Day 7:  Repentance and Retrospection

Yesterday I posted that while the 30-days of Elul is a time to get our households, our finances, our relationships with others, and everything OUTSIDE of us in order, the 10 Days of Awe are deeper and more meaningful, because they are the time to get our hearts, minds, spirits, and souls in order.

When I read this, I wondered, “Now, how the HECK is that supposed to happen?  I mean, my method of prayer has me ‘talking’ mentally to Abba Adonai pretty much 24/7… I can’t stop taking care of the kids and house and everything else I do to KNEEL to do the same thing I always do.  So what does this mean?”

Well, turns out I didn’t have to worry about it.  See, Brian was gone close to three days, over this past weekend.  I don’t like posting stuff like that here until AFTER the fact, but I was a work widow this past weekend while he was at an enormous machining expo in Chicago with his boss and two other guys from the shop.  I had concerns about it, because Brian’s boss (the company’s owner) has been inching in closer to Brian lately, and that makes me nervous.  First Brian and he (and another guy) went to Detroit for a seminar a week and a half ago.  Then he asked Brian to do a business lunch with him and a client (Brian says it was because he knows the numbers they need in order to correctly quote a viable job.).  Then *the kids and I* got introduced to the boss when Brian’s co-worker’s mom died, and we were all at the visitation, and then the boss showed up the next morning to chat about how well behaved our kids are with Brian.  ((!?!))  And then this 3-days at the expo… that’s a lotta boss interaction, considering Brian stays in his little corner in the back of the factory and minds his business, typically.

As a result, I have been doing more and more thinking about the kind of impression I make for my husband.  Is Brian proud of me as a wife?  Does he feel as if he has something good here, with us?  Does he go to Chicago and wish he had more money to spend, a more happenin’ lifestyle, more friends and more fun?  Does he come home relieved to be back or disappointed that it’s over?  Does he have good to say about us, so much so that it rolls right off his tongue?  Does my concern over this indicate that I’m an overbearing wife?  Should I even be THINKING this stuff???

And it got stronger when he came home (believe it or not, TWO HOURS into Rosh Ha’Shana.  I wasn’t happy with the fact that my husband was gone over Shabbat, Erev Tishri and into Rosh Ha’Shana – the holiest day of the year.  But it’s only once every two years, and you can’t reschedule this expo, so that was another thing – I needed NOT to be demanding and unhappy/naggy about it).  But while he was away, I was constantly thinking, “Am I representing a solid front here at home while he’s gone?  Am I holding things together good enough?”  I’ll be honest, I get scared for five minutes, every night that I’m alone.  I’m okay putting kids to bed and I’m okay hanging out playing Nook or doing reading on-line… it’s that five minutes of shutting up the house, turning off lights, checking doors… I don’t LIKE that time.  Once I’m in bed, I’m fine, but that final close-down period freaks me out.  And I think, ‘What is my problem?  It’s no different here then than any other time!’  And at the same time I’m thinking, “Boy, I wish Brian were here.”  Apparently it’s a REALLY good thing that I didn’t marry military.  I like my man home with me too much!

But anyhow, when he came home, I thought, “I shouldn’t gush too much, make him feel like I’m a clingy wife-person who’s needy and missed him desperately… although I did… although I honestly did REALLY good with the kids, and even hosted my family over in the middle of my massive deep-clean – setting a lovely Shabbat supper and presiding over it!  We had a good time, we had no troubles, and everything went smoothly… and that’s the kind of wife I want to be.  That I succeeded in being outwardly.  But what about inwardly?  How did I do?  Is asking all of these questions about my abilities and behavior a sign of being a wussy or weak wife?

And that’s when it hit me:  This is the Lord working on my ‘INSIDE’.  He was doing it from Erev Tishri on, taking hold of me and turning my view from “Holy Crap, look at the baby footprints on the wall behind the crib!” to “Holy Crap, I’m actually able to hang streamers and prepare a Shabbat dinner followed directly by a feast WHILE baking banana bread for my husband to take to work on Monday.  Am I a jewel in his crown?  What can I do to be even better for him?  Even better for the Lord?”

