Our Sabbath Traditions

Recently I joined a Yahoo! group that is designed to help to get our home ready for Sabbath. Several of the Moms on the group decided to share their Sabbath traditions and so I thought that I would post some of ours. Our traditions are still a work in progress.

As the sun is beginning to set, each family member gathers on the couch and from youngest to oldest we each pick a song to sing for worship. After our songs we tell what happened to us during the week that we are thankful and we quote a Bible verse from memory. We then pray. After the prayer we sometimes play a Bible game such as charades.

I am looking into having a special meal as a part of our Friday night tradition; something we eat all the time. We are thinking of homemade pizza that we make using the bread machine. I'm also going to buy some nice glasses for our drink and bowl for our salad.

What are your Sabbath or Sunday Traditions? If you don't have any yet, please list what you would like to implement.

Sew Crafty Friday

I don't know if this counts as being "crafty", but tomorrow is investiture and I had to sew on my daughters awards that she earned this year. Here are some shots of the front and back of the sash.

Trip to the Science and Nature Center

Last week we visited the Science and Nature Center. Here are some of the things we saw.

This was a little snake that we saw resting on a lily pad.
This was a type of cactus that only blooms for a couple of days. We were very blessed to catch it open.
Here is a picture of some of the kids from the group at the top of a water tower looking down.

Here is a picture of Jasmine and Christopher.

And here are some turtles that we saw in the pond.

Camping Trip

Our Adventurer Club went camping at Pedernales State Park this weekend. How refreshing it was to spend some time in nature. Here are a few pictures that I took at the park. Of course the camera does not even come close to capturing what my eyes beheld.

Embracing You

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Marianne Williamson quoted by Nelson Mandela

Have you ever embraced who you are? That special person that God designed you to be? That peculiar person that separates you from everyone else? The you that is fearfully and wonderfully made? Or do you often worry about how you may not fit in if you fully embrace that person?.

Have you ever considered that maybe you are not supposed to "fit in". Think of all the wonderful people that did not "fit in". What would our world be today if they had decided that they did not want to stand out? Consider Martin Luther King, Jr, Rosa Parks, George Washington Carver; Consider Jesus. What if Jesus had decided that He just wanted to fit in? That being different from everyone in this world was just too much for Him?

I am so glad that He knew who He was and today my life is different because of it.

Don't be afraid to be you. God loves you.