painting is done.  

We also removed everything from the kitchen refrigerator and moved it to the refrigerator and freezer in the garage.  We had a couple of reasons for that.  One is that we won't be able to access the inside fridge this week while the painting is being done.  Two is that the freezer has been having frost build-up issues and it hasn't been making ice.  So, after letting it defrost and plugging it back in again, hopefully it will work properly again.  But, if not, it's still under warranty.

The most time consuming job we did, though, was removing the shelf paper from the drawers and shelves.  Some of the cupboards didn't have any because they were already painted. Any shelf paper in the kitchen was there when we moved in.  We didn't remove it then, and now I know why. Some of the paper came up easily and some of it really didn't.  I'm looking forward to having the shelves painted so we don't need any shelf paper or liner.

The best thing we did today was adding scripture to the plywood that is going to hold the counters.  In the spirit of Deut 6:6-9

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

We each chose at least one scripture to put on the plywood.

When the kitchen is done, no one will be able to see the scriptures, but we'll know they're there.

When we were done today, this is how it looked.

And, for those interested in what scriptures we wrote, I'll show them here.

But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached Him and said Lord do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. ~ Luke 10:40

I love serving others in my kitchen, but I don't want it to distract me from what is most important.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. <3 ~ 1 Cor 13:7
Love in the kitchen, love in the house.  What's better than that?

Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. ~ Psalm 100:2

I look forward to serving Him with gladness often in the years to come.

He has given food to those who fear Him ~ Psalm 111:5

Speaks for itself.

Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. ~ Heb 13:1-2

Hmmm...

And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. ~ Gen 27:14

Lots of savory food is prepared in this kitchen :)

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. ~ Gen 1:11

When you put it together, it makes yummy food!

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God ~ 1 Cor 10:31

A great blessing for a kitchen.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ~ Gen 1:1

Give us this day our daily bread. ~ Matt 6:11

He does that and so much more.

In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another; in diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing stedfastly in prayer; communicating to the necessities of the saints; given to hospitality. ~ Rom 12:10-13

Another great blessing for a kitchen.

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty: only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ~ Gal 5:13-14

Enjoying food together is a great way to do that.

And the woman had a fatted calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it; and she took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof ~ 1 Sam 28:24

Let's party!