Blog Archives
Purim
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Purim
March 19, 2011
Purim is the celebration that is spoken of in the Book of Esther in the Bible. Although it is not a “GOD commanded” feast, it was established by Mordecai to observe this victory.
Est 9:20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,
Est 9:21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
Est 9:22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day:
that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
Many will tell you that it is a “Jewish celebration”, I beg to differ.
Est 9:26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,
Est 9:27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;
Est 9:28 And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.
The scripture says “all such as joined themselves unto them”. We joined ourselves unto them when we accepted JESUS as our Lord and Savior.
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
We became “joined” to them when we were grafted in among them.
Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Now, you can say, “But GOD didn’t say we had to!” You are completely right, you do not HAVE to… but why wouldn’t you want to??? I want to celebrate things that are pleasing to GOD, so in a month that doesn’t give us a holiday except St. Patrick’s Day with all it’s silly leprechaun traditions and such, why not set aside a day to talk about the story of Esther and show how GOD worked “hidden” behind the scenes, much like HE does every day in our lives!
A tradition of Purim is to have a costume party representing the “hidden things” in the Book of Esther. There was several things “hidden” so be sure and take a look at the link above.
I didn’t want it to be just any costume because that could lead to all sorts of ungodliness, instead I told my family I wanted them to dress as a Bible character and have some scriptures ready to read or act out so the other people can guess who they are.
My family showed up and I was so happy that my daddy came also, and dressed up too! For anyone who doesn’t know my daddy, he has never had much respect for “religion,” mainly do to the fact that preachers in the past had never been able to answer his questions about the Bible with answers that made sense. So for him to come to my “religious” party is a huge thing. I was so very happy.
Old Aldridge Mill Site
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Old Aldridge Mill Site
February 26, 2011
The name Old Aldridge has been a name that was basically synonymous with the idea of Halloween, haunted houses, and satanic rituals here in Zavalla. I am pretty sure most of it is just ghost stories but I am sure some evil has been done down in the old remains of the saw mill. Whatever the case is, the idea of it all has kept me far from it all my thirty years of living in the small town of Zavalla. That is until today.
We had just finished our Scripture Scavenger Hunt Hike and decided to go have a look at Old Aldridge.
As we walked up to the old mill the huge structures loomed in the distance, visually living up to the idea of ghost town. CONTINUE READING…
Texas Forestry Museum
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Texas Forestry Museum
December 26, 2010
We were on a mission to get a field guide about Texas trees and there was only one place I figured had one, The Forestry Museum. We have visited this museum on a couple of occasions before but they have some exhibits that rotate out. We figured while we were there getting the book we would give it a quick run through.
The kids get all excited about playing with Lincoln logs even though they have dozens at home. The museum did have a couple pieces that they didn’t have so they start telling me how they need this part and that part for their own collection.
They have some interactive things that intrigue the children’s minds into further investigation. Many hinged information plaques hang in various stations so the kids can read what the forestry is all about.
Neither Wind Nor Cold…
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Neither Wind Nor Cold…
December 12, 2010
We woke up Sunday Morning to the wind blowing like crazy and the temperature’s high only reaching the 50-degree mark but we still wanted to go on a hike. We knew it was too cold for a long walk so we decided to go to Martin Dies Jr. State Park and walk the small Island Trail. This trail had a couple of bridges taking us across the water, which is always a highlight on a hike.
Stewart bought me a new camera because my old one was starting to show signs of unreliability. I had the new camera in tow and he had the older one so he could get some pictures of me with the family. The kids also brought their little cameras and apparently took up mom’s bad habit of trying to document everything in pictures. So we ended up with a bunch of pictures of us, taking pictures of each other but we had a good time doing it.
Adam picked up a Sweet-Gum ball. I said, “A porcupine egg!!” He didn’t fall for it. It was much more fun when they were little to pick on them, now they are just too smart. Austin wore his compass ring, but we soon figured out it was not all that accurate, good thing I carry the map of the park “religiously” since the Kirby hike.
Adam shot up the first tree that looked good to climb for his photo-opp. Stewart took a picture of me taking a picture of Adam with his foot stuck in the tree. It was all fun and games climbing that tree until he got stuck, then the panic flashed on his face for a brief minute but big brother saved him and helped him dismount the tree onto his shoulders.
Anna, not to be outdone by her little brother, tried swinging from a fallen tree but her dismount was not as graceful. Thankfully nothing was hurt but her pride.
Stewart and I joked with each other taking each others pictures but that got old fast.
It was very soothing standing on the shores of the lake letting the wind blow against my face.
Austin lopped on me, he is a very loving young man, but I think at that point he was just trying to stay warm.
