Growing up my mom and grandmother took a special interest in the people of the Old Testament. So, we always celebrated on the first night of Hanukkah with a special traditional Hanukkah meal.
I remember with fondness, lighting the little menorah that my Mom made out of cardboard and tin foil with Life Saver candies as "candle holders". We ate potato latkes with applesauce and then donuts for dessert! The best part was playing dreidel and using M&Ms as the "gelt". During all of this my parents taught us what Hanukkah commemorates. The word Hanukkah actually means dedication...as in the re-dedication of the temple in ancient Israel.
Yesterday, I pulled out a box of menorahs and dreidels that had belonged to my Grandmother. She absolutely loved Jewish traditions and even made a trek to the Holy Land. Inside the box, which I only recently received from my mom, there were newspaper clippings about Hanukkah, notes about the holiday in her own hand-writing, definitions that she had typed up, and other precious items. I used her beloved collection to teach my children about Hanukkah, and I felt that she must have been pleased.
It's been a rocky December.
And as I type this, I have a raging headache.
Today, my car, full of groceries, broke down and had to be towed.
But even in the daily tremors of life there is a quiet, peaceful stability for people who believe in, look for, and remember the miracles that have been performed by the Lord in their behalf. I hope to always be counted as one of those people.
Celebrating Hanukkah is just one way that I choose to commemorate the miracles that I have experienced in my own life. And there have been many!
HAPPY HANUKKAH!!
PS - I woefully neglected to mention (I blame the headache!) that we also attended a wonderful Hanukkah Party at my neighbor Edye's house that night...It was awesome!
Thanks again, Edye, for including us in your family's celebration! It was very cool.
This is really neat. I love how your family has embraced Hannakuh. I spent several hours on Monday playing dreidel with my daughter's 3rd grade class. It was fun, and I learned a lot about the game and the tradition that I hadn't understood before. It's wonderful to learn about others' faith.
ReplyDeleteI SO love Jewish holiday's too. They have so much beautiful history and tradition to them.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry you've had a rough month. I'll keep you in my prayers. You know... you have been doing SUCH amazing work for the Lord through your blog and in your personal life. How many Books of Mormon's did you give away in October? And it has been my experience that whenever we are doing what the Lord wants us to and are moving His work forward the adversary doubles, triples and quadruples his efforts on us. I don't know what you have been going through but I sure hope you know that the Lord loves you and that you are doing an incredible work for Him.
Hope you and your family have a beautiful Christmas!
sorry to hear you are hitting a rough patch...I agree someone is trying to slow you down-don't let that happen...
ReplyDeleteSo sorry life is hard. I'd say that you don't deserve it with all he wonderful things you've done for the world this year, but that's what life is-opposition and getting through the hard times.
ReplyDeleteMy dad always wished he was secretly Jewish. He's from German heritage and was hoping that way on back his ancestors had really said they were not Jewish to protect their lives. He also wished that is that's the case,his Jewish family was some of the ones that excepted the Jesus as the Messiah. Dad has a twin brother and they always called each other "Jew boy" or "Rabbi". It was a funny thing to us, but probably not to Hebrews. In 1997, dad, mom and I went to Jerusalem. It was fabulous and I'd love to go back. Dad even tried to learn Hebrew after the age of 75- TOO Hard he said, but we never had any celebrations at home. Good for you!
May you find peace soon!
So sorry life is hard. I'd say that you don't deserve it with all he wonderful things you've done for the world this year, but that's what life is-opposition and getting through the hard times.
ReplyDeleteMy dad always wished he was secretly Jewish. He's from German heritage and was hoping that way on back his ancestors had really said they were not Jewish to protect their lives. He also wished that is that's the case,his Jewish family was some of the ones that excepted the Jesus as the Messiah. Dad has a twin brother and they always called each other "Jew boy" or "Rabbi". It was a funny thing to us, but probably not to Hebrews. In 1997, dad, mom and I went to Jerusalem. It was fabulous and I'd love to go back. Dad even tried to learn Hebrew after the age of 75- TOO Hard he said, but we never had any celebrations at home. Good for you!
May you find peace soon!
I just found out that another family in our ward also celebrates Hanukkah and I am so excited because I've thought about celebrating it myself for a few years. You've just given me an additional bit of inspiration!
ReplyDeleteYou posted, a few weeks ago, that you had been inspired to cut back on your plans for December, and keep things simple. Just another example of Heavenly Father knowing what is ahead, and helping us prepare for it. Think of all the things you didn't have to worry about because you listened!
ReplyDeleteMake sure you are drinking enough water - dehydration often causes headaches.
Merry Christmas!