Torah Family Living

helping you make Torah the heart of your home

A Quick Post

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Hello everyone.

First, I want to make sure you read this wonderful post by Suzanne McDaniels on modesty and dress.  I thought it was very well said and thought provoking.  So go check it out 🙂

Second, I will post some sukkah pics, but I’m finding myself suddenly a bit tired and niggly in the stomach.  Why is that, I wonder? lol  I’ll give you one to wet your appetite.

This was our kitchen table.  The kids drew some pictures of sukkahs which we hung on the wall behind them. 
Third, we are working through our first week using Torah School.  So far, so good.  Doug keeps joking that the kids don’t want to stop school.  Well, it has been pretty fun.  Did you know that the largest flower in the world doesn’t have leaves?  Now you do.  I’ll give a summary post, so you can see what our week looked like.
Fourth, is it just me, or does living in a sukkah for a week make life look different?  I walked back in my house and looked around.  My house is full of junk that we don’t need or use!  I just want to go crazy and throw half our stuff away.  Sukkah life is so simple, and we do it with so few possessions.  No electronics, just food, Bibles, blankets, and cooking implements.  Anyway, I definitely plan on doing some serious housecleaning, if you know what I mean!  And I will spend happy moments remembering the kids cuddled up in our laps, picking numbers, and me reading the corresponding Psalm by flashlight. 
Okay, I just cleaned up my brain a little, and hopefully something in my rambling post was helpful to you.  May YHVH bless you as He has me.  Shalom!

Mama Mission of the Month

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Mission Accomplished

I call this month a success.  Aside from Feast of Tabernacles, when we weren’t exactly in the house, the laundry was well maintained this month. My laundry room is actually clean at this very moment!

Mission of the Month

So I am moving on to a new goal this month.  We are going to start square foot gardening this next year.  I hope that with dh’s help we can get two beds set up this month.  I know it won’t happen in the spring, so this is our chance.

The Season of our Joy

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Happy Feast of Tabernacles to everyone!
We hope you had as joyful a time as we did.
Here we are in front of our sukkah, the whole family in the same picture!
DOUG              ELISHA      HEIDI
        NAOMI
HOLLY     ISAAC    
SADIE                  
I will be posting quite a bit about our celebration, probably tomorrow.  But for now, I wanted to share with you what I found out on a 3:00 am trip from the sukkah to the house.

SEE!  I told you it was the season of our joy!

Torah School

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I am very excited to announce a resource center especially for homeschoolers desiring to use torah as their base for school. When you click on each torah portion, you will find ideas and links for every subject from art to history to science.  Each idea is drawn from the torah portion.

http://torahschool.wordpress.com/
 
 

 I suggest you read the torah portion together on Sabbath, and do any study together then.  During the following week, use some of the ideas to tie the torah into every subject.  Please don’t use every idea in one week.  You’ll never make it! Just pick the ones that are best suited to your family.  We want you to be able to come back next year and use some of the ideas you didn’t use this year.  Also note that some suggestions are definitely for older children.  Keep records with notebooking pages or checklists, etc.

 Beresheet, though not complete, is ready to use.  Noach is also ready to go.  We will continue adding links and ideas over the next few torah cycles. We hope this will be a tremendous blessing to you and your family.  Thank you, Suzanne, for making this wonderful idea a reality.

My Courtship Guidelines

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I see many young ladies anxious to meet their prince.  Would you like to hear how I met my prince, and how we made it to the wedding altar to share our first kiss?  Read on!

It all happened eleven years ago.  I wore a childish denim jumper with sailboats on the pockets.  I just wanted to get this meeting over and get on with my life.  He was, after all, 30 something, and probably fat, bald, and short.  I was only 3 days past my 20th birthday, so this guy sounded ancient.  But then he walked through the door, and my life was never the same. 

Did I know he was the one right away?  I think I did deep down inside, where we don’t often visit.  But I wanted to make sure I made a sensible decision, and then my heart could follow.

I “courted” because that was the coin phrase among homeschoolers at the time.  I don’t care what you call it.  What matters is how it operates.  So here were our rules. 

1. Doug asked my parents permission for everything, including getting my phone number in the first place.
If a guy can’t go through dad, he’s got no right to the girl.

2. We were never alone.  Let me repeat that.  We were never alone.  We got a lot of flack for this, because it was thought that we wouldn’t really know each other.  Simply put, they were wrong.  By the way, Doug made this rule, not my parents.  He did the dating thing, and knew himself all too well.  (Girls, I know your hearts are white as snow, and a bad thought would never even enter the room you are in.  But when a guy looks at you in a certain way, well, let me repeat this again.  NEVER ALONE!)