Which brought me around to (last night, on the way to Taschlich) the whole ‘Who I want to be like when I grow up’ thing… and it’s always been my grandma.  My grandma Fern was gentle, kind, understanding, giving, and loving.  I’m… just not, and to be honest, I’ll never be like my grandma Fern.  I’m too saucy, and I don’t tolerate enough shit, truth be told.  And to be frank, that’s something I did NOT admire in her – she often was railroaded because people knew she wasn’t strong enough to fight back.  She was also a bit of an enabler – something I have NOTHING of within me.  So as we were driving I told Brian that I’ve shifted my ideal (who I want to aim to be like) from my grandma to Aunt Mae in the first Spiderman series.  That’s the kind of older woman I want to grow into (should we be here).  That’s the spirit I want to cultivate within myself.  Grace, dignity, strength, and yet kind and understanding.  That’s what repentance is, you know.  The church tells you it’s asking forgiveness, but it’s not.  Repentance is making a change from what isn’t right to what is.

Yesterday Ha’Satan tried to throw me off-course.  I was looking for a ‘Ten Days of Awe’ header, and stumbled across a 10-day intensive Bible study on the Days of Awe: Retrospective and Self-searching.  And I thought, “Oh, wow…!!  That’s exactly what I need to get the most out of this period of getting right on the inside!”  So I printed it off, and sat down last night to read it.

First, the man writing it insisted that you use specific versions of the Bible when reading his verses, to get the meaning HE wanted it to have.  Red flag, number one!  Then he used ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christian’ every other word… Red flag, number two!  Then he used marketing ploys to try to draw the reader in, to make it sound like this was the ultimate study that you just HAD to do.  What the…?!?!  And then he started twisting up the Jewish meanings to fit Christianity, that wolf in sheep’s clothing!  He saw something Hebraic and thought he’d garner a little attention for his business by cashing in on the idea, like a money-changer in the temple.  I was so pissed off, I threw it right in the trash.

And it was then that the Lord said, “Haven’t I been dealing with you well enough the past few days?”  And that’s when I understood what has been going on.  He’s been turning my eyes inward, helping to measure myself and see what needs improvement, and what I have done well in.  He’s been working on me in HIS way, and silly Anna went looking for some snake oil salesman to sell me a fake version of what I already have!  Thank heavens Ha’Shem has given me the ability to see Truth and discern crap from what’s right and good!!

Anyhow, so that’s where I am.

Day 8:  A Look at the Ten Days of Awe

And you thought that we were done counting now that the month of Elul was over!

Did you know that Rosh Ha’Shana is part of  another countdown?  Well, it is!  The fall feasts don’t stop – they just move seamlessly from one into another.  It’s the same thing in with the spring feasts – you go directly from Passover into Unleavened Bread and then Firstfruits, and tying them to Shavouth/Pentecost is the Counting of the Omer.  Well, we’re doing the same sort of thing here… we go from the 30-day countdown called Elul into Rosh Ha’Shana… and the ten days from Rosh Ha’Shana to Yom Kippur are special, too – they’re known as the “Ten Days of Awe“.  Directly after Yom Kippur begins the building of the family sukkot, which leads up to Sukkoth.  Another progression from one to another, seamlessly.

You might have noticed that I wrote ‘Ten Days of Awe” at the bottom of yesterday’s blog.  That’s because there are ten days of… well, ‘awe’ leading up to Yom Kippur.  That means we’re on day TWO of ten today.  Right now!

Ah, but I know what you’re thinking:  what are the Ten Days of Awe?  So here’s what I posted in 2003 from JewFAQ.org about the Ten Days of Awe:

The ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur are commonly known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) or the Days of Repentance. This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider sins and repent before Yom Kippur.

One of the ongoing themes of the Days of Awe is the concept that G-d has “books” that He writes our names in, writing down who will live and who will die… these books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but our actions during the Days of Awe can alter G-d’s decree. These “books” are sealed on Yom Kippur.

I was confused: I thought that ELUL was the period of repentance, introspection, and preparation – for Rosh Ha’Shanah.  Thirty days of counting down and readying.  Now we have ANOTHER period of repentance, introspection, and preparation – for Yom Kippur?  Why?  It seems like a repetition of what we’ve already done, doesn’t it?

