Friday, March 30, 2018

Sabbath Music - Passover Songs




Greetings to All and Chag Pesach!

This evening at sundown, the eight days of Passover will begin.  It's a blessed time for all who follow Judaism as well as those who accept Yeshua as the Passover Lamb.  Yeshua celebrated this commanded feast as an example to His followers. He taught them to do it in remembrance of Him. (And notice, He celebrated with a Passover lamb, not an Ishtar ham. LOL- but seriously!)

We'll be having our Passover seder on Sunday, so I've been busy with preparation.  If you are not familiar with this holiday, you can click on "Passover" in the list on the right side of this blog.  There is much to see and enjoy - just scroll down.

Part of this celebration are the traditional songs handed down through generations.  Dayanu is translated "It Would Have Been Enough." It lists all the blessings given the Jewish people when they came out of Egypt, such as deliverance, the Sabbath, and the Torah.  Blessed be His Holy Name forever.


 Eliyahu  Is a song about Elijah the Prophet and the lyrics are:

Elijah the prophet, Elijah of Tishbi, Elijah of Gilead, 
may he soon come to us along with the Messiah, son of David.

YES - AND HALELUYAH!  COME SOON!

This is the version we dance to after the seder because we have so much to be joyful and thankful for.  I hope you dance as you listen:  Eliyahu Hanavi 

Here is a mix of songs for Passover.  I hope your week of Passover is blessed as you meditate on the blessings of being a child of the Most High, and on Messiah Yeshua's blood sacrificed for our sin.   Glory and Praise to Him forever.  Haleluyah!

Monday, March 26, 2018

'Round Golden Cottage

My hibiscus are blooming


Greetings, Gail-Friends:

This is going to be a busy week, so I'm posting my usual Thursday post on Monday.  I'll be doing preparations for Passover, which begins on Friday at sundown.  So, here are a few happenings around Golden Cottage.

I told you on Thursday that I'd share the photos of the indigo bunting that visited Golden Cottage Garden last week.  First, I must say how thankful I am to Hashem for answering my prayer to find the transfer cord.  And a big thank you to my son-in-love William for helping me.  Well, here you go:


 I was SO EXCITED!!!

The Sabbath was a wonderful day.  It started with a phone call with our oldest daughter, Melissa. She shared a burden on her heart, and I ask you to please say a prayer for her.  If you would pray for her daily, I would greatly appreciate it.

We went to a nearby bluegrass concert that afternoon, and it was delightful.  Such a joy to sit outside under the spreading oak trees as the moss waved in the soft, warm breeze.  There were several groups playing some of the old-timey, toe-tapping tunes I've heard since childhood.   One old favorite was, Come Home, It's Suppertime.  It brought back so many memories.  We had a wonderful, refreshing Sabbath afternoon.


We had a good laugh when we heard they were having a hog-calling contest.  Remember, Y'all, we live in the country, so there were some well-seasoned in that skill, I'm sure.  We left early so we didn't stay for it.  I told Jem, "Wouldn't it be hilarious if you entered that contest?  Can you imagine you winning it and everybody saying, a rabbi won the hog-calling contest!"  We laughed all the way to the car.  I almost double-dog dared him to do it, but I've learned better.  I love that man.


On Sunday, our youngest daughter, grandson and I attended a local performance of The Secret Garden.  We were celebrating Amanda's 40th birthday.  First, we ate lunch at a restaurant that had this painting on the wall.  I'd love to paint something like this on my fence.




My baby and my grand-baby!  Two of my loves!


Amanda's got her signature Love Glasses on!

The man in the white coat, Will, and the young woman are cast members.  Will and Amanda have performed together in several local productions.  The young woman on the right played a housemaid with a Yorkshire accent, and she nailed it perfectly.  I thought she was from England until we talked after the show.  The musical production was beautifully done but didn't follow the book as I remember it.  Actually, there were some very disturbing songs and scenes.  The Secret Garden was my favorite book as a child and I read it several times.  I'm going to do some research and write a separate post about it.

One of the cast members wore a beautiful lace jacket that I fell in love with, so I asked if I could take photos.  Believe it or not, Gail-Friends, this is made from a tablecloth.  Isn't it dreamy?  I have to make one because this has Gail Golden written all over it.


I'll leave you with this item, seen at a local garage sale.  It's a one of a kind, I'm sure -- a casket that opens to become a couch!!!   We had a good laugh at this, but like a friend said, "Use it now, use it later!"