3.  We did not go on dates.  We didn’t frequent restauarants, except for a double with my parents once.  We lived life together.  We worked together.  We built a ramp for my dad’s shed.  We put a wood floor in the living room.  We baked cookies and pizza.  We spent our time in a home in a family setting.  To this day, our most precious time is the time when we work on things together.  It takes us back to those days.  Fathers can also spot a loser a mile away if he isn’t willing to pick up a tool and get busy.

4.  We limited our time together.  Doug called me on Wednesday afternoons for 3-4 hours.  He came to my house and visited every Saturday.  That was it.  Emotionally, it was a tremendous safeguard.  I didn’t lay awake every night thinking about the dreamy things he said to me.  By the way, when we did talk, we talked of scripture, abortion, speeding laws, how many kids we wanted.  We tried to understand each other.  To refer back to #2, we got to know each other quite well, because we weren’t always trying to put our best foot forward and look good.  We were trying to determine if we should get married, not if we were a cute couple.

5.  We gave our parents full veto power.  Doug told his mom that if she did not approve of me, then he would walk, and he meant it.  I spent a lot of time talking to my parents, and asking them about this thing that Doug said, or that event that happened.  Our parents were our guides.  We trusted them to help us.

6.  In the end, the ball was completely in my court.  When Doug got down on his knee and asked me to be his wife, the choice was completely mine.  I could say yes, I could say no.  Just because we had courted, did not make it a done deal.  When I said yes, we considered ourselves betrothed, and simply had to get ready for the ceremony to make it official.  My parents had given their blessing to Doug, particularly my Dad.  In fact, when Doug called to “talk to Dad,” Mom told him that Dad had a headache and was lying down.  “Don’t bother him now!  I’ll call back!”  So on Thanksgiving Day, my Dad kept saying, “Now’s a good time, pop the question!” 

So of course I said yes.  (Actually I said Holy Cow!)  We enjoyed our first kiss at the altar.  The sermon was about Isaac and Rebekah.  And when we pulled out of the parking lot, we both looked in the back seat to see if my little sister was there.  Ten years, and many hills, and a few mountains, and five kids later, I love him more than I ever dreamed I could love a person.  Did YHVH bring us together?  I have no doubt. 

Could our rules be improved upon?  Certainly.  Could they be given more of a Hebraic view.  Absolutely, since we weren’t Hebraic at the time. Each family is unique and will approach this slightly differently.  YHVH used this particular setup to give me a wonderful husband.  Sometimes he’s not so wonderful.  Sometimes I’m not so wonderful.  But we’re together and we’re happy and serving YHVH together.  What more could you want?

TV free Days of Awe

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And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before YHVH. And, behold, YHVH passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before YHVH; but YHVH was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but YHVH was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but YHVH was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

(1Ki 19:11-12)

 
During these Days of Awe that we have just begun, we want to hear YHVH’s voice.  He has been speaking to me in so many ways, but what of my children?  Can they hear His still small voice?  Or is the TV too loud? 
 
We are going to have a tv free Days of Awe.  We don’t have any regular channels, but I do normally let the kids watch religious children’s programming and movies that I approve.  But we need quiet.  We need stillness.  We need to be able to hear YHVH’s voice.  My husband begged to be allowed God’s Learning Channel, so we’ll occasionally watch some Bible teaching.
 
Would you like to join us?  Did you have the idea first?  Please post a comment if you are doing something similar for the Days of Awe.
 
May we grow closer to YHVH as we listen to Him.  Shalom and Blessings!

Feast of Trumpets Celebration!

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We are all enjoying some quiet at my parents’ house right now so I thought I’d share some photos.  Our gathering was rather small, all extended family, but we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Reading the torah portion together as well as an article about Yom Teruah
Sadie coloring a picture of shofars
FOOD!
Gramps blowing a ram’s horn shofar.  Doug made it from one of our rams.
Gramps and Doug announcing Yom Teruah to the unsuspecting neighbors!
The voice of the next generation
Mommy getting in on the action
Marme gets a sound out of the shofar too!
(Just a note: All shofars represented in these photos were made by Doug.  Another hobby of his lol!)
Okay, this is just a really cute photo.  Feast days are fun!
Happy Yom Teruah everyone!

Happy Feast of Trumpets!

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Wow! This must be a record for me.  Every stitch of work I can dream up is done, the bills are payed, the food is put away, the kids are bathed, and everything is ready for our Yom Teruah celebration tomorrow.  We’re just watching “Annie” while we wait for the new moon.  Tomorrow we are off to my parents’ house to celebrate Yom Teruah.  I hope everyone has a wonderful day and I’ll be back tomorrow evening with some pics.  Off to enjoy my family!