“Celebrating the Biblical Feasts” (M. Zimmerman) says this:

Did you see that?  Bringing HIMSELF into harmony with God.  Elul prepared THINGS – our homes, cars, wills, relationships, returning things, etc.  But these ten days are to prepare OURSELVES.  After running around like chickens with our heads cut off, wrapping up everything and preparing our homes and lives, we get this final period of repentance, up to the Day of Judgment/Yom Kippur to center ourselves.  From the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Ha’Shana) for ten days, it’s like the 9th inning – the final chance to get right.  Once you hit the end of that period – The Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur, it’s sealed.  That’s it. 

This was confirmed by my other ‘feast’ book.  In “God’s Appointed Days”(B. Kasdan), it says:

Yom Kippur has long been considered the most holy day of the Jewish Biblical calendar… for it was on this day… that the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the nation.  …Yom Kippur is considered the logical extension of what was started on Rosh Ha’Shana.  …Services last most of the day for it is believed that judgment will come at the close of Yom Kippur.

They both said the same thing – that what was STARTED on Rosh Ha’Shana HAPPENS on Yom Kippur.  It’s a period building up to the day the Book of Life is sealed up – no more names added! – and Messiah judges His own.  Now, I had always thought that Rosh Ha’Shana was the rapture (saints going up) – that’s what christchuns dabbling in Messianic Judaism (and a bunch of Messianics) teach.  They all say Rosh Ha’Shana is the rapture, and I believed them.  They told me that Yom Kippur was judgment day at a later time (ie., after Armegeddon) for the rest of the people (non-raptured folk) to be judged, and that Sukkot was the start of the Millineum period… eternity with God.  But this is NOT true.

I’ve been flashing a chart around a little, here and there.  I’m sure you’ve seen it, but here it is, again – click to enlarge (it’s too big to fit on my blog):

Please remember that I’m not just plugging these events into whatever slot I feel like – these things, by either scripture or Jewish tradition (sometimes BOTH!) happened ON THESE DAYS!  It appears that there is a ‘cycle’ in the Rosh Ha’Shana column… from ‘creation’ to ‘destruction’…  I noticed there was a pattern to it that just FIT what all the books (and scripture) presented – and that’s that things don’t HAPPEN on Rosh Ha’Shana… not on *our* plane of existence, anyhow.  So here I am, going CRAZY trying to figure out every year why nothing ‘happens’, when nothing is supposed to happen!  Not that we can mark/see, anyhow.  That’s not the way precedence has it set.

Elul is a 30-day period of external repentance, but the Ten Days of Awe are a 10-day period of internal repentance for the individual.  It’s deeper, more serious, more somber.  I’m becoming convinced that these ten days are very symbolic, very important – moreso than Elul, even.  Elul was the time I got my ‘house’ in order – my world… finances, relationships with others, finished projects, etc.  But the Ten Days of Awe see me getting my heart and faith in order.  It’s inner preparation – far more weighty than what occurred during Elul.  And if you ad the 30 day prep to the 10 day prep, what do you get?  Forty days.  Talk about a number of great weight in the Bible!!

This was originally part of a three-blog series (it’s on my sidebar), but because I learn more every year, things change… and I needed to ‘update’ the thoughts so that they were closer to Truth.  I’m growing, learning… and sharing, too!

Day 9:  Cast Your Bread Upon the Water

Tonight is Tashlich.  It’s the second evening of Rosh Ha’Shana, and Tashlich is so much fun.  It’s the part of Rosh Ha’Shanah where the person goes out and throws bread (representing their sin) into the river… based on Ecclesiastes 11:1.   Now… you have to understand something – I NEVER UNDERSTOOD THIS.   At all.  Look at the verse, and you’ll see why”

Eccl. 11:1 – Cast thy bread upon the waters:
for thou shalt find it after many days.

