Family

{My older sis... }

I know people who say that my family is large. But I think that they tell me this because they look at all the mouths that my mom feeds, all the faces that are framed on our living room hutch, and all the names that we reference when we talk about life at home. Then, it can be assumed, these people multiply the number of family members by however many they have and get an even bigger number or something... Still though, I never saw my clan as too big for my taste. I dont know where I would be without them.

Then again, if you include all those people to whom I am close, than I would have more brothers and sisters than Joseph. Yes, such a blessing, to say the least!! But for the sake of space, which I tend to us up very quickly, I shall simply stick to my immediate family.

Here is a snapshot of two young sisters (above), taken about oh... four years ago. See any resemblance?

Dad and little bro. Bless YHVH for men like in Psalm 1!

OK. So this week, I have seen the importance of spending time with my brother and father,

learning to build up the former, and respect and bask in the jealous love of the latter. YHVH has certainly shown a piece of Himself to me through these two men. In the selfishness and ignorance of my flesh do I too often chose to view my brother as an annoyance, when he just wants to be around me. And in the race to get what she wants, the silly little RAHEL will forget how jealous her father is for her heart. I warn you, do not make this mistake. Life gets miserable if you do.
I just know that I'm forgetting something.... Oh yes! My turkeys and chickens!! They're my famiy members, too, right? Oh well, you will all have to wait till the next post to see them. I am too tired to upload another picture.

Enjoy your families! And let us not forget Jerusalem on this day of Holocaust Remembrance!

{[(Rahel)]}



PS: I just HAD to do the parenthesis, brackets and braces because I have this thing for making fun of Algebra...

Countdown: 24 hours...

~~~~
Dear Bride of Messiah,

As your faithful author writes this blog post, she uses half of a braincell from lack of sleep. However, tomorrow is the 14th day of the first month, and therefore will be filled to the brim with business preparing for the festival of remembrance*. Because of this I know that I shall have essentially zero time for trifle blogging, so my message to you, this evening, is brief:
Whether or not this will simply be another year of practice, or even if these days are not yet as evil as the days of Noah, there are 2 things that we must remember, both for this moment, and many moments to come: we must remember faithfulness and strength.
Take a good look at the men pictured above. I have little doubt that you know who they are, thanks to the film "Defiance." Now, what are the two things that they have MOST in common with men such as Moses, Joshua, or Judah Maccabee, or simply the Yehudim* of today? You may have to think on that, so I will cheat and give you the answer... they had faithfulness to their people, and strength in their Elohim. Boom! There you have it. Without these two fundamental characteristics, would these men still have accomplished successfully what they did? Without faithfulness, both to Elohim and his people; and strength FROM Elohim, would Moses still have lead his brothers OUT from the midst of moral corruption? Without faithfulness to her Master, king, people and uncle, matched with strength from YHVH, would Hadassah* still have saved Yisrael from the death grip of Hamen? Have I emphasized that "deliverance" and "salvation" is impossible without faithfulness and strength?

Here's the final clincher.... Without faithfulness both to YHVH and to TORAH, along with strength to overcome the flesh, would Yashuah (trumpets blare... nations shout, 'OUR BRIDEGROOM!') have overcome for us our chains of oppression and SET....US.....FREE? Nope.
Lo. (shake head.) NO!

"and you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Mitzrayim, and that YHVH your El brought you out from there by a strong Hand and by an outstretched arm..." -Deut. 5:15

~~Have yourself a real good Pesach...
THIS YEAR IN JERUSALEM!!! ~Rahel~
*remembrance festival--- Exodus 12:14
*Yehudim--- Hebrew for Jew
*Hadassah--- Esther

Be Strong, Be Strong... And may we be Strengthened!

Countdown: DAY 12

"Shalom" would have been the perfect word to describe

the later moments of this afternoon, whilst the world seemed to be
in perfect peace, including that of the sleeping toddler beside my
own slumbering form. I welcomed the warmth of unmoving sunshine on my
cheek, and the constant rhythmic breathing of the little princess that I
was, this day, babysitting. My arm rested protectively over her
round belly, while the tip of my nose parked right alongside her
dainty chin. For a moment, darkness again came over me as I lingered
in sleep for yet another moment.
Though at heart, I was truly sighing in complaint. Why? Because for
the better part of this entire week, I have rather felt like something
of a zombie, (as weird as it sounds) with little joy within my heart in the least.
The problem being: all that I wanted seemed to be out of reach. My flesh cried out,
"Look at ME!!" or "GRRRR!!! Life is of no worth if I cannot have what I WANT!!!"
I tried to envision what peace must look like. I tried to think of
the picture of true contentedness... but even as far as my imagination might
wander whenever it is NOT required to, it had hit a lazy hour, this time, and did not wish to
accommodate my needs. I sighed. Everything is so futile... so very, very futile.
My eyes flashed open in the very next instant to stare at the perfect little form of
the child that I was babysitting. Flowing, blond hair caressed her unblemished baby
skin. Her damped eyelashes were very attractive, if I may be so bold,
and in all from her nose to her toes she was untainted by the
worries of the world. Glittering perspiration sprinkled her skin where I
caught a glimpse of her pulse, so quick, so unyielding. "What made it move?" was
my question for a moment. Oh. Duh! It was her blood. It was her
LIFE, flowing through veins and arteries.

Ok. So to make this short, Yah was showing me Who gives us that blood-that LIFE!
If He made us all so intricately beautiful, is EVERYTHING futile? And if
so much thought, design and effort was spent, simply to give us functioning
fleshly bodies, than what about our spiritual bodies? There HAS to be
something so much more than our flesh disallows us to see. No?

--Day 12 of the countdown to Pesach.--
"In the way of righteousness is life, and in it's pathways there is no death."
~~Proverbs 12:28~~

Day 14: Pesach Countdown

Shana Tova!

Happy {New} Year to all my brothers! Finally, YHVH has given me some time to update my

poor, malnourished blog!!! It has certainly been that kind of week... month... that seems to

weary all of your energies, and degrade your every determination.... poop.

Notwithstanding,

however, the whims and churls (what does that mean, anyway?) of life on Pearl Street do not

compare with the many wonders of Abba that are ever present. After taking a look at Job chapter

38, it seemed as though our Husband-to-Be was whispering words of seriousness to me;

words that drew me out of myself. He said,

"Where were you when I laid the earths foundation? Tell, if

you know understanding! Who set it's foundation-if you know- or Who stretched a surveyors

line over it?..."

May YHVH forgive me for my utter selfishness! He is to be esteemed forever and ever!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyways, I am doing a countdown till Pesach, starting today(obviously!):

1st month, 1st day of the month.

Today was started off with the joyful news that the moon was sighted in

Jerusalem! Yay!

Before I sign off, I wish with all my heart to encourage you, and to stand firm in Yah.

I am aware that you may get bored with my constantly making mention of His Word, or

His Name, though it is good to speak of this now, before the days come when we may be

kept from encouraging each other in public places. But I have great hope that

we will be returned to the Land before things such as this will commence to take place.

Until then, I remain yours respectfully..

Rahel Obadiah