Blessings and more blessings!

Well, my friends, I pray you had a delightful weekend. We were SO blessed it's almost bragging to tell about it! We had a delightful and quiet Shabbat Friday evening with just the 4 of us. I love having guests, and cooking for lots of people, but it was really nice to have just us here. Then we got rain! Now, I realize most folks would think that's no big deal, but here in Central Texas, we're in a 5 or 6 year drought. So anytime we get rain, it's a blessing. And between Thursday and Saturday we got almost 5 inches of rain (though not all at once.) My little garden is just dancing with delight!!! It's so fun to see the little seeds grow inches overnight after a drink from Papa!!
Then Saturday afternoon, we got to go to a Messianic Tabernacle not more than 40 miles from here!!!! Talk about excited!!! Dodi was a bit hesitant at first, but he loved it (OK, we sat near the incense pot and he could have done without that....but that was his only negative comment!!!) Now, in all fairness to Dodi, this was his first experience with a Jewish Service other than what we do at home. So it was all brand new for him. And Papa blessed all three of us so much that Dodi said he'd like to go again! OH, Happy Dancing all over the place! We both felt we belonged there and didn't feel so much like outsiders as we do in our other churches. Now, don't get me wrong, we aren't going to flee the Christian churches we attend. But as the 'odd' ducks it was wonderful to feel at home and not quite so 'odd'.
Then to just pile on more blessings, when we went to church Sunday night, there was a visiting preacher. He asked to pray for several of us after the service and annoint us. When he got to Dodi, he confirmed something we'd been praying about and questioning Papa about without even knowing anything about it! Then he laid hands on Little Critter and anointed him into the service of Papa. He looked into Little Critter's eyes and proclaimed that Little Critter will be a blessing to many and lead many thousands to our Father. Oh, my mother's heart was about to burst!!!! That's what Papa told me when Little Critter was born!!!! Confirmation from someone who had no idea Little Critter is adopted, and consecrated to Papa at birth. Too cool! Then, when I felt my heart couldn't hold any more blessings, he looked at me. He annointed me and told me I had a heart that Papa loved! He said I had the heart of Mary and I would need to say "May it be as You have said", but that Papa would be in control and it would all be a blessing to many! Can you imagine?!?! Me with the heart of Mary! Oh, may I live up to the prophecy of the prophet. Now, do I believe I'll get pregnant or anything like that....PLEEAAASE! I believe this means my prayer to be used by Him to bless others will occur. How cool is that! I saw it as confirmation that what Dodi and I are trying to do with Little Critter and our lives is on track with what Papa wants us to be doing. So, I'm blessed all over the place. More than anything, I want my Papa to be pleased with my life and what I've done with it. So I pray each of you, my dear friends, hear His voice this week as He whispers into your ears to tell you how much He loves you and how proud He is of you also. And if you don't know Papa in a personal, real way, please contact me! I'd be thrilled to tell you about our wonderful Abba. Shalom, Spitfire

Life begins again!

Well, my dear friends, tax season is officially over. Hallelujah! The office did the same number of returns as last year with half the personel. So I will readily admit I've been working horrible hours the last couple of weeks. Hence the lack of posts. Please accept my apologies for sporadic visits to your blogs and silences here. But now life can begin again. Oh, happy dancing. I will continue to have to work one day a week the rest of the year, but it's only one day a week! And not every single week. So there's a blessing!
Speaking of blessings, as the boss and another employee and I were talking today, both said that while there were some problems with other employees, this over all, was a great year. The two of us with the most experience worked our socks off, but the less experienced girl learned alot and can hardly wait for next year. The only real problems were with two part timers who were young, tactless and a bit self centered. Since they won't be back next year, I look forward to a smoother running year next year. I have to admit to a bit of pride when they both said it had been a great year....since this was my first year officially as Office Leader/Manager as well as Tax Pro, I was a feeling a bit proud that I'd managed to successfully manage to keep the office atmosphere upbeat and friendly (for the most part). Even with the constant 'disasters' of one part timer and the striving between the two of the part timers. Youth is so over rated....sigh.
Well, as Little Critter and I enjoyed our day of errands, visits and no school, (as well as plenty of rest!!!) I couldn't help but thank Papa for allowing us the freedom to basically goof off today. Tomorrow will be preparation day for Shabbat. And we both love getting the house ready and cooking the food for Shabbat. So even though I have to go into work for a little while tomorrow, we have a treat when we get home....getting ready for Papa's visit to our home for Shabbat. What a treat! I pray you find the love letters from Papa in each of your days and look forward to visiting each of your blogs soon. Shalom, Spitfire

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.