COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 67 - A FAMILY IN TRANSITION AND TRANSFORMATION

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

So, like all of the fairy tales we know and love; Isaac and Rebekah married and lived happily ever after, right?   Funny how we humans tend to view the beginnings of all marriages that way!

I hope that isn’t what you are thinking, because if you are, you are sadly mistaken.  Like every true life story, Isaac and Rebekah had their share of ups and downs all through their marriage.

Rebekah did not come directly into that magical life that Abraham had once lived with Sarah, even though, when you think about it – they had THEIR ups and down too.  The good times and the blessed days that we hear of were things that everyone had to work hard to accomplish.  They were now a family and a team and it all had to be done together.  At any rate, Sarah was completely absent from the family picture by this time; so Rebekah experienced a world with no wiser older woman to influence her and guide her.  It must have been very hard for her in the beginning.  She was basically on her own, living in the tent with Isaac.  She had only her oldest servant for help and friendship.  She was very young and this must have been quite an adjustment.  She had probably lived in a house in the past, and now she took on the life of a sojourner, always living in a tent with no walls to hide behind and no permanent doors to close and lock the world out.  The woman who chose to wear the veil was in a time of transition, and so was her husband.

   

There was yet another strange and interesting transition taking place in the family during the time period that Isaac and Rebekah were forming and establishing their marriage.  They all went through another wedding as Abraham took another wife in his old age.  This new wife, named Keturah, was from a different culture and she and Abraham lived miles away from Rebekah and Isaac, so even this was of no comfort to Rebekah in the new place.  Abraham had given the established area of the home site in Hebron to Isaac and then basically left them alone to begin their marriage. 

Abraham’s new wife was named Keturah.  They had six sons of their own.  Of the six named children of Abraham and Keturah, only Midian’s future has an impact on the rest of the story of Abraham’s descendants.  It might be possible, but is fuzzy and unclear, that Sheba, Dedan, and the Ashurites could have also been notable descendants that played indirectly into the family story.  It is suggested by some that these people might be the founders of the line of descendants that belonged to the famous “Queen of Sheba” who later tests Solomon’s wisdom.  It is all very unclear though, whether these are truly from the descendants of Abraham and Keturah, or just others with similar sounding names. 

But why is it that all of this is so obscure? Why are people as important as Abraham’s children not more involved in the story of the history of the children of God?  The answer is pretty simple.  Because Abraham wanted it that way.

Abraham, being very careful with everything involving Isaac, followed a custom of many other cultures when he decided to remarry.  He held the belief of those who thought it was best if a man’s wife died, that he should not remarry until his children were grown and married themselves.  He patiently waited until he saw Isaac happily married to Rebekah before considering taking another wife.

There are a lot of old stories that circulate around the fact of Abraham marrying again.  There is no way to confirm them, but many of them make sense in relation to the scriptures that we do know.

We have already mentioned that prior to Isaac's marriage Abraham had given Isaac all of his greatest possessions, and the bulk of his great wealth.  Isaac was clearly distinguished as Abraham’s most honored heir.  Every precaution was taken to protect this.

We know that Abraham tended to Ishmael's support until he was grown, giving him gifts while he was still living, and Abraham also looked after his sons with Keturah in the same way.  When they grew up Abraham always sent them away toward the East and was careful to keep these descendants separate and far from where Isaac was living.  Some commentators state that Abraham in his wisdom sent these sons out to seek and establish their own independence, thinking that living on their own and making their way through the world without his help would change them, make them stronger men and possibly even bring them closer to God.  From the records of history we can discern that these sons were pagan to the core.  This must have greatly disappointed Abraham, and some stories go so far as to say that Abraham gave the grown sons of Keturah a formal, legal document that was comparable to a writ of divorce.  This was to keep them legally distinguished from the inheritance of Isaac.  Isaac was always to be the legal child of blessing, both in the physical and the spiritual inheritance.  To keep this established and firm Keturah's sons, like Ishmael, were only given gifts from Abraham while he was still alive, and when he died they were to receive nothing else.  This custom was as if to say "here are my gifts for you; I give them to you now while I am alive, and it finishes my business with you."  

