Sweet Home Jerusalem

This will not appeal to everyone, but then again, neither do I, so it works to post it here. As a Southern girl, and one who prays for the peace of Jerusalem, this really hit the spot. Who knew a Skynyrd tune could be redeemed in such a cool way? I like it. HT: Lillian

Lyrics (to the tune of Sweet Home Alabama):

Eagles wings keep on flyin'
Carry me home to see The King
Singing songs about my City,
Jerusalem you're in my dreams
And I'm gonna sing, yes. (RIFF)

Well I heard the UN talk about her
But a Jewish boy won't drink this brew
Uncle Sam please remember, that
"Jerusalem won't be split in two!"

Sweet Home, Sweet Jerusalem
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home, Sweet Jerusalem
L-rd I'm coming home to you.

We're all waiting for Mashiach (OOH OOH OOH)
You can bet he's coming soon
We'll all be dancing in Jerusalem
And we'll all be singing the same tune
Now that's the truth

Sweet Home, Sweet Jerusalem
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home, Sweet Jerusalem
L-rd I'm coming home to you.

(SOLOS)


The wise men of the Holy City
They've been known to pick a song or two
They help my soul when I'm hurting
They give me joy when I'm feeling blue
Now how about you?

Sweet Home, Sweet Jerusalem
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home, Sweet Jerusalem
L-rd I'm coming home to you.

Sweet Home, Sweet Jerusalem
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home, Sweet Jerusalem
L-rd I'm coming home to you.

Paper or Plastic? Definitely Plastic…

Because it is just so versatile:







Plastic grocery bag... $0.00

4 yards of lavender yarn bought at a yard sale... $0.01

Your five-year-old saying, "Mommy I made this kite all by myself!"... priceless.

Eating Fresh On A Two-Week Grocery Plan

When folks hear that I do our grocery shopping every six to eight weeks, they are often flabbergasted.  Without exception, their first gasping question is always, "How do you have fresh produce?", as if it were the Holy Grail of feeding a family. Granted, fresh produce is very healthy for us. Even conventionally grown, non-organic, pesticide-laden produce has produced good results in scientific studies. It is what was used in all the studies showing that eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables can help reduce risks of cancer and other disease. (Remember Five-A-Day?)

While I concede that the ideal situation would be to live in the garden of Eden, or as a distant second, to have our own backyard gardens with seasonal produce ripe for the harvesting four seasons of the year, ideals are rarely reality. Having our own garden supply all our produce needs for the year is our goal, but we are not there yet, and something must be done in the mean time.

Although I am about to share my plan for how to eat fresh produce without living at the grocery store, I would like to state for the record that having fresh produce all year 'round is not an inalienable right. It is simply a blessing that we have in this country - a blessing for which I am grateful.

On to the plan. Every six to eight weeks, depending on how much is going on in life, or how much company we have had, we do our stock-up grocery shopping trip. This is where I refill the pantry and freezer with any frozen fruits and vegetables and shelf-stable items like canned goods. Once a month our health food co-op delivers our meats, grains, beans and baking supplies. That just leaves the fresh produce to pick up every two weeks, which for us, looks like Mr. Visionary making a stop on his way home from work.

We shop this way because it keeps us out of the stores more (so no impulse buying), it saves trips to town (so saving time, gas and stress) and it forces frugality (we make do with what we have on hand). It is not brilliant, it is just a fruit of planning ahead.

During the first week, we focus on the fresh produce that goes bad the fastest. This is the time to eat lettuce and bananas. During the second week, we focus on the fresh things that keep a bit longer like apples and carrots.  We rotate the produce we eat seasonally, to take advantage of what is in abundant supply and cheaper during each season. That means we rarely eat fresh tomatoes and watermelon in January (they taste yucky then anyway), but instead focus on the citrus fruits, leafy greens and root vegetables that are in season. We only have pomegranates in October and November, but enjoy them fully and often while they are in season and actually affordable. Two great books that discuss eating this way are Simply In Season and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle .

Week One Produce:

Lettuces, berries, avocados, pomegranate, bananas, peaches, tomatoes, pineapple, spinach, pears, kiwi, etc.