Blessings to you all, Gail-Friends, and have a good week.

~~~
 I sometimes share my posts with these friends:
  Spiritual Sundays  GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTY     Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up     
    Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday 
Sunday Thoughts Link-Up
 OVER THE MOON LINKY PARTY!

Friday, March 23, 2018

Sabbath Music - The Mighty One of Israel




Today is Preparation Day.  Are you getting ready to turn away from the world and find sweet peace and rest in Him on His Sabbath?  I sure am.  Seems like the older I get, the faster the weeks go by.  And I think I'm busier in retirement than when I worked.  I love it, though!  I'm looking forward to my day to rest and refresh.


The Sabbath is a blessing and a gift from ADONAI for all who keep His covenant.  Music is a big part of my worship on the Sabbath.  This song is a good meditation on His might and power.    The Mighty One of Israel

“And the foreigners who join themselves to Adonai
to serve him, to love the name of Adonai,
and to be his workers,
all who keep Shabbat and do not profane it,
and hold fast to my covenant,
 I will bring them to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Isaiah 56:6-7 (CJB)

Blessings to you all, Gail-Friends, and have a good week.

~~~
~~~
 I sometimes share my posts with these friends:
  Spiritual Sundays  GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTY     Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up     
    Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday 
Sunday Thoughts Link-Up
 OVER THE MOON LINKY PARTY!



Thankful Thursday - Two Exciting Things This Week



graphic courtesy of Little Birdie Blessings

By now, Y'all know I'm a bird nerd.  Well, this week I received a wonderful, long-awaited bird blessing.  I have prayed to see one of these birds:

photo from Wikipedia
This is an indigo bunting.  I saw him earlier in the week and I was SO EXCITED!   I was praising ADONAI and thanking Him all week for this beautiful blessing.  

I prayed to get a photo, so I kept my camera close by.   A couple of days later, I saw him at the birdfeeder.  I got several shots before he flew away.  I'm so thankful.  I'll share them next week.

You have to know how it is with us bird nerds.  We keep a written record of the birds we see, and we are always on the lookout for the next sighting.  So, dear Gail-Friends, this is a major happening in my life.  

And yes, I do pray about seeing birds.  I've done it many, many times.  Please know this, Gail-Friends -- our Heavenly Father cares about the big and little things in our lives.  How do I know?  Because the Bible tells me so:
Don’t worry about anything; 
on the contrary, make your requests known to God 
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving.
 (Philippians 4:6 CJB)

Oh, yes, He even cares about our desire to see birds.  I've written stories about it, too.  As a matter of fact, I'm working on a book that will be a collection of my bird prayers and adventures.  

Speaking of books, the second exciting thing that happened this week was this! 
Yessir - that's my baby!
I received the proof copy of my new book Golden Moments.  What a thrill!  I've had many articles and poems published as well as being a co-author of two other books, but this will be first solo project.  This book and is a compilation of inspirational stories about my answers to prayer and "aha" moments in my life.  Some are funny and some are deadly serious.  All are true.  I'm publishing them with the hope of inspiring the reader to pray about everything, no matter how small.  I'll be sharing more about it in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Winter is still hanging on here on central Florida, but I'm not complaining.  While many are weathering snow storms, I'm just dealing with over-night lows in the forties.  For that, I'm very, very thankful.  I love this graphic and poem, don't you?  It's from the group Garden of Bright Images on Facebook.  She posts so many lovely things.   Yes! Spring is coming!



What are you thankful for this week, Gail-Friends?

~~~
 I sometimes share my posts with these friends:
  Spiritual Sundays  GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTY     Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up     
    Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday 
Sunday Thoughts Link-Up
 OVER THE MOON LINKY PARTY!











Friday, March 16, 2018

Sabbath Music - Baruch Haba B'Shem Adonai,


I love this song, Baruch Haba B'Shem Adonai

The Hebrew means "Blessed is He who comes in the name of Adonai."  The lyrics are in the video, and I hope you will meditate on the message. 

Do you long for Yeshua the Messiah to come?  I do...more and more every day.  My soul yearns for His appearing.  I long for His appearing.

