Reflections on 9/11

• I need to approach Torah with others in love. My mother,bless her heart,will debate with me to no end on the validity of Torah and I am constantly being drawn into long discussions which end in accusing each other of being wrong. She is set in her ways and trying to "shake the foundation" of what she was raised to believe by quoting Scripture is not going to work. My best approach is to live this life obedient to God's will and let her see the changes in me. In doing so I pray she will want to research what brought these changes over me. The second person I need to model this life of obedience rather than criticism is with my DH. This area is much harder for me as he agrees that the Torah is still valid today but drags his feet in implementing it into his life. I must realize I cannot force him into anything but rather be a model for him and pray fervently that he returns wholeheartedly to his Faith. The third area is not a person but a group that I have shunned in my zeal for Torah life. I was quick to leave the church behind in search of a Messianic Congregation. We have had no luck finding one and I truly do miss fellowship with believers. We may not agree on everything but at one time I had those blinders on myself. Perhaps G*d can use me to show others that His will and commands are eternal but once again I must remember to do so in love.
• The second area I need to work on is submission to my DH. I really struggle in this area and am praying that G*d gives me a gentle and submissive spirit towards him. I need to let him be the head of this family as G*d has intended. I am still reluctant to relinquish spiritual headship to him at this time. I am working on this but I am not comfortable with him leading this family spiritually. He was not raised in a religious home and does not study to improve this situation so I have a really hard time letting him make decisions in this area. I truly believe there are times that G*d can use the woman to lead her family, and that it is her duty,when her husband is not doing so himself. What are ya'lls thoughts on this?
• A third area I need to work on is ridding myself of idols. Now mind you I am not worshipping a statue as if it is G*d but I have a few things in my life that take time away from Him and that is essentially what a idol is. This computer is a huge idol for me. I've been tempted many times to just turn off the internet and rid myself of the temptation but I need to find a "happy medium". I use this computer to access Hebrew Roots/Messianic message boards and groups and that is the only fellowship I have with like-minded believers at this time. I also use it for teaching my DC both educationally and spiritually. However, there are many useless things I do online and to many hours wasted that could be better spent in Bible study,prayer,and with my family. The TV can also become a idol for me and I find myself often watching shows that I barely have a interest in. I need to turn it off a lot more and not be distracted by the background noise.
• A fourth area also deals with television and movies as well. Over the course of the last year I have purged myself of books that weren't christian in nature,other than a few political books,I have narrowed my library down to Christian/Messianic fiction and non-fiction. Oh, and my homeschooling books as well. Although I have taken some steps in the area of television and movie entertainment I have not come nearly far enough. My mom has been calling me on this lately with a few things that I have been watching with the kids. Her big gripe was wrestling. I justified this by I watched it when I was growing up and it only has a few bad things in it. Well earlier this week I was "put in my place" so to speak by the following article:

BROWNIES WITH A DIFFERENCE
( by Stanten Sikes )

Many parents are hard pressed to explain to their youth why some music, movies, books, and magazines are not acceptable material for them to bring into the home or to listen to or see. One parent came up with an original idea that is hard to refute.

The father listened to all the reasons his children gave for wanting to see a particular PG-13 movie. It had their favorite actors. Everyone else was seeing it. Even church members said it was great. It was only rated PG-13 because of the suggestion of sex -- they never really showed it. The language was pretty good -- the Lord's name was only used in vain three times in the whole movie. The teens did admit there was a scene where a building and a bunch of people were blown up, but the violence was just the normal stuff. It wasn't too bad. And, even if there were a few minor things, the special effects were fabulous and the plot was action packed.

However, even with all the justifications the teens made for the '13' rating, the father still wouldn't give in. He didn't even give his children satisfactory explanation for saying, "No." He just said, "No!"

A little later on that evening the father asked his teens if they would like some brownies he had baked. He explained that he'd taken the family's favorite recipe and added a little something new. The children asked what it was. The father calmly replied that he had added dog poop!! However, he quickly assured them, it was only a little bit. All the other ingredients were gourmet quality and he had taken great care to bake the brownies at the precise temperature for the exact time. He was sure the brownies would be superb.

Even with their father's promise that the brownies were of almost perfect quality, the teens would not take any. The father acted surprised. After all, it was only one small part that was causing them to be so stubborn. He was certain they would hardly notice it. Still the teens held firm and would not try the brownies.

The father told his children how the movie they wanted to see was just like the brownies. Satan tries to enter our minds and our homes by deceiving us into believing that just a little bit of evil won't matter. But, the truth is even a little bit of poop makes the difference between a great treat and something disgusting and totally unacceptable.

The father went on to explain that even though the movie industry would have us believe that most of today's movie are acceptable fare for adults and youth, they are not. Now, when this father's children want to see something that is of questionable material, the father merely asks them if they would like some of his special dog poop brownies. That closes the subject.

Put the movie you want to see to the test. Would you be comfortable taking Christ with you?

