Wednesday, December 1, 2010

[Lynnee]

My first entry!

 

I can't believe how quickly this year has passed, and that it's already the first of December! Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, and all is ready to light the first candle when Sam gets home from work in just a bit.

 

I guess I should explain to those who knew us before and to new friends here what's going on with that. Sam and I are Christians, believers in Jesus, but we are Messianic Christians. We believe that we are a branch grafted into the vine of Israel, and as such, we take on characteristics and traits of our new vine and it's root. What it boils down to is that we have the best of both worlds - - we celebrate Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter, and yet we also celebrate all the Jewish holidays that Jesus (Y'shuah) and the first century churches would observe.

 

Hanukkah is the Feast of Lights or the Feast of Dedication. After the Maccabees defeated Antiochus about 200BC, they needed to purify and rededicate the temple from the desecrations committed by Antiochus and his armies. After doing a thorough cleaning, they went to light the lamps, and found that there was only enough oil that had been properly pressed, blessed, and sealed by the priests to last one day. The process for pressing and blessing would take eight whole days! They decided to light the lamp anyway, and let it burn as long as it would. The miracle is that the oil lasted and burned the entire eight days!

 

Hanukkah starts on the 25th day of the Jewish month Kislev, and according to Hebrew custom, the holiday starts at sundown the evening before. . .TONIGHT! I think it's kinda cool that Christmas is the 25th of December in the Gregorian calendar, and Hanukka is the 25th of the Hebrew month. We're having pizza for supper, followed by donuts. The tradition and custom is to enjoy foods fried in oil, to commemorate the sufficiency of the oil long ago, so we'll be having fresh-fried donuts for dessert! When we light the candles, our grandsons will come to our house to hear the blessings and receive their goil-wrapped chocolate money, candy canes, and hugs! Friday night, we'll play some games and reward them with golden raisins and other sweet dried fruit.

 

On Sunday night, we'll be collecting their shoes. Monday, December 6th, is St. Nicholas Day, and my Swedish family has always celebrated it. Everyone who has been good and who has shown a kind, loving and giving spirit over the past year can expect to find their shoes filled with candy on that morning. We put the candy inside of zip lock baggies because I just can't put it straight into a smelly, sweaty shoe! lol! December 13th is St. Lucia Day, another Swedish holiday, and another one that commemorates lights. We'll have Swedish cinnamon buns and coffee for breakfast, but no one will be wearing a crown of lit candles and delivering the goodies to everyone in bed. . .I draw the line at some traditions!

 

I'm excited for all the feasts and holidays surrounding our Christmas this year. It's not because we'll have lots of stuff, because we won't. We limit our gifts to three to each person because it's Jesus' birthday, and he got three gifts; who are we to get more? The grandkids get an item of clothing, a toy, and a book. I like limiting it because it keeps us focused on the Reason for the Season. I'm excited because of the bright lights, the loving spirit, the warmth and feeling of plenty at this time of year.

 

Praying that all of our holy days are wonder-ful this year! I'll attach a photograph of this year's menorah - - we've gotten creative this year!

[Annarchy]

That's awesome Lynnee.

 

I like the way you integrate the traditions.

 

I got some decorations put up at our shop, tomorrow the town is judging the businesses on Main Street after dark. We wrapped the awning poles with red and silver tinsel to look like candy canes, lined the window with gold tinsel and put up a small nativity scene, back lit with a christmas tree decorated with candy canes and bullets.

 

The LEGEND of the Candy Cane (..and other neat candy cane things.)

A Candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would help us remember who Christmas is really about. So he made a Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

 

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus. Hard candy to symbolize the solid rock, the foundation of the Church, and firmness of the promises of God.

 

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the name of Jesus. It also represented the staff of the "Good Shepherd".

 

The candymaker then included red stripes. He used three small stripes and a large red stripe to represent the suffering Christ endured at the end of his life.

 

The candy became known as a Candy Cane - a decoration seen at Christmas time. The meaning has faded, but still gives joy to children young and old, whom Jesus loves and treasures.

 

 

Snoops & The Legend of the Candy Cane

[Lynnee]

I think the legend of the candy cane is so cool, Annarchy! We have some with red and green stripes on them, with the green representing eternal life. Love it!

 

What kind of shop do you have? We had one that sold educational resources to teachers and homeschoolers. Lots of bulletin boards, posters, enrichment, computer stuff. . . .if a teacher needed it, we had it in our shop! I loved doing that, and I think it was most favorite job ever! I am and always will be an RN, but I've received a mixed blessing. . . . I'm no longer working as a nurse and probably never will again. The arthritis and many autoimmune issues have put me on disability. While I can still accomplish many things, there is no guarantee from day to day that I'll be able to do anything on any particular day. When I'm stuck in a chair or bed, that's when I spend lots of time in prayer, so it's still profitable time spent. The joys of every day setting a new personal record for consecutive days alive!!

 

Good to be getting to know everyone here again. Thank you for the conversation, Ann!

[Annarchy]

What kind of shop do you have? We had one that sold educational resources to teachers and homeschoolers. <snip> When I'm stuck in a chair or bed, that's when I spend lots of time in prayer, so it's still profitable time spent.

Educational resources sounds wonderful. Ours is my DH's retirement hobby, so he doesn't sit on the couch with the remote and vegitate. LOL He was a fed firearms instructor trainer, swat team captain etc. 25+ years, so he sells guns. I do the paperwork. I hear the 'stuck in bed', pillow propping is a science. And time spent in prayer is a blessing that can't be compared to anything else on earth.