Shavuot (Pentecost)

We had a wonderful Shavuot gathering with Tony Robinson as our speaker.  We had over 60 people in our home and had a superb time of fellowship, teaching, and feasting!

Tony arrived Friday morning, so our family got to enjoy having him in our home and fellowshipping with him before everyone began arriving.  It was really neat to see how I had almost asked him on Thursday night before he flew out if he would consider bringing his guitar to lead some worship...then hesitated as I didn't want to ask to much...to see him walk through the front door carrying his backpack and guitar case!  That was seeing Yahweh truly work.  Aunt Daria and Rich arrived in the early afternoon to help us finish preparing.  Then the trailers began arriving...as well as those tent camping.  By evening, our driveway was lined with campers and cars.  It was great to see how everyone worked together that evening.  We enjoyed a shared supper, Tony lead us in worship while I lead the Davidic Dance circle, then he did a teaching that evening.

Shabbat morning, we got to sleep in some...but not too much!  :)  Then we had breakfast and began our day with a teaching.  Tony would teach three times that day.  He played Baruch Adonai in order for me to teach it that afternoon...which we would dance to that night.  Our lunch was a true feast...and we had plenty of leftovers for supper...plus a couple of families had brought extra dishes to share for supper.  Then after supper, we had a campfire with homemade kosher marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers to make s'mores.  Yum!  We all had fun doing that.

Sunday morning, we had another teaching...followed by our annual Shavuot cookout of kosher hot dogs, hamburgers, and BBQ chicken.  It was yummy and very well eaten!  Then Tony taught his last teaching session before leaving for the airport.  He was a great teacher, very humble, and loved Yahweh and his family.  He was a true blessing to our group.

Oh, and he had some fun...quizzing us with various questions as he went through the teaching giving away some of his teachings (CD, DVD, his book, and pamphlets).  I answered one of the questions right and got a copy of his book...that made my day on Shabbat!

I will close with a few pictures.  You can see the rest on my Facebook by clicking here.

 Our Davidic Dance Circle.

 Worshipping our Great Creator and King!

 Tony leading the worship on his guitar.

 Did you get that point?

 Are you going to Purify 2013 - Retreat for Hebrew Roots Singles?

We are!  There were eight of us who are going at Shavuot!

 Enjoying the campfire and kosher s'mores.

 Our Shavuot cookout!

 Main Street - Shavuot 2013!

My family with Tony Robinson of Restoration of Torah Ministries

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!

Fun and More Fun...

Well, these past few days have been busy yet fun.  We enjoyed baking as a family on Wednesday.  I especially enjoyed making the Challah bread which is my specialty.  :)  Then on Thursday, I went with my Dad to help him with his bread class at the LEI Institute on the OSU Marion Campus.  He did a fabulous job teaching and got rave reviews on his class.  We also sold really well on our baked goods including selling out of my Challah!

Then that night and Friday, we got the house cleaned, errands run, etc in preparation for Shabbat.  Shabbat was very relaxing.  We enjoyed listening to Bill Cloud speak at Monte's Erve Shabbat Service on Friday night.  Then on Shabbat, we listened to a couple of messages by Brad Scott who will be speaking at our congregation for Shavuot.  We also got a family walk in too!  It was a good and refreshing day.  

On Sunday, the young people of our congregation went bowling! Nicole, Joseph, and I had a lot of fun.  Joseph royally beat us girls even though we did our best to give him a run for his money.  I figured out that I had not been bowling in about 10 years, and it was so good to be back in the "game."  :)  We ate supper at the cafe there.  Their taco salad was as amazing as a remembered which was the best taco salad I have ever eaten!  Then we bowled one more game (our third game) and headed to the ice cream parlor for desert!  :)  Nicole was able to come home with me and spend the night.  We enjoyed the girl time.  We are very close...like sisters...and had not been able to spend quality time together with our schedules in the last few weeks...so we were more than ready for it!

Sunday and Monday, I caught up on things around the house which made me feel good.  Then on Tuesday, I had my house cleaning job which went well.  I ran by the library on my way home, got a shower, and then went grocery shopping with Momma!  We went up to see Gaga after supper.  He had pneumonia right now; however, since he has been back on his antibiotic, he has been doing so much better.  With him being 87, we are always very concerned when he gets sick and have to be very proactive in making sure he is taken care of.

Today, I met one of my board members for lunch, and we brainstormed for the ministry as well as worked on where do I want to focus on.  That was very helpful.  I came home for some other pending work items...then I've been working on my book.  Now, I'm heading off to go gather the kitties and go for a walk with my mom! 

Shavuot

Wow! What an amazing weekend we just had. Shavuot for our congregation, Yaakov's Flock, was a special time. We had Paul Nison in as our guest speaker and about thirty people attended over the course of the weekend. We've been busy getting ready for Shavuot, then enjoying Shavuot, and now recovering...but I had to at least post something on the blog! :) Hopefully later this week, I'll get a few pictures up and tell some of the highlights.