Anna hopped on the bench and danced down the “runway” for a little while. She is such a beautiful free spirit when it is just us if others are around she is very shy.
Anna did this crazy little walk. I am not sure what she was playing but I am certain it all made sense in her mind and she thought she was quite funny, so did I. (No Austin was not going to whack me with his walking stick, he was just propping it on his shoulder.)
Stewart hid behind a tree to sneak and take a picture of me, I told him, “OK, now you’re just being creepy! I feel like I am being stalked.”
We made it out to the point of the island, we took advantage of the windbreak these two big oak trees were providing. Adam took some pictures of Anna hunkered down in the nook the roots created. She was saying, “Brrrrr!”
Adam was doing his best to look innocent, but mom knows the mischief that lies within that little boy.
Anna was disappointed that the vine was not good for swinging, I am sure she don’t want to fall again.
Adam saw that people had carved their name into the bench so he bound over and “sat” on all of them. All around the bench, he plopped his rear, “squashing” all of the people. Only in the mind of Adam did that make a good game, but it provided me with a good laugh. Once he was done “squashing” them with his rear, he got up on the bench and stomped on the names, until sister thought that was boring and wanted to play “Queen of the bench” and gave Adam a hearty shove.
It was quite beautiful out there. The trees were brilliant oranges, reds, and yellows. Spanish moss blew wistfully through the tree tops. The sun’s rays broke through the branches and danced playfully on the lake. We just stood and took it all in. Thanking our creator for all the awesome things he gave us for our pleasure, things in nature that have not changed for thousands of years, simply because GOD is unchanging.
We found a tree that must have been blown down when Hurricane Rita came through the area. All the kids had to take a turn at walking up it. Adam made it the farthest and had to show off with his “surfer dude” stance, but on his way down he slipped and fell. Like his sister, only his pride felt the pain.
Anna didn’t make it very far at all, I believe she was a little less ambitious than the boys.
Austin thought if little brother could do it then surely so could he. But he did not make it to far when his hiking stick slipped out of his hand and he froze and let out a little “Ahhh!” I am sure he was thinking, “Now what?” Sister took no time at all to steal his stick from where it landed on the ground, so Austin gave up and got down to go get it back.
My kids find some of the silliest ways to entertain themselves but I would not have it any other way. They have vivid imaginations.
Adam finds a pit left by the roots of a blown over tree, immediately it turns into a fox hole and he had his “rocket launcher” locked and loaded. (Maybe I should cut down on the History lessons about the wars.)
A “Bark” cell phone (wonder if that would sale) … and from the looks of it, he must have been bored with the conversation.
Anna rode her “horse”, I assume she was stopping the “horse” at this point.
I am not sure what to think about my silly kids sometimes.
Adam is always having himself a great time, whether he was wearing moss for hair, surfing fallen trees, rocking it out of tree stumps, or putting “ear covers” on to help stay warm, in his words, “I have to cover as much as I can, it’s COLD!” He is Adam, party of one!
Anna found a hull of a tree and announces,” I could make a boat out of this!” I believe she was remembering the Heritage Village trip because there was a boat that was carved out of a tree trunk there.
Austin was not near as animated as the little ones, he takes his hikes serious. The scientist comes out in him when we are in the woods, not the comic.
We get to the end of the Island Trail and I was cold and tired and ready to go but the kids begged me to just walk up the big bridge before we go, so alas I gave in. The wind was even more fierce out in the open.
Austin gazed out across the water, counting the cranes along the far shore.
Anna leaned way over the rail to look into the water below. I reminded her if she fell in, that there are alligators in this park. She stopped leaning so far.
One last picture of him taking a picture of me. The wind used my hair to disguised me well.
~Becky~
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Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
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Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
December 11, 2010
A local church puts on an exhibit that takes you a step back in time to Bethlehem. I have studied a lot of Jewish traditions and getting to visit a reenactment of the Bethlehem of 2000 years ago is a big treat for me. My mother and my Sis “BD” and her kids “B” and “L” came with us.
Kids at the Bethlehem Sign and posing with the kings.
Kids at the Bethlehem Sign and posing with the kings.
Having the kings wandering around the place is neat and all, but, in reality, it is one of those things that is just not accurately portrayed in the world. The kings didn’t visit baby Yeshua (Jesus) in the stable, they visited the “young child” in a house (Matthew 2:11).
The kids always love the animals. Anna says, “Come here sweet pony, you should let me love you and pet you and …” The pony was totally occupied with eating it’s grain and did not pay attention to the kids what so ever. Anna said she wanted to climb the fence and jump on its back, I reminded her that her legs were too long and the pony was too short. She said she didn’t care, but she resisted the urge.
