Chanukkah Giveaway! {CLOSED}

The winner is..... Moriah M. congrats! 

I am so excited to be getting to offer you all a giveaway from the lovely Peaches and Cream Studio!

I met the owner, Victoria, this year during Pesach and got to spend time fellowshipping with her lovely family. So when she told me about this giveaway offer, I was thrilled! She has graciously offered to send one of you a set of 8 Chanukkah art prints! 

I wanted you to get to know Victoria a little so I asked her to share about her shop, and how she got started.

"For years my family and friends have told me that I needed to start an Etsy shop, and in 2013 it finally became a reality! Growing up, I was constantly drawing- whether it was at an easel next to my artist sister or doodling in my textbooks (oops!). My grandmother taught me how to use her sewing machine when I was 8, and whenever I wasn't drawing I would be sewing any textiles I could get my hands on! 

As a seamstress and artist, my designs for my Etsy shop are always derived from faith and family, but they are also influenced by my experience in Israel in 2014. Although I am not Jewish, I fell in love with the culture + traditions, as well as the rich and vibrant diversity. 

The story of my art prints came about one day as I was browsing Etsy for Messianic/Jewish artwork. I was disappointed by what I found- much of what I saw was rather chaotic, with unappealing color palates and steep price tags. I was looking for something clean but bold, chic but still in touch with tradition. I wanted something to hang on my walls that put a sparkle into an age-old way of life, something that would bring a new dimension to timeless heritage. 

I didn't find what I was looking for, so I decided that I would just have to create my own! I'm excited to share my work with the Etsy community, and I hope it fills a need that I saw was lacking. I keep my prices affordable for everyone, because I'm a bargain-hunter at heart myself. All my prints are printed on sturdy cardstock and ready to be put into frames as soon as they arrive in your mailbox!"

 These are the prints being offered, aren't they great!?

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Then the phone rang...

It had been barely even 24 hours since I posted about having the faith to stay put, when your heart wants to go. I was giving the baby a bath and when I came out my husband was hanging up the phone. I was a little confused because the last little bit of the conversation I heard sounded like something was going on, and it was after 10pm.

He told me a very sweet friend we had met at Family Week was in need. Her husband and some other friends were at the airport and needed a place to stay for Shabbat. My husband had told her we couldn't help because we had no way to transport 8 people to our home. But I said oh no Hashem will provide a way, and called her back! (with his blessing of course)

After some back and forth we decided that they would stay one night in a hotel and if there were still issues they would come to us for Shabbat, bezrat Hashem.

That night we prayed that if it was His will that we would get to host these people in our home. We weren't sure what that would look like but we were willing to give it a try.

The next morning they called and decided that half of them would come to our home over night and half of them would try again to get on their flight. Money was tight but we just moved forward in faith. As my husband was getting ready to leave he went to check the mail. Lo and behold there was a check there that we weren't expecting to for at least a week! It was such a blessing, and it meant that we were now able to provide a better experience for our guests.

We don't have any extra bedrooms, so we moved our children into our room and prepared the children's room for our guests. It was kind of like camping, which thankfully our guests didn't mind.

We had a sweet time of fellowship and there was plenty of food and snacks to go around! When they left I felt edified and like we truly opened ourselves up to be used by Hashem to bless His people. I am so thankful for that. It was just like a little wink and nudge to let me know that He sees my heart and that if I just stay open to being used by Him, He will use me in His own way.

Staying put may not always be what we want to do, but it's not about us. It's about Him! Plus there are people all around you that are in need. Whether it be physical or spiritual, there are areas where you can serve and be used.

A week or so after our guests left we had another family over for dinner who was having a rough time. We wanted to be a blessing and we were. A few weeks after that my husband was able to go and help a family, who had been homeless, paint their new home so they could move in quickly.

We may be called to stay here, but I'm learning that we are still called to serve. It may not look how I thought it would, but it looks exactly how my Abba wants it.

Love and blessings,

Baruch Dayan Emet

...And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. -Bershith {Genesis} 4:10

Baruch dayan emet. I have no words to describe the horror that took place Tuesday morning in Israel. There are no words that can fully express the pain and the sorrow. As men stood to pray to the Most High and were attacked with bullets and axes. What kind of sick mind comes up with such a twisted act?

There are more than 20 children who will now grow up with no father. These children will never get to spend another moment with their fathers. No more birthdays, no more shabbats, no more bed time routines. And the wives. The wives who will never be held by their beloved again. Who have to live with the memory of their husbands being brutally attacked for nothing other than being Jewish. 

My heartaches for these families and for all Israel. 

