Apr. 30, 2008 - Biblical Holidays
This is my family's first round in honoring and celebrating the biblical holy days so we have a lot to learn! It will probably take a few rounds through them to really understand the depth and meaning behind them, but we are up to the challenge. English words are often intermingled with their Hebrew equivalents, God's requested rituals are sometimes new and strange to our Western minds, but this newly trodden path has blessed my family so much, we are learning so much about God Himself, His character, what He expects out of us, what He wants us to focus on, how to be obedient to Him, etc. I just feel my relationship and love for Him growing exponentially. How can I love someone I really don't know? Well, I thought I loved Him before, but now I am really falling in love with Him! 
My family recently celebrated Passover (our beginner version, didn't want to make it a 'checklist' holy day, and well, I didn't know it would be that hard to find some of the items for the seder plate, next yr I'll start looking more in advance). My children asked me, "why do we still celebrate the Hebrews being freed from Egypt when that happened so long ago?" It has been thousands of years! Well, because God said so in Exodus 12:14, "you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance." And there is another layer to Passover, its celebrating our own freedom from the bondage of sin, we focus on Jesus/Yeshua's sacrifice for us.
We learned that yeast/chametz represents sin and we dumped out the container of yeast I had in the refrigerator, which was great for my young children to see and talk about, and while we did not clean the house with a toothbrush to rid the house of crumbs, which some do, we still made an effort to get rid of leavened bread and only eat unleavened bread during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
I just love the symbolism of yeast/sin and the wonderful conversations I had with my children. How much a 7 and 5 year old really do understand! Wow! It really brings the focus on us, on what is in our own hearts! We need that inner reflection, and to stop being so busy looking at everyone else and what they do wrong, bring it back to our own selves, and see what we can improve on. With His help.
My family attends a Saturday/Sabbath congregation and we watched the men give their wave offering to the Lord and the counting of the Omer. So much of this is new to us! But it was neat to watch, and gave me more homework to do! I wish I was better versed in the biblical holy days, but I know next year it'll be easier.
I've got to go, I hear pitter patter of feet on the stairs, but before I go, I just wanted to say that the next holy day is Shavuot (Pentecost) and while I don't know anything about it yet, I know that my family will be blessed by being drawn in closer to Him and understanding His ways and what is important to Him. This path my family is on is not being legalistic, its about getting to know our Lord and Saviour in the way that He has deemed, it is so fulfilling, so rich, I wish I would have discovered it sooner.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: "The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts."
Lev 23:2
(they are His feasts, not the children of Israel's feasts, but HIS)
Edited to add two of the resources I am using with my children:
A Family Guide to Biblical Holidays by Robin Sampson
A Complete Guide to Celebrating Our Messiah in the Festivals by Susan Mortimer