Week Two Produce:

Carrots, celery, potatoes, cabbage, green peppers, apples, oranges, sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, refrigerated bananas (put them in the fridge during week one- they will turn black on the outside, but still be white and fresh on the inside), leafy greens like collards and kale, and romaine lettuce usually keeps well in the second week, too.

Week two can also be supplemented with frozen fruits, since they are not blanched, and are still raw. We use frozen fruit in smoothies and mixed in our yogurt. The children also like frozen banana slices with peanut butter on top as an afternoon snack.

Both weeks we supplement with lots of lacto-fermented vegetables, which are not 'fresh', but they are raw. Each week can also be supplemented with fresh sprouts grown on your kitchen counter. Alfalfa sprouts, while popular, are not good for you, so we like to make mung bean sprouts (the kind used in oriental food a lot). My kids love these lightly sauteed in butter with a sprinkle of soy sauce. They are crunchy, yummy...and fresh.

So, that is how we do it. My goal as a Mommy Chef is to serve something fresh or raw three times a day, and this is the best way I have come up with to pull it off so far. If you have other tips, I'd love to hear them!

Free Health Books

I came across these books online several months ago, but unfortunately didn't print them, then the link where I found them went bad. They are available as free downloads, and this time, I really will print them. I'm sharing the link in case you could use them, too. We never can tell when they may be necessary.

Where There Is No Doctor
Where Women Have No Doctor
A Book for Midwives
Where There Is No Dentist

Wee Ones Comment on Obama

I talk a lot. When you walk a Deuteronomy 6 lifestyle, it is part of the raising children package. Life is school, and as such it is a constant barrage of questions, answers and explanations. Sometimes, though, it is interesting to get the childrens' take on what they have 'heard' during these discussions.

This morning we were discussing Obama's election again, as we have discussed little else since election day. Every topic we land upon seems to bring up the dangers of this administration. Studying Ishmael, our bible lessons bring up his name; Math lessons morph into a discussion of taxation, which morphs into a discussion of Obama; checking email, with Mercola's mention of families who homeschool to avoid mandatory immunizations brings up Obama's name, even phonics lessons involve 'The One' this one:

"No, no, Buddy, it is a long O."

"Oh, you mean like O-bama?"

(Mom rolling eyes and sighing) "Yes, Bub, like Obama."

The only other topic that has been so popular lately is the subject of immunity. We have been in a season of actively building our immune systems, discussing how dangerous it is to have them weakened and generally thinking healthy thoughts. My intention with some of these talks has been to motivate my Littles to take their cod liver oil and elderberry syrup, but it appears that the danger mentioned in one discussion and the danger mentioned in the other have melded in their young minds into a whole new form of evil.

This morning at breakfast, toward the end of another Obama talk, and during the dispensing of the aforementioned cod liver oil and elderberry syrup, our seven-year-old 'Napoleon' added in all the sincerity of a wee one,

"Yeah, and Obama  has a poor immune system, too!"

Not to be out-done, four-year-old Doodle added a comment, (the censure of which possibly only my 'Messianic' friends will totally understand and appreciate),

"And I bet he eats Kosher pork!"

Interestingly enough, their Mother did not correct either of them.

A Prayer For Israel

 

 

This version of Psalm 83 brought me to tears.

 

 

 

Just Say No To The Ministers of Molech

Life matters. Because it matters to me, I am following Holly's example and posting this Randy Alcorn blog post. Despite the Grace-Covers-Licentiousness doctrine speaking to the contrary, we will face a day when we will individually need to stand at Yah's judgement throne and give account. That Day compels a lot of my choices on a day-to-day basis, and my choice for President is included. Instead of seeking to "send a message to the RNC", I choose to send a message to the unborn with my vote. To not vote, is to vote for Obama. To vote for a third party candidate is to vote for Obama. McCain leaves a lot to be desired, but it is the best choice I have that I believe will actually have a chance at getting elected. When I check "McCain" on the ballot, it will be a vote against Obama and a culture that encourages infant sacrifice. I urge you to consider your answer to Yah on That Day as you cast your vote.

