Smart Cookie Graduation Party

My daughter, Haley, is now a high school graduate! We've been super busy lately getting ready for this momentous occasion! Because Haley is such a "smart cookie", one of the things we did to celebrate was a smart cookie party, where we served the classic after school snack: milk and cookies!  We had six kinds of cookies on the menu: chocolate chip, peanut butter, snickerdoodles, wholesome oaties, chocolate mint, and Oreos (all made by me except for the Oreos).

The cookies were served on pretty cake plates, and the milk was poured into cute little bottles to drink with a straw.

These were Starbucks Frappuccino bottles that my Mom and I peeled and scrubbed the labels off of.

Our decorations were "old school". We wrote on two old cabinet door chalkboards...

...and we had a vintage typewriter for friends to type a message to Haley.

We decorated with fabric bunting that I sewed, and tissue paper flowers made by Haley's grandmas. (I put them to work while they were visiting!)

Haley's Dad and Grandpa helped with the outdoor decorations (preparing for this party was a family affair!), where we had lots of balloons, lights, and a banner.

Congratulations, Haley!!!

Shavuot - What is it?

Have you ever heard of Shavuot? No? How about the Feast of Weeks? Or here's one you might know: Pentecost? Well, these are three different names for the same day. 

If you are like me, you may already know a little about Pentecost, but never have heard the other terms at all.  I spent most of my life attending Pentecostal churches, and I did not understand what Pentecost is! I thought it was an event that took place in the New Testament in Acts 2, where God gave us his Holy Spirit. That is a big part of it, but there is SO much more!!! Here is a little bit of what I have learned about Shavuot.

"Shavuot" is a Hebrew word that means "weeks". After Passover, seven weeks are counted out. The next day, the 50th day, is Shavuot. "Pentecost" is the Greek word for 50.  The first Shavuot took place at Mount Sinai, 50 days after the Children of Israel left Egypt.  An absolutely amazing thing happened.  God came down to the mountain! There was thunder and lightning, and the sound of a loud shofar blast that got louder and louder (can you imagine?). God descended on the mountain in fire, and the whole mountain was enveloped in smoke and it shook violently. The people were so afraid that they were trembling and would not come close. They sent Moses up to talk to God. And God talked to him in a voice! He told Moses what to tell the people, engraving His words on two stone tablets.  This was His covenant with the people of Israel! He wanted to be their God and He wanted them to be His people, set apart just for Him.

Since then, God's people have celebrated this event at Shavuot. When the Temple still existed, there was a special wave offering and sacrifices that took place.  This festival was one of the three "pilgrimage" festivals, when all of the men traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices and celebrate this special event.

Fast forward now to the New Testament, which is more familiar territory for many of us.  Jesus (Yeshua) had promised His followers that the Holy Spirit would come, and would give them power to be witnesses for him. In Acts chapter 2, the believers were all gathered in one place, and guess what? IT WAS SHAVUOT!  They were gathered there with many, many other Jews to celebrate the Festival of Shavuot. And again, an amazing thing happened! There was a sudden sound like the roar of a violent wind, which filled the whole place! Then, God's Spirit came down, and what looked like tongues of fire came and rested on each one of them (can you imagine?) They began speaking in different languages, enabled by the Spirit of God. This was such a commotion that a huge crowd gathered.  There were Jews from all the other nations there to celebrate Shavuot, and these people understood the languages they were speaking! Peter then spoke to them all and told them what was going on. About three thousand people became believers in Yeshua the Messiah as a result!

I just can't get over how incredible this is! The first Shavuot was fifty days after the crossing of the Red Sea, and freedom from slavery.  The Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 was fifty days after the resurrection of the Messiah, who frees us from sin! At the first Shavuot, God engraved His words on stone for us.  In Acts 2, He sent His Spirit to engrave His word on our hearts.  In both instances, His presence came down in the form of fire, and His words were audibly heard.

There is much, much more to Shavuot than what I have written here; many more correlations, and much more amazing symbolism. I urge you to look into it for yourself. There is so much to learn about a God that has such a great love for us that He has an entire detailed plan that is taking place over the ages, just so that we can know Him!