Now forgive me for this, but why on EARTH would I want to cast my bread (sins) upon the waters (God)… so that I can find them again?  That makes NO sense.  So I checked my feast book (I have a feast book to help me learn about these traditions)… and in it, they throw pebbles, instead, as sin is hard and when it’s thrown into the river, the pebbles simply disappear among the other little stones (sins) forever, and we can’t take them back.  THAT I’m good with.  THAT fits better with the idea BEHIND Taslisch, and so when I say to you that when we do Tashlich, we throw PEBBLES to represent our sin, not bread.  Call me weird or blonde, but… I can understand that better.  ((And I don’t care what the Messianics think of me.))

Psalm 103:12 – As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

But anyhow, in trying to research this, I found some things I wanted to share.  From OverComerStudy.com:

Cast your WHAT upon the waters? Down home, the only conceivable reason you might cast bread upon the water was if you wanted to feed the catfish or to lure the poor suckers close enough to the bank to net them.

This tidbit of wisdom from the Old Testament, which the collector was referring to in this verse goes back to an ancient practice of sowing seeds (not bread) over flooded fields along the riverbanks, such as the Jordan River. When the rains had come, the river swelled and crested its banks and the low lying fields of the Jordan River valley were well under water, the farmer would get into a boat, row out over his fields and sow his seeds upon the face of the water. To the casual observer or the traveler from distant places who witnessed the farmer casting his seed from the boat, that farmer gave every appearance that his elevator did NOT go all the way to the top! The struggles of the every day process of life had taken their toll and that farmer was now Looney-bin material.

What the Palestinian farmer knew that the concerned traveler did not, was that as the seeds sank to the bottom of the water, the current would deposit a rich silt covering over them, almost guaranteeing that farmer of an excellent harvest. Neat, huh? The next time the conversation begins to lag, you can whip this little nugget out and proceed to wow the socks off everyone. Here is the object lesson. When you chose to become a Christian, you joined the ranks of an elite, faith-walking organization. The God you now live for wants you to believe in Him. He wants you to have FAITH in Him. He expects you to stop leaning on YOUR understanding and depending upon YOUR muscles and YOUR smarts. Climb out on the limb. Step out on faith. Put your weight on His strength. Lean on His insightfulness and His wisdom and upon His knowledge. You may have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but when you became a Christian, you invited Him to become not only your personal Savior, but the Lord of your life. Now back off and let Him be that. God has an interest in every facet of your life. He has a will and a purpose for you.

Is that not kewl?  I mean, it has NOTHING to do with Taslisch, but it certainly was something I didn’t know or think about… and it’s an excellent lesson, don’tcha think?  Anyhow I just had to share.  And I had to share the funny I found on Taslisch, too… ideas for what bread to throw:

For ordinary sins, use — White Bread
For exotic sins — French or Italian bread
For dark sins — Pumpernickle
For complex sins — Multi-grain
For truly warped sins — Pretzels
For sins of indecision — Waffles
For sins commited in haste — Matzah
For substance abuse — Poppy Seed
For commiting arson — Toast
For being ill-tempered — Sourdough
For silliness — Nut bread
For not giving full value — Short bread
For political chauvinism — Yankee Doodles
For excessive use of irony — Rye Bread
For continual bad jokes — Corn Bread
For hardening our hearts — Jelly doughnuts

Anyhow, I learned something about the whole ‘casting bread upon the waters’… and realized a few things about Tashlich… and got a real laugh at the same time.  So…!  I thought I’d share.  Just to brighten your day, feed your faith, and give you something to contemplate.  ((grins!))

Tonight at sunset, something exciting and spectacular happens.  ((Actually, it’s RIGHT NOW in Israel – see the moon thing on my sidebar!))  We begin Rosh Ha’Shana!  Rosh Ha’Shana literally means ‘head of the year’ in Hebrew, and it’s called that because this is the day the Lord said would be the start of each year in scripture.  Yeah – we don’t obey scripture with our Gregorian calendar, either, ((surprise, surprise)).  Messiah said that ‘not one jot or tittle will depart from the Law until heaven and earth pass away’, and the Law is Torah, and since heaven and earth have NOT passed away, today is the start of the New Year for us, as True followers of Messiah Yeshua!  WoooooT!!