Thus it was clearly established that none of the sons of Keturah and Abraham were to inherit past their lifetime.  Isaac was the sole owner of the eternal blessings from Abraham's covenant with God.

As time allows we will talk more about this fascinating marriage of Abraham to Keturah.  It is often forgotten and laid aside because it is mentioned in the middle of the story of Isaac and Rebekah.  To know both love stories is important.  It helps us to understand the plan that God had for His people, from the very beginning of Abraham's story all the way through to the descendants of today, which are as many as the sand of the sea.

 

PIECES OF THE PUZZLE - A SEASON WITH A SIGN FOR AMERICA

(Written By Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Note:  Passover is behind us now.  Both of the much talked about blood moons of Passover have already happened.  There is one more blood moon in this famous and well published tetrad, and it occurs next on The Feast of Tabernacles in October.  So many have been using God's signs to create fear and anxiety over the land.  I only see the signs in the sky as a communication from heaven saying "I am watching and this is part of the warning I will give you.  Seek MY wisdom and live MY way.'  I do not claim to be a prophet.  Below is an expanded version of this thought pattern, giving my own personal thoughts on Passover and  the blood moons that we have already been through as well as the one that is left.  I will probably write an article related to The Feast of Tabernacles when the last blood moon draws nearer.  I am reminded of those wise men who saw the star just before the first coming of Jesus.  Everything that happens in the sky is just a reminder that Yeshua is coming again.  Are you ready?  

America, this is a time and a season for you!  

Look up - the skies will tell you a story!

We have just passed through the season of Passover.  Do you think it strange that I say that Passover this year and last year was a time for America, the land so full of protestant, non-Jewish Christians?  It might sound strange to you because the culture we live in has hidden the truth very well; but the average person in America should  actually find it very easy to identify with God's people from the days of Pharaoh.

That first great Passover was celebrated in Egypt, and the Israelites were living as hopeless slaves.  God said to them:  “I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn.“   God said:  “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”  The blood on the doorpost was a sign over a nation.  It was a sign that saved the Israelites and led them out from their misery and slavery.

 

This Passover, so many many years later, most of the households that make up America were also held under some type or form of bondage.  It may not be apparent immediately that in most families today a person has to work so hard to survive and pay his way that he feels like it is a type of slavery.  There is no other life outside of work for many here in America today.  We have very high standards, and we pay for them.  There are hardly any mothers or children that can afford the luxury of staying home instead of working or going to day care while their Mother works.  There are hardly any men who can keep up with the high standards of our culture without working two and sometimes three jobs.  There is no relief from the tax burden of  a government that no longer cares about the average, every day person.  We no longer work to live, but we live to work.  This is the opposite of how God intended for things to be.  Most Americans, though they look very blessed are deeply in debt and only a few days short of the debtor's prisons that seem to be regaining popularity with our so-called leaders.  The Sabbaths have been pushed aside to glorify the mighty dollar that is demanded every way we turn.  If you don't believe this, just do an interesting eye-0pening experiment.  Jot down how much money you spend from sun rise to sunset today.  You might be shocked at what it cost to merely "survive" here in the land of the free that isn't so very free any more.  It is so bad that retail establishments feel they have to be open 24/7 in order to turn a profit.  Many people would rather take their Sabbaths, but they feel forced and pressured and trapped into working that extra day to survive.  

The stress of all of this has created some very common problems that should be very solvable, but people no longer seem to know the answers.  They have become hopeless and only cover up with whatever addiction they find works for them to give some type of distraction that only brings temporary relief.  It may be that a person has become a drug addict or an alcoholic or maybe they find themselves in bondage to some other type of common addictions so prevalent in this land.  It may be immorality that is holding some captive - a dark place that they cannot escape or leave.  They need help from outside themselves.  That box in our living room that we listen to every night for hours on end doesn't have the right answers!

