Passover

We had a WONDERFUL Passover. Can you tell I enjoyed it?!?!  :)  There were 16 people gathered around our table as we celebrated everything that Yahweh through sending His son, Yeshua the Messiah to redeem us had done for us as His children.  We partook of the unleavened bread remembering to live our lives without sin while seeing the picture of the life Yeshua lived - beaten and bruised for us...broken for us...without sin...our perfect redeemer.  We ate of the horseradish remembering the bitterness of slaverly and doing things the way the world does.  We ate of the charoset (apple mixture) realizing that the bitterness of the slavery only made the freedom of redemption so much sweeter. 

My dad and Paul did an excellent job as leader and reader.  It truly felt like family gathered our the table.  Interestingly enough about 3/4 of those around the table had been here for Sukkot.  It shows how close our group is becoming - praise Yahweh!  Here are a few pictures from our Passover...

Daddy cooking the lamb.

 Daddy and Paul leading the seder.

 

 Everyone around the table.

 The Matzah - Unleavened Bread

 Me (Jocelin) lighting the Seder Candles

Passover is coming!

Passover will be here tomorrow evening, and I cannot wait.  This week has been busy with preparation...There is always much to be done, but doing it as a family makes it fun and easier even though it is hard work!  Chag Sameach (Happy Feast) to Everyone!  And I will post after Passover about our Seder. 

Dance Unto the Lord

We are to dance unto the Lord throughout the day...whether with our feet or our hearts...with our voices and with our words.  I enjoyed practicing the Davidic Dances tonight for Purify 2013 - Retreat for Purify 2013 - Retreat for Hebrew Roots Singles...but most of all, I enjoyed worshiping Yahweh!

This week has been a good and busy week.  I've gotten almost all of my schoolwork done which is ahead of schedule; however, that is good news as I have two website design jobs to be working on...oh, wait, there are four to work on this week!  Plus work on presentations for Purify 2013, taxes, tying tzitzit, and family life. 

And now, there is snow softly falling outside.  It is beautiful!  I just wish that my Downy was home tonight...she did not come in when I gathered the other kitties.  Hopefully, she is cuddled up sound asleep in the hay barn by now. 

We just sent out the final invite for Passover...I cannot believe Passover is in 3 weeks!  Then in April, we'll have David Rubin speaking at our congregation.  May brings Shavuot with Tony Robinson speaking here and Purify!!!!  I'm getting really excited...can you tell?!?!

Passover 2012

We had an amazing Passover. So beyond words! You could truly sense the spirit of Yahweh there. Our family has been busy preparing for the past two or so weeks. We had a four page to do list which kept us quite busy...shopping, ordering the lamb, finding the various supplies, coordinating, etc.

Friday morning dawned a bright and clear day - a day perfect for us! Aunt Daria and her grandchildren (Matthew and Ashley) came over about lunch time. Momma and Aunt Daria worked on the Matzah ball soup. The children and I finished gathering everything we needed. We had told anyone who wanted to come help to come from 2pm on. So by about 3pm, we had three super helperes in Richard, Paul, and Tamara. They, Matthew, Ashley, and I headed to the hall to set up the tables, decorate, and get all the Seder elements all put out. We were joined by Glenn at the hall...and soon after, Joseph got there. That gave us plenty of guys to move th heavy wooden tables and many chairs to get it set up as we liked it for Passover. We would be having 32 people for theSeder.

More and more of the congregation continued to join us and help us get setup. The many hands made work light! We were fully set up and just doing the final little things and fellowshipping after just 1 hour and 45 minutes. Daddy was at home grilling the lamb which was once again so tender and flavorful! All of the food was very good - lamb, matzah ball soup, lentils, beans tomatoes and rice, fruit salad, veggie tray, salad, coleslaw, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cheesecake, coconut macaroons, fruit punch, plus all the Seder yummies like Charoset! I could hardly sleep that night for being full!

Daddy lead the Seder. To was his first year doing so. He had been the reader the past town years which was excellent preparation for him. He did a fabulous job. He was well prepared, and you could tell so. He was also very relaxed.

Then Gary who is part of our congregation was the reader as well as taught the meaning of some of the key words using Paleo Hebrew. That was very fascinating. The entire Seder went very smoothly. Ashley found the Afikomen for us, so we were able to complete the Seder! :)

I have put up on my Facebook some of the photos and set it up where you too can see the pictures. To do so, click here. I will close now and wish you a wonderful Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Busy Weekend...

This past Shabbat was our congregational gathering. We have gone to meeting twice a month, so this was our second meeting of the month. We had a very good gathering and study on the Salt Covenant. We finished our series on covenants in preparation for Passover. We had done the blood and threshold covenants the previous months. We have gotten a lot of our RSVPs for Passover and are busy planning logistics.

Then on Sunday, we had Mark and Adrianne join us for lunch. They were here in Ohio observing Passover off the full moon with another group, and we were so glad to get to see them! We also had my Aunt Daria, her grandkids, and my grandfather join us for the day. We all enjoyed playing games, eating, going for a walk, and fellowshipping!

I have gotten a lot done so far this week and am looking forward to a good rest of the week too!

New Moon...so Passover Soon!

Well, the New Moon was sighted in Israel last night (Friday night), and the barley is Abib. So we have began the first month of the year, and Passovere is only 14 days away! Our Passover meal will be on Friday night, April 6th, and our congregation will be hosting our annual Seder. I cannot wait to celebrate this special time with my spiritual family!

Where's the New Moon

It's almost time for the New Moon! I can't wait, because with it's sighting, that means that we are only 14 days from Passover. We will be celebraing Passover with our congregation, Beit Yacov Hebraic Congregation, Yah willing. That's always a special time together. Would you like to understand Passover? Check out http://www.hebroots.com/passover.htm.

Spring - Where Art Thou?

Spring - I'm ready for warmer weather...but we still have about 8" of snow on the ground. Thankfully, the forecast is for 40s over the weekend and even some 50s next week! Spring here I come! :)

Spring also means Passover! We are beginning the process of fully cleaning out the house. Under the beds, straightening all the bookshelves, cleaning the fans and windows, all those special not every week items are on the list to be done before Passover. We are planning, Yah willing, to celebrate Passover with our congregation - Beit Yacov. That is always a special time to be together. The lamb is ok...but if I've got to eat lamb, "Aunt" Debbie prepares it well...I'm just not a big lamb fan. Also, Passover is a good time to spiritually clean house. What habits do I need to change? Are there any areas of my life I need to repent and change? How am I doing in the area of spiritual growth?

Sunday, we were able to finally take Gaga to see Nana. He hadn't been able to go all week with him having bronchitis. Thankfully, he is feeling much better, and they were so glad to be able to spend time together again. Even after 65 years, they are still two love birds. They just enjoy sitting and holding hands. I stayed with them for a while. At one point, I had gone out and was talking with the nurse about how Nana was doing. When I came back in, they were playing cards. They love to play UNO, but all they had there was a regular deck of cards. So they figured how to play UNO with those cards. That was so sweet to watch.

Monday was a busy day at work, spent some time with Nana, and then taught the last night of Course 2 Cake Decorating Class. I really enjoy that, and the students do so well. Now today, I've stayed quite busy at work, but a lot is getting done so that always makes me a happy camper. Plus Momma fixed a delicious lunch today - Beef Roast, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans along with homemade gherkin pickles. Yummy! I made the mashed potatoes, and Momma said that they were the "best"! It is always pleasing when you make something and everyone likes it.

Well, it's off to work again I go now! :)