Keeping Watch

Shana Tova!  It means, “Good Year!” in Hebrew and is the traditional greeting during Rosh Hashanah.  This will be my family’s second time celebrating the Jewish New Year.  And as I often do, I feel the need to share with others why we celebrate this Jewish holiday because, after all, we’re Christians, not Jews. 

“”And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation.  You shall do no customary work.  For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets’” (Numbers 29:1).

Rosh Hashanah means “Head of the Year” or “New Year”.  However, you will not find the words Rosh Hashanah in the Bible.  In Scripture, the holiday is called Yom Teruah which means “Memorial of Blowing (of trumpets)” and it was a God-given appointed time for His people to meet with Him.  It wasn’t called Rosh Hashanah until after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, more than 1500 years after its inception during the time of Moses.

In the Bible, the trumpet or shofar (ram’s horn), was blown for two primary reasons: to call a solemn assembly in God’s presence or when Israel was going to war.  During the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), the shofar is blown for both reasons.  Old Testament prophets often spoke about a future day when God would directly intervene in the affairs of men; calling this day “The Day of the Lord”.  This day begins with the blowing of the trumpet.  It heralds the day when God will redeem Israel and bring judgment on all nations. 

“Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill.  Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming.  It is close at hand -”  Joel 2:1

The Feast of Trumpets is to occur on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishri when the New Moon is only a slight crescent.  It required two witnesses to verify it was indeed a new moon.  A second day was added to this feast to ensure the priests did not miss the new moon.  Watchfulness was key.

So, why should we, as Christians, celebrate an Old Testament, Jewish holiday? 

First, it is one of seven GOD-GIVEN feasts that is just as relevant to Christians as it is to Jews.  The first four feasts are spring feasts (Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of First Fruits and Shavuot/Pentecost) and were fulfilled in Christ’s death, burial, resurrection and sending of the Holy Spirit.  The next three feasts occur in the fall (Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah, Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur and Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot) and will be fulfilled when Christ returns to rapture the Church, judge the wicked and create a new heaven and new earth.  Pentecost, the last of the spring feasts, ushered in the Church Age which is what we’re living in now.  As the Church, we are “watching” for Christ’s return and the fulfillment of the last three feasts.

Second, Jesus and his disciples spoke of “The Day of the Lord” and told believers to keep watch and be prepared for when Christ returns. 

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52) Emphasis mine.

When Jesus returns, it will be heralded with the blasting of trumpets!  The Feast of Trumpets is a time for Christians to remember how God kept His promise of salvation through Christ and how He is faithful to keep His promise of His return.  How sweet that will be!  Let’s not forget to keep our eyes and ears turned toward heaven!

Third, every blessing which the Church enjoys come from covenants made with Israel.  The provision of salvation to the Church came from covenants made with Israel.  It should not seem odd, then, that the Feast of Trumpets, which was given to Israel, would depict not only Israel’s redemption, but also the rapture of the Church and God’s judgment on the world.

For me, Rosh Hashanah is a time of remembering all the things God has done for me and my family.  It’s a time to remember that God is the sovereign creator and ruler of this world and that everything happens in accordance with His plans.  It’s a time to remember His grace and mercy and to seek His forgiveness.  The sounding of the shofar was often used to awaken God’s people to a spiritual revival.  Isn’t it wonderful that God has ordained a time for us to reflect on our walk with Him and get into better step with Him if we need to!?

Our family uses this book to guide us through celebrating the Biblical feasts and understanding the importance of these feasts as Christians. 

Enjoy some apples dipped in honey as you remember God’s goodness and look forward to a sweet, new year!

Dress a Girl Around the World

Caitlyn and I have been talking about making dresses for the Dress a Girl Around the World campaign for quite some time.  We even attempted a dress but didn’t quite finish it.  Today, we had a couple of hours of uninterrupted time so we took advantage of it and got to work! 

Caitlyn got to use an iron for the first time.  She also learned that sewing involves a lot more than just…sewing.

I really, really tried to take a “hands off” approach as much as possible.

Can you tell how much restraint I’m using not to grab hold of the reigns?

Ok, so I was good for a little while.  Looks like my “hands off” approach has flown out the window.

I guess there are some things Mama’s just got to do herself.  Caitlyn did an excellent job sewing a straight line for the seam, but I had to handle some of the trickier sewing, such as sewing the bias tape and the casing.  In between her turn, Caitlyn jumped on the trampoline.  I think she was just as happy doing that.

