With only about 24 hours between returning from the wedding and the start of Passover I decided that simplicity was the word of the hour. I had purchased lamb the previous week and planned to cook it using the
rotisserie appliance that had been gifted to us by our favorite homeless person.
(Amy....see my reflection?)
The guest list, which I originally thought to be seven, dwindled down to three by the time the feasting began. The diminished number didn't lessen the excitement and delightement (yup...made that one up) of my first time hosting a Passover meal.
The morning started with digging through scripture, old and new, to locate all the passages telling thePassover story, directions on how we are to remember it, and how it was celebrated by
Yeshua. I wanted to sort through all the traditions (although traditions are good for helping to tell the story) to determine the elements that are mentioned in
YaHWeH's instructions. Thus, the apples I had purchased were put aside when I found that the Charoset/mortar is only mentioned in the
Talmud. And after the meal started we removed the bowls of salt water "tears" which left us with the bitter herbs, the lamb, the "wine", and the
matzah.
Each of us sat with a different version of the scriptures and read and discussed until our stomachs began to grumble. Then we ate our meal and finished the evening with various
Youtube renditions of the Hallel, Psalms 113-118, put to music, topped off with frozen sugared grapes.
It was simply a wonderful Passover celebration.
have enough toys for 600 Mexican migrant worker's children...
I've spent three days this week shopping for bargains and soliciting donations of toys for Mexico. This involved going to multiple stores multiple times, first scouting out appropriate toys for $1.00 or less, then returning to make purchases. Sometimes it required going to two of the same stores in different locations in order to find enough of a specific toy.
Although I love shopping and enjoyed this task, three days, even for a seasoned shopper as myself, is a lot of shopping!
The toys will be one part of what we bring as we participate in the Children's Day festival on Sunday. There will be a parade and refreshments along with pinata, clown and music provided by the locals. We will do Native American drum and circle dance with the children along with making "salvation bracelets, a prayer tent, Veggie Tales video, toy give away including several grand prizes, and 600 bags of candy.
My contribution will include a photo booth where I will take a picture of each child along with one of the Native Americans dressed in traditional clothing. Jay will print the photo along with a scripture declaration and a third person will help attach the photo to a mat and allow the child to pick a fancy sticker to decorate the frame. I'm hoping we can come up with a system that will allow us to photograph all the children so each goes home with their own picture at the end of the day.
