Update

Long overdue for an update! First, I just want to share that my eye appointment in July showed that there was improvement with the cataracts! They have not disappeared but they are not increasing nor are they affecting my vision. So that is exciting news! Have I mentioned yet that the sanctification process is one we will be in for the rest of our lives? It can feel a bit daunting and I am the first to admit that I can get distracted easily when things seem hard. These last few months have been rather full and I make no excuses, but share my life openly because I'm fallible and am learning to have mercy and grace, not only for others but also for myself. So WHAT exactly have I been up to? Well, most of September was filled with harvesting fruit and processing them, mostly canning but some freezing and baking like crazy and consuming tons of awesome desserts thanks to my fabulous 18 yr old daughter! I was also busy getting everything ready for our school year that began after we celebrated Sukkot. This year Sukkot for us took up the last part of September and Sept 30th was our first day of school. This year I only have my youngest 2 to homeschool. Grade 10 and Grade 1, which means there's not a lot of "together school" happening in our home! Although I have recently purchased a short devotional book that I will be starting to read at lunchtime to everyone at the table. I have really appreciated joining Heritage Online Christian School since moving to BC, and while I do all the teaching for my Grade 1 student, my Grade 10 student is able to do all of his courses online and answer to other Christian adults. This preserves my relationship with my teenaged children but also helps them learn to make their own choices and face the positive OR negative consequences of their actions while still at home with parents who love and support them and are able to help them back to their feet when they fall. By this time, their core values are pretty well established (although they can change!) and without having a critical parent leaning over their shoulder, they are free to explore more freely and share their learnings with me. I really love this stage as I'm able to see where I fell short in raising this particular child or where I did something right....It's often evident in their spiritual fruit and then I am able to change my own self and help them become better humans as well. Anyways, school has begun and we are into week 4. GRADE 1 IS A LOT OF WORK....I had forgotten this, apparently I either have a poor memory or I'm just good at taking captive the negative stuff and remembering only the good, I suspect a mixture of both!! The prep work can be time consuming for the short amount of time we spend on each activity. But I actually really really love it and have been toying with the idea of just teaching ABC's with ACE and Christi in the future to the homeschooling community. Just grade 1. I wish I had thought of it sooner, so my youngest could have had some classmates! Oh well, ideas are fun! Perhaps something to consider for the future! Jamie and I have been studying with Living Messiah Ministries and have been tweaking our Scriptural understanding a bit. Isn't it funny how Abba keeps us humble by giving us more information just when we think we've "got it" regarding any particular topic. There is simply ALWAYS room to grow while we are still living and breathing on Abba's green earth! We had the blessing of meeting Mark and Polly Webb as well as 3 of their adult children, when they spoke at our local congregation a few months ago in August and one of the things that really stood out was their humble attitude and their love for Messiah, along with their desire to share Abba's love with others. They shared a bit about what they wanted to share but they opened it up so that we could ask THEM questions about things WE wanted to know or share. And so this turned into a Tuesday night zoom study. They meet with a bunch of us without an adgenda, we pick the topic as a group and flesh things out together. I'm really looking forward to this starting up again in November. We took a break in October as most were celebrating their Feasts this month instead of last month. We will likely join their calendar for unity sake, but also because of Genesis 1:14. We are learning how to determine the seasons/moedim/Feasts by the heavenly bodies, because lets face it, the earth is corrupted, not just the people in it, but it is subject to Abba's judgment. He brings famines and witholds the rains and causes the weather catastrophes that affect the barley harvest and other first fruit offerings that we've depended on thus far to know when our year begins, yet, it's always right there in the heavens, without fail. We don't need to stress! Just like our Creator, the heavens don't change, the moon and stars are in their places at the right times every month, every Feast day.....are we?! Okay, so all of this update to say that I haven't been as diligent with my "thinking times" every day, and I haven't been as diligent about staying away from caffiene or wine. However, with my newly embraced love for mercy and grace, I'm not kicking myself. I AM however, owning my weaknesses and eliminating the temptations in my home. All of the addictive things in our lives are tied to the occult. ALL OF THEM!!!! How? Because when we go to other things for comfort instead of our Creator, Who loves us SO deeply, we make those things idols in our lives. When our physical bodies become dependent on caffiene to wake up and start our day, there is a negative effect when we skip coffee for a day, same with drugs and alcohol to help us unwind in the evening. When we become dependent on these things in order to behave "normally", Abba is jealous for us, HE wants to be that "thing" we depend on! He is enough! He really is! But we have to invest in that relationship so that we run to Him first, and that takes time as well as intentional effort. Dr. Strydom teaches more on this starting on pg 276. If you don't yet have her book, HERE is the link to the downloadable book. Thank You Abba, for all the learning You have walked me through these last few months, for the relationships You have strengthened, for the opened doors and the closed doors.