USA and Israrel in time of crisis: interview with Avi Lipkin

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Yom Kippur Teaching - Day Of Atonement

We like watching this teaching every year on Day of Atonement.  Amazing!

There are 10 videos so make sure to link them before you start to watch them.

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Our 2010 Christmas

This year before Christmas, we watched this video by Eric Little and our Christmas would never be the same.  This year was definately different and from now on.  This is how it went:

We prepared a fancy brunch with goblets, even for Sarah.  She felt important.  The only day of the year we let her because she usually spills from anything that doesn't have a cover, but she did splendid.  We had juice! and turkey bacon! Deliscious pancakes and eggs.

I read The Rich Family's story as I struggle with a lump in my throat at the story http://www.mikeysfunnies.com/archive/richFamily/index.html

My mother and older brother surprised us with their visit.  Then my young sister and her boyfriend and my younger brother and his fiance.  During brunch I read The Rich Family In church story and we cried and laughed.

The week before Christmas everyone chose a gift from God's catalogues and wrapped it in a gift box.  On Christmas day the girls went around the house and found the presents.  Lizbeth hid them so she led Sarah to find them.

We read the Christmas story 

Christmas is not Christmas without the story.  We're a family full of actresses, so this is a given, they begin rehersing a month before.

Then we opened and read what everyone picked to bless the Lord with.  We hadn't anticipated the blessing of visitors but after watching Depraved Indifference everyone pulled out their wallets and we had the table full of bills for the gifts we wanted to buy.

We blessed the fatherless and a widow from Israel, we supplied water to someone in the persecuted church of Sudan for their entire life.  We supplied a pair of shoes for a boy in Guatemala.  We gave school supplies to a girl from Romania and a chicken and a goat to a boy in Haiti (not boasting about it at all, at the inmense need I feel like it's nothing and would like to be able to do much more).

For dinner we headed over to my husband's family.  When we came back we had a birthday party with a chocolate cake (that turned out like brownies).  We sang Amazing Grace and had a little talent show.  We like Handle's Messiah.  Lizbeth is an "opera singer" and sang the Hallellujah song.



To relax last we watched  for the older ones (after the little ones are in bed):

The Gospel Demands Radical Giving - David Platt from Together for Adoption on Vimeo.

For the children watch the Donutman Christmas celebration and end the day singing glory, glory, glory to God, glory in the Highest.

Why do we don't give gifts to each other on Christmas?  After watching this one day, we care "the least of these".

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Challah Recipe

You can't have Shabbat dinner without one.  But we do most of the time anyways.  So when we bake challah, it's quite an event.  Sarah likes to help knead.  She keads with her whole forearm.  Lizbeth likes to help do everthing.  As a result we end up with flour all over including her.  Now that whe turned she figured out by herself how to braid.  She now braids her own little challah.   We bake it and they eat it righ away.  We save the two big loaves for Shabbat dinner.  It's always a special time to host the Lord's Supper Friday nights and share with friends.  

Baking challah on Fridays is also exciting because we all anticipate a blessed evening as we share the love of God with friends and family.   We like to always bake two because we all take a quick walk to our neighbors and share a loaf with them. 

Here is a simple easy challah recipe

Ingredients:

2 Cups of warm water or milk

2 packets of active dry yeast. I've always used fresh yeast

6-7 cups of bread flour

1/2 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 cup of oil

1 egg

1 egg for brushing and sesame seeds

1)  Dissolve yeast in warn water, stir in sugar and salt.  Add 3 cups of flour and mix well.  Add oil, egg and mix well.  Add remaining flour.

2) spread a wet towel over it and let it in warm place until it doubles in size, 1-2 hours

3) Divide in two  and braid each half

4) Let it rise again in warm place for about 25 minutes. 

5) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Brush an egg over the two loaves and sprinkle sesame seeds

5) Bake for about 35 minutes or until done

ENJOY!  Don't forget the Hebrew blessing.  "Blessed are You, God of the Universe, who makes bread come forth from the earth and who brought Yeshua forth from the grave".  We say it in Hebrew first.  Then the blessing of the wine (grape juice for us or apple juice, or water if we forget the grape juice).

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