Jesus

What is the Best Way to Practice Advent?

November 17, 2020 by mamakay Leave a Comment

Do you find yourself frazzled in the busyness of December? There are so many extra activities and preparations to be made for Christmas. How can you possibly do one more thing? you may be asking yourself. Our family has found that practicing Advent is the answer.

Advent is not about doing one more thing. It is not something to be checked off your list. It is about so much more. There has never been a year that we have done our Advent things every single day. It is an invitation to meet Jesus here and now as we anticipate not only Christmas Day but his return to this Earth.

We have found that tying our Advent traditions to habits we have already established we are more capable of accomplishing them. Here is what works for us during this season:

Mornings

Each morning as the kids eat breakfast we sing the Doxology (we do this all year long), then we read the Scripture for the Advent Readings that day, and then before they go to school or work we pray together. This takes less than 10 minutes each morning.

Evenings

After dinner is cleaned up we gather together in the living room, sometimes with a fire lit, sometimes not. Then we light our advent candles, sing 1 song, read aloud a chapter from our Jesse Tree book and then hang up the corresponding ornament. This takes between 20 and 30 minutes depending on how often we have to stop to correct the littles and let’s be honest sometimes the bigger kids too.

Adding Advent to your December days is doable! And so worth it! It can take as little as 10 minutes a day. Some days you have more time and can spend longer but each moment you spend bringing God’s Word before yourself and your children is such a blessing!

You are not behind! Just do what you can and know that each time you spend with your family drawing close to God is an investment that will never return void.

Messianic Passover Seder Dinner

April 13, 2019 by mamakay Leave a Comment

Many, many years ago some friends of ours introduced us to celebrating a passover seder dinner. We have celebrated it every year since. Although the Jewish observance of Passover doesn’t always line up with Easter, we always celebrate it during Holy Week. As Christians we celebrate the Lord’s Supper frequently as a reminder of Jesus’s sacrifice and his last night. A Passover Seder dinner is the full version of what Jesus would have partaken of on that last night of his life.

I found Celebrating Biblical Feasts by Martha Zimmerman to be a great resource. We use her Messianic Haggadah every year. It is a very good version for doing as a family and isn’t quite as long as a traditional haggadah. You can download a copy of it here

Seder dinner is an interactive reading with foods representing different parts of the story. Everyone has a copy of a haggadah that they read from. Some parts the leader reads, some parts are responses read by the rest of the family. Even the smallest child gets a part. I recommend reading through it ahead of time so you will be prepared. The whole reading and dinner takes about an hour and a half. Make sure to have your dinner all prepped and ready to go. The meal is served about 45 minutes into the ceremony.

What you need for the Ceremony:

Place settings for the number of people you have invited plus one more for Elijah
A copy of the Haggadah for each person
A jacket to put on the back of the chair for each person
A pillow on for the seat of the leader
At least two white cloth napkins for covering the afikomen (we use Matzo crackers)
Two candles on the table (lighting them will be included in the ceremony)
A pitcher, bowl and towel are also needed for the hand washing ceremonies.
A small bowl of salt water for each person
Plenty of Wine or Grape Juice

We have found that by practicing Passover we can pause as a family to appreciate the salvation we have received through Jesus. It shows God’s plan all through history to provide a sacrifice once and for all through his Son. So many times in our culture holidays turn into another reason to stuff ourselves with sweets and be greedy. This holiday slows everything down and helps us to focus on what really matters. I hope that it can be a blessing for your family as well.

We who are Christians can rejoice as we keep the Passover in remembrance of our own slavery to sin. We know that with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm the Lord our God rescued us. So that is why, even though we might all be wise, learned, full of experience and understanding, knowing God’s Word well, it is still our responsibility to tell the story of the going out from Egypt and to praise the Lord.
Celebrating Biblical Feasts

Continuing on 1000 Gifts

November 21, 2006 by mamakay 1 Comment

81. My Grandpa whose love for Jesus is evident to all he encounters
82. My Grandma’s playful spirit
83. Chances to visit them in Montana — I pray we will get another chance soon
84. Charles C. Coffin’s book The Story of Liberty
85. Those who went before us to make way for our liberty
86. God’s hand in history
87. Men like Luther, Wycliff and so many others who worked so hard to make the way easier for us
88. Our natural food co-op & the opportunity to come together and purchase good food for our families
89. Our CSA farmer who works so hard to grow good food for us
90. Fresh eggs straight from the farm — I never knew yolks could be so bright & orange instead of pale yellow

1000 Gifts cont.

November 13, 2006 by mamakay Leave a Comment

21. Books — knowledge, ideas, friends, teachers, and adventure all waiting for me to absorb
22. The Bible — the best book of ALL!
23. blogs
24. a husband that shares the detail of his daily life with me
25. fresh baked homemade whole wheat bread
26. community supported agriculture — where I can connect with a farmer and get marvelous vegetables that are raised with love and without chemicals.
27. parents who loved me and took me to church where I found Jesus
28. sisters I can call friends
29. the best in laws
30. the internet — makes my life easier — I just registered my car in less than 10 minutes & didn’t have to email anything!
31. essential oils that heal our bodies without using chemicals
32. whole foods which God created for our benefit
33. quiet time to spend with God in the morning
34. circle time where the girls and I can have fun together and talk about God
35. photos that record the joy and growth of our family
36. time with Paul every evening
37. music that soothes my soul and refocuses my mind
38. running water that cleans and refreshes
39. the women at Heart & Home that have shown me so love & taught me so much
40. new friends

More on 1000 Gifts

November 12, 2006 by mamakay Leave a Comment

11. God’s Grace
12. My new Stainless Steel Popcorn Popper
13. My dear friend who bought the popcorn popper for me 8)
14. The approaching Advent season steering my thoughts back to Jesus
15. Hymns and Songs of the Faith that help me to worship God
16. The Gospel Message of Salvation
17. A New Week
18. A soft bed to sleep in
19. Max Lucado’s book,

It’s Not About Me

20. My husband playing the guitar and singing as a family after dinner

Son Reflectors

September 15, 2006 by mamakay 2 Comments

In our ladies Bible class at church we are reading Max Lucado’s book called, It’s Not About Me. We discussed the first chapter last week. One of his main points in the chapter is that we should be Son Reflectors in the same way that the moon is a sun reflector. The moon does not generate her own light but instead reflects the light of the sun. In the same way we should reflect Jesus’ glory. We need to witness God and share that witness with others.

2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)

or here is the verse again in the Message:

All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

What an amazing thought!

And then God allowed me a very small glimpse of his glory just to keep this idea in my mind.

I was driving home Friday night from the store and the biggest, orangest, most beautiful moon was shining in the sky.

I was listening to KLOVE and this is the song that was playing on the radio:

Salvador – Shine
From the album Dismiss the Mystery

I woke up to another day
Another day to celebrate
Your beauty and your mystery, it’s more than any eye can see
I’m not the man I was before
With You, my life is so much more
Break the chains and open doors to a world I can’t ignore

Chorus
Lord let me shine, shine like the moon
A reflection of you in all that I do
Lord let me be a light for your truth
Light of the world, I wanna be used to shine for you

As simple as a passing smile
Or listening a little while
To someone that’s convinced that they are in this all alone
Here’s my chance to share the news
To introduce the good that’s you
Here you go again, you never cease to blow my mind

Chorus

You’re the love that we all need
You lift us up to our feet
You hold the key to eternity
The King of Kings alive in me

———————

May God be praised and may I become a reflection of His glory.