Liturgy #2

So, in my last post I encouraged you to let the head of your home take the lead in the liturgy at your feasting. Today I would like to encourage you not to stress. So you try something and it seems awkward, than try something else. Your liturgy does not have to look like mine. Our best traditions just happened naturally. I will go through our liturgy.It has taken two years for it to come together for us and sometimes it is hard. Sometimes we have grumpy disobedient children and it is a chore to just get through the meal. Other times we have an exhausted mother who would rather climb in bed by 7. SO, realize it will not always be easy, but the reward of starting the tradition and developing a love of the Sabbath in your home is well worth the work involved. So, our night goes something like this (it is subject to change on occasion)My husband reads the scripture text for our sermon the next day. Our pastor emails worship notes on Thursday of every week. He then does a Lord's Day Catechism question from the Heidelberg Catechism, then he gives a toast. I suspect as Our children get older, we will discuss the sermon topic and opinions on it as we eat dinner. After dinner we just do something fun with the children. Anywhere from game night to playing outside to going out for ice cream or a game of miniature golf. After everyone is bathed and ready for bed we do a family worship time. It is a little different from our week day worship times. We use the week to train for Sunday worship. This means sometimes discipline can occur if a child refuses to participate, sit still, or remain quiet at the appropriate times. On Saturday we are a little more laid back. The children prepare presentations of different things we are working on memorizing. They like to be creative and silly with it. We let them have fun. They love doing it American Idol style. Bruce and I will then have fun giving our opinion. They have never actually seen the show, so maybe it is Bruce and I that have the most fun with this:) Remember I have young children, as they get older things will change. Isaac already looks at us as though we are nuts sometimes. But, because it is a tradition that he is used to, he enjoys watching his younger siblings have fun. Bruce has started to include Isaac more in the Scripture reading and some of the other leadership aspects of Sabbath feasting. As Sarah grows I will include her in more of the planning and cooking. We like the idea of Bruce speaking a blessing over everyone, we have just not done it yet. Our church does a Psalm of the month. We have talked of singing that at the table before we eat. I would love to hear what others are doing. It is always fun to share ideas.

Liturgy

In the comment section a few weeks ago I had someone ask about our liturgy. Since comments are not read by everyone I thought I would spend the week talking about it. Today I would like to talk about the importance of not forcing this on your husband. As the head of your home it is very important he take the lead in guiding your family through this celebration. What if your husband is not into it? Then have a great meal and time of fellowship and be thankful for the memories your children will have of dining together as you celebrate the Sabbath. In our family my husband is all about liturgy, but a little slow to start anything. He felt stuck and not sure where to begin. So, he left it up to me to get ideas and he would implement what worked well and seemed to flow naturally in our home. I am not saying you cannot approach your husband, but if he knows your desire, leave at that. God will bless your obedience in following your husbands lead.

What are you Having?

My typical planning schedule is a little off this week, so I am just now planning our Sabbath feast. We will be having a Smoked Brisket, Tomato, Mozzarella Cheese, and Basil Salad, and Oriental Cole Slaw. For dessert we will do Killer Cookies. We just recently had these at a cook-out. Huge Hit in our family. Thanks, Chris! I will give you the recipe. I love feasting in the summer. It seems as though just eating outside makes the meal more special. What are your plans?

Killer Cookies

Spread cookie dough in the bottom of a greased mini tart pan. Disposable work great.The disposable ones are called pot pie pans. Bake the cookies and top with your favorite ice cream. Very simple, but delicious.

I'm Back

I'm Back!! I have been so busy planning for the gathering this past weekend. As I said before, my husband is teaching homeschool students on-line. We invited them to Lancaster this past weekend to meet one another. It was a blast. They had so much fun placing voices with faces. What does this have to do with feasting? If you had told me 1 or 2 years ago that I would be hosting 45 people for 4 days I would have flipped. I believe because I have become accustomed to entertaining and feasting(joyfully)through Sabbath Feasting, this weekend was more of a blessing than hindrance. When you entertain often there are routines that you go through to make things smoother. It all still applied this weekend, just on a little larger scale. The key to hosting and enjoying it is coming up with your routine to make things less hectic. The more laid back you feel, the more your guests enjoy themselves. Things can and will go wrong, but most of the time if you can laugh it off, or guests will as well. Do not stress, start out small, and above all enjoy your time to fellowship with others.

I Will Be Back

I just wanted to let you all know that I will be back. My husband teaches online Omnibus classes to homeschoolers. 15 of them and their families are coming to Lancaster next weekend for an end of the year gathering. I am very busy planning and completing all of the last minute details. So, I am taking off from blogging over the next week of so. I will be back after Memorial Day.

Mother's Day Palns

First, a early Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mothers. My In-laws will be here today and stay through the weekend. They are not familiar with feasting and find it awkward. In the past we have not changed anything about our feasting liturgy, but it seemed to cause a little tension. I think it is somewhat hurtful to them that we do things differently than they did. Like we are saying what they did is not good enough. We have decided for the sake of not causing more tension we are toning it down a little. They know that I love to cook, so the food will be the same, but the liturgy will be different. We cannot feast Saturday, so we will move it to Sunday. It will be a Sabbath celebration combined with Mother's Day. Others may disagree with us, but we sometimes feel it is a better testimony to tone things down some, than to constantly be in debate mode. They only visit twice a year, and I do not want it to be a dreaded trip for them or us. Hopefully they will see our love of the Sabbath and joy we get in celebrating as a family.

So, here is the menu for Sunday.
Barbecued Ribs (Cooked in the smoker that I am hoping to get for Mother's Day)
Cornbread Salad
Spinach Salad
Chocolate Cake with a Raspberry Filling

Recipes:

Cake

Make your favorite chocolate cake( I will use a box mix as I am not a baker.)
Make two round layers and in between the layers spread a layer of Raspberry Jam(I prefer seedless). Ice the cake with your favorite icing.

Cornbread Salad This is a great recipe to go with any meat your are grilling through he summer.

1 pkg. Hidden Ranch dry salad dressing mix
1 c. sour cream
1 c. mayonnaise
1 (9 inch) pan cornbread, crumbled
2 (16 oz.) cans black, drained
3 lg. tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1/2 c. chopped green onions
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 (17 oz.) cans whole kernel corn, drained

Combine salad dressing mix, sour cream and mayonnaise; set aside. Place half of crumbled cornbread in bottom of large serving bowl. Top with half of beans.

I just wanted to report that our Fiesta was a lot of fun this weekend. The food was great and everyone seemed to have a great time. I am always hesitant to post new recipes until I have tried them, but the ones I posted last week were really good. I would highly recommend them. The pineapples were delicious. We will not feast this Saturday. Bruce and I will be working the PA Home school Convention. I am sure we will do something on Mother's Day. Bruce's parents will be here. I also finally uploaded my pictures to the computer, so I have a picture of my table after it was set for our huge feast a few weeks ago. I forgot to get a picture after the food was on the table. I also have one of Jack at his party. I am still trying to figure out the picture thing. I am not sure how to place them when I have more than one.