Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hurricane Sandy and More...

Well, Hurricane Sandy has come to visit.  Thankfully being in Ohio, we were not in the coastal area which got so hard hit.  We had about 200,000 up near the Great Lake lose power, but only about 5,000 in the Columbus area.  So far, we still have power - Praise Yahweh!  None of the animals have wanted to go outside today as it has been this awful mix of rain, snow, and sleet with high winds.  We have enjoyed being inside by the woodstove which we fired up for the first time this morning.  And some hot tea too! 

This past weekend, my parents got to get away for the first time just as couple in a long time.  I hope it was a refreshing time for them...  With me being an only child and us being a close family, we mostly do things as a family, but this was good for them.  I stayed home, and my friend, Nicole, came and spent the weekend with me.  We enjoyed relaxing, talking, watching a couple of movies (Flywheel by Sherwood Baptist Church and Sense and Sensability a Jane Austin movie).  We even went out for pizza after Shabbat!  That was a fun treat. Our neighbor down the road milked the cow for us as I haven't been really involved in the care of the cow ever since I got gored by our steer 2 years ago.  That steer is in the freezor; however, I just haven't gotten back in the routine of going out and helping.  We had a good weekend, and everyone was refreshed.  :) 

Then, this week so far, I've been getting all my schoolwork done on schedule which makes me a happy camper!  As well as other items on my to do list.  Well, I will close now and finish up the last few things before enjoying some family time tonight. 


Friday, October 26, 2012

Shabbat shalom!

Well, Shabbat is here, and I'm certainly glad of it.  My to do list for the week is 100% done!!!  :)  And I feel like the Lord really allowed me to get everything He wanted done done.  One of my best friends, Nicole, is coming over for the weekend, and I can't wait.  I do believe I hear a "Jane Austin movie fest and lots of girl giggles coming on!".  :) 

I had my two cleaning jobs this week which I enjoyed particularly the one with my dad.  The Daddy Daughter time is really important to me.  And Mommy and I have picked back up on our book, It's Not That Complicated which I hope to share a few quotes with you as it is such a good book. 

Anyway, just wanted to take a few minutes to wish everyone a wonderful Shabbat! 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Life...

Life has been busy since Sukkot, but I prefer feeling productive than not having anything to do.  Last week, I had a head cold - cough, stuffy nose, sneezing, etc.  I did not enjoy it; however, it was nice to just stay home!  I was of course taking my colloidal silver, ALJ (herbal tincture), Thieves oil, and more.  I never felt extremely bad...just tired, and I'm normally a pretty high energy person.  Also, I have found that ever since I had the dust induced bronchitis after Camp Yeshua 2011, I have to be extra careful to not be around dust when I'm sick as it quickly makes my cold worse.  So I rescheduled my cleaning job from this past week to this week.  I was able to keep up with all my schoolwork though which made me quite happy.

You've probably heard me mention school and wondered what I'm up to. I've gone back to school to become a Doctor of Traditional Naturopathy.  My family has always done a lot of natural health and alternative methods, so this only ended up being a natural progression for me.  Even if I never make it into a business (I'd rather get married and have a family), the knowledge and ability to help friends and family on the side is so worth it.  I'll be doing the school work for about three years, and my mom has told me the only thing that is allowed to interrupt it is the right young man finding me!  :)  That got a good girlish giggle from me.  I'm also completing counseling training, so that I will be a trained and certified Biblical (like Pastoral) Counselor through AACC (American Association of Christian Counselors).  That will be done late summer 2013.  I'm picking up a few other courses along the way like The Creation Gospel training through Holisa Alewine and The King Method (a form of natural healing that uses physics) from the King Institute out of Dallas as well as working on my Hebrew Language Studies.  Who knows where all the Lord might use this...

And I'm still of course keeping up with my ministry...  I'm blogging once a week on the Money Management Mentor's website which you can check out by clicking here.  I'm also working to build up funding, so I can spend more time on it and less on other income earning areas.

I'm also learning to walk away and relax which is so good for me.  I really unplugged during Sukkot...I checked e-mail via my iPad once a day and that was only skimming for Sukkot related e-mails...and did very little else.  My computer itself was only on 1 time that week!!!!  Now to keep up a focus on people and not computers.  Computers are only a tool...but they can become very distracting.  I think I've gotten my computer time down to about 1 hour a day and half that time is spent on my school work entering test answers (the rest of my schoolwork is paper and pen).  So I'm feeling a much better balance in my life that way.

Well, I will close now and finish up my schooling for the day...  Shalom to all!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sukkot

Sukkot was once again a wonderful eight days of rejoicing before our loving Heavenly Father.  We go by the sighted New Moon as seen in Jerusalem, so our Sukkot started on Monday, October 1.  We had a couple of families who wanted to Sukkot with us who go by the dark of the moon, so they arrived on Sunday.  Also, we had three of the families in our congregation come over on Sunday to help us finish preparing - mowing the yard, fencing in the chickens, pulling the last of the weeds, setting up tents, putting up tables and chairs, and fixing food.  It was a lot of fun working togther!

Monday began the real excitement with everyone arriving.  That evening as the sun set, we had our annual opening Thanksgiving style dinner.  Since the first Thanksgiving was either a Sukkot celebration or based on the concept of Sukkot, we have taken that back and made it a "new tradition" for our group for the past three years.  Momma fixes her turkey and dressing, and each family contributes a dish to go with it.  We then had our opening session and enjoyed lots of good fellowship.

By Tuesday, we began to establish a daily routine.  Get up, enjoy breakfast and fellowship for a while, watch a Hebrew Lesson by Jeff Benner on DVD, fix and eat lunch which was our main shared meal of the day, enjoy a rousing afternoon midrash, dance before the Lord in our Davidic Dance class, pull out some leftovers for supper, and then have an evening teaching session.  We often closed out the night with a movie such as Flywheel, Fireproof, and Courageous. 

On Sunday, we had Aaron and Tricia Leu who recently wrote the book Love Awakened join us and share their testimony which is a very touching story of Yahweh working mightily in someone's life.  Monday morning was our "Breakfast Brunch" which is where we feast on eggs, turkey bacon (which we ended up naming "Turkin"), pancakes, fruit, hashbrowns, and fruit pizza.  The children also enjoyed some special activities and crafts just for them like a making a banner which said Sukkot in Hebrew letters and decorating it. 

Throughout the week, I most enjoyed the teamwork and fellowship as well as the many Scriptural discussions.  I also took quite a few pictures which you can view by clicking here.  Hag Sameach!