The “townspeople” was holding a large Boer goat for people to pet. Of course, I couldn’t resist an animal to scratch on. Stewart said he thought, ” No…she won’t touch the stinky goat..she knows better…..”, then yep, I touched the goat. I honestly thought, “Surely they would not bring an “intact” goat up for people to love on!” but alas, they did and now my hand smelt like a rutty ol’ billy goat. Thankfully they posted the ladies with “healing oils” to be the next on the route. Stewart let them rub so peppermint oil on his hand. As soon as I discovered the oil smelt good I rubbed my stinky hand on Stewart’s peppermint hand to help with my goat smell. It helped greatly for me, but unfortunately, some of my goaty smell rubbed off as the peppermint was transferred. Stewart was not happy about that at all.
I believe the synagogue was my favorite part. The “Rabbi” there was very informative, so much that I forgot to take pictures of it but I did snap one of Austin while we listened. The man talked about how different the meaning of words was from Hebrew to Greek. For example, the word “on” to us means like a cup sitting “on” a table, but to the Jewish people “on” means fully committed. He said unless we knew some of the history of the Bible times that we can not fully understand the meaning of the Bible. I was so pleased, that is exactly what I have been telling people. He spoke of the “Shema” and I tried to talk Anna into saying the Shema in Hebrew but she was too shy.
My sis asked me why do the Jewish people write God like G-D. I explain to her that they reverence HIM so much they do not write his name for fear of writing it wrong and having to destroy it or writing it in vain. It makes me think how far away we are compared to them. When people say “Oh My God” all the time about every little thing. We have no reverence for or fear of, GOD.
We walked past the “Inn” that had “no room” and got to pet a donkey that didn’t bite, unlike mine, who does.
We stopped at the carpenter shop where he explained the tools used and gave Adam a shaving from a stool he was making. I am not sure if Adam was thinking it was silly to have a piece of wood or if the smell of the cedar was what caused the face he made in that picture.
We walked on around to the yarn dying booth and Anna and Adam dyed a piece, being careful not to get the pomegranate juice on their clothes.
A couple years ago when we came to Bethlehem, we were intrigued by “finger-weaving” so much that when we returned home I had to look it up and we all learned to finger-weave. Adam took a keen interest in it so we took a picture beside the booth.
Next, we visited the potter’s wheel. Adam and Anna take a turn at trying to mold it into something. Watching it makes me think of the scripture:
Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
If only we would be more like the clay, to just accept the firm guidance of our master’s hand, who only wants to mold us into something beautiful, worthy of being the vessel to hold the Holy Ghost and the anointings HE bestows on us.
The music shop family played us a little tune that was actually quite good and gave each kid a flute to take home. Austin looks at me like, “Are you serious? Something noisy?” Adam takes the “rocker” pose as he blows on his flute. They were told real quick by me that they are not going to be blowing it while we were at Bethlehem.
We were getting close to the “pinkie dance” circle, I jokingly ask Austin if he was going to pinkie dance. The look was the answer to my question.
Anna checked out the feel of the grains. The little girls in the booth were talking amongst themselves when one of them did the common ” Oh My God!” saying. Quickly they tried to cover it up by saying, “God has blessed us with the baby Jesus…” I said, “Now you know, real Hebrew children would not have said that.” The looked at me like, “Ut oh.” I just smiled and moved on.
We peek through the window and look at the wedding party. My mom pointed out the Menorah in the middle of the table. Anna says, “They are supposed to set it in the window for all to see.”
“I know, but they don’t know that sweety,” was my reply.
Anna was too shy when we first arrived to do the pinkie dance. I asked her once again before we left if she wanted to. She said, “Yeah, I am in the mood now!” I asked “L” if she was going to, “If Anna will, I will.” So off they went, dragging Adam along.
I left Bethlehem feeling closer and connected this year than in years past. I know it is from all I have learned and studied and my beliefs that make me feel a sense of community.
When we returned home, my two little kids pulled out their “Hebrew” costumes and played “Bethlehem”. It makes my heart smile to see that they too, hold our beliefs dear. Anna repeated to Adam what she heard tonight, ” Shalom, have you traveled far to Bethlehem?”
~Becky~
© Becky Husband & Oh Happy Daze & Disclaimers
Affiliate Links: Thank you for supporting my blog by purchasing through these links.
Christianbook.com carries a wide variety of Christian, Hebrew Roots, & Messianic products along with an abundant amount of homeschool curriculum, inspirational books, movies, music, gifts and more!!
Looking for great essential oils at affordable prices?? Check out Spark Naturals!! Be sure to save your 10% by using coupon code: HAPPYDAZE
Find pretty much anything you need at Amazon.com
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