It may be that others find themselves in an unending struggle through the circumstances of poverty, always striving to leave the state but never quite making it from one struggle to the next.  They feel as if they have been caught in a trap, every way they turn, they lose.  There is always something else to overcome.  

There never seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for a nation growing more hopeless and helpless each day with the hours of the clock that keep ticking down.  

Maybe a person is held in bondage by some fatal disease, lying in a hospital bed without proper treatment because they could not afford to go into debt for proper medical care, or even in a place where there is the proper care but no one seems to care if they get it or if they lay dying; they are just holding on to what is left of their last few breaths of life.   They lay there lonely and forgotten by the world full of people intent on their own pleasures.  

These are only a few of the many examples I could give.  Many in America are not free at all.  Freedom is only an illusion that we cannot maintain for any amount of time.  We are a lot like those who lived in the hopeless community that slaved for Pharaoh in Egypt to build expensive buildings and elaborate dwellings for the rich and prosperous of an elite group of people who did not care for them and would not help them.  They only existed to feed the needs of the greedy.

I have good news!  There is a Passover!   It happened back then, and it happens here in America every year.  Our future is never hopeless because it too contains a Passover.

The Egyptian term for Passover means “to spread the wings over something and protect it.”  Jesus once gave a picture of this speaking of Jerusalem.  He spoke of a mother hen gathering her chicks under her.  The Great God of Heaven who gave us Passover still stands guard over His people.  Do not be deceived into thinking this is only one tiny little nation.  God's people today are those who believe in Him and are committed to His Kingdom.  They live in all corners of the earth.  God watches over the houses all across every continent that have the blood of Christ sprinkled over the doors of the hearts and souls of the inhabitants inside. He knows where we live.  He found the slaves in Egypt and brought deliverance, and He will find us.  He knows where to find His people, even in times when they cannot find each other.  He found Noah in the days that the world was completely evil, and He gave a warning for 120 years before He acted to destroy the evil.   This same God has even put a  blood moon in the sky on the evening of  two consecutive Passovers for a sign like the rainbow that was given to Noah, as if to say, "I'm still here, I'm still watching, I'm still God - Don't be afraid."  The death angel could at any time be passing through the land, but even the ignorant people of God who haven’t studied enough to observe the Feast of Passover instructions in God's instruction book have received God’s mercy and protection because this year and last year there was a merciful blood moon hanging over the land.    

This amazing blood moon hung in the sky over our land as if to say, "I know you haven’t listened.  I know you have not heeded My words, I will not strive with you forever, but I have seen your bondage and I am merciful and I am forgiving, and right now I am still protecting you."  Like in the days of Noah I am sending out the message by signs in the sky in order to say you still have time to repent! 

I believe that God gave the blood moon to shine over America in answer to the cries of His people who have prayed long and earnestly about their frustrations with our leaders in the land.  Many frustrated godly people have cried out to God and asked for His intervention for our nation and the nation of Israel.  The sky messages are God saying, "I have listened and I have heard.  I will have mercy on you and protect you for a while longer."  

Numerous pastors have picked up on the message that a God in Heaven is sending a sign and signal with the blood moons, four of which will occur consecutively over four of the festival days that God long ago gave to the people of Israel to observe forever.  Two of these blood moons have already occurred on the very nights of two consecutive Passovers.  Everyone knows God is saying something with these moons and they are all trying to guess what it is.  Many are giving warnings and grave prophecies, but all anyone has to do is to go back and study the meaning of the days in which the moons occur.   I am no prophet, but even I can discern that.

Two of the blood moons occur on Passover.  Passover means that if you have the blood of the lamb over the door-post to your heart you will be safe during the tribulation.  God does nothing that he does not warn the faithful first.  He is saying to us – take comfort and do not be afraid!  I sent the blood moons to cover you in your ignorance, just as I sent my Son to die for you in your sins.  I love you and you can trust Me to protect you and take care of you as long as you are covered with the blood of Yeshua.  For now, until you look up and remember for the next two years – I am showing you mercy and waiting on you to turn back to the ways I have taught you from the days of old. How many will heed this?  How many will get it?

