Camp Yeshua, Part 3

Well, I promised you Camp Yeshua, Part 3 which would be about the theme nights, the girl's purity session, and the women's swim, so I thought I would write that tonight.  Then I will only have one more "catch up" topic left...which should have me current with all the fun stories of my life come Sukkot.  :)  And then I'll have even more stories to tell! 

As you all know, Camp Yeshua is a highlight of the year for me, and it was once again.  Each year, we have various theme nights.  This year, we had Pop Culture Night, Neon Night, International Night, Tribulation Night, and Exodus Imminent Night.  I participated in the International Night by dressing up with my Israeli silk skirt, matching shirt, and Israeli covering along with a necklace I got while in the land.  This was the outfit that I was always getting mistaken for being Israeli in while I was in the Land.  Tribulation night is the night that I wear by camo headcovering to have some fun!  And the Exodus Imminent Night is our semi-formal night which I of course dressed up for!  :)  It is always amazing to see what the kids come up with for each night. 

The girl's purity session was on Monday afternoon which I co-lead with Ann Judah Stropes (Monte Judah's daughter).  She and I had worked separately on our parts, talked them through together, then finalized them on Friday right after we got in.  The session went really well, and I think the girl's lives were positively impacted as we talked about not just waiting for the right guy but being the right girl with a heart focused on Yahweh. 

And finally, my other favorite part is the women's swim.  This is when all the lady counselors go down to the pool after the kids are in bed.  This is a fabulous time for us to decompress, share our joys and struggles, and get some chocolate in!  It is just the boost we need as ladies to get through the week. 

I must close now with a Shabbat shalom.  And don't forget, if you haven't already seen them, you can check out my camp pictures by clicking here. 

Catching Up

Wow!  It has been way too long since I have posted on here.  I am planning to do my best to get back to blogging twice a week from here on out...but sometimes life just happens!

First of all, thank you to those who took the time to read my article that I wrote for Money Help for Christians last month.  It was part of the Money Help for Christians Writers Challenge.  Depending on how many Facebook shares, Tweets, and Google+ shares my article received determined my placement in the final standings.  And I'm very excited to say that with your help, I won the contest!  Thank you all so much.  If you did not get a chance to read the article, please click here to read it.

Our family hosted our congregation's Shavuot Weekend Gathering with Brad Scott as our guest speaker.  We had about 50 people in attendance for the weekend, and everyone had a fabulous time.  The food was delicious, the teaching was loaded with truth, and the fellowship was sweet.  I just posted a memory video to YouTube.  You can watch it by clicking here.  I've also posted pictures which you can see by clicking here.

My family is staying busy with our home based bakery as well as the family farm.  My mom has been struggling with high eye pressure which when it is high is causing quite a bit of discomfort.  Please keep her in your prayers.  We appreciate it!  Also, we had a calf (Midrash) born on the farm about a month ago to Maggie, our cow.  You can see a picture of him by clicking here.   And we even slipped in time to take in a Paul Wilbur concert.  You can see picture by clicking here. 

I was recently interviewed for Walkabout - Interviews with Members of the Messianic Family, an internet radio show.  I was able to talk about quite a variety of topics including Biblical Finances, my ministry, our family farm, my trip to Israel, and the Messianic Youth Camp that I serve at every summer.  You can hear the interview by clicking here.  Due to a technical error, the first few minutes of the hour long interview were lost.  That was the part where I talked about the importance of finances from a Biblical perspective, being debt free, and having a spending plan.  The live audience did here this portion; it's just not on the recording.  The host, Susan invited me back (probably late Fall time frame) to talk more about finances.

Next month, I will be going out to Oklahoma and again serving at Camp Yeshua, the largest Messianic Youth Camp in the US.  This is always a treat and blessing to me personally as well as encouraging to see the impact made in the next generation's life.

I had the privilege of recently interviewing Brad Scott of Wildbranch Ministries at my congregations recent Shavuot (Pentecost) gathering. His words of insight into the Hebrew Language, walking the Torah walk, and training up the next generation makes this a definite do not miss! Plus he coins a new term just for my interview.  Please check it out by clicking here.

