focus and preparation

I am really tired right now, I got a little under six hours of sleep last night. I was doing some prep work for my kitchen last night. I am scheduled to move in six more days, and I plan to spend each day this week before sabbath, prepping and cleaning each section of my place for the move. The kitchen is clean...I had a lot of fun, I did as I always do,..played my music and got in a zone...thanking God in my spirit along the way.

I'm trying to think of some things to share. Recently, I was part of an art project for a close friend. She wanted to do an art exhibit expressing the correlation between human experience and emotion with that of color. For instance, blue on some one would represent calm, yellow happiness, and in my case black represented strength, despair, and even anger. I had, (and somewhat still do have) mixed feelings about it. But I remember when doing it, I had a lot of fun, was very comfortable and had a clear conscience...it wasn't until later that I started to have second guessing and doubt as to rather or not it was the right thing. I spoke to a couple of close friends, all of whom are believers and got some very sound counsel. It was interesting to see their reactions to the finished product as well. Their reactions were positive but I was admonished by some to pay attention to the conviction that I later felt as possibly being of God; because again my concern after it all was rather or not I, as his servant had done the best thing in my actions.

Oh yeah, I just got through reading the blog of the brother that I wrote about in the blog before this one, title "goodbyes"...hes in South Korea now, you can read about his experiences here..

http://myjourneyinsouthkorea.blogspot.com/


I think that is so cool. He invited me to visit him, so Lord Willing I plan to take Him up on the offer in a year or so. Time will tell.

Work has been going pretty good, its been productive, and things are going smoothly. My savings are doing good also, I have been blessed to be able to help some people out lately, which is so amazing. I learned awhile ago that we are blessed to bless one another.

To give with out fear, and suspicion is a liberating thing, there is a s presence of love in the act, indeed there is love in the act. God's love.

I have also been in the scriptures consistently...when the sabbath comes I have been following this chart from First Fruits of Zion that has a Torah, Prophets, and Gospel portion for each sabbath, reading these cycles allows me to go through the entire Torah, and Gospels within a years time and it has really been keeping my sabbath studies consistent, and it has been a blessing to take part of God words so diligently. I also, from the inspiration of a close friend, have been begun to devote a portion of my mornings to reflection on God, prayer, and small scripture readings. I was talking to my friend one morning online and he told me he had to leave because he wanted to spend some quiet time with the Heavenly Father. I was so moved. I realized that in the mornings all I did was wake up, thank Him, and turn on the radio and get ready for work..heading into a day full of vanities and distractions; I was convicted to spend more time with God in the mornings. And so I have begun.

I ordered two books from First Fruits of Zion...I am reading the first of the two right now, its called "Boundary Stones" by Aaron Eby; I'm just in the beginning but I am blown away by concepts that I have never considered in regards to the scriptures; I will place a link to the Boundary Stones website in my "websites of interest" section to the left..in short though, the book explores the Church's historic disconnect from a life of torah observance through Christ..(or, keeping the laws of God as stated in the Bible with a life dedicated to Christ)...and explores the biblical reasons why one should consider it in living a life of faith in Christ. I personally have been torah observant with faith in Christ for about ten years now, and thats not something I boast about but,... for me,... reading this book with the concepts its presenting, (alot of which are new and refreshing for me) is allowing me to see things in a deeper and clearer light after all these years...which is both surprising and not...I knew a long time ago that my journey of faith would be non stop learning and growth until the end...and I thank God for it...I don't want to ever get to the point where I think I know everything, and or can't be taught.

The second book I purchased but have not yet read is called "Hallowed be Your Name" and it explores the deeper meaning of the name(s)of God, our relationship to God and His name(s) as believers, and the history of the name of God in the scriptures.

As I said before I am a really big fan of First Fruits of Zion, they are an amazing educational ministry. On a silly more personal note I remember getting giddy like a school girl, (literally haha) when Boaz Micheal, the founder of ffoz, added me as a friend on facebook. I spoke with his son recently, and I was telling him about how I wear my tzizit on my belt loop. And he asked me, "if I were to send you a Tallit Katan with Tzizit on it, would you wear it?" and I was like "yeah!", then a few moments later he informed me that he had one purchased and on its way to being shipped to me. I was so happy.

That reminds me, Passover is coming up close, as a matter of fact this week is the beginning of the last month of the year, before the new year begins in the spring....I am so excited about visiting the Halls Family, I hope to purchase my plane ticket soon...

anyway, thank you reader for your time. Shalom, Peace..Love.


ps- I finally got my the documentary "Promises" in the mail...I really recommend it, its a beautiful film that explores the relationships between seven Israeli and Palestinian Children.......and it shows them interact with each other, and grow up into young adults. Check out the weblinks to the side for the website. Shalom!