A Day of Sukkahs-kid style

We also read books, hung out with friends and generally enjoyed our sabbath. One of our favorite books was The Mysterious Guests. When then read Matthew 25:31-46.

Sukkot, Festival of Booths

Thought from First Fruits of Zion:

The Apostle John uses a verb form of the same Greek word that is used to translate the Hebrew word for booth (sukkah) when he wrote, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us." (John 1:14) He tabernacled among us, and He will tabernacle among us again in the messianic future. The celebration of the Festival of Booths (Sukkot) celebrates the Messiah who once tabernacled among us, now tabernacles within us, and in the future will again tabernacle among us.

It is a beautiful image. Thank you for the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us. And for that day yet to come, I say, "Come, Yeshua, Return to us." :) In the meantime, may I be pleasing to you, follow you and lead my children to follow you.

Further Reading:
Leviticus 23:42-43

God's protection and blessing

We (the kids and I) were driving down 85 on Friday morning. I was in the left hand lane going about 75mph. A medium to large deer started to dash into the road. There were other vehicles behind and to my right so I knew that I was going to hit it. I slowed down some. I prayed that God would help me not lose control and that the kids would be kept safe. I hit it on the right front side. Amazingly, the deer slipped and fell as he hit the road. So he went under the right front tire. I did not lose control. No one behind or beside me did either that I could tell. The van seemed to be fine. I mean, amazingly, I saw no damage. Later that day, I had JR look, too. There was definitely icky evidence of the deer under the van but NO damage. God protected us and he blessed us by causing the van to be without damage. Thank you God! I am so grateful for your hand on the kids and I. :)

Reflections

Leviticus 23:26-33: Sabbath rest (from evening to evening), a holy day gathering, humbling oneself, fasting, a statute forever throughout your generations, to make atonement for you before the Lord

My friend described this day as one of looking in a mirror. Of truly seeing ourselves...

On this Day of Atonement, I was trying to figure out humility...

Humility:
        * 'a grace of the soul that allows one to think of himself no more highly than he ought to think' (from the New Unger's Bible Dictionary)
        * it comes by God's grace and involves all of a person and not just the feelings
        * characterized by obedience to God (Zephaniah 2:1-3), submission to authority (1 Peter 5:5), lack of pride in oneself (Proverbs 18:12), acceptance of God's providence (Phil 4:12), esteeming others as more important than oneself (Ro 12:3, Phil 2:3)

How do I know and practice humility?

Psalm 40, 51 and 63: I have been meditating on those.

Atonement:
       * to cover, to wipe out, to cleanse, to appease, and to purge
       * to make one

2 Corinthians 5:21: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.


Galatians 3:13: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

James 4: 8-10: Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.\


I am humbled, amazed and so very grateful of God's atonement of me through Yeshua on this day and forever. I can now come before God with confidence. I know that when He sees me, he sees the blood of his son (the perfect sacrifice and scapegoat covering my sins- the animal is a symbol/typology only). He transferred my sins onto his beloved son so that I could be made clean. Praise be to God!
But I must continue to examine myself, since there is still sin within me. To really see myself and my need for the messiah, redeemer. That is God's gift to me. I can examine myself and then He can do something about it. Praise be to God.
 
I pray that God's truth would touch myself and others deep in our hearts today.

A Mexican Celebration!

Decorations (art) to get ready for the celebration. pinata, tin plate art, clay sun face.

We made corn tortillas and then enchiladas. Fun and yummy. :)

Enjoying the food!

 And now the real fun begins:

North American Adventure

Olivia has a passport. She had to fill out an application and "mail" into the processing center (that was just me). Then she had to wait for her passport to come in the mail.

We started our travels in the United States. This was mostly a review from last year. Olivia had a good time reviewing her geography and some fun information about the regions of the US. She knows at least half of her states, the major bodies of water and mountain ranges in the US. During this time, our science was on forests, deciduous and coniferous.We took lots of walks through our local forests and discussed/observed them. She is learning lots of new words and information about plants and animals. We listened to some American folk music and did some art projects.

Top left: she strung beans and seeds to make a necklace (Native American). Top right: apple face doll, the face of the doll is a craved and then dried out apple (colonial toy). Bottom left: Coude stick, this is picture drawings recording an event, used instead of writing (Native American). Bottom right: sand art (Native American).

Then her passport arrived. She was so excited. We were then able to cross the border into Mexico. We learned more about that country as well as an overview of some of the other countries and islands of Central America and the Caribbean. Our science focus turned to the desert, with its particular plants and animals. Since we couldn't actually visit a desert, we looked at lots of books, pictures, observed some succulent plants, and used our imaginations. Again we listened to some folk music and did some art projects. You will see the art projects in the next post because we had a great Mexican celebration at the end of the two weeks of study. My main basis for this curriculum is My Father's World, Exploring Countries and Cultures, but I have added in some activities from a company called Winter Promise.The map at the beginning with the sticker labels was part of that. The other thing is a nature journal/activity book. It includes lots of observation, scavenger hunts and other nature exploration ideas. We are also reading about certain animals and then putting them on a height/length chart. Olivia is finding this very fascinating as we put her and our dog on the chart first for reference.