I think Caitlyn and I make a pretty good sewing team!  We learned some things to do differently for sewing our next dress (we WERE winging it, after all) and we got to spend some quality mom and daughter time together.  You can’t beat that!

The Dress a Girl Around the World Campaign is a division of the Hope 4 Women International Organization.  Check out the Dress A Girl video and get involved!

Every little girl should have a dress of her very own.

Lessons learned at the MO TKD Invitational

That’s my boy in the red, kicking with all he’s got at the 2011 Missouri Taekwondo Invitational!  Jacob competed in sparring and Caitlyn competed in forms.  Before I get to how they did, can I just confess something? Watching my kids compete can bring out the “mean Mama” in me when their opponent isn’t competing fairly.  Let me explain.  Jacob had two sparring matches.  In the first match, he sparred someone from Champion, our martial arts school.  Unfortunately, Jacob lost that match, but the other boy competed fairly and was friendly; trademarks of our students.  However, Jacob’s second match was against a boy from another school who repeatedly pushed Jacob.  Now, I don’t know a whole lot about the rules of sparring, but pushing while moving forward isn’t allowed.  And that’s exactly what that other boy was doing.  The referee did warn the other boy once, but that was after he already had a 9 point lead!  And, he continued to push Jacob!  Now, here’s the “mean Mama” part.  Caitlyn and I were sitting right next to the other boy’s parents and I just couldn’t seem to stop myself from making very loud remarks like, “that boy really needs to stop pushing Jacob!  Why doesn’t the referee disqualify him!”  Yeah, you know I wanted those parents to hear me and how upset I was about how their boy was behaving.  That other boy wasn’t displaying very good sportsmanship…but neither was I. 

And there’s my girl with her silver medal in forms!! She had to compete against two different girls.  The first time, she was flawless.  The second time, she forgot her form about a quarter of the way into it!!  I could see the panic set in on her face when she asked the referee what to do.  He told her to start over, and she got it the second time.  She was so surprised to receive second place!
I’d say we all learned some lessons from this event.  Jacob, who a month prior had won a medal for undefeated at our school’s sparring games, entered the competition confident of winning.  But it was not to be.  He still demonstrated an indomitable spirit and got a taste of humility.  Caitlyn, who has never won an individual medal, tasted victory for the first time and demonstrated perseverance when it seemed all was lost. I learned that I can’t always fight my kids’ battles, as much as I want to, and that I should still demonstrate integrity when faced with injustice.
I’m proud of my champs!

Breakfast…Colonial Style

One of the things I LOVE about homeschooling is getting to incorporate the lessons in surprising ways.  Caitlyn and Jacob are learning about early American history so I thought it’d be fun to sample some foods from the Colonial era.  We feasted on a breakfast of dressed eggs and Johnny cakes.

Dressed eggs are fried eggs that are then placed under the broiler to “set” the yolks.  Then they’re “dressed” with a dash or two of nutmeg.  Johnny cakes are liked fried cornbread.  They’re easy to make and they traveled well during the Colonial days.

We also dined on a Colonial dinner of chicken pudding and sweet potato and apple casserole.  Our recipes came from this cute American Girl book we found at the library called, Felicity’s Cooking Studio.  It has great information about cooking in Colonial times.

One really enjoyed the breakfast!

One…did not.  All in the name of education. 

GIVEAWAY!!

I’ve got an awesome giveaway!  As you may know, I’m giving a portion of all soap sales to the Loraine family to help them raise money for their adoption.  Well, Erin Loraine’s favorite soap is Oatmeal, Milk and Honey, so I thought it only fitting that I give away a bar of Oatmeal Milk and Honey soap.  But this isn’t just ANY bar of soap!

It’s a tractor!!  Isn’t is cute!?  It’s 3.5 oz of Oatmeal, Milk and Honey soap and contains Avocado Oil and Oat Extract.

But wait!! There’s more!!  (Do I sound like an infomercial, or what?)

I’m also giving away a coupon code for 15% off your next order in my etsy shop!!

That’s right, folks!  You have the chance to win a super cute Oatmeal Milk and Honey tractor soap AND 15% off your next soap order.

Here are the ways you can enter the contest:

1.  Blog about Catie Beth Bath and Body.  Provide a link on your blog to my etsy shop (www.etsy.com/shop/catiebeth) and then post a comment on here, along with a link to  your blog post, to let me know you entered the contest.  Every time you blog about Catie Beth and let me know about it, you receive another entry in the contest.

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The more times you spread the word about Catie Beth Bath and Body, the more times you enter!

The contest ends Wednesday, September 14 at midnight!  Good luck!