My heart's cry

As we continue going thru Psalm 27, verses 7-10 speak to my heart SO much. See what you think.

7. Listen, YHWH, to my voice when I cry; show favor to me; and answer me. 8. My heart said of you, "Seek my face." Your face, Adonai, I will seek.9. Do not hide your face from me, don't turn your servant away in anger. You are my help; don't abandon me; don't leave me, G-d my savior. 10. Even though my father and mother have left me, Adonai will care for me.


Wow, isn't that something!?! In the Interlinear Bible, the original Hebrew says in verse 7: Shema YHWH.
Now in Hebrew Shema is usually translated listen,but it means SO much more than that. It's really more like: pay attention, hear me, attend to what I'm saying with no distractions. So King David was telling YHWH that he wanted the Almighty's undivided attention. Can you see yourself doing that? Is your relationship with the Creator of the Universe so close and real that you feel comfortable saying to the One who made you, "Pay attention here! I'm talking to you!" There's days I'm not so sure I have that close a relationship, but it's what I want. David then goes on in the original Hebrew to say: 'my voice when I call and favor me and answer me.'

Not just show me favor, but favor me. You know, you've seen your kids do this: "pick me, pick me Mommy! I want to help you, pick me!" I can just see David, the king of  Israel praying and saying "YHWH, listen up, I've got to talk to you and I want you to not only hear me but favor me."(pick me or show favoritism for me and answer me) Keep in mind, this is the man that was called a man after G-d's own heart. So don't you think he could ask anything and YHWH would hear him?! Hmmm. What a great relationship they had to have had. A relationship I aspire to and feel certain we all wish we had with Papa.

Verse 9 also has a slight variation in the Hebrew. Where the translations say "don't turn your servant away in anger.", the original Hebrew says; " do not turn away in anger your servant." While this may seem to be no big deal, look a little deeper. The first one says kinda like 'don't send your servant away because you're angry'. While the Hebrew seems (at least to me) to be more of  "don't turn yourself away YHWH when angry with your servant." It appears to me to be like with our children again....do we send them into their room because we're angry with them for an infraction, or do we turn our back to their little faces and then ignore them being there. That's a pretty big difference. One is a discipline meant to teach a lesson, the other a punishment intended to hurt. Does this make sense?

Then in verse 10 I love the phrase "Adonai will care for me." David's just stated that he'd seek Papa's face, that Papa was his help. Even if everyone of any importance left him, even then, Adonai will care for me. Doesn't that just give you goose bumps?! If we look back into ancient history, the most important people in a person's life were their parents. Children were considered a 'gift from YHWH', a treasured property to be cherished. And in this time period, children were not considered adults until they'd reached the age of 20. They lived with their parents until that age or if they'd married young, they lived next to their parents (or inlaws). So no matter who leaves you, or deserts you, or treats you badly....Adonai will care for you. That just makes me want to dance and shout for joy!

I'll be honest with you dear friends, there've been times in my life when it felt like everyone I loved had turned their backs on me. Some in anger, some in disgust, some in total apathy. And it hurt!!!! I didn't know if I could survive it....but through it all, Papa cared for me. He dried my tears, he held me in His arms, He whispered in my ear how precious I was to Him, how wonderfully He'd made me and even  how proud He was of me. He never left my side...through all the ugliness, the horribleness, the darkness....He stayed with me. He heard me and showed favor to me.....and cared for me. What a glorious promise this is. He's done it for me. He'll do it for you, dear friends. Papa is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow...He never changes. So if you're going through a rough time, or feeling like everyone has turned their back on you....read and ponder these verses. And remember.....He WILL do what he promises to do. And Yeshua promised He'd NEVER leave us. I pray you believe this and that my little scribblings here have brought you some joy today. Be blessed, know you're loved....and know I pray for you. Shalom, Spitfire

Do not fear....

Well, as we move along thru this Hebraic month of Elul, several of my friends have assured me I have not offended them this past year. Whoo, I can sleep now...well, perhaps a little later. Grin!

Another Elul tradition is to read/recite Psalm 27 as part of our daily prayers. So I thought I'd share a few verses from that Psalm that seem magnificently appropriate for our times my next few posts. It just amazes me sometimes that words that were penned 1000's of years ago are still pertinent today. Boy, isn't Papa wonderful?! OK, moving along here.....

