Preparation Day!

(quotes from The Sabbath, by Abraham Joshua Heschel)

It must always be remembered that the Sabbath is not an occasion for diversion or frivolity; not a day to shoot fireworks or to turn somersaults, but an opportunity to mend our tattered lives; to collect rather than to dissipate time. (pg. 18)

It is one of life’s highest rewards, a source of strength and inspiration to endure tribulation, to live nobly. The work on weekdays and the rest on the seventh day are correlated. The Sabbath is the inspirer, the other days inspired. (pg. 22)

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever. (pg. 40)

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If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

 ¹⁴Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:13-14)

May you have a blessed Sabbath rest! 

Yummy!

Tonight for dinner we had what I guess you could call a gyro. We don't eat meat so I used a soy protein "ground beef" mixed with onions, garlic, thyme, and rosemary. I also made a homemade tzatziki sauce and fresh baked pitas! talk about ambitious lol. 

For the pita's I used a recipe I found on My Jewish Learning. They were pretty simple to make. But I didn't have a pizza stone so I used a cast iron skillet that I allowed to preheat with the oven. I will definitely be making these again. 

(Before being baked)

 (After being baked)

Guess what?

I'm learning Hebrew! I'm so excited. I started using this program, as well as Hebrew4Christians.com, and various youtube videos.I'm hoping to get either Teach Yourself to Read Hebrew or Learn Hebrew Today: Alef-Bet for Adults but funds are a little tight right now. 

My plan is to be able to read and write Hebrew within the next year, then I will tackle speaking and attempt to be fluent with in the next 5 years. Hopefully it takes less than 5 years but I'm trying to give myself a reasonable amount of time. 

I have a lot on my plate with a newborn and a toddler but I need something to keep my brain from going into mommy only mode. I must admit initially it seemed like a HUGE task but now that I've started its coming together for me. Reading from right to left hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. 

I've also been watching Srugim (Knitted) its like friends but the Israeli version. I watch it on The Jewish Channel so its in Hebrew with English subtitles. Here's the trailer:

I absolutely love this show and it gives me an opportunity to listen to Hebrew while reading the English words. Some words are even starting to stand out to me! This is such an exciting new part of my life!

 Does anyone have any suggestions for learning Hebrew?

Giveaway!

Sowers of Hope is having a giveaway! There will be three winners, the offers are a 10% off coupon, a 15% off coupon, and a 20% off coupon. Check out their site for more details and how you can enter. Sowers of Hope Giveaway


 

10 things I love about my husband

1. He is saved by grace through FAITH!

2. He is a great leader. He always does his best to make sure he doesn't steer us wrong. He only wants the best for us and he works hard, and prays even harder, to provide it.

3. He is an amazing father. He loves his girls and you can tell when he spends time with them. Its written all over his face as he looks at them and dripping from every word he says.

4. He's the perfect protector. He's always watching out for me. He checks for ice before I walk and helps me out of the car. He's always on the look out to make sure the girls and I are safe. He even does the laundry so I won't have to go into the basement of our apartment alone!

5. He is a happy helper. My dear sweet hubby is a strong man and so any chance he gets to use his muscles he does! He joyfully helps others especially with physical labor. But he just as happily will help with things that don't involve physical strength, like helping an elderly lady down the steps. That was one of the first things I noticed and loved about him. He's just an all around nice guy.

6. He is talented. My husband is an artist. He mostly does graphic design, but his drawings and sketches blow me away. YHVH truely blessed him with am amazing talent. I could watch him design all day.

7. He is loyal. If my husband makes a commitment he honors it. If for any reason he can't he does his best to come up with a compromise or another way to honor his commitments. He's such a dedicated man and he is wise. He never paints himself into a corner, which helps him be able to keep his word. He's also very loyal to his parents and siblings. Even though we are his main priority, he makes sure to take time to help them how ever he can. He has younger brothers and he tries to set a good example for them. I love to watch him interact with them. He's an all about family kind of man. 

8. He's fun. I like to have a good time and so does my hubby. We have an easy time enjoying each other, even though sometimes life gets in the way. He gets me. He laughs at my jokes and he can always make me smile. He's a big kid at heart and so am I.

9. He loves me. Someone once told me that love is a choice. Yes we can fall in love, but real love is a choice we make. Well I know my hubby made that choice and he stands by it everyday. We've been together for almost 4 years. That may seem like a short amount of time to some, but with everything we've been through its really shaped our relationship. There where times, he could of walked away. But he never has. He has never turned his back on me, not even for a second. When I say times got hard, times got REALLY HARD! My whole family knew he would marry me just because he was sticking around despite the drama. We've been through the fire, and by the grace and strength of YHVH, we made it out to the other side stronger than ever. They say that the strongest metals are made in the hottest fires; well that's us. We're like titanium or carbon 40 :o)

10. He's so handsome how can I help but love him! Ok I know this seems a bit superficial BUT he's handsome from the inside out. So really its deep lol. But seriously my husband is a very attractive man and I love to look at him. He has such a heart for YHVH and such passion for life. When I look at him I see my present, and my future. I see who I want my (future) sons to be like. I see the type of man I want my daughters to marry. And I see the greatest blessing God has given me.

ARRANGED

I really enjoyed this movie! I watched it through Netflix. I just kind of stumbled upon it, but it was a really great find! There is one scene that shows one of the main characters at a party observing some bad behavior, it's brief, but I suggest parents watch it before letting their kids watch. According to the website the movie is loosely based on the life of the writer. If you watch it I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Here is the movie description from the website:

Two young women — one an Orthodox Jew, the other Muslim — meet and become friends as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn. Over the course of the year they learn they share much in common, not least of which is that they are both going through arranged marriages.

Challah!

I meant to share a picture of the first loaf I made weeks ago, but I didn't get around to it. So here is the egg-free Challah that I made this past Shabbat. This one was my best yet! Very soft and light :o) 

We had a wonderful Shabbat, things didn't go as planned but it was a blessing, as always. It was also our first Shabbat using a messianic Siddur. I went to Hebrew4Christians.com and copied down the prayers and blessings. Hubby liked having it because it really helped us to have structure and order. It was really a sweet time for our family. 

Here is the recipe I used:

Whole Wheat Challah

1 tsp. sugar

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one package)

1/2 cup warm water

3/4 cup soy milk, milk, or water

1 1/2 cups white flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 Tbsp. honey (or sugar)

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Mix together warm water, yeast and sugar - let sit ten minutes until frothy. Mix together with soy milk, honey, salt and olive oil. Then add flour until dough is just a little sticky but manageable. Spray bowl with Pam and let rise for about 1.5 hours. Punch down, braid into challah shape, let rise about another 1/2 hour to an hour. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.

I let mine rise for a lot longer than the recipe called for, mainly because I was busy :o) but I found that it came out better that way. SO I recommend letting it rise for 3 hours before punching it down. Then after you braid it, let it rise for 2-3 hours.