Please pray for:

Avraham Shmuel ben Sheina

Eytan ben Sara

Chaim Yechiel ben Malka

Shmuel Yeruchem ben Baila

Adonai yishlakh la'hem refuah sheleimah, refuat ha'nefesh urefu'at ha'guf

Lord send to them complete healing, healing of the soul and healing of the body

and for the families of:

Rav Moshe Twersky

Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg 

Rabbi Kalman Ze’ev Levine 

Rabbi Aryeh Kupinsky 

Zidan Sayif

Ha'makom yenahem etkhem betokh she'ar avelei Tziyon v'Yerushalayim

May the Almighty comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem

The faith to stay

I don't know if any of you are like me, but I have this overwhelming desire to be used mightily by Hashem. I want His blessings on my life. I want to serve Him with everything I have.

In my mind that looks so mighty. Like moving cross country on short notice because we're called to serve in some way. Or heading up a ministry of some sort. Or serving on a foreign missions field.

I totally have the faith to go. I'd go pretty much anywhere with out a second thought. Of course there are a few places that I'd ask "Abba are you sure?" but those places are few. My heart for doing the will of my Creator is so big that often my view of what He wants seems grandiose.

But what about when His will is for me to stay put? To serve Him where I am despite how un-grand it feels.

We had high hopes of moving to be in closer fellowship with others, and to devote our lives to full time ministry. We felt very strongly that it was Hashem's will. But then door after door was closed on our plans.

That was so hard. We felt very confused and severely overwhelmed. Many changes had to be made in order for us to go. So when it didn't go as planned we were hurt.

I was so frustrated.

But then the Almighty moved me to a realization that changed things for me. I need to be just as willing to stay, as I am to go.

Going somewhere seems glamorous. People know about it and they say "wow look at her faith". But when you stay put and you are doing the everyday things. The training of children, the cleaning of the home. No one cares. No one says wow your faith is so strong.

Instead they ask "what do you do all day?" They look at you and think all kinds of negative things. Encouraging your faith, is generally not on the list of comments to be made. So you're left feeling like the work you are doing is worthless.

But it takes just as much --if not more-- faith to stay, when everything inside of you wants to go. It's easy to feel like you're being sidelined. But that's not true. Abba doesn't want to punish your faith. He wants to continue to grow it.

He can't do that if you sulk and grow bitter. He needs your heart to stay joyfully focused on HIM as He gives you the grace to navigate your situation. When the time is right He will move.

For me personally I am spending this time at home working on the character qualities that I believe Hashem is trying to bring about in me, and my children, through this time.

It's not easy but with His help it is possible. So if you are like me and are struggling with having the faith to stay, I just want to encourage you today that the Lord has a plan for your life and where ever He has you He wants you to SHINE!

Love and blessings,

Behind The Scenes God

I've heard countless stories about how things have come together for people and they could see how HaShem was at work "behind the scenes". We can see this very clearly also in the book of Esther. How things all come together by seeming coincidence. But to the believer there is no such thing as coincidence. My family was able to experience this recently as we walked through some health issues with one of our daughters.

Our 2nd born daughter, B, has been battling eczema for awhile now. Most people don't realize how serious of a condition this can be. It's not just dry skin. Especially not for her. Her whole entire body is covered in this itchy scaly rash. This is not a put some lotion on it kind of situation. We realize that her eczema is wrapped up in all her food allergies and sensitivities, so we had scheduled an appointment with a naturopathic allergist. But that appointment was months away.

A few weeks ago we noticed that she had some severely swollen lymph nodes in her legs. I know lymph nodes swell but these were like plum size! So we took her into the pediatrician who also was concerned. She sent us to get an ultrasound and from there to a hematologist. B is such a sweet little girl, while we were getting her ultrasound she looks at me and asks "am I having a baby?" lol. She was half joking and half concerned.

I didn't do a whole lot of googling during this time because I just wanted answers. I realize now that was a blessing because I would have been even more worried had I known what I needed to be worried about! In the time between the first initial doctors appointment and all the specialist appointments the allergist called and we were able to move her appointment up significantly. Which meant that we could get answers to her allergies while also dealing with what ever else was going on.

When we got to the hematologist we waited for a bit and as I waited I read some tehillim, in particular tehillim 34 stood out. So I just tucked it away in my heart and knew that it was a gift to me. When it was time for the blood draw I had to try to console B as well as hold her still. That was hard. But what was even harder was hearing the doctor say "ok I will run theses and then we will know in about 15 minutes if it's Leukemia."

Leukemia!? Cancer!? What!?

My head was spinning. I came in thinking the blood work was for something that.... was not as scary as leukemia. I began replaying tehillim 34 in my head and prayed silently. The angel of HaShem encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that HaShem is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. {Teh 34:7-8}

The doctor finally came back in and said there was no sign of infection and that B did not have leukemia. I let out a huge sigh of relief and then she said, "I'd like to get a chest x-ray so we can determine if we should move forward with a biopsy to check for lymphoma"

Lymphoma!? Didn't we just rule out cancer? I felt like I couldn't breathe again. The doctor assured me that it was just something they needed to check but that didn't ease my mind any. So off we went to get an x-ray. The next day after waiting all day for the results I finally got a call back telling me her x-ray was clear! BARUCH HASHEM!! 