The last visit on our North American tour was to head north into Canada. Another book we are reading on occasion to help Olivia understand the people and cultures of these countries is called, Children of Many Lands by Karen Brooks. It is written in conversation/story form from one child living in a given country to my American child. She enjoys these stories. So along with looking at lots of pictures in library books, physical and population maps, and hearing some words in the country's language, this is the way Olivia has learned the most.

Left side (top and bottom): maple leaf prints using real leaf and clay. Top Right: soap sculpture, hippo (Inuit) *she used a peeler and had extra help with this one*. Bottom Right: Canadian Flag cookie.

In addition to the geography and science learning, Olivia is beginning to read through the book of Matthew. She is also memorizing some scriptures as we go. And then we are reading about the lives of some heroic Christian men and women and learning about the character traits that made them great people able to serve God and make an impact on this world around them. We are also reading about people groups in a book called Window on the World and praying for them as we do. The read alouds we just finished are Cameron Townsend (this is the story of the man who started Wycliffe Bible Translators, SIL and JAARS) and then My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (for science, suggested by Winter Promise). Olivia enjoys them both very much. She has also had a basket full of library books to read/look through. Olivia loves books. She copies her bible verses and character traits for handwriting practice. She has also been writing a letter to someone she chooses each Friday. She continues to do other language arts, spelling and math learning but there just isn't so much to say about those or take pictures of. :) She is diligent in her work. I am very proud of her.

She is also continuing to pick up her knitting. She has really been more careful and her abilities are progressing. She has asked me to teach her to cross-stitch after seeing a couple of projects at the craft store, so that may be next. She is also taking dance from Lauren at church. Right now, she gets classes one on one with her. She is enjoying it but does miss her previous dancemates. In addition to ballet, she is getting to do some tap and worship dance.

I am also having her take part in helping Gabe with his learning poster (which features a letter, number, color and new words and nursery rhymes/poems) and in playing with certain toys. This is good for her to try to be in a place to help him but, of course, it takes cooperation from Gabe too. That is not always easy to come by. :) There are times that he wants to participate in "school" activities and times when we have to coax him or fit them in when he doesn't quite realize what he is doing. Olivia has learned to work with her brothers and in the midst of our daily lives well. She still gets distracted and certainly struggles but overall I am seeing tons of improvement. I am working to figure out how to keep a schedule and be flexible all at the same time too.

Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets)

Leviticus 23: 23-24 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

Numbers 29:1 Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.

This is the Jewish New Year, year 5772. Today (actually beginning at sundown last night) is a day for remembering. The biblical command is to blast the trumpet or shofar. It is an amazing sound if you have never heard one. And not so easy to do without a bit of practice! :) It is a memorial of God's grace to Abraham when he substituted the ram for Issac. And this being a foreshadowing of Christ substitution for us! (Genesis 22) The blasting of the trumpet is also a call to us. To think about the God's call to us. It is a deep sound, amazing if you haven't ever heard one. One day Christ will return with the sound of a trumpet. And on that day, we need to be ready to respond to his call. In Christ we are forgiven of our sins and will be able to stand in that day! I pray we are all ready! 

This day is also a celebration of the worlds' birthday. It is God's amazing creation through which he speaks to us. We celebrate his great work! (Genesis 1) There are other significances to this feast. We are just beginning to learn about our Hebrew roots and this Jewish God and Savior we serve. I encourage you to learn more about it! It is an amazing way to see and understand God.

Other ways that we will celebrate the feast of trumpets:

reading scripture

eating apples in honey, sweet bread, pomegranates

taking a nature walk and casting crumbs into a stream

the kids have paper mache trumpets
celebrate with friends

Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities under foot.
Yes, You will cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.  

Recommended Reading:
http://ffoz.org/blogs/2011/09/rosh_hashanah_admonishing_the.html

Apple Picking

We took the kids apple picking again this year. It was a blast! It had rained for the 2-3 days prior, so it was a little wet, but we made it through without too much mud. :)

Ezra got the hang of it very quickly

Gabe helped O find the best apples.

Enjoying the harvest

The boys gnawed those apples for quite a while.

There were a couple of tire swings back at the barn for the kids to play on.

Back home, it was time to turn our 17 pounds of apples into applesauce. We gave our peeler/corer quite a workout.

Ezra wanted to try it out, too.

Too bad this isn't a scratch-n-sniff blog!

The Boys

Ezra seems to have given up eating the crayons and decided to join Gabe in coloring.

Gabe's Stomp Rocket

Aunt DD bought Gabe a wonderful gift for his birthday: a Stomp Rocket! We brought it out to the front yard and all manner of excitement ensued. All the kids loved putting the rockets on and stomping on the bag to make the rocket sail into the air. Ezra didn't get the stomping part, but loved to put the rockets on the launcher.

More Views of Baby #4

Rebecca went back to the doc last week for some more ultrasound pictures. The first time, Baby #4 wasn't in the right place for the tech to see the whole spine and the cord attachment. This time everything was great and they officially changed our due date to 1/11/12.

Trains!

We took Gabe to the North Carolina Transportation Museum for some train fun for his birthday. He gets super excited when we see trains or ride near or over train tracks so this seemed like the perfect place to go. All aboard!!

We started out by riding the train. It is an out and back ride because this was a maintance and repair facility of the Southern Railway Co. It was built in the 1890s. Here is more info if you would like.

Then we stopped off at the Round House to see a collection of engines and cars.

Then we took a ride on the Turntable. It is the largest working one in the country.