Shabbat Joy

Our family observes and celebrates the Biblical Sabbath.  In Hebrew the word Sabbath is Shabbat.  So, every Friday night at sunset we seperate ourselves from the things of the world (as much as possible) and turn our focus to G-d matters and family.  We do things different on Shabbat than on the other six days of the week.

Here are some pictures of last Shabbat.  I am so blessed!

We wear our prettiest and nicest clothes on Shabbat.  The girls loved sharing some of my necklaces and pretty flower pins in their hair.

Lance brings home beautiful flowers every Friday after work to make our weekly celebration more beautiful.  And we begin the Shabbat by putting money in the tzedakah (charity) box.  We do this to remind ourselves to always be generous - as G-d is generous to us.  He provides for our needs and gives us gifts all the time.  So, we put aside some money each Shabbat to share generously with others.

It is a longstanding custom that all girls and women light two candles to welcome Shabbat into the home and into our lives.  It is something physical we can do to change our focus from the regular things we participate in during the week to the important spiritual things that make our lives better. My beautiful candle sticks were a gift from my Mother several years ago.

After we light the Shabbat candles we cover our eyes so we don't see the beautiful flames until after we say our special bracha (blessing) - the first thing we do after Shabbat begins.  It is a time to think about G-d and all He means to us.  When we open our eyes we make three circles around the flames, bringing our hands back to ourselves which is the symbol of our opening our hearts and lives to the shalom (peace) that only G-d can give us.

When the candles are lit and the beautiful glow of the candle light fills the room we sit at the table to say more brochot (blessings) and sing special Shabbat songs.  We sing a blessing to all our grandchildren - even if they are far away from us.  It is a very meaningful time for the family.

After our blessings and songs we celebrate with wine, which is the symbol of joy.  We lift our glasses and wish each other "l'chaim" - to life!  (*note:  we give the children grape juice, not wine)

We then eat a delicious meal.  We save our special and favorite foods and desserts to enjoy on Shabbat since we eat plain foods during the week.  We have a Torah (Bible) lesson, sing songs, talk about our favorite part of the week just past, and enjoy being together as a family.  

Shabbat is the best day of the week!  I love having a weekly celebraton.  It makes a huge difference in my life to set aside one day each week to escape from the worries and stress that life on planet earth brings.  I don't go to stores to shop.  I leave the mail in the mailbox.  I don't answer the phone.  I don't watch sitcoms, crime dramas, etc. on tv.  I spend the day relaxing, playing, praying, studying, and being with the people who mean everything in the world to me.  Shabbat gives me strength.  Shabbat gives me hope.  Shabbat gives me joy.  Shabbat brings shalom to my neshama (soul).  I love Shabbat and am thankful that G-d set up His world to give us this special gift.

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...G-d blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it G-d rested from all his work that he had done in Creation. (Genesis 2:3)

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the L-rd your G-d. On it you shall not do any work .... For in six days the L-rd made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the L-rd blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.  (Exodus 20:8-11)

4th of July at Our House

We spent this year at our house in town rather than going down to the cottage at the lake as we typically do for July 4.  June was the most hectic month I've had in a very long time and I just didn't feel I could take another trip.  I really needed to stay at home at take it easy.  And since the holiday fell in the middle of the week Lance would have had to use some vacation time and we want to save it for cooler weather.

I didn't actually know there would be anyone at the house today so I didn't shop for anything special or plan anything.  Laurie brought all 3 girls over about mid-morning while I was at Savers digging around for bargains.  (I found some great treasures too.)  So when I got home it was just about time to start planning lunch for everyone.

Thankfully, I keep lots of party things around all the time.  I shop for clearance party decorations and off season items, and keep several plastic totes filled.  That makes it easy to throw a party together without much effort.  So I knew I could put something together for a nice July 4 lunch.

The girls were all busy in their bedroom while Laurie and I prepared lunch so they didn't know we were having anything special.  I don't even know if they knew it was July 4 actually.

I made some pink lemonade in the red tea jar, put some red and white striped straws in the glasses of ice and it looked very festive and tasted delicious.

Red plates, blue forks, and white napkins with red ribbon added to the party look on the table.

Star shaped chicken nuggets from the kosher store in Dallas went right along with our stars and stripes theme.

So did the watermellon (stripes), blueberries (stars), on a white tray.

Fresh whipped cream and strawberries with pound cake was a yummy yummy dessert after we had our chicken nuggets, tator tots, and corn.

Sara's pretty pony was a table decoration along with the little glass filled with tiny American flags.

 

After lunch the girls enjoyed playing in the new pool in the back yard. It was great fun!

Pop and Haley served as life guards during the swimming time.

After swimming it was bath and shampoo time, dinner - which was peanut and butter sandwiches decorated with blue sugar and star sprinkles, chips and milk - then story and song time, Bedtime Shema, and falling asleep while watching Gulliver's Travels.

It was a beautiful and happy day.  And in spite of the many problems our country is facing I'm still proud to be an American.  And I'm happy for the freedoms my grandchildren enjoy that many children throughout the world don't have.