1. Adonai (G-d) is my light and salvation;
whom do I need to fear?
Adonai is the stronghold of my life;
of whom should I be afraid?

Well, hey, that one verse is enough!!! Just think about it, friends. Or as David the Psalmist would say...Selah, which is Hebrew for think about it, ponder this, meditate on this. Or in modern English (Texan dialect) "chew on this till ya get it!"

If we belong to Adonai, then who do we need to fear?! Do we really need to worry what those folks in DC are trying to do to us? If the Creator of the Universe is our provider, then can anyone here really do us in? I think not!!! Now, before a few friends get all upset, I am NOT saying we don't need to make our voices heard on subjects dear to us. (For example this monstrosity the House turned into a bill supposedly about health care!) Torah teaches we are to be in submission to our leaders....WAIT---Don't start yelling yet! Submission means (according to Mr. Webster) yielding to or submitting....now submitting means: yield; refer or present; offer; suggest.

Did you see that? Look closely at those last three definitions....refer or present; offer; suggest. So even being Torah Observant, I have every right to present or offer my opinions of what's going on. I also have the right to suggest other ways to accomplish something or suggest that if it's good enough for WE THE PEOPLE, it's good enough for our representatives...Do you see where I'm going here? The trick is, according to Torah, my words must be spoken in love, with kindness. We must learn to 'come and let us reason together.' And if I'm doing that (even if the other party is acting foolish and rude!) then I have nothing to fear! My Papa, the One who created those turkeys, the One who knows our thoughts (and theirs) better than we do...well, He'll take care of me. So am I just sitting around thinking I don't have to do anything because Papa will take care of me??? Oh, come on folks, most of you know me better than that! Yes, I've most likely got a dossier in DC about 6 inches thick for all the emails I've sent to everyone I could send them to voicing my opinion on the healthcare/insurance reform/Obamacare mess. But I'm not really worried about the outcome. I have no insurance....just a major medical plan in case of an emergency...like having one of Little Critter's 'inventions' crush me or something.... giggle..

I haven't had insurance for almost 4 years.....and haven't needed it. Papa has taken care of all my needs. Now I realize not everyone can do that....Dodi for instance. Until his diabetes is under better control (which will happen much faster and better after football season short of a miracle!!!!) we need to have insurance for him! (The insulin alone is impossibly expensive and when you add in the other 4 meds he takes....well you get the picture.) But I know that even with Dodi, that Papa has it all under control. If we simply trust Him to take care of the things we need....He'll do it. Hey, He made sure several thousand (or million depending on the counting) Israelites had enough food and water for themselves and all their servants and all their critters during 40 years in the desert! AND made sure their clothes and shoes didn't wear out that whole time!!!!! Don'tcha think that if He could do that, He can easily take care of your needs, sweet friends? Oh, I KNOW He can!!!

So as we continue thru Elul, searching our hearts and repairing/restoring relationships....let's also not neglect repairing/restoring the most important relationship we can have....the one with Papa. Wouldn't it hurt your feelings if your child told you he/she was afraid there'd be no food for him/her tomorrow....or that you wouldn't provide clean clothes for them? How much it must hurt Papa's heart when we doubt that He'll take care of our needs....Let's each ask Him to forgive us for doubting His provisions and work on not fearing. I hope this was helpful to you. Shalom, Spitfire