It really makes you think doesn't it? Especially asking yourself if you would take Jesus with you to watch this movie or television program. I'll be the first to admit there is A LOT that I watch that I would never think of taking Him to see!!! This is going to be very hard for me ,though I know it shouldn't be, as what little I have changed so far has taken awhile and a lot of effort. I know that with the L*rds help I can and will make this changes no matter how much the selfish part of me wants to say,"its just a little bit of bad stuff". I guess I will close on this topic for the night but I will be sharing my thoughts and musings on the second weeks devotion tomorrow.

Jason goes back to work tomorrow,a day earlier than he thought, he called in to talk to someone this evening and he said he'd see him tomorrow. This schedule is so messed up even my DH can't keep up with it...LOL. He was also told they are going to begin cutting back hours until after Christmas. While I love having my DH home more with only one income this slow season hurts. He was talking about picking up a part-time job if it got to bad but I really don't want it to come to this. I love him for even considering this,rather than having me go back to work, but I believe G*d will bring us through this slow season. I suppose that is a area I should have touched on above we both need to learn to be better stewards of our money. Even if they cut his hours back to the 40 hours they were talking about this is still more than we were making when we were both working in Georgia. I suppose we have both become accustomed to the higher income and will have to make some cut backs if it does indeed get very slow. On another note Jason did finish the chicken coop today and our new bantams,Abraham and Sarah,are happily residing in their new home tonight. We did underestimate the amount of chicken wire we needed to make the run so they are confined to the chicken house until Jason gets another day off. I believe that the next day will be Monday or perhaps I can get out there and finish it up for him while he is at work. At least I won't have to be roused out of sleep at the crack of dawn anymore. I am not a morning person and that was getting rather old...LOL.
Well I am going to sign off for the night. I have to get Jason's uniforms laid out and read through this week's Torah portion. Take care ya'll.....

**Click to see larger size**

I couldn't get any good pics of Cole as he was to busy having fun to flash mom a few grins to show how much he was enjoying the fair. You can see the back of his head in the one picture where they are on the swings but that is as good as it gets. We spent a few hours there and everyone came home and collapsed from exhaustion. Poor Cole he can't seem to understand that the fair has packed up and moved to the next town. Every morning he wakes up and says he is going to the fair today. We may actually go to the town it moved to,Athens,since Rachel didn't get to go this weekend.

Friday afternoon Jason took me to the doctor and we stopped by the local pharmacy on the way home to fill my RX's. Two of the employees attend the Baptist church we used to visit and everytime we go to the pharmacy they invite us to church. *Note to self: I must train my husband to better explain our Faith*. We went through the drive thru to pick up my 'scripts and the woman tells Jason we should start coming back to First Baptist. My husband says,"Well we would but we got involved in Messianic Judaism". Okay already at this point he already makes it sound as if we've joined some forbidden cult but it gets worse. The woman gets this dumbfounded look on her face and says,"What is that?". Jason looks at her and serious as can be says,"We worship the Jewish Messianic.". At this point the lady is completely lost and for good reason what kind of answer is that??!!?? He made it sound as if we've joined this cult that worships some Jewish guy. I really wanted to sink under the seat in embarrasment and I am looking for the pastor to visit us any day now. I am sure the pastor knows what Messianic Judaism is but I still look for visitors to convince us that we shouldn't "put ourselves under the Old Law". In my husband's defense he is new to this and was kind of put on the spot. It really isn't easy to explain(especially in a short conversation) and I don't know that she would have understood my explanation,Torah-Observant Christian,any better. At any rate I am brushing up on my theology points in case I have to "debate" with the pastor or whomever may visit.

Today we went to Home Depot and the Farmer's Coop to buy feed and supplies to build a chicken coop. Oops, I forgot to mention that above that my husband decided to purchase a pair of bantam chickens at the county fair. His reasoning was that he always wanted to buy them when he was a kid and his mom would never let him have any so he was going to make sure our kids had them. I don't mind having the chickens and it'll be nice to get farm fresh eggs every week but he should have been prepared to house them. They have been staying in a rabbit cage in the living room for the past couple of days. He won't put them outside in this makeshift coop because he is afraid that the dogs or cats will get them. Both his parents and mine think we are crazy for having chickens in the house but until he gets the coop fixed we're stuck with them. He has the basic frame finished although the thing is far from sturdy. My DH by no means is a carpenter and he's to proud to call and ask my Dad to help him out. He insists he knows what he is doing but I fear this thing is going to collapse and the chickens are going to be running free in the yard. I can help him,I grew up with "Jim the Builder" so I have a idea of what I'm doing, but he thinks I'm a girl and couldn't possibly know anything about this "man's work"...LOL. So I'm going to let him have at and if it falls to pieces then maybe he will accept my help.

Well I still have so much to say but I've gotta get my behind into bed or I will be sleeping in 'til noon tomorrow. On that note I will end with To Be Continued.......