I realize that this is a foreign concept to a LOT of people.  They’ve been raised to do whatever they were told, plugged into the religious system like humankind was plugged into the Matrix in my favorite movie.  They are oblivious, unaware… and utterly lost in their false faith and beliefs, so immersed in them that they’d blindly defend them with their lives.  But that’s why I post these things – to try to help the Bride to awaken and know the Truth.  So please don’t think I’m attacking people – I’m attacking a system of lies that has ensnared millions of people.  People who, if they only knew, would cast aside the misconceptions and false doctrines for Truth… and embrace this very special day and feast!

There are seven feasts in Leviticus 23 that we’re commanded to observe ‘for all generations’… and Rosh Ha’Shana is a biggie!  Some refer to it as “The Feast of Trumpets”, because Leviticus says this is the day that the trumpet is sounded.   Another name Jews use for this feast is “Yom Teruah”, or “The Day of the Awakening Shout”.  This is a reference to the shofar, but the ‘awakening’ part lends itself to the raising of the dead to be raptured.  This should get us all VERY excited!

There’s also another name this feast goes by “The Feast of the Day No Man Knows”.  It’s called that because Rosh Ha’Shana is two days long, because of uncertainties Israel had surrounding the timing of the events this day is to concur with.  Messiah gave a BIG clue as to the rapture’s timing in the New Testament when He said “NO MAN KNOWS the day or the hour” of His return.  And of course, we don’t – it could be either day or any hour in that time slot!  Most chrischuns won’t acknowledge this, because it’s too ‘controversial’ and would make people uncomfortable (wouldn’t want THAT)… but it’s fast becoming accepted knowledge among those coming out of the christchun circles and embracing Truth.

As you know, we celebrated 30 days of Elul before this – a month-long time of preparing for the new year (and possibly the rapture!).  That is OVER now… and tonight begins the celebration!  We will blow the Shofar three different ways, and have our feast (at the end of the first day), and on Wednesday night we’ll head out when Brian gets home to participate in Taslich.  And of course, I will be spending the whole time in prayer/praise, looking to the skies!

At sunset the night Rosh Ha’Shana begins, we blow the ‘shofar’.  The first year we didn’t have one and used kazoos, the next year we used a recorder, the next year we made paper plate shofars (there are two other ideas here and here), but for the past two years, we’ve gotten a real shofar.  We always count down the 30 days of Elul with a paper chain countdown, and on this night, we remove the last link and blow our shofars.  We talk about how this is the Yahweh’s New Year, how this is a special time, and we talk about the rapture, reading the verses about what is prophesied to happen and how exciting this feast is.

We go out and purchase and prepare the feast for the evening.  We clean up the house and ourselves (with candlelit baths!) and get ready for the big supper.  We have fish on Rosh Ha’Shana – it’s a traditional choice, and I don’t buy fancy fish very often, so that’s special.  We buy apples and serve it with honey (or caramel), which is symbolic of the hope that the next year will be a sweet one.  Carrots are the vegetable, as the Hebrew word for carrot is “increase” – and that is another hope for the next year.  Another tradition is to buy a fruit you don’t typically eat (one year we got pomegranate, another it was starfuit.. other ideas are kiwi or papaya.  This year I bought something odd called a ‘dinosaur egg plumcot’!).  Instead of braided challah, it’s traditional to have a round loaf of bread, the hope of a ‘full’ year (like the full, round moon).  You set a globe with a gold crown on it on the table, to symbolize that Yahweh is King of the World.  We use our fancy dishes (I use partial fanciness for Shabbat and go ALL out for feasts with our red glass plates) – and the Shabbat candles are set out on the table.  And of course you include the wine.

The meal begins with the mother lighting the candles (one for creation – the first life and the other for redemption – the new life in Messiah).  My kid’s repeat it with me as we light them – “Creation… and Redemption”.  Then the mother and father (still standing) pray – the mother over the food and the feast, the father over the family and the children.  Then we break the bread and have communion – remembering Messiah’s sacrifice for us, and the reason we are able to come to the table as His chosen.  Then we eat!

The next night is Taslich.  Taslich is a simple practice of casting your sins into the depths (Micah 7:19).  You simply find a body of water and some stones, and go the the water’s edge and seek Yehovah’s forgiveness for your wrongdoings.  Then you cast each stone (representing the sins) into the waters.  They are gone – you can no sooner go down to the depths and get that stone back than you can take back the sins Yehovah has forgiven you. The kids love picking out stones, seeing how far they can throw them, and thinking of things they can be forgiven for.