Look up America and observe the blood moons sent by God to remind you that He is still there.  

He is still watching.  

It still matters that you have that blood sacrifice applied to cover your sins.

The blood moons speak of His mercy, just as the blood on the doorposts spoke of His mercy back at the first Passover.  

Wake up America and turn your face back to God.  He has given sure and certain commandments.  Have you decided that He threw out several of them just because American did not want to accept them?  Not so.  They are still commandments and Yeshua has told us not a jot or tittle will ever change.  God has spoken, have we listened?  

His mercy is long and He has been very patient with us – turn around and give Him your hearts again.  He will bring you out from the bondage of the terrible leadership that you have been under.  He will take you to a place where He will feed you and guide you.  He will show you the promised land again; just look up and see His signs in the sky and KNOW that He is the God of Passover – forever.  Know that the promise of your redemption draweth neigh!  He will defend you in the times of troubles like a mother hen defending her chicks.  Has He not said this?  The giver of the blood moons will protect His own. 

People of God, now is the time to bring forth your faith.  Passover requires faith and total obedience.  Had the Israelites merely hidden behind the doorposts covered with the blood of the lamb without faith in the deliverance of God they would not have been redeemed.  Faith and obedience go hand in hand and both are necessary.  These two things will get our country back on track.  Faith and obedience to God will bring us back to the promised land that we remember as if it were a dream, but we must chose to obey God’s word – all of it.  We must put our faith to action. 

Just as the ancient people taught us how to walk through Passover, we too

have a part to play in the lives of the generations to come.  We will be the shadow for them just as our ancestors were the shadow for us.   Our actions now will be a shadow of the things to come for their future.  What we do now matters.  It is crucial.  It is important.  Let’s give them truth and life and hope.  Let’s teach them about Passover.  Let’s show them redemption in its truest form.  Let’s show them faith and obedience.  Let’s teach them the word of God (all of it) and how to follow it.  Let our lives be living sacrifices dedicated to more than just our nationality, let us dedicate our lives and our nation to a Kingdom that cannot be seen with eyes, and The King of that Kingdom will save us from ourselves.  He will bring our nation out.  Let us keep our eyes on The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 66 - THE GIRL BEHIND THE VEIL

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

As she left Rebekah could hear her family chanting the blessing they sent with her:

“Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.”

Little did she know or understand that this expression of blessing that proclaimed an entire jurisdiction and dominion over others by her offspring would be fulfilled in the times to come during the days of Joshua, David and Solomon.  This would be their physical fulfillment, but even greater would be the spiritual fulfillment by God who had given the same words to Abraham in a covenant even before Rebekah’s family recited the blessing.  Did they know?  How could they have known?  Yet, it would be Abraham’s principal seed, passed through Rebekah and Isaac and on down through many generations that would destroy Satan and his principalities and powers and overcome the world and make an end to sin and abolish death.  It was through the blood of the offspring from Rebekah and Isaac that God’s people would be delivered out of the hands of all their enemies and made more than conquerors over them through the promised Son, Yeshua. 

All these things that originated at the time of Isaac, as strange as it sounds, hinged upon the actions of this one young woman riding through the desert with the servant of Abraham, headed straight toward a destiny totally unknown to her.  

Do you ever think back over your life and realize you had one moment in time where everything you did or said could have changed history?  It happens, yet we are usually as unaware as this young maid in Eliezer’s caravan.  Of course if Rebekah had said no, God would have made another way for His will to come about.  The point is that God gives us the freedom to chose our destiny and God choses the people who will interact to bring about the destiny of all mankind.  We can follow His plan or go our own way.  Rebekah chose to accept the destiny and the purposes that God had planned for her.    

The young girl who would be Isaac's wife must have truly felt anticipation, perhaps a stirring that she did not understand, as she left on her journey to meet her future husband; but she was quite oblivious to the consequences that God was setting in place with her marriage. 

