Hurricane Sandy and More...

Well, Hurricane Sandy has come to visit.  Thankfully being in Ohio, we were not in the coastal area which got so hard hit.  We had about 200,000 up near the Great Lake lose power, but only about 5,000 in the Columbus area.  So far, we still have power - Praise Yahweh!  None of the animals have wanted to go outside today as it has been this awful mix of rain, snow, and sleet with high winds.  We have enjoyed being inside by the woodstove which we fired up for the first time this morning.  And some hot tea too! 

This past weekend, my parents got to get away for the first time just as couple in a long time.  I hope it was a refreshing time for them...  With me being an only child and us being a close family, we mostly do things as a family, but this was good for them.  I stayed home, and my friend, Nicole, came and spent the weekend with me.  We enjoyed relaxing, talking, watching a couple of movies (Flywheel by Sherwood Baptist Church and Sense and Sensability a Jane Austin movie).  We even went out for pizza after Shabbat!  That was a fun treat. Our neighbor down the road milked the cow for us as I haven't been really involved in the care of the cow ever since I got gored by our steer 2 years ago.  That steer is in the freezor; however, I just haven't gotten back in the routine of going out and helping.  We had a good weekend, and everyone was refreshed.  :) 

Then, this week so far, I've been getting all my schoolwork done on schedule which makes me a happy camper!  As well as other items on my to do list.  Well, I will close now and finish up the last few things before enjoying some family time tonight. 

Shabbat shalom!

Well, Shabbat is here, and I'm certainly glad of it.  My to do list for the week is 100% done!!!  :)  And I feel like the Lord really allowed me to get everything He wanted done done.  One of my best friends, Nicole, is coming over for the weekend, and I can't wait.  I do believe I hear a "Jane Austin movie fest and lots of girl giggles coming on!".  :) 

I had my two cleaning jobs this week which I enjoyed particularly the one with my dad.  The Daddy Daughter time is really important to me.  And Mommy and I have picked back up on our book, It's Not That Complicated which I hope to share a few quotes with you as it is such a good book. 

Anyway, just wanted to take a few minutes to wish everyone a wonderful Shabbat! 

Life...

Life has been busy since Sukkot, but I prefer feeling productive than not having anything to do.  Last week, I had a head cold - cough, stuffy nose, sneezing, etc.  I did not enjoy it; however, it was nice to just stay home!  I was of course taking my colloidal silver, ALJ (herbal tincture), Thieves oil, and more.  I never felt extremely bad...just tired, and I'm normally a pretty high energy person.  Also, I have found that ever since I had the dust induced bronchitis after Camp Yeshua 2011, I have to be extra careful to not be around dust when I'm sick as it quickly makes my cold worse.  So I rescheduled my cleaning job from this past week to this week.  I was able to keep up with all my schoolwork though which made me quite happy.

You've probably heard me mention school and wondered what I'm up to. I've gone back to school to become a Doctor of Traditional Naturopathy.  My family has always done a lot of natural health and alternative methods, so this only ended up being a natural progression for me.  Even if I never make it into a business (I'd rather get married and have a family), the knowledge and ability to help friends and family on the side is so worth it.  I'll be doing the school work for about three years, and my mom has told me the only thing that is allowed to interrupt it is the right young man finding me!  :)  That got a good girlish giggle from me.  I'm also completing counseling training, so that I will be a trained and certified Biblical (like Pastoral) Counselor through AACC (American Association of Christian Counselors).  That will be done late summer 2013.  I'm picking up a few other courses along the way like The Creation Gospel training through Holisa Alewine and The King Method (a form of natural healing that uses physics) from the King Institute out of Dallas as well as working on my Hebrew Language Studies.  Who knows where all the Lord might use this...

And I'm still of course keeping up with my ministry...  I'm blogging once a week on the Money Management Mentor's website which you can check out by clicking here.  I'm also working to build up funding, so I can spend more time on it and less on other income earning areas.

I'm also learning to walk away and relax which is so good for me.  I really unplugged during Sukkot...I checked e-mail via my iPad once a day and that was only skimming for Sukkot related e-mails...and did very little else.  My computer itself was only on 1 time that week!!!!  Now to keep up a focus on people and not computers.  Computers are only a tool...but they can become very distracting.  I think I've gotten my computer time down to about 1 hour a day and half that time is spent on my school work entering test answers (the rest of my schoolwork is paper and pen).  So I'm feeling a much better balance in my life that way.

Well, I will close now and finish up my schooling for the day...  Shalom to all!

Sukkot

Sukkot was once again a wonderful eight days of rejoicing before our loving Heavenly Father.  We go by the sighted New Moon as seen in Jerusalem, so our Sukkot started on Monday, October 1.  We had a couple of families who wanted to Sukkot with us who go by the dark of the moon, so they arrived on Sunday.  Also, we had three of the families in our congregation come over on Sunday to help us finish preparing - mowing the yard, fencing in the chickens, pulling the last of the weeds, setting up tents, putting up tables and chairs, and fixing food.  It was a lot of fun working togther!