There are congregations that get together and do these things as a group, which would be kewl, but it’s not necessary for a meaningful feast.  We have a wonderful time just doing our own celebration as a family.  I hope this helps those of you who would like to have one of your own!

DAY TWENTY-NINE:  Prepping Others for your Rapture

Okay, so that’s a really weird sounding thing to say, isn’t it?  But I really do feel strongly about this.  There are people who choose NOT to believe what I believe.  It’s not my job to try to change their thinking – that’s the Holy Spirit’s job.  I provide information, live the way I know I am called to, am true to my self, my Lord, and my beliefs, and that’s ALL I can be accountable for.  What you choose to believe is your responsibility.  Kind of like survival preps.  What you set aside as a ‘cushion’ for hard times is your responsibility, not mine.  I can’t make decisions for everyone in the world.  And it took a long time for me to STOP trying to convince people to think the way I do.  Because that’s what the church teaches you to do.

‘Your choice is Your Way’ by Osokin

Yeshua was NOT like that, by the way.  Have you ever read John 6:66?  ((LOVE the number – so ironic, y’know?))  In it, a good portion of those listening to what Yeshua said just got up and walked away.  Did He petition them to stay?  Did He try to sugar-coat the Truth to make it more appealing?  No.  He never did, and on some occasions the scriptures show people saying, “This teaching is HARD, who can hear it?!”  (John 6:60)  But He let people make their own choice, and He had to be good with it.  Because if He wanted a bunch of robots, He wouldn’t have created people to have the ability to reason and choose.

That doesn’t change my beliefs.  I believe that a day is coming - SOON – in which the dead who served Messiah will rise from their graves and we who follow Him who are alive will be caught up with them, meeting Messiah in the air (1 Thess 4:13-18), where we will be changed from corruptible (bodies that age/die/hurt/are flawed) to incorruptible.  The Bible says this will happen in ‘the twinkling of an eye’… it will be amazing.  It also says that we will be taken to the Lamb’s Throne and given crowns according to our obedience and deeds in His name.  Then it says we’ll be invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb – and be seated at a table with Messiah Himself… then escorted to the mansions He has been preparing for us in His Father’s Kingdom.

I also believe that those who are left behind are going to have one HELL of a really bad life, from then on out.  And they’re going to need all the help they can get.  Of course they have access to the same scriptures I do, but that’s not terribly helpful, considering they don’t *get* that religious mumbo-jumbo, anyhow.  ((< Which confirms my attestment that people CANNOT choose Yeshua without the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Scripture says the Bible is wisdom to those who have Him, but foolishness to those who don’t.))  Anyhow, having a Bible doesn’t help them figure out what happened to you or what to do with your stuff that’s left behind, either.  Can they access your accounts to pay your bills?  Do they know what bills you even HAVE that need to be paid?  And if you’re a prepper, do they know what you have, where it is, and why it’s important (what’s coming)?

Every year, I’ve directed people to a site (Build-a-Will) with really reasonably priced wills in form letter style.  You add your information, print it out, take it (and a trusted friend or two) to the bank and have it notorized.  Okay, so wills aren’t the best way to go – nobody knows what *IS* nowadays, with the legal BS you have to schlep through regardless, but at least you have something that says what your wishes are in regards to who handles your estate, who takes care of your kids, etc.  And this isn’t just a RAPTURE thing… what if you were in a car crash tomorrow?  This is something worth having.  I called attorneys, but wills are expensive, hello!!  This was something I could afford… it was $20(ish) when I did it several years ago.  The link is here.

The other thing that you might want to do is compile a ‘box’.  The box is a GREAT idea, anyhow… as a precautionary measure.  If you have to get up and go fast (house on fire, flood, etc.), you don’t have the TIME to collect all of your information.  Maybe you don’t want to keep all your important papers in one place, but at least make COPIES and have them together so you can grab them and go.  Car titles, account numbers and information, copies of your SS card and other info, inoculation records, etc.  I have one of those fireproof lock-boxes well hidden that has all our information in it.  On top is a list of things we pay for (Homeschool Association, our Internet carrier, our trailer loan, etc.) and their phone numbers so that the person who takes over for us can just call and cancel service easily and not miss anything… and if we have to go for some reason, I can grab the box and have no worries about gathering anything up.  Savings bonds, birth certificates, car titles and more… they come in handy.