Rebekah had one familiar face on this journey.  She took her childhood nurse with her as a servant.  You can just imagine their talk as they traveled across the land together, both of them strangers in a strange land.  Funny how the different classes of people and positions become leveled and equal when circumstances erode to the place where there is no one else who is familiar but just the master and the servant.  Such situations usually turn into lifelong friendships and the servant often becomes more cherished by the master than actual family members.  There is often a beautiful and unexplainable bond between two people where one has given up all they know and own simply to make the other feel more comfortable and blessed with no reward in sight for themselves.  Rebekah must have cherished having this dear servant/friend in the new place.     

Isaac had been sojourning in Beer Lahai Roi, in the Negev near the well where Hagar met the angel.  Before arrival there, he had spent the previous three years of his life studying in the school of Shem at Moriah.  His studies had been all that consoled him since his mother’s death; and he still grieved even after all this time.  He had stopped in Beer Lahai Roi after completing school to report his progress to Abraham.  It was then that he learned an arrangement had been made for his marriage and that his bride was on her way to Hebron, where he was to meet her.  

Isaac had been glad to see Abraham who had been living in the area of Beer Lahai Roi since Sarah’s death, as he could not bear to be alone in Hebron after Sarah's death with Isaac away at school.  After a good visit with Abraham in which they probably celebrated the wonderful things Isaac had learned of the mysteries of God  from Shem, Isaac made his way to Hebron.

      

There had been several years packed full of transformation and change in Isaac’s life.  Now; as he approached the trees of Mamre in the land of Hebron, he must have been recalling many memories of his mother, and he went outside to walk through the fields in order to meditate. 

It is here that we once again see how Isaac mirrored Yeshua, who often rose early in the morning and walked through the fields to pray.  One can't help but think of the Hebraic phrase "The King Is In The Field."  It is a phrase often used during the time leading up to the Day of Atonement when people are examining their lives and repenting of their sins before God.  They wish to do this before Rosh Hashanah, and it is said during this time that God is like a great landowner walking through His field that is ready to harvest, stopping to speak to each laborer, making himself available and giving them easy access to his wisdom and love for all in the land. Formalities are dropped and the King and those who serve him are on equal ground and can speak with one another freely and openly.  There is a certain element of mercy and compassion that the people realize in knowing that the King of the land has taken the time to come personally to them.   There is a picture of the King showing great compassion and love to have taken the time to come out to the field of the laborers instead of choosing to stay in the comfort of his throne room.  

Perhaps Isaac, walking through his fields, was thinking of how much he missed his mother.  Perhaps he was thinking of how old Abraham had looked when he last saw him.  Perhaps he was contemplating the huge responsibility he now shouldered in looking after the multitude of servants, livestock and possessions that Abraham had turned over to him.  In the midst of it all he was most likely lifting up prayers to God the Father, asking for guidance and help, thanking Him for his good fortune and seeking His leadership for the future.  Perhaps and most likely he was praying about his upcoming marriage to a woman he had never met.  What would she be like?   

In the middle of Isaac’s deep thoughts and prayers he looked up to see the caravan approaching.  At the same moment, Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac walking in the field.  She got down from her camel and asked Eliezer “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

“He is my master,” said Eliezer.  Rebekah then took her veil and covered herself. It was a nuptial custom for women about to marry to cover themselves with a veil when they were presented to their future husbands.  Rebekah decided to keep the custom.  The veil symbolized her new un-approachability to others, not only sexually, but as “hekdesh” which was the name for a sanctified object in the temple.  The sacred objects of the tabernacle were “veiled” before being taken up to be carried by the Levites.  At the point of our story, the tabernacle has not even happened yet, but perhaps this is where the idea first started, with Rebekah meeting Isaac.  

The marriage ceremony is likened, in a legal sense, to those sanctified objects of the Temple.  One should from this time forth (after her veiling upon meeting her groom) approach this woman with honor and dignity and nothing that would defile her.  Like the veil of Moses after he had spent time with God on the mountain, of which we will learn more about later; the veil here implies a willingness to be separate and apart from others in order to stay holy.