I hope you enjoy the song and have a blessed Shabbat.

~~~
 I sometimes share my posts with these friends:
  Spiritual Sundays  GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTY     Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up     
    Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday 
Sunday Thoughts Link-Up
 OVER THE MOON LINKY PARTY!

Thankful Thursday - Purim Pics, Blessings, & My New Book


Greetings to you all, dear Gail-Friends.  I'm so excited today because my new book will be published very soon.  Hopefully, it will be the first or second week of April.  I'll keep you posted.

The book is titled Golden Moments and is a compilation of inspirational stories about my answers to prayer and "aha" moments in my life.  Some are funny and some are deadly serious.  All are true.  I'm publishing them with the hope of inspiring the reader to pray about everything, no matter how small.

I promised you some Purim pics and to tell you about our special guest at our celebration.  Here you go:


We had fun with these photo cut-outs, made by a very talented synagogue member, Lisbet.  I loved how she added lace and jewels to the paintings.  Everybody had their picture made with them, and it was great fun.


Rabbi Jem doesn't look happy, but he really was.


Here he is with his puppet.  He loves to be dramatic and act silly.  This is his "oldest rabbi in Israel" get-up.

These are the members of the play.  During intermission, we had a Purim parade with singing, dancing, and lots of groggers, of course.





The show was put on by some of our teenagers.  The director, Taylor, is barely 13 years old.  She was really good at directing.

Taylor and Naomi with their puppets (made by them)



 Matthew made a great looking puppet.  This was the court jester, who told funny jokes.  (Not in the script, but we loved it.)  There was lots of ab-libbing, too, by everybody.  Hilarious!

I told you we had a special guest.  Well, here he is!


It was President Donald J. Trump!  So exciting to have him with us for Purim.  Matthew made this one, too.

Another of our talented ladies, LaVonne, made a pinata of Haman's head!.  It was so much fun watching the kids beat him with a stick till all the candy fell out.  We love to hate Haman!

He was ugly...even had hair coming out of his nose and ears!  Booo....Hisss....!
After the celebration, we ate!  You know the old saying,

"They tried to kill us.  
We survived.  
Let's eat!  

And of course, we had hamentaschen - a traditional sweet cookie shaped like Haman's hat.




I think it was the best Purim celebration we've ever had.  You can a few more photos of this year's celebration HERE. You can learn more about Purim by clicking on the link under subjects on the right-hand side of this blog.  Just scroll down - there are lots of posts.  You might even like to try my hamentaschen recipe.

I'm counting my blessings that we have such a loving congregation.  We are a family, really.  All loving and supportive of each other.


This is my beautiful amaryllis that always blossoms  this time of year.  I counted a dozen blooms that day.


And I'm thankful that the painted buntings are still here.  We've had the coldest winter I can remember in years.  Cold for us is 40's at night at mid to upper 70's during the day.  It's not bad, of course, but it's too cold to sit on the porch in the early mornings.  I've been using my fireplace dvd a lot.  I'm ready for spring, aren't you?  Still I'm so blessed to live in the place where people vacation.  We call it paradise.  Thank you, Father, for putting us here.

What are you thankful for this week?

Have a blessed week ahead, dear Gail-Friends.

~~~

 I sometimes share my posts with these friends:
  Spiritual Sundays  GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTY     Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up     
    Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday 
Sunday Thoughts Link-Up
 OVER THE MOON LINKY PARTY!
~~~


Friday, March 9, 2018

Sabbath Music - Praise Adonai



Shabbat shalom, Gail-Friends.  I hope your week has been good.  Mine has been busy.  Lots happening around Golden Cottage lately.

We had a wonderful Purim celebration and, as promised, I will share a couple of photos.   Of course, we had lots of hamentaschen.  You know the Jewish saying, right?  "They tried to kill us.  We survived.  Let's EAT!"


We had a puppet show about Purim - the story of Esther.  If you're not familiar with this traditional Jewish celebration, be sure to click on the Purim link on the right side of this website.  You'll find my past posts to fill you in. This was the lovely curtain that covered the stage:



Here's Queen Vashti.  Boy, was she dramatic!


We had photo opps with King Ahaseurus and Queen Esther.

 The King

 And the Queen

Our teenagers put on the puppet show, and each person had to make their own puppet.  It was so much fun.  Hilarious!



We had a Hamen-head pinata filled with candy.  The kids had fun beating him in the head till the candy fell out!  We had a special guest -- you won't believe who stopped by.  I'll have pics next week.

~~~
Are you ready to be still?  Are you ready to turn away from the world and spend your special day with Adonai?  He's waiting for you.  This song, Praise Adonai by Paul Wilbur, always refreshes me on the Sabbath.  I hope it does the same for you.  Praise Him.  Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you.





 I sometimes share my posts with these friends:
  Spiritual Sundays  GRAND Social      Modest Mom Monday Link-up      The Art of Homemaking Mondays
   BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS LINK PARTY     Share Your Cup Wednesday Wordless Wednesdays    Classical Homemaking Link-Up     
    Favorite Things Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life  Paula's Weekend No Rules Blog Party Friendship Friday 
Sunday Thoughts Link-Up
 OVER THE MOON LINKY PARTY!

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

His Valentine Finally Arrived!!


FINALLY!  My husband's Valentine gift arrived today.  He was so excited!  What can it be?????


Hmmmm.......


Finally, the box opened, the wrapping removed and VOILA!


It's TRUMPY BEAR!!!!!



Yep!  This is what you buy for the man who has everything!!!


Trumpy Bear even has a certificate of authenticity!!!  And an American flag cape!


We took lots of pictures!



Our dog loves Trumpy Bear!

Posing with our Sweet Land of Liberty flag


He's a good ol' rebel, just like Jem....

He's going to go bike riding with us after supper tonight.  I'll have pics later!

Make America Great Again