Well, I will close now and blog again soon!  It's good to be back!

When's Shabbat???

Well, today is Wednesday which means Shabbat is only 2 days away, and I can't wait. I truly love my weekly time with the Creator worshiping Him and learning more about Him. I am reading through the Bible on a yearly plan, and it is my first time reading through the whole Bible in my Complete Jewish Scriptures version. (I've read through the Bible before, just not this version.) And I have to say that the Scriptures are coming more and more alive for me. Just this week as I'm reading in Exodus as I was reading the account of the Red Sea Crossing, it truly dawned on me that Yahweh had told the children of Israel, I'm going to have you go camp at this location, the Pharaoh of Egypt is going to come and chase you, but I'm going to show myself even stronger than I did in Egypt. Then when the Pharaoh comes chasing them, they start complaining. I had always thought it was a fear reaction, but in reality it was a lack of faith! Yahweh had already told them what He was going to do and how He was going to show Himself even stronger than in Egypt! Wow did that really strike me!

I'm also really enjoying working on Commandment Keepers for Richard Rives. If you have not been there, please check it out. We've got a weekly Torah Commentary on there now too thanks to Mike Clayton! As well as videos, poems, and articles! Something for everyone. Watch it each day as we post 2 new articles every day.

I've also updated my family's webstore and expanded it. We've got a new series of workbooks done by my dad, Terry Boutet, on Discovering Your Freedom in Yeshua HaMosiach. Also, we've added 100% pure essential oils at a very reasonable price - Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint, and 4 Thieves are just some of them!

And in the evenings, my family has been enjoying reading together or watching a teaching video near our warm wood stove. I've also been enjoying getting back to Scrapbooking. Right now, I'm finally doing my trip to Israel from November 2010! :)

More Israel Trip Pictures

Here are the last two days of the Israel Trip.

Day 11
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92380&id=1050784025&l=7c07dc4795

and Day 12.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92383&id=1050784025&l=7f53a192e7

I pray you have enjoyed them, and I have an extra special surprise to share on Shabbat...so be on the lookout for that then!

Israel Trip Pictures - Days 9 and 10

More Israel Trip Pictures are Up!

Day 9
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91782&id=1050784025&l=7f359d9c94

Day 10
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92167&id=1050784025&l=0bf060c603

Days 7 and 8 of Israel Trip

More pictures posted -

Day 7
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91397&id=1050784025&l=25a31c260b

Day 8
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91538&id=1050784025&l=8ac6a2a8c1

More Israel Trip Pictures

More Israel Pics...

Day 5
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90938&id=1050784025&l=67aedd61d8

and Day 6
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91074&id=1050784025&l=7e14236c57

Planning for Shabbat

I'm having a great week...busy...but great! :)

I've finished sorting my Israel Trip pictures and have been diligently uploading them every few days. It takes time to upload and caption them, so I'm spacing it out. I've also got all the videos downloaded to my computer...now to create a web page where I can share the best ones.

Then today, I saw on the headlines that there is an out of control wildfire near Haifa, Israel on the Carmel Mountains. I was there!!!! Less than 1 month ago (November 9th to be exact), we went to Haifa, went up on Mt. Carmel, and then drove through those mountains to reach Tel Meggido. It is so sad to watch the news reports, yet so real after having been there. Pray for rain for Israel! They have not received any rain for the month of November...due to working on dividing the Land (that's the spiritual reason why)...but they so need it.

My boss got me this really neat CD today called Maccabeats. I've been enjoying it this evening while syncing my iPad which was the last thing I needed to do to have my electronics back fully working after my recent computer reformatting due to a bad wifi card. Thankfully that was covered under a recall otherwise that would have been about $300 to repair it. Praise Yah for His provisions!

And now, we're beginning preparation for Shabbat. We're hosting a gathering for any Messianics in Ohio at our home this Shabbat, so I'm looking forward to seeing many of our friends... We'll have a Midrash on Spying out the Land as well as I'll get to share about my trip to Israel.