Rebekah did not usually wear a veil.  Before and after her marriage her face was uncovered.   Why did she suddenly decide to remain true to this custom?

 Contrary to what many have mistakenly believed, except for an unmarried woman meeting her groom to be, women in the time and culture of Isaac walked and went about their days with uncovered faces.  The constant covering of a woman's face is a custom brought about many years later, and is of Muslim origin.  

It is not a Hebraic custom, nor was it the custom of the women in the days of Isaac to keep their faces constantly covered at all times.  As a matter of fact, the women who usually covered their faces all the time in this land (except for brides first meeting their future grooms) were the prostitutes, not the decent women.  This becomes apparent later in the scriptures when we read of Judah and Tamar.  

We also know just from reading the scriptures that Rebekah usually walked with her face free of a veil, (as Sarah did before her) and she simply covered herself as she was to meet Isaac because it was the custom of a bride to cover her face when she was presented to her future groom.  This is a very old custom that has carried over into modern times.  It was also to signify her modesty.  The symbolic modesty of the veil for a bride-to-be teaches an important lesson; that “the glory of the princess is the interior” of the person.

Despite any outward beauty and charm, her inner qualities and characteristics were much more important in the role of a wife.  With the external covering of the veil all attention could be directed to the inner person without distractions.
 

Did Isaac walking in the field and spotting the caravan get a glimpse of Rebekah’s striking beauty from a distance even before this covering of the veil happened?  We do not know.

When we read of Rebekah putting on her veil before she meets Isaac we know she had entered into a moment in her life of decisiveness.  We all have those moments, when our actions show the greatest decisions of our heart.  It was a very significant moment that changed all events that came after and confirmed all events that had happened before that moment.  It happened the first moment that she saw Isaac.  He had been walking through the fields praying.  She saw him deep in prayer.  At that moment Rebekah could have chosen to join in the prayer, to celebrate the blessing that they both had been given.  What did it mean here, that she veiled herself?  Was she shutting herself off from the prayer and the blessing of her future husband?  How should we interpret this veiling?  

At this point in the story it could go one way or the other, so we will continue and find out later what this significant moment and the actions of Rebekah meant for them.  

We have to consider that Isaac had just been to Beer Lahai Roi, the place where one’s eyes are said to be opened.  Isaac was now openly praying in the field.  Yet, his future bride was covering herself and hiding behind a veil.  What did this mean for their future?  What did this mean for the house of Isaac?  What did this mean for the generations of Abraham?    

Did Isaac already know the answers as he approached the caravan coming toward him?  

Would things have turned out differently if Rebekah had forsaken the common tradition and responded openly in her first meeting with Isaac?

 That isn’t what happened, and we will never know the whole truth of this.

 When Isaac arrived and greeted them Eliezer told him the story of how he had found Rebekah among Abraham’s family in the far land.  

In spite of Rebekah’s lack of openness and her desire to hide her face from him, Isaac loved her.  He loved her very much.  He felt assured that she was the one that God had intended for him to marry.

Isaac married Rebekah and brought her into the tent of Sarah.  He loved Rebekah very much and Rebekah filled the empty place that had been in his heart ever since his mother had died.  All of the miracles that had left the tent upon Sarah's death returned when Rebekah married Isaac.

Sarah’s tent once again was covered by the glorious cloud.  When Rebekah lit the candles to welcome the Sabbath they did not go out for the next seven days, until she lit new ones to welcome the Sabbath again, and they gave constant light to all who entered her tent.  Rebekah’s dough was plentiful and it never ran out, no matter how much bread she baked.  

The land of Mamre was filled once more with the sound of a woman’s laughter  and the voice of a woman's song.  Sarah’s soul must have smiled as it rested in the cave at Machpelah which was near to the tents of Abraham at Hebron.

  New life had come to the family of Abraham and there was once again hope of all the blessings that God had promised. 

THE HOUSE DOCTOR ESTABLISHING A HOME FOR ALL SEASONS

(Writing and photography by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

With a blog name like "In Season" how could I not have a seasonal house?  If anything stands out about all of my articles of remodeling and making a house a home; I would say being "seasonal" has become my own trade mark.  I love a seasonal house!

