Multitude Mondays; Gratitude

71. vacuums

72. baby hiccups

73. water

74. crocheting

75. my memory; even on the days when it's lacking..

76. Thursday this week

77. love, love, love

78. naps

79. projects to keep me busy until baby arrives

80. homeschooling

Nevertheless..

Mishpatim and Shekalim For the week of February 13, 2010 / 29 Shevat 5770 Torah: Shemot / Exodus 21:1 - 24:18 & 30:11-16 Haftarah: 2 Melachim / 2 Kings 12:1-17 & 1 Samuel 20:18-42 Nevertheless And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places. (2 Melachim / 2 Kings 12:2,3; ESV) The books of Melachim (English: Kings) recount the happenings of the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah. Much of what we read centers around the life of the various kings. Our Haftarah recounts the reign of King Joash, also called Jehoash. As is common when the Scriptures introduce us to a king, we are told whether or not he did right in the sight of God. Very few of the approximately forty kings of Israel and Judah are classified as good to any extent, Joash being one of them. How this is described in our reading is interesting in that the writer provides us with this disclaimer of sorts: "Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places." There were certain kings like Joash, who did what was right for the most part and yet tolerated this significant inappropriate aspect of the life of their nation. The people had been instructed by God to perform his prescribed rituals only at the location God determined. By this time, that place was the temple in Jerusalem. These other locations, called "high places", were sometimes used for pagan worship and other times for the worship of the true God. From the way the kings are assessed by the biblical writers, it sounds as if the issue of the "high places" was secondary, yet nevertheless important. Kings like Joash did what was good. Nevertheless, their reluctance to remove the "high places" to some extent undermined the good they were otherwise seeking to do. We see by this that God seems to have some toleration for the inaccurate ways in which we relate to him. There are some aspects of inaccurate spirituality that he puts up with. Nevertheless, just because he tolerates them doesn't mean that we shouldn't address them. Among our "high places" today are all sorts of traditional and cultural expressions of worship that have great importance to us, but were never sanctioned by God. He puts up with them, but, nevertheless, would prefer that we remove them. We preserve our "high places" to our own detriment. We may be technically doing what is right in the sight of God, yet at the same time, there hangs over us a significant "nevertheless." How much better off we would be if we no longer tolerate our "high places" and would not have to hear God say about us, "nevertheless". get these for yourself @ torahbytes.org

G-d given gifts...

We have been working on new projects here in our home..
Crocheting projects and painting a dresser for the baby (You can read more about that here; http://wombmama.xanga.com/721044051/my-project/ ) and new blessing coming in May.

Our crocheting projects..

This bundle is going to be a blanket once it's finished..a large afghan..be gentle..it's my first crocheting project. I am excited to see how it is going to turn out!!
Gabby is making a bib for baby..She is doing great!!
Morgan-Britney is working on a blanket poncho for baby. So far so great!! :)
This is Quentin and his first crocheting project. He finished it and gave it to Zaralayna. It is a scarf just her size!!

I went yarn shopping which has now become one of my favorite things to do! And my manly man spent lots of time rolling all my yarn into balls for me!




Something so sweet to add love to our days is the love between baby boy and his big sister..he was sleeping on mama's baby belly and she just sat there and held his hand..

JaidenNoah discovered the maya wrap which belongs to his sister Gabriellia. He loved carrying his baby around in it! It was so cute!!!



There have been some great lego creations at our home recently..




I am blessed!! My days are never boring but full of wonderful G-d given gifts in all their forms!

James 1:17
¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].

Multitude Mondays; Gratitude

61. safety pins

62. childbirth books that leave you feeling full of peace and wisdom

63. homemaking binder

64. chocolate chai

65. great websites that teach me something

66. warm days that melt the snow

67. date nights for mama and daddy

68. waking up and knowing the bad dream isn't reality

69. pizza soup

70. 9 months of pg instead of 13

Pregnancy Blog..

