Good Sunday morning to all,
We are so excited to finally have our family van here. I was able to pick it up Friday and it's been a huge blessing to be able to use.
Heather will be taking her driving test here on Monday and then we'll both be able to cruise those Germany autobahns...
Rachel leaves in a day or few and we are going to miss her. She'll pick up our lil blue Yaris after the Bachert family brings her from the Tucson Airport to Sierra Vista. She'll spend a few days there and then head to see her almost fiance and his family for a couple of weeks.
We are enjoying the third day of Hanakkuh and the kids are excited about what tonight's gifts might be. I'm making latkes and Heather is making a big roast and it's all part of our holiday feast we'll be eating tonight. We played the dreidel game a night or two ago with jelly beans and Jacob was the winner. We'll play "hide the geld" pretty soon and that's always fun for the kids and the adults. Kinda like finding Easter eggs but with chocolate, golden foil covered coins. We tie in how Jesus as the Messiah ties into this celebration in many, many ways but a couple of them are that: Hannukah is called "the festival of lights" and that Jesus is "the light of the world." Also, the lead candle which lights the others and is centered and placed higher than the other candles is called the "shamash." We also teach that this candle represents a hidden mystery in Jewish custom pointing to Jesus.
Micah is enjoying volunteer work at the library but has been unable to go lately since he's not feeling so well. Various family members haven't felt so well as we traverse through the cold season.
I've already helped record or transcribe a few records of trial and I've got more to come this week.
We should be moving into our off-post rent home here in a couple of weeks and we can't wait to get our big family into a home with a little more room.
Oh, it started snowing today and the kids were so thrilled over it. I was too, watching them and remembering how excited I was when the first snowflakes began to fall each year, as a child.
We love you all and keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
-The Matthews in Germany
Matthews Family Herald
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" from Joshua 24:15
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Anonymous
3 comments:
My family is very interested in celebrating the Biblical traditions, however my father seems to be very concerned on which days are the right ones to celebrate on. It seems to be unclear for us when the commanded times are. Apparently the modern Jewish calender isn't quite right, and although there is a Biblical calender available from Michael Rood, I don't think my father views this as being accurate either.
I hope God can open our eyes to the details.
Jesus was born on April 6th. But we celebrate His birth on December 25th. Worrying about what the exact date is upon which we should celebrate is pointless. It is much more important that we remember for what and for whom He was born.
I think the main thing is to celebrate Jesus and I'm excited anytime anyone does. For us, we focus on the biblical holy days to determine what days we celebrate. So we don't worry so much about a date but we focus more so as to which Holy Day in the bible matches up best with Jesus' birth. We believe that the bes match in terms of actual time of year and symbolically with the time of celebration, when it comes to Jesus' birth, is "The Feast of Booths/Tabernacle/Tents" just as the Hebrews dwelt in temporary shelters, God dwelt among us in a real sense, a tent of flesh. Sounds strange to some maybe but it's a concept not easily summed up in a post. Anyway, I hope that helps you, Brian, figure out how our family has reached a conclusion. And I hope, Dad, I have re-assured you that we agree that celebrating Christ is the most important thing.
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