If you are interested in the concept of a "seasonal house," just note my comments below and begin to make your own plan.  I promise you; you will enjoy it and it will become a fun adventure for you and your family!

When we began remodeling and decorating our home we wanted it to be flexible enough to change with every season.  That is important in a "seasonal house" and you have to keep it in mind as you go along.  We love the liturgical calendar and the way that different seasons teach us in different ways to live our lives to the fullest.  We wanted rooms that would reflect whatever season we were currently living out.  The concept may sound complicated at first; but it is actually very easy and flexible.  

What about you?  What things do you love about each season?  You might want to make a list and consider these things carefully if you are planning to make a "seasonal house" work into your decorating schemes.  Think of the different things you do and how you entertain and live in your home through each season of the year.  Give these things first consideration and decorate in a way that makes it all flow together with your lifestyle.   

We knew it would be work and take time to make these little changes happen at our house every season; but we thought it would keep us from getting tired or bored with what we had spent so much time and energy remodeling and creating.  We wanted  to use things that were classic,timeless and neutral; things that could be decorated around with any color scheme we chose, things that went with each and every changing season.  Once the major purchases were carefully made, we didn't want to have to spend a lot to keep everything current over and over again.  We needed a house for all seasons, a house that was about living and not about things; but the things that we DO have in our house needed to reflect the way we were living in the season that we were in at the time.  It is more about a living atmosphere than  about decorating.  You know how you can walk into a restaurant and know you want to come there over and over again because it provokes certain feelings in you?  Maybe it isn't the decor or the food; it could be the people that frequent the restaurant, or maybe it isn't the people, but the feeling of quiet peace and harmony that you pick up on.  Whatever emotions that are good, those that feed our souls and make our lives rich, that is how we want the seasons at our home to be lived out by everyone who crosses the threshold of our front door. 

This took careful consideration in choosing the main colors and furniture pieces.  We made most of the walls white and let our accent colors bring out color schemes.  This meant that color and decor could completely change at will.  Like life itself, no season at our house will ever be the same.  Some summers are beachy, some are full of fireworks, some springs are vivid greens and some are creamy yellows mixed with gray.  Some winters are festive and celebratory and some are cozy and intimate.  Each new season brings its own flavor according to where we are in life.  The house is flexible; it lives around all of this and joins in the dance of life with us.

To help achieve an easy blend each season we used very basic black and white and mixed neutrals and creams in the fabrics.  Sometimes the draperies change.  Sometimes the pillows change, but the main fabric covered furniture remains a creamy white.    We bought white sofas and black chairs.  Our kitchen table is topped with black smoked glass.  Our other furniture is mixed wood tones, mostly dark colored woods. but some accent pieces are painted white or a color.  We have used a lot of mirrors in order to create the illusion of space, especially in the kitchen area.   There are vivid brightly colored accent pieces of furniture that I store and only bring out in their season.  I have a set of red wing-backed chairs and a set of forest green chairs that I mix and match when appropriate.  I have different colored side chairs that I set here and there and often I change the fabric in their seats to different seasonal colors.   About half the year those chairs are stored.  Most of the other smaller wooden accent pieces are painted a color of the season.  They are pretty much pieces I've found in junk stores and painted myself.  They add so much personality when in use!

If you decide to do this, you will need a storage shed.  If you have a small space, perhaps an apartment instead of a house, I suggest you splurge and rent a storage bin.  Having this extra space to store things is VERY helpful in pulling this off.  Just remember it isn't about accumulating things.  Smaller spaces just call for simpler designs; the theory works the same.  Size does not matter in a seasonal home.  Don't make this your excuse to overspend or go wild buying crazy impulsive things that bring no value or usefulness to the sacred spaces of your home.  This  need for storage was accomplished at our house by the dutch roofed storage space that is on top of our detached garage.   Renting a storage bin somewhere would work just as well for an apartment or a small cozy home.   I try to keep each season's decor organized in its place in that storage area, so all I have to do is swap out a few things each season, carefully store the old and be creative in displaying the new.  The honest word to use here is "TRY."  It is always my goal to keep this storage space from getting all cluttered up with other things that we should just be getting rid of instead of storing, but that is a constant struggle.  I try to clean out the building with a good old fashioned yard sale at least once a year.  That becomes my "mad money" for summer vacations!   Otherwise, I do go through it all at least once a year and give a lot of unused things away.  The less needless clutter here; the better.