Hey! Check out my pregnancy blog sometime!!

http://wombmama.xanga.com/

Walk With Him Wednesday

A week ago I was sitting in my living room on our recently acquired free sofa..I was feeling so peaceful with all my children gathered around me crocheting. I was amazed as I watched them create and design. Amazed at how quickly they learned how to do crochet.
I put in S.M. Davis's What To Expect From a Twelve Year Old. We all listened as he talked of what the world expected of 12 year olds and teenagers around this age. What a contrast it was to what the Father expects! And as my 13 yr. old and 12 year old listened I could see the look of disagreement on their handsome faces. And then they gave voice to them..
'Mama, we're not like that! That's not true! That's not us!"
No, indeed it's not! And thank you Father! Thank you that through my sweet children I see You moving and working through me! I see that as we teach our children your Word and to obey your commands the fruit of that comes shining through!

Last night I lay in my bed tired from a long day not wanting to move..My pillow was on the couch as my pregnant body finds itself there many days. But I could not find the strength to pick myself up to go down the stairs to retrieve it. My bed was so cozy and restful..
My manly man got himself up and out of bed and went down and got my pillow for me..he settled everything down for the night and got back into bed. For many minutes I lay there and thought of the small kindness my dh had just shown me! How it meant so much! Though little it even today stays with me..
I see the Father's love through actions such as what my man did!

Our faith isn't always shown in doing BIG things for G-d. Alot of times it's just the simple everyday things where we see His love and see how He is working in and through us!
Through our children, our loves, our neighbors, friends, families and even strangers.

Let's be sure to look for those daily opportunities to see Father and how He is working.

Phil 2:13 ....for God is the one working among you both the willing and the working for what pleases him

Multitude Mondays; Gratitude

51. my wonderful spirit filled dh

52. envelopes

53. adventure in odyssey stories

54. saving grace

55. shampoo

56. wise teaching

57. library books

58. good mail days

59. fresh snow and its sparkles

60. my mild 9 year old Quentin. he is such a sweet boy!

Torahbytes...

Be-Shallah
For the week of January 30, 2010 / 15 Shevat 5770
Torah: Shemot / Exodus 13:17 - 17:16
Haftarah: Shoftim / Judges 4:4 - 5:31

Troubles
And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness (Shemot / Exodus 16:2; ESV)

When we think of the exodus, I wonder if we think of it more as a fairy tale than the historical event it really was - as if after living under oppressive bondage for hundreds of years, God delivered the people of Israel, and then they lived happily ever after. I can think of at least one Hollywood rendition of the exodus story that gives this impression. Once the people got to the other side of the Red Sea, they were trouble free as they headed off to the Promised Land to enjoy their new life.

But that is not what really happened. Even though they truly were a free people, no longer under the bond of slavery, they had a whole new set of challenges to face. In fact between the Red Sea and their arrival at Mt. Sinai alone, they faced dehydration twice, starvation once, and war once. Far from being trouble free, the people went from one set of troubles to another. The difference was that previously they had been facing troubles as slaves to the Egyptians, and now they were facing troubles as servants of God.

Servants of God face ongoing trouble. The source of trouble can be quite varied. Sometimes troubles are of our own making, sometimes they come from the hand of others. At times we find ourselves in hostile natural environments, such as epidemics and disasters. The troubles we face can be of various degrees, from simple dilemmas to nuisances to life-threatening situations.

The trouble faced by the people of Israel during their time in the wilderness had a clear intended purpose. Later in the Torah we read these words:

And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 8:2,3; ESV)

The troubles encountered by Israel in the wilderness were designed to train them to rely on God in everything. While troubles can come from many sources and for many reasons, in the case of Israel at this time, the challenges they faced were clearly intended by God. I don't know if we can say that is how it works for every instance of trouble we face. But certainly every instance of trouble is an opportunity for us to learn to rely on God rather than upon ourselves.

I don't know about you, but I find myself offended by trouble. I really don't like it. I want my days to go smoothly, I want to get along with everyone, and I want to be successful in everything I do upon my first attempt at doing it. The problem is life is not like that. And at least for now, God doesn't seem to be interested in making it any other way. Far from it! He wants us to learn to face our troubles in him. That means trusting him to make things right in his time in his own way and, for the time being, living life according to his directives no matter what.

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