Mocha Coconut Cupcakes

Did you know the Mocha Coconut Frappuccino is back at Starbucks? So, this week when I was planning dessert for our Friday night Shabbat dinner, I decided to make mocha coconut cupcakes in honor of my favorite drink.  We ended up not eating dinner at home, but at a fish fry fundraiser for NJROTC, but I made the cupcakes anyway because they sounded SO good to me.  I found two different recipes online, but they looked a little complicated, and I wanted something easier.  So I made up my own.  I found an easy cake recipe from my BHG cookbook and altered it a little bit.  Here's what I came up with:

Mocha Coconut Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
3 Tablespoons instant coffee (or 2 Tblsp. instant espresso if you can find it, which I couldn't)
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 egg
Dissolve instant coffee in the milk.  In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.  Add the milk & coffee, butter, and coconut extract.  Beat in electric mixer on low speed until combined, then on medium for 2 minutes.  Add egg and beat for 2 more minutes.  Pour into pan prepared with cupcake papers, and bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.  Makes about 18 cupcakes.  Cool and frost.


Coconut Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 cup toasted coconut
Mix butter and some of the powdered sugar until smooth, adding more sugar a little at a time.  Add coconut extract and beat on medium high until smooth and fluffy, adding a tiny bit of milk or water if necessary.  Frost cupcakes and top with toasted coconut.
Yum!

Birthday Monkey!

Today is my sweet niece's birthday. Usually I send her and her brothers books for their birthdays, because I love books.  I know, I know...what a boring present for a kid to get from their aunt, right?  Well, I try to make sure the books are fun and interesting.  But, this year I decided my niece needed a sock monkey for her birthday! So, I made her this colorful, stripey monkey...a cute and fun gift for a special girl.  I wish I could give her birthday hugs in person, but this monkey has nice long arms to give her plenty of hugs for me. I hope she's having a great day!

An Organized Pantry!

One of my favorite things about our house has always been the lovely pantry.  I love all of the shelves and the quaint, original countertop and cupboards.  My pantry had become very disorganized, though...to the point that I didn't even want to look in there anymore.  Something had to be done!  So, I slowly started organizing.  I'm finally finished, and so happy with the result!

I organized the big cupboard where we keep most of the food by grouping things in plastic bins and a lazy susan.  This cupboard is so deep, and the plastic bins give us easier access to everything without shifting it all around.

On the open shelves I put down pretty red-checked shelf paper.  I gathered all of my miscellaneous glass jars to store beans, rice, flour and sugar.  Don't they look pretty?  I thought chalkboard labels would be cute on the jars, and I decoupaged the mismatched lids with light blue polka dot paper to match the walls.

I got a small chalkboard from Hobby Lobby and mounted it on the food cupboard door to write our weekly menus on, and I painted a little coat rack so I can hang up and display my apron collection.

I love my aprons! And I love my pretty, organized pantry!

What I Believe

One of the reasons I started this blog was to keep far-away friends and family informed about what is going on in my life.  This way, since I don’t see them every day, at least they can have a little taste of what’s going on with me and my family through my descriptions and photos.  It has come to my attention that some of those friends and family may have some questions about some of the things I believe.  If that’s you, then this post was written for you.  If that’s not you, feel free to read on anyway if you’re interested.

A few years ago, my husband and I made some changes in the way we live our lives.  Those changes came about through a series of conversations with each other, through a book we happened to be reading at the time, through a lot of searching and studying the Bible, through fasting (we happened to be participating in a fast at the church we attended), and through much prayer.  I believe that these things all worked together to bring us to the point we are now.  I think God was trying to tell us something, and we have tried to listen and adjust our lives accordingly.  Our fundamental beliefs have not changed.  The way we live out our faith certainly has.

So, here is a simple statement of my basic beliefs.  As you read these, keep in mind that I am not a theologian or a Bible scholar.  What I am is an imperfect human being on a constant search for the truth.

I BELIEVE that the God of the Bible is the one true God, the creator of the universe.  He is unchanging and everlasting, and has revealed Himself to us in the form of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4;  Isaiah 43:10-11; Hebrews 13:8; Matthew 28:19)

I BELIEVE that the Bible is the inspired word of God, infallible and without error in its original form.  The scripture is God’s revelation to us, and is the authority by which we should live our lives.  It should be interpreted with the original context in mind.  (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)

I BELIEVE that Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) is the one and only Son of God, born of a virgin.  He is a man and yet fully God at the same time.  He lived a life without sin, and is the promised Messiah, Savior of the world through His death and resurrection. (Matthew 1:23; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 Corinthians 15:3)

I BELIEVE that mankind was created good, in God’s image, but chose to sin, bringing physical and spiritual death upon himself.  Every person (except Yeshua the Messiah) has sinned.  Because of this, God sent Yeshua as the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins.  Salvation from our sins is a gift to anyone who will receive it.  If we believe in Him, repent from our sins and turn toward Him, then we will have eternal life. We are only saved by grace, through faith, and the only way to have a relationship with God the Father is through his Son, Yeshua.  (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 3; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12-19; Romans 6:23; John 14:6)