More Israel Trip Pictures

I have continued to post more Israel Trip Pictures. Days 3 and 4 are now up, so here are the links. I still have Days 5-12 to go! :) So enjoy...

Day 3
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89978&id=1050784025&l=9171da317d

Day 4 - Also one of the two best days on the whole trip...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90360&id=1050784025&l=0f7241ea6c

Home from Israel...

Well, I am home now. My trip to Israel was absolutely AMAZING! There are no words to describe it other than to say you have to go to fully understand it. It's is the Father's Land. You can sense His presence there in such an amazing way. I took over 2,400 pictures, and they don't do the land justice. I have begun posting the pictures on my Facebook and rather than try to copy them all over here, I believe I can share the public links to my Facebook albums...and then you can see them. Enjoy! That's only the beginning.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88062&id=1050784025&l=00b7f7eaf6
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89544&id=1050784025&l=198359e89a

Also, you can hear me tell about the trip as I shared at our congregation this past Shabbat. The recording is available here - Jocelin's Israel Report 11-20-10.

Preparation

Well, I'm working away on getting ready for Israel. Since I will be almost totally out of pocket for two weeks, I'm making sure my team is prepared before I go and all set. I'm also working to wrap up a couple of projects before I go, and they are coming along quite well.

I leave in just 5 days for Israel and can't wait! My suitcase is almost totally packed too.

A veery good friend of mine has been diagnosed with mono, and his wife, also a dear friend, is experiencing similar symptoms...yet she doesn't have mono. So they are doing further testing to see if it is another auto immune disorder. Please pray for Timothy and Maria's healing and peace during this time. They were just married 4 weeks ago. I hope to share wedding pictures before I leave as well.

Well, off to get a good nights rest...

10 Days till Israel

Well, it's 10 days until I fly to Israel. I bought the pre-paid minutes I needed for in the States as I didn't want to take my more expensive cell phone with internet access with my on an international trip. I've also got international calling set up on our house phone for my parents to be able to reach me...and me an Israeli cell phone to rent while there. I think everything is just about ready to go other than notes for those covering for me while I'm gone from work. :) And a few things to go in the suitcase.

I'm having a busy but good day at work. Getting a lot done always makes you feel good!

Then tonight is the last night of my Course 1 Cake Decorating class. I have next month off due to the trip, but I'll be offering another one in December.

And good news on my computer. I've been having issues with my Wi-Fi not working part of the time. Turns out it is a major known issue on my particular laptop and is caused by the Nvidia video card not working properly. PTL there is a recall where HP will fix my laptop for free by replacing the Wi-Fi and Video cards which are built into the Motherboard, so that also get's replaced. I'm very glad for the Lord's provision there as that would be a $300 repair otherwise. My laptop will go in the shop while I'm gone and should be home waiting for me when I get back.

Well, it's off for a late lunch I go...

Countdown to Israel

Well, I've started to countdown to leaving for Israel. 12 days till I head to the Promised Land. I'm so excited. I've been working on my packing just to make sure I don't miss anything or am rushing around at the last minute. As a result, I'm all packed except for the items that can't go in till the last minute. Okay, I must be a huge planner!!!

I'm still fighting a cold but feeling much better. Just to get 100% of my energy back, and I'll be a happy camper. At least I figured out why my eye sight was blurring while working on the computer and solved that. It was due to too high of a prescription in my left eye. When I used what I was using in my right eye in both eyes, it went away in about 48 hours and hasn't come back. Praise Yah!

This week...guest blog...and more

This week was a busy week, and I got a lot done. My to do list was quite long, and I have gotten 95% of everything done on it. So I was quite the happy camper. The rest will get done in time.

I had been interviewed for the Sowers of Hope SEED Series which is about women who wear headcoverings. That was published on the 15th, and you can read that interview by clicking here.

I've begun packing what I can so I don't have it all to do for my trip to Israel as it is now just 15 days away. I truly can't wait. I'll really miss my family, but this is a trip of a lifetime...and I'll probably only get this chance to go.

And I got the news this week that the Camp Yeshua DVDs which have the recordings from all the messages on it as well as PICTURES is in the mail!!! I can't wait to get mine. :)