Monday began the real excitement with everyone arriving.  That evening as the sun set, we had our annual opening Thanksgiving style dinner.  Since the first Thanksgiving was either a Sukkot celebration or based on the concept of Sukkot, we have taken that back and made it a "new tradition" for our group for the past three years.  Momma fixes her turkey and dressing, and each family contributes a dish to go with it.  We then had our opening session and enjoyed lots of good fellowship.

By Tuesday, we began to establish a daily routine.  Get up, enjoy breakfast and fellowship for a while, watch a Hebrew Lesson by Jeff Benner on DVD, fix and eat lunch which was our main shared meal of the day, enjoy a rousing afternoon midrash, dance before the Lord in our Davidic Dance class, pull out some leftovers for supper, and then have an evening teaching session.  We often closed out the night with a movie such as Flywheel, Fireproof, and Courageous. 

On Sunday, we had Aaron and Tricia Leu who recently wrote the book Love Awakened join us and share their testimony which is a very touching story of Yahweh working mightily in someone's life.  Monday morning was our "Breakfast Brunch" which is where we feast on eggs, turkey bacon (which we ended up naming "Turkin"), pancakes, fruit, hashbrowns, and fruit pizza.  The children also enjoyed some special activities and crafts just for them like a making a banner which said Sukkot in Hebrew letters and decorating it. 

Throughout the week, I most enjoyed the teamwork and fellowship as well as the many Scriptural discussions.  I also took quite a few pictures which you can view by clicking here.  Hag Sameach! 

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. 

Yom Teruah and more...

This week has been a good busy week, and the beginning of the Fall Feasts which I absolutely love! 

Friday, Momma took us for a tailspin by having incredibly high eye pressure which I mentioned in my last post.  It is doing better than it was, but it is not all the way back down to normal.  Plus the medications are not fully agreeing with her body.  It is making her tired with minimal appetite; however, she is up and doing some again.  Please keep praying for her full healing.

Tuesday was Yom Teruah, and our congregation had a cookout out and gathering in honor of the High Holy day.  We had a nice group here with such a sweet spirit.  We provided the hot dogs and buns, and everyone brought a side dish to go with it.  We had a true feast.  After enjoying a great time of fellowship and feasting, we had a midrash on Yom Teruah which would be properly translated Feast of Shofars.  Everyone participated in the discussion...contributing some insight or question they had. You can see pictures by clicking here. 

Yesterday, we went to see Gaga (my grandfather) and take him his new bedspread for his room which he loved.  It was nice to see him so happy with something I had picked out just for him.  :)  We watched a bit of television with him while I knitted.  It is hard to find things to do with him due to his dementia/Alzheimer's, but we can often find an old timey show like Andy Griffith, Bonanza, etc or play Uno with him. 

Now today, I have been working on getting that to do list done, and it is looking pretty good.  The next thing to tackle is the Sukkot meal plan and working with each family as to their assigned categories.  I enjoy that...but it is a big task at the same time...coordinating each of the families. 

Well, off to work on finishing that to do list... 

Update on the farm, bakery, family, congregation etc...

Well, I guess it is time for an update on the farm, bakery, family, congregation...

The farm is doing well.  We have our two cows, a calf, chickens, and even a hen setting on her eggs, so we are hoping for baby chicks in a few weeks!  We also have two many kittens...that we need to find homes for.  We've been working to get our girl kitties fixed; however, we have a neighbor who has an unfixed male...so that doesn't help matters!  Daddy's bees are doing well...even though we lost part of a hive to wax moths.  The whole hived died out, but part of the bees moved in with another hive to make it stronger.  The two remaining hives are doing well, so that is good news. 

Our family bakery has been BUSY this summer.  We were working 16 hour days most of the summer with only Shabbat off.  It is nice to be slowing down now.  I did make a website for our bakery which you can check out at www.bakery.restorahtionfarm.com.  I guarantee you will be drooling!  You might even place an order.  :)

My family is doing well.  Daddy has been busy with architectural work plus the bakery and farm.  Momma has been too.  All the changes with Gaga (my grandfather) were hard on her, but she's done well.  Now, just to get her eye pressure under control.  Her eye pressure has been and is incredibly high and causing her extreme pain today. We went to the eye doctor, but the eye drops the doctor gave Momma aren't helping. My dad went to the pharmacy right before Shabbat for the only other medication which might help, but I know prayer works...so please pray for a miraculous lowering of her eye pressure!  That is our main family concern....

Our congregation is doing well.  We grow and change in numbers, but our core group stays steady.  We are busy preparing for our gatherings on Yom Teruah (Feast of Shofars often incorrectly called Feast of Trumpets) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).  I'm really excited about both!  They are always special times.  

Well, I will close now and wish everyone Shabbat Shalom!