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Yom Teruah!

Tichel!

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I just wanted to show a couple of pics today.  In the background you can see the roof on the sukkah.  In front you can see my new tichel from Sowers of Hope.  Thank you very much!  Elisha wanted to say hi too.

Happy day, everyone!

My husband’s hobby – Sukkot!

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In the last four years, Doug has become completely obsessed with Feast of Tabernacles.  He tries to improve and design a better sukkah every year.  It’s a challenge here in northeast Michigan.  We’ve had rain, flooded tents, mud, “smoke” issues, freezing temperatures, flat air mattresses, etc.  And we’ve never had more fun!  We look forward to the day when we can keep the feast at home in Israel with warm temperatures and a sukkah made of palm branches!

Until then, we are looking forward to this year.  Here is a picture of our progressing sukkah.  The roof is now on, but I don’t have a pic of that yet.

It also doubles as pioneer practice for school!

The Bible is our textbook

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We all say it, but is it really true?
Can we teach our children everything with our Bible and perhaps a few reference works? I thought I’d do a little experiment with next week’s torah portion and find out. Here’s what I came up with.

I am assuming a methodical math and reading curriculum.

Ha’azinu Deuteronomy 32

History:
history of publishing
American court systems, compare and contrast with Torah court system
learn about inheritances, write a will leaving all your possessions to various family members
ancient idolatry
use of arrows
dragons, legends and truth
Israel’s exile to Assyria
geography and topography of Jordan River and Mount Nebo

Science:
study ears
rain and dew
rocks
how to survive in a desert
eagles, particularly how they raise their young
oil and how it is harvested/used
dairy products
magma, lava, volcanoes
poisonous snakes
carniverous animals
nourishment of breastmilk
vineyards
body’s need for water, dehydration

Character:
define foolish with only bible verses
ask your father about a sin he struggled with in his youth and how he overcame it
define abhor
learn about and practice caring for the elderly
learn about YHVH’s ability to heal

I don’t know about you, but that would keep us busy for way more than a week. How much more will be found in next week’s torah portion?

Torah is definitely relevant to education, and I think there is real potential for it to be our very base to what we teach.

Have a great school week everyone!

Healing, Part 5

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I have really been grappling with the connection between sin and sickness. Last week’s torah portion included Deuteronomy 28, 68 verses of blessings and cursings. If you obey you will be blessed. If you disobey, you will have miscarriages, plagues, terrible itch, boils, etc. It really makes sense when you think about it. The best way to get my attention is to make me feel yucky or in pain. I’ll think twice about doing something if I know it will bring discomfort to me.

So YHVH sends us sickness, disease, pain, when we sin. I have been discovering sins and repenting for two solid months, and I thought I was a good person. I feel lighter and more confident in the throne room with each sin I discard. At first, I set out to get my C-section scar healed. I am still seeking that, but what I have gained as I repented is far better.

I thought I’d list some sins that I had to deal with. If you are in a position where you are also seeking to clean house, perhaps this list will trigger something in your life, too.

Unforgiveness towards my husband
Unforgiveness towards other people that mistreated me
Violation of the niddah laws
Inappropriate entertainment, ie movies
Bitterness
Impatience
Lack of a daily relationship with the Father
Selfishness
How dare you attitude
Unsubmissiveness
Self-righteousness
Blaming others
Laziness
Procrastination
Fear
Unbelief
Failure to apologize

Okay, that’s enough. These sins caused physical problems in my life. Now that I am dealing with them and forsaking them, those physical problems are leaving or improving. And I’m scared to return to those sins. I don’t want headaches that make me nauseous. I don’t want my legs to hurt so much that it’s hard to get out of a chair.

I hope that we all can come out a little purer as we prepare our hearts for the fall feasts. The feasts are more than blowing a shofar and building a sukkah. It’s about becoming a pure and holy bride, ready for the bridegroom. The Father is so merciful. He gives us so much time to repent. But when we delay, we are only hurting ourselves.

Create in me a clean heart, O YHVH; and renew a right spirit within me.
(Psa 51:10)

Shabbat Shalom and happy heart cleaning!

Mama Mission of the Month

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I thought it would be helpful to join Mama’s Mission of the Month.

Mission of the Month

I have a very simple goal to accomplish in September. 

Laundry.

I want to get a load in every day except Shabbat, and actually have it put away the same day.

So there you have it. A simple word. Not so simple a task.
Have a great day, everyone!