So now we have ruled out cancer. But what's wrong with my baby?

The time had finally come to meet with the allergist. we told her everything that was going on and then she tested her for over a hundred things. Her allergies were even more severe than we thought. Turns out that the swollen lymph nodes are all part of her allergies. She is allergic to:

Tomatoes
Potatoes
Bell Peppers
Corn 
Eggplant 
All beans and legumes 
Tree nuts 
Peanuts 
Gluten 
Eggs 
All animal dairy 
Bananas 
Peaches 
Papaya 
Goji berries
Cacoa beans (chocolate)

Yes you read that list correctly. Yes it is A LOT. This means that we have been unknowingly giving her an allergic reaction at every meal. But we know, b'ezrat HaShem, that we will get through this and she will be healed. Since seeing the allergist we already are seeing some changes in her. She is taking probiotics twice a day, as well as some homeopathic medicines. We are also giving her fish bone broth, and will begin giving her aloe. 

This all came at a time when we really needed to know what as going on. We needed to get into the allergist early and we needed to have some second opinions. We were able to discuss everything and have her checked out by multiple doctors and really get some solid footing. To the average person this is all coincidental. But for us we know it is so much more than that. We thank our Elohim for His guiding hand in all of this, we thank Him for showing us the truth and walking with us through it. 

At the allergist there was a sign up that said: 

"We don't believe in miracles, we rely upon them"

I wholeheartedly agree! 

O magnify HaShem with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought HaShem, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. -Teh 34:3-4

(This all happened a few months ago and B is doing a lot better)

Spiritual focus for 5575

Good Book via Laura Fatta

Wow. I don't know about you but the fall chagim seemed to go by in a whirl-wind! There was lots of planning and preparing going on, but it was all worth it. I feel like I really drew closer to Hashem and learned more about what He has called me to. Sometimes on this walk it's not that easy to navigate, but Baruch Hashem, I'm glad to have Yeshua to illuminate the path. 

I recently shared a brief overview of my goals for this year, and I was inspired by my friend and fellow blogger, Crysta from Shalom in the Home, to share a little more detail about my plans. 

So first thing I want to mention is my family's commitment to reading through the Torah portion each week. For those who don't know the Torah reading cycle was set up long ago during the time of the biblical Ezra and Nehemiah. The cycle was set up to ensure that people would study Torah, or at the very least encourage them to try. This cycle was used during the time of Yeshua and still used now! What an awesome was to stay connected to am Yisrael {the nation/people of Israel} and to our roots. 

The plan is for our family to read through at least a chapter of each portion during our weekly family Bible time. The cycle is just beginning anew so this week we have been reading Bereshith {Genesis} 1-6:8. My children are enjoying going through the creation story. It's amazing to me how they are picking out new things from the account each time. 

I also intend to try to read each portion in the chumash {Torah with commentary}. It would be much easier to do if I had a hard copy but for now I will be using this website which has the bible with Rashi's commentary. 

That plus sticking with my routine of daily bible reading, will definitely keep me spiritually fed. But even still there is more! I have signed up with to spend the next 13 weeks studying different middot {character traits}with a chevruta {study partner}via Riverton Mussar. I am really excited about this one and am looking forward to sharing what I'm learning. 

As for my Hebrew study I am going to go through the book Jot & Tittle, from FFOZ. A very dear friend of mine gave it to me years ago and I've gone through it very inconsistently. But I'm planning to complete the whole book this cycle. This will help to reinforce my knowledge of the alephbet and help build my vocabulary. I would like to do more but I think committing to this is huge step for me. I tend to pick things up and put them down very, VERY, frequently. 

I'm hoping that by planning it all out and sharing "the plan" will help keep me accountable. All I can do though is try :o)

What about you? Do you have any plans for 5775?

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men...

-Colossians 3:23

High Holy Days 5775

The High Holidays are upon us. Can you feel it?

I personally am really excited for a new year. A fresh start. I'm excited about taking on a few more mitzvot and tending to the mitzvot I already observe with extra attention. Some of my goals for 5775 are:

1.)  Better organize my days by using a checklist
2.)  Find a weekly learning program for learning Torah and Hebrew
3.)  Read my Bible and daven daily
4.)  Work on my "domestic arts" by creating a cleaning schedule and meal planning
5.)  Eat regularly (I tend to skip meals) and work out
6.)  Learn zemirot!
7.)  Reach out more to the community around me
8.)  Work on the mitzvot I already observe and slowly take on more as I learn with my rabbi or mentor
9.)  Read books more often
10.) Work on my photography for at least an hour a week

I feel like addressing these things will help me to be who Hashem created me to be and will help me to feel better all around.

So what about you? Do you have a plan for 5775?

L'shanah tovah tikatevu!