I’m pretty well set, after having YEARS of prepping for fall feast season.  I’ve got stuff set up, and have a lot of time to cover all bases.  Better still, I have THIS SITE that tells people what I believe, what’s happened, and what’s in store for those left behind.  It’s like a huge database of information they’ll need (if they bother to slog thru it).  I’ve ‘prepped’ this little corner of the ‘Net so that people can access what they need to know if I disappear.  And while it’s a paid account right now (and renews the first of September, so will remain as such for one year after the feasts), I’ve also set up the unpaid side of things to look as close to as possible, (except it won’t have the sidebar, sadly!) so it’ll be here as long as the ‘Net is still around.  My little gift to those left behind… lacking the convenience of what you see now, though.

But there’s one other thing you might want to consider… a rapture letter.  In other words, leaving a letter on the table that says, “Hey… guess what, I’m not on the lamb, kidnapped, missing or anything like that – I’ve been raptured!  My calendar STOPS at Yom Kippur – and says ‘Potential Rapture Date’ across the feast days.  It’s on the fridge… there’s NO missing what happened if someone walks in wondering where I am.  And a rapture letter just lets you break the news to my father in law, in the hopes that it’ll help him understand just what happened, and where the will/box are, and what’s in store for him.  Directing him to my site for help, and telling him what’s in store for him in the future.  It seems hokey, but let’s be honest… if your sister suddenly disappeared and nobody could reach her, her car was in her driveway and house unlocked, but no sign of her… wouldn’t a letter give you a clue as to where she was?

I have to go over my letter every year, because things change.  For example, I have goats and chickens that I didn’t have the last year… they need to know how old they are, how to tend them, and the purpose for our getting them.  ((If I’m raptured, you’re going to need eggs, meat and milk in a bad way in the very near future - don’t get rid of them!!))  We bought a deep-well hand pump… that is, a hand pump that hooks up to a regular well that will provide access to water even if the power goes out – VITAL to their future in a post-rapture world.  It’s not assembled, it’s got pieces all over the place… they’d NEVER find it or know what it was or how useful it will be if we don’t tip them off.  Stuff like that.  I give them my debit card PIN so that they can get to our money to pay our bills – I simply use code clues only they’ll know (‘the last digit in the year your great-grandmother went into a retirement home’, ‘the number of dogs your sister has owned in her lifetime’, for example).

There’s less than two weeks to Yom Kippur.  Consider taking a half an hour and writing a letter.  Don’t preach in it – just state the facts and let them choose what to do with the information from there.  You found Truth on your own, they can, too, if they really want to.  But it’s their choice.  Your job is just to make the transition to a life without you a little easier on them.  And really, isn’t that what someone who cares about their family/friends would do?

Day Twenty-Eight:  When is Rosh Ha’Shana?

People always wonder when the Feasts begin.  And I agree, it can be REALLY confusing.  That’s mostly because we forsook Yehovah’s calendar for the Catholic one.  Never a good idea.  So when Leviticus 23 says that the first day of the seventh month is Rosh Ha’Shana… well, you’re kinda screwed, aren’t you?  The Hebrew calendar is completely unfamiliar to you.  ((Unless you’ve been reading here, for a while!))  Because the ‘seventh month’ isn’t July, it’s Tishri (pronounced tish-RAY)… and your average Western-programmed person doesn’t jive with that.

The Hebrew months each begin with the new moon.  I’ve written about it a dozen times, I know, but a quick recap:  The Karaite Jews go from the first sighting of the moon in Israel.  The Orthodox Jews use the calendar their head people give them (which sometimes is the same as the Karaite day, sometimes not).  I go by the 1% moon – the first sliver of the new moon, whether you can see it because of cloud coverage or not.  Let’s not insult the ancients in assuming they couldn’t figure out when the first sliver of a new moon would appear, shall we?