Can’t we just pray?

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Okay, it’s embarrassing.  I’m supposed to be the teacher.  But today my six year old was.

We were supposed to go to the sawmill and pick up some slab wood.  My husband is working on the roof of our sukkah.  I failed to call ahead as I was supposed to, and no one was there.  Much frustration, arguing, unhappiness and just plain yuckiness ensued.

I asked my husband for forgiveness and he was giving me a big hug, when Holly spoke up.

“Mommy, can’t we just pray that the sawmill guy will come home and we can go get the wood?”

“Yes, Holly, that is exactly what we can do.”  And we did.  And guess what?  The sawmill guy came home and we got the wood, at a very good price, too.

Praise YHVH!  Thank you, Holly, for your much needed, though humbling, insight.

My new game

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My mind has been going a bit deep lately.  I’ve been completely engulfed in trying to learn who YHVH is and how to trust Him for everything.  He is slowly showing Himself to me and He is ever faithful.

But I still live on this planet, and I thought I’d make my ever important job of homemaker a little fun today.  So I made up a game called BEFORE AND AFTER.  I know, I’m feeling extremely creative today lol!  So here goes.  This is my BEFORE of my kitchen.

10:40 am
11:00 am
11:30
Okay, my husband came home with groceries and everyone wanted lunch.  So we’re slowing up a bit here.  Don’t they know I’m in the middle of a game?  Praise YHVH for family!
AFTER
12:20
Yay!  I win! And so does everyone else.  A clean kitchen makes everyone happy.
Have a great day brightening your little corner of the world!

Healing, Part 4

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My heart is very full tonight.  I had hoped this would be my last post on healing, but it is not to be.  YHVH told me to make an appointment with my OB when I began praying for healing.  I went to see her today, and fully expected her to find no scar, and be able to give a testimony.  I did indeed give a testimony.  I told her how I have been praying for healing and she was quick to notice that it seems to be vanishing from one side over to the other.  I explained that I was praying for complete healing and she agreed that it would be healed.  I know I did what I was supposed to do, and a major seed was planted in her heart.  Praise YHVH!  But the scar is not completely gone yet.

But my flesh is tempted to wonder.  Did I miss something?  Did I do something wrong?  I exercised faith.  I repented of my sins.  I confessed YHVH before men.  I have praised Him and thanked Him.  As I prayed, I felt very weak in myself.  I shouldn’t feel this way.  YHVH is so good to me.  But I want this blog to be an honest blog.  Even in the Psalms, David often cried out, not understanding, tired of waiting.  YHVH gave us emotions, and He understands.  Our emotions bring us to His feet.  We can crawl up in His lap, and He rocks us for awhile.  We cry and He comforts us.  He gives us words, fitly chosen just for us.  Here are my words, chosen for me.

Wait on YHVH: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on YHVH.

(Psa 27:14)

My Elohim, my Abba, keeps His promises.  He knows what is best and understands things far better than I do.  I’m going to keep hanging on to his tsı̂ytsith, just like the woman with the issue of blood.  He has healed my scar so much already.  He will finish what He started.  Praise YHVH!

Shabbat Shalom everyone!  Have a blessed and restful day.

Healing, Part 3

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Yahshua healed many people, and usually said something to the effect of, “Your faith has made you whole.”

So what is faith?  Is it simply believing?  Is it an emotion?  If I have a weak moment of doubt, is it all over?  I hope not, because in the last 6 weeks, I’ve had some moments of doubt.  My husband would literally get two inches from my face, and say, “By His stripes we are healed.  You are healed.  There is no scar!”  I needed that from him, and I’m very thankful for it.

I’ve been trying to figure out what faith really is.  I did some word study, and went over to Brad Scott’s website, Wild Branch Ministries.  Be sure to check out his free four part article on faith. 

Here is my humble understanding of faith, after much prayer.

The world gives us a picture of many religious roads, all of which lead to the same god.  I think there are many roads, but they all lead to different gods.  How do we know what god a person is heading towards?  By identifying the path they are on.  Each god has certain requirements, and if you are fulfilling their requirements, you are on their path.

YHVH’s path is heading in an opposite direction from the other paths.  What identifies his path?  TORAH!  Who completely embodies torah?  Yahshua the Messiah!  How do you know you are on YHVH’s path?  You follow Yahshua and keep torah. 

Faith is defined by what you do. 
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (Jas 2:17)

Faith is obedience, and trust.  The idea of trusting a father is also implied in the Hebrew word.  Do your children worry about whether they will eat dinner or not?  Or do they show up at the table and expect a plate of food to be put in front of them?  Hopefully they say thank you lol!