I BELIEVE that today Yeshua sits at the right hand of God.  Someday He will return in a physical and visible way, and will raise the dead (of which He is the “firstfruits”).  There will be judgment for all, and all whose names are found in the Book of Life will remain with him forever, where there will be a new heaven and a new earth. (Acts 1:9,11; Acts 2:33; 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17; Romans 8:23; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 3:13; John 3:36; Revelation 20, 21)

I BELIEVE that Yeshua has sent us the Holy Spirit from the Father, to live within the believer to convict, teach, guide, sanctify and empower us to live and minister for Him. (John 14:26; John 16:5-15; 1 John 3:24; Romans 8:12-17)

Pretty standard, right?  Nothing new here…these are the same truths I have believed for years.  As I said, what IS new is the way we live out our faith.  Here is what is a little different now:

We try to follow God’s instructions.  Commands, laws, Torah, whatever you want to call it…we try to follow it.  God’s laws are perfect, righteous, and eternal. We show our love to God by keeping them. They are there for our own good, and it is a benefit to us if we follow them.  Yeshua never abolished these commands, but urged us to keep them.  If we follow them, we will have no problem loving God or others.  We follow these commands NOT to attain salvation, but BECAUSE we are saved.  Salvation comes only by grace through faith in Yeshua the Messiah, and not by anything we can do.  Because we are saved we want to shine our light so others will see our good works and glorify the Father (Psalm 19:7-8; Psalm 119:160; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:8-10; Matthew 5:16-18; 1 John 5:2-3)

Some of the new ways my family and I follow God’s commands are:

We worship on the Sabbath (7^th day).

We celebrate the Biblical Holidays. They are all beautifully symbolic of Messiah, and they are reminders of God’s love for us.

We no longer celebrate holidays that are only traditions made by men and/or that are based on or had their beginnings in ungodly or pagan concepts and beliefs.

We try to eat according to God’s instructions for eating. He created us, so He knows what we should eat!

None of these “new” things have any bearing on our salvation. It is a matter of living how we believe God wants us to live, and showing our love to God and others by living this way.

I hope this clears up any misunderstandings and answers any questions or concerns about our beliefs.      

Hidden Meaning

Tonight at sundown, Purim begins.  Purim is a holiday that celebrates the story of Esther, a Jewish young woman who became Queen of Persia and risked her life to save her people.  To learn more about Purim, see my post from last year, "Why I Love Purim".  This holiday is full of joy and celebration, with parties, costumes, parades and fun.  It is also a holiday full of hidden meaning. 

At Purim we wear masks and costumes to symbolize the hidden meaning of the holiday.  The Hebrew meaning of Esther's name itself is "hidden".  She was urged by Mordecai (her guardian and relative) to hide her true identity, which she did until the time came when she revealed who she was in order to save an entire nation. 

The Book of Esther is the only book of the Bible that never actually mentions the name of God.  His presence is "hidden" from the reader, but it is very evident that He is working behind the scenes in every little detail of the life of Esther and those around her to achieve His intricate plan.  The story is full of hidden miracles: things that seem to be coincidences, but that work out miraculously in the end.

Thinking about hidden miracles and hidden meaning reminds me of the Hebrew alephbet (no, that wasn't a typo. The first letter is "aleph", and the second is "bet", therefore "alephbet").  This language is absolutely amazing to me.  Did you know that each Hebrew letter actually has a meaning?  Words are formed by putting together letters which have specific meanings.  Not only that, but each letter also has a numeric value as well, and these numbers also have meaning!  It all works together to make words and sentences that have deeper meaning than I ever imagined!  This is the extraordinary language that most of our Bible was originally written in.  The more I learn about it, the more I wish I was fluent in Hebrew so that I could fully grasp the meaning in the scriptures more easily.

Hidden meaning is a little bit foreign to us Americans, I think.  We live our lives on the surface, getting caught up in the day to day things, and we don't always notice the unseen hand of God working miracles all around us.  When we read our Bibles, it seems that often we are just reading about people and events, and not always searching for the truth and meaning that God placed there for us to discover and apply to our own lives.

This holiday of Purim is a reminder to me to be on the lookout for what God may be trying to tell me, and that He is at work in circumstances around me even if I don't always notice those hidden miracles at the moment.