We've been celebrating Hanukkah this week. No, no, we aren't Jewish. :) (Although, we do love the Jewish people. And we believe in a Hebrew God and Messiah.) What an amazing story and celebration. It is a story of standing up to religious persecution, of God doing amazing miracles, lighting lights to remind us of those things as well as the TRUE light of the World, being able to worship God and study the Bible freely. Thank you God for your light and miracles in our lives!
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| A simple candle holder based on the Hanukkah Menorah. Just a simple piece of oak with holes drilled in it. The candles are actually nothing but olive oil with wire wicks. The lampstand or Menorah in the Temple (only 6 lights) was oil burning. And one of the miracles of Hanukkah surrounds the provisions of 8 days of oil from just 1 day's supply. |
We took Olivia and the boys to a storytime at the library where they got to hear traditional stories, recipes, play the dreidel game and songs.
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| Ezra found himself a little chair that was just right for him. I seriously considered stealing it because he looked so cute in it. |
Rebecca also found a great resource called Jonathan's story by Heidi Cooper at www.torahfamilyliving.com. We read a part of it each day and did the suggested activities (bible reading, marching with our instruments praising God with the Psalms, the Songs of Moses and Miriam, and our own made up songs, praying blessings over the children and how God would one day use their little lives, making a family crest together, and reenacting the battle between the Jews and the Greeks--just to name a few) Also, we have been using Robin Sampson's A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays which is another great resource. We have generally been having a good time as a family and with friends. We had dinner and then hot chocolate and cookies. We tried our hands at making latkes.
One craft that O really enjoyed doing was making a family crest with 4 things we think are important. She picked (from top left clockwise): God's Word (in the form of a scroll), our family, the Cross, and God's creation.
Wondering why we would celebrate? Well, it has been a process but this article will is a pretty good introduction to the reasons.