We’re in Elul, right now.  Elul is sometime in August, generally speaking, and it’s the LAST month of the Jewish year.  Find the new moon in the beginning or middle of August, you’ve got Elul.  Find the next new moon after that, and you’ve got Rosh Ha’Shana, because it’s Tishri 1… the first day of the new Jewish (spiritual) year.  ((‘Rosh Ha’Shana’ means ‘Head of the Year’, or New Year’s Day, basically.))  So when is the next new moon?  September 16 at 2:11UT

Which is more fun… because how many of you can convert from UT to useable time?  So I went to timeanddate.com and converted 2:11UT to Israel time, and it’s 5:11am on September 16th in Jerusalem.  Why Jerusalem?  Because that’s the Holy City – if Yehovah’s gonna work off a time, it’d be theirs.  So the 0% moon (new moon) is at five in the morning in Israel, which means the evening of September 16th begins Rosh Ha’Shana.  So from sunset the 16th to sunset the 18th, the feast is celebrated.

Next question: when is sunset in Israel?  6:43pm on September 16th.  What time is that for us?  11:43am on Sunday the sixteenth.  Although it’s traditional to just start the celebration at sunset.  However, because I like to reference Israel time, we have our feast (first night) on Sunday, and Tashlich (second night) on Monday, regardless of sunset, here.  But to each their own!

And oddly (and it is odd!), I agree with the Karaite AND the Orthodox dates, this time.  We’re ALL on the same dates, and that doesn’t happen very often.  That actually kind of geeks me, because that’s such a rare occurrence, and for all of us to be in synch?  It’s Divine.  It means we all will celebrate His feasts (all three of them) at the same time this fall.  Maybe for a reason. 

  So anyhow, now you know what’s coming up, AND when!

DAY TWENTY-SIX: Cleaning Blitz!!

There are two (technically three) days left until Rosh Ha’Shana, but with lawn mowing, and carpet cleaning the WHOLE house in there, we’ll call it two.  That’s TWO DAYS left to get my house in order.  And yes, I leave this until the last minute, because (let’s face it) housecleaning tends to un-do itself.  You clean the sink, inevitably something gets thrown in it.  You clean the slider door window, and a kid presses his nose against it.  You clean the bathroom, and somebody misses the can.  ((I have three boys that do this regularly, btw.))  So the REAL cleaning is best left until LAST.

And as un-fun as it is to ‘clean’… doing a cleaning BLITZ is another story.  It’s an insane rush of ‘get everything right as fast as possible’. 

What’s on the agenda?  I thought I’d make a cleaning list here, and strike-through the items as I complete them (since – as you can imagine – the blonde is gonna take a few breaks and prob’ly check FB comments, since that’s my happenin’ place!)  So… without further ado:

Day Twenty-Five:  Listening to Jim

I’m a intentional user of psychological manipulation.  Wow, that sounds crazy, doesn’t it?  What it actually means is that I know what things set me off and avoid them, and know which things cause other reactions in myself in utilize them.  For example, when I was growing up, I knew that my mom’s rages could be dissolved by putting Jim Reeves in the tape recorder.  So I did that.  A lot. 

But it also works on me.  When I was a kid, my mom always cleaned the house to Doug Oldham and Jim Reeves’ Gospel albums.  Both are long gone, and your great aunts are probably the only ones who listen to them anymore… besides me.  Because you see, when I turn on those two albums (I have them on opposite sides of the same cassette tape) – I have to clean.  I can’t sit down.  If I hear that music, I’m lighter, the house is brighter, I have more energy, and I know it’s psychological, but I’ve just got to clean.  And because I know this, I use it.

We listen to a LOT of Doug and Jim, around here.  And honestly, it’s good music.  Old school – VERY, very old school – from the King James era, just about – but very, very good.  I prefer it over just about everything else.  It’s soothing.  It’s meaningful.  They don’t make ‘em like ‘Gentleman Jim’, anymore.  He’s just so, SO smooth and easy on the ears.  And while there are no clips off the Doug Oldham album on YouTube, there are  SEVEN of Jim’s songs on there!!  How about that number?!     So I thought I’d link you to them, so you can hear what I listen to.