In the beginning I picked strategic places in the house for putting the seasonal accents, the sofa pillows, the paintings and objects just inside the foyer entrance, the dining room tabletop, the top of a buffet (that I move from place to place according to the season we are in) and the areas around the fireplace including the mantle and the hearth.  I usually have something seasonal on my kitchen table as well as the buffet table inside my kitchen window.  Look around your rooms and think about the clean empty flat surfaces.  Don't think clutter, but imagine simple elegant seasonal pieces.

I change the dishes in one section of my kitchen cabinets with each season.  I have a wooden storage closet just for dishes and a closet in my house that is strictly for storing crystal and silver.   The throw pillows on the beds and in the bedroom chairs usually change with the seasons too.  I've used two large wardrobes in my guest rooms for storing bed linens, quilts and extra pillows.

The main larger pieces of art in the central rooms of the house are all classic, lovely pieces of  art that would fit with any type of decor.   They use basic color schemes.   I never move most of these pieces.  I just move the smaller things around them.    The one exception to that rule is the foyer art.  I change that painting just inside my door with each season too.  That piece of art usually sets the mood and the color scheme for the season that I am working on.  For Christmas I have a painting of Aslan the Lion with gold flecks in his mane.  Sometimes thought I chose to use an angel painting.  For Valentines season I have a Winnie the Pooh carrying balloon shaped like hearts (sounds very juvenile, but it actually works because of the very adult art in the rest of the room.)  That sets the grey, red and white color theme.  For St. Patrick's Day and leading into the greens of Spring I have a modern painting of flowers with various shades of greens and whites.  It completely changes the mood into soft green spring themes.  In the summer I have a cheerful sunflower that lends itself to blues and yellows and blends in with the beach themes that I like to use.  I also alternate this with a sailboat painting of bright vivid greens, yellows and aquas.   These two paintings also work with patriotic themes for Memorial Day and The Fourth of July.   After that I often go to beach themes.   For the Fall season I have a painting of golden, orange, brown and rust flowers.  Just changing this one foyer painting every season completely sets the mood for the rest of the decor.

There is one focal point in our living room that is a huge blank wall.  Blank walls can be such a decorating problem, but the right solutions are easier than you might think.  At some point I want to do another article about this in The House Doctor and cover some very imaginative ideas for decorating large blank walls.  This spot at our house required a large piece of artwork.  Right now, I have a modern art arrangement made up of 4 large matching pieces.  These modern design have  a blend of colors that go well with any season.  For the future, I have plans to put a sliding rack on this wall that will allow me to change out different large boards of art for each season of the year.    The painted boards will be the backdrop for that season's large art piece or pieces that will cover most of the wall.  The colored boards in the background will fill a lot of the empty space I would have had if I had just used the art by itself.  They will add splashes of  seasonal color  to the walls.     All I will have to do is take the board down for the last season and put up the board for the new season and the change of the background boards gives the room a whole different color scheme each time.  The rack should make changing this out so easy and simple.  This is a project I've planned for a long time, and it will require my  husband's help.   It will have to happen whenever he has time to help me put it all together.  Something to look forward too! He has a vision of floating glass shelves on each side of my changing focal art on this wall.  He has been sketching this out, but the building has not begun yet.  It should be interesting to see what actually comes together!    I love the concept  and I think it will work well.  I will have a special space cleared in my storage area for the different boards to be stored when not in use.  The floating glass shelves will require large pieces of decorative art, different for each season.  This will help us to achieve the more modern look we want, leaving the traditional/contemporary furnishings we have