Edit: I am not technologically adept enough to imbed this whole post without making everything else on the blog be out-of-whack, so I am posting a link and a quote. Please don't write this off. Please go read this post at Randy's blog:

I'm Not Voting For A Man, I'm Voting For Generations Of Children And Their Right To Live by Randy Alcorn

"Every Christian should take these teachings seriously. Is the unborn an innocent human being? If you claim to be prolife in the historical meaning of the word, then your answer is yes. Is abortion the shedding of innocent blood, the taking of human life created in the image of God? If you say you are prolife, your answer must be yes. (Please do not redefine the meaning of the word prolife and say "I'm prolife" if you're really not.)

So, is the candidate’s stand on the issue of shedding innocent blood important enough to disqualify him as a candidate? Yes. While a single issue can’t qualify a candidate, it can disqualify him. In my opinion, this issue clearly disqualifies Barack Obama, just as it disqualified Republican Rudy Giuliani.

I don’t think someone is a good candidate just because he is prolife. But he cannot be a good candidate unless he is prolife. Personally, if he is committed to legalized child-killing, as a matter of conscience I must vote against him."

Tabernacling Fun!

We are in the midst of the biblical Feast of Tabernacles, and have been sharing with friends some photos of our celebrations! We wanted to share with you as well, and invite you to share stories of your celebrations on your blog or in the comments below. If you post about this, please add pictures if you can, and post a link below! This feast lasts for seven days, plus a bonus eighth day, so even if you had wanted to do something for this, and have not, there is still time! I encourage you to go out and put up a sukkah (tabernacle) and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather with the children!

I'll not post about the details of what the Feast of Tabernacles (also called Sukkot or the Feast of Booths) is all about, because Lisa has already done such a great job of all that. But,  if you have ever thought:

~Why would a Christian want to celebrate those "Jewish" holidays? (hint: the Scriptures call them Yahweh's holy days)

~that Pentecost originated in the book of Acts (hint: Pentecost is the Greek name of an already established biblical feast on which exact day the Holy Spirit came)

~that Yeshua (Jesus) spoke of Living Water in an isolated incident (hint: it happened during the Feast of Tabernacles water pouring ceremony)

~or wondered what activities you could do to help your children (or yourself) understand end-times prophecy(hint: Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled all the Spring feasts during His first coming on the exact days of the feasts, and the Fall feasts prophecy His second coming in detail)

then you would benefit from studying the biblical Feasts.

Our home group has planned to be together five times during this week long celebration. Our first gathering was yesterday, and here are some shots of our get together, including my girlfriend's sukkah.



Some of the ladies listening intently to some teaching. There is nothing like praying, worshipping and sharing around a campfire.



That's Mr. Visionary in the cowboy hat with Babydoll in his lap, and the Engineer in the black sweatshirt.



The "worship team" having a fun moment.



My girlfriend's sukkah ~ with a woman's touch... so pretty.

At our house, we did not build a "traditional" sukkah, but instead, relied on the Strong's definition of Sukkah, which included the word "tent". Erected on the deck, high above the ground because of my irrational fear motherly concern about the bear, the kids call this our Sukkah City:



Oops...I didn't get the hanging leaves and gourds above the tent in the picture.



***I think the boys win the "Best Decorated Sukkah" award.***

We sleep in our tents all week, and if we had a larger sukkah, we'd eat in it all week. A quick trip to the dollar store helped us get supplies for decorating our sukkot. We have a Mom, Dad and twins tent, a girl tent, and a boy tent.  Mr. Visionary was glad he did not witness the kids and I folding our king sized (real bed) mattress in half to squeeze it into our tent. If you have never wrestled a mattress with your kids, I highly recommend it... it was a hoot. I can not figure out why Mr. Visionary rolled his eyes at me. It is not that I am a sissy... I did this for the twins. Really.

So anyway, post about your celebrations, and leave us a link! It will be fun to go on a Sukkah Tour!

Oh, Stink.

I just accidentally deleted the twins' birth story that I had been thinking through and editing for two months. How disheartening. I'll start again soon.

How Not To Celebrate Rosh Hashana

The feast days of YHWH often leave me with profound lessons about the Messiah and insight into His plans for us. This year, however, my lessons from Yom Teruah (Rosh Hashana) were of a more practical nature.

My currently having nine sick children and one very sick husband compel me to offer this advice. On the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashana) , when observing the command to blow the trumpet:

DO NOT SHARE THE SHOFAR!

Next year, Yah willing, we will have one designated shofar-blower. And we'll disinfect the thing when it's over. I'm just sayin'.