Hag Sameach

Happy Passover everyone! This is the first night of the feast of Passover and the beginning of a one week festival of Unleavened Bread. We attended a Passover Sedar (dinner) at one of our churches tonight. It was very nice. I think I'm spoiled because the food was not anything special, but it was good food. Dodi and I have been hosting a Passover Sedar for the last 3 years inviting 4-5 other churches to join us at the second church we attend. And I always find new and different Kosher foods to prepare. It's a blast! Little Critter and I start working on it up to a week ahead of time (chopping walnuts, washing/drying and ironing the table clothes, preparing our lists of things to get, ect.) Then a few days ahead of time, we start the cooking! Talk about real live math in action...we measure, cut, chop, stew, bake, broil...you name it we probably do it!
I do have to confess that I'm feeling a bit guilty tonight though. The Sedar tonight served real Kosher wine for the service and the meal. Well, we use Kosher wine with our Shabbat service every Friday, and allow Little Critter to have a sip of real wine when we have communion. So we saw nothing wrong with him having wine with the Passover Sedar. (Of course Mommy was filling his glass!!!) Well, halfway thru the service, after being an absolute angel, he suddenly started acting pretty squirrelly! So Mommy cut his wine down to barely a taste instead of a sip. By the time we got home afterwards, he was so loopy it was hysterical! So I've been feeling guilty for allowing my just turned 9 yr old to get sopped at the Passover meal. Then he started crying... his head was woozy, his tummy hurt, he felt badly. OK, now I'm feeling really bad...what an awful mommy I am!!! Then after almost 30 minutes, it turns out that while I was in the kitchen helping with a little quick cleanup after the meal and before the rest of the service continued, Little Critter was over snitching desserts....he ate two high chocolate, high sugar desserts while no one was watching. Ahah! Now, I understand! The little rat wasn't so much sopped as he was on a sugar high. He's been on a diabetic type diet all his life because his body doesn't process sugar correctly...kinda like his mommy....and he'd had more than double his normal intake of sugar during the evening. So after numreous prayers, lots of hugs and cuddles, he finally crashed. Now he's peacefully sleeping it off in his own little bed. He'll most likely feel pretty poopy tomorrow, but he'll also better understand why Mommy and Daddy are so strict with his sugar intake....bet he doesn't make this mistake again for a while.
Thursday night we'll host our own Messianic Passover Sedar. We concentrate on explaining on why Christians celebrate what most think of as a Jewish Feast...(it's not. It's a biblical feast), how each of the parts of the Sedar (telling) reflect Yeshua (Jesus) and having a good time while we do this. We're having roast beef, rosemary-lemon chicken, spinach matzoh pie, green Mediterreanian salad, Tsimmes (sweet potatoes, carrots, apricots, prunes in an orange juice/honey/cinnamon sauce), deep dish bubble crust (an egg pasta type dish with 4 kinds of cheese and a walnut/basil/spinach pesto...DELICIOUS!!!!!), applesauce with blueberries and cinnamon (homemade), passover fruit casserole, honey nut cake, fudge brownies and sugared fruit slices. Oh, and of course Matza ball Soup. We're expecting about 50 folks to join us, and we'll have a blast reading the Haggadah (the order of doing things), singing songs in both Hebrew and English, clearing the chametz (leaven) from the church (house), and we usually end the night with dancing to Hava Nigala. It doesn't matter how many folks show up, we always have a great time, eat great food, and have a wonderful time with good friends. What a blessing! I pray Papa attends each of the many Passover Sedars tonight and tomorrow. May He bless the intentions of each heart, forgive any botched Hebrew, and dance the nigth away with each of us as we prepare ourselves to be more and more open to His words, His ways and His purpose for each of us. So until next time, be blessed my friends. Enjoy the love letters our Papa sends us each day and know we pray for each of you daily. Shalom, Joie
PS Tax season ends next week....happy dancing all over the place!!!!! Another year almost done and life can become more relaxed again.