A retreat

Well, I did it! The men at the Temple we've been attending were going to have a men's retreat this weekend. I suggested to Dodi he should go....it would be good for him to have a break, and he could learn lots, not to mention having some fun with other adult men. It took a couple of weeks, but last Wednesday, he decided he'd like to go. WOHOOO! Now, don't get me wrong. I really hate it when he's gone....especially for 3 days! But I felt certain this would be good for him. And judging from his phone call this evening.....I was right. Yes, it was tough leaving Little Critter and I for 3 days knowing when he gets back he has to return to work. Yes, he was sleeping in a tent without anyone to cuddle with....and it started raining early Saturday morning and rained most the day while the temps went down, down and down. (And of course he didn't take any long sleeves or pants with him...sigh) Will I be glad to see him back Sunday afternoon? Are you kidding?!?!?! Of course I will!!!!!! I would LOVE to have a short break from everything and get to concentrate on Torah study and prayer!!!!!! But it's been good for Dodi....and that means it was good for all of us. And to be honest, Little Critter and I have had a good time too. We've gotten some work done here at home that needed to be done....acted silly, lazy and eat foods we don't eat when Dodi is here because of his diet. (OK, three days of not so healthy meals won't kill Little Critter or I either one!!!! And just who says popcorn and watermelon aren't healthy!?!?!?!?!)
So I look forward to Dodi returning Sunday afternoon and getting to talk about what he's learned. He told me he'd been falling down on his duties as "Priest" of our home. He's right, but not because he didn't want to do it, more because he didn't understand what that means. I believe he now understands. This will take a load off my shoulders....I won't have to be the one to push for family devotions nightly, or deciding whether we go to church or not.....which things we attend and which we choose to skip for family time, that kind of thing. And I got a chance to do some bonding with Little Critter.....after several pretty rough weeks, we needed time to get our work done, but still have fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what awesome things Papa has wrought in my Dodi this weekend! And seeing how we'll incorporate those things into our family life. This could be like an adventure...only more fun! Now I think I'll work a little harder to be able to go on a 2 day retreat with my sister next month....could be tough. How ever would the boys all manage without me?!?! LOL!
Well, my friends, I'll let you know later what wonders Papa has brought forth. In the meantime, I pray you each have a blessed week, full of love letters from Him. And that each of you get to find your own 'retreat' from the cares and worries of life to fill up with His love, His shalom (peace) and His plan for your lives. Be blessed. Shalom, Spitfire

I Will Provide....

This weekend, we got a personal love letter from Papa. This is just wild! But SO like Papa. My Dodi is a teacher/coach in the public school system. We get paid once a month. Now, getting used to one paycheck a month for both of us was tough....but when I quit teaching to homeschool Little Critter, getting only one paycheck a month and stretching it to last the month was a real trick! It took a several months before I no longer had to rob the savings account to make it to the next paycheck. But we'd stashed a pretty fair savings account in anticipation of the adjustment. Now, we're pretty good at it. But January is tough every year. No matter how much I try to save up for it, it's rough. See in December Dodi gets paid early due to holidays. So we go about 6 weeks between paychecks from December to January. I know this is a toughie, so I try hard to save extra all year to cover those extra couple weeks. We also go visit my in-laws over the holidays, plus you have the holidays themselves occuring during those 6 weeks. Well, this year, we had a couple expenditures that really weren't in our budget....and we ran out of money before we ran out of month....if you get my drift. So, I told Dodi, we couldn't take our one evening out until payday. Well, Saturday, Dodi had to work a power lifting meet at school. This isn't unusual...there's only so many coaches qualified to judge the meets and Dodi is qualified to judge power lifting as well as track, so often gets called to work them. No clue this was to be different. So Little Critter and I enjoyed our Shabbot together doing fun things we normally don't get to do. (Like staying in our pj's most the day....eating on the floor, playing games....just fun things an 8 year old boy enjoys doing) When Dodi returned home, he had a surprise for me. He called me into the bedroom and then handed me a wad of money. I looked at him with a shocked look on my face and he told me they'd paid him for working the meet! Now, he normally doesn't get paid for doing this. And the few times he did, it came on his next month's paycheck....never in cash!!!! So suddenly, instead of juggling the food in the pantry and freezer and hoping we had enough gas to last us to payday, we now had a cushion! Isn't Papa wonderful!?! He knew we had 2 bills needing paying this week, and not enough money to pay them until next week, so He made sure it was sent to us! I know He always provides for all our needs, but it never fails to amaze me that the Creator of the Universe who has the power to anything He wants to is so much in love with us that He notices our every need and provides it for us. As King David once said, "who am I that you notice me?!" It blows my mind to realize that Papa loves me so much He always takes the time to make sure I have what I need. Isn't that awesome?!?! You know dear friends, He loves you that much too. He wants to provide for all your needs also. I'll even bet that if you take the time to notice, He's been doing it all along....you just didn't see it. Take the time to look around you and see....I'm betting you'll see your own Love Letters from Papa. Shalom, Joie