The same goes for us.  YHVH promised to care for us and heal us.  He wants us to rely on Him for everything.  Will we trust Him as a little child, expecting to be taken care of, with no questions?  Will we show that YHVH is the god we trust by following HIS path and doing what HE says?

I have had to say out loud that YHVH is the only God that can heal me.  He is the only God that promised to heal me, and I’m going to show I have faith by obeying torah and thanking Him ahead of time for healing me.

YHVH, help my unbelief!  You are the one and only true Elohim!

Healing, Part 2

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My next question while seeking healing was: Why did I have two c-sections? Why did I need healing in the first place?

Scriptures are clear on the reason for sickness and disease. But I don’t think it’s an answer we want to spend too much time on. Of course, we will all admit that sin causes sickness and disease. But it’s a little harder to admit that MY sin caused MY sickness and disease.
Here are some verses I pondered.

Deuteronomy 28:15-68 It lists all the curses YHVH will send to us if we disobey. Note that He does not “allow, “ but rather He causes, brings, sends.

Follow the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness. Who sent the plagues? Who sent the snakes that bit them? Who sent leprosy to Miriam? Who healed her?
It has become quite clear to me that when I get sickness or pain or disease, YHVH sent it as a direct result of my sin. So why did I have a c-section? Once I realized that sin was the problem, my heart was quick to tell me that I lived in fear during that whole first pregnancy. I desperately pleaded with God to make everything go okay. That’s sin. I did not have faith, or trust. I worried to the point of unbelief.
So I repented of that sin, and my scar continued to fade, to the point that I could see a difference from day to day. Praise YHVH! But my journey was not over yet. Stay tuned!

A Prayer for our week

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YHVH, our heavenly Father,

We need you this week.  We want to please you in all we do.  We can’t do anything without you, and we can do all things with you.  We ask you to remember your covenant with us.  You promise us blessing, success, and an abundant life.  We are trying hard to follow your precious Torah.  It is the very essence of life and we choose life.

Sometimes it is hard for us to follow.  We repent for the times this week that we left the narrow path.  Sometimes our house blows up (or so it seems.)  Sometimes we get very frustated with our kids and say things less than edifying.  Sometimes we are lazy and don’t get our work done.  Sometimes we forget to spend time with you, our precious Elohim.  Please forgive us.

We give this week to you.  Take our tongues, and only allow good things to flow from them.  Take our husbands, may we be good helpmeets to them.  Take our children, let us teach them about your Torah.  Help us see the moments when their hearts are soft.  Give us wisdom to deal with them righteously.  Take our homes, and let them be a place of shalom, a place of growth, a place of safety, a place of righteousness.  Help us to be diligent in our calling.

We thank you for the victory!  We thank you for a blessed week that we are about to experience.  You are a wonderful Elohim, and we are honored to serve you.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

In Yahshua’s name,
Amein 

Healing, Part 1

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This is about my prayer for healing. Let me give you a little background first. My first baby was born by c-section. My next three were vbacs. Then I had another c-section. I want to have as many children as YHVH blesses me with. My birth history is beginning to work against me.

July 3, 2010, I listened to part of a teaching by Thurman Scrivner. It is called “The Tongue” and can be found at http://tlsm.org/ListenOnline.cgi. His teaching got me thinking. I have spent my entire life basically not believing in modern healings. Healing ministries were considered frauds. Healings only took place at the time of Yahshua. But Thurman was showing scripture that very clearly says YHVH wants to heal us.

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
(Isa 53:5)

Heal me, O YHVH, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.
(Jer 17:14)

If those scriptures are true, then healing is accepted as a matter of fact in scripture. If our five senses don’t line up with scripture, then we need to go with scripture.

Wow, that is amazing! I had this overwhelming sense to ask YHVH to remove my c-section scar and any evidence of a c-section. I prayed the scriptures, claiming them for myself. Talk about a spiritual rush. But the next morning, my scar was still there. Now, looking back, I know that YHVH was planning to use this to teach me a great many things. So the scar was still there, but noticeably softer to the touch. I soon learned that when YHVH heals, he doesn’t always do it instantaneously. Does that make the scriptures not true? No, we just have to keep believing scripture, even though our eyes are telling us something different.

You see, if by Yahshua’s stripes we are healed, then my scar was removed 2000 years ago, when Yahshua took my place on the tree. It’s already done. The natural world just has to catch up with the spiritual.

Praise YHVH! I’ll continue my story in the next post, and I hope it will be a blessing to you.
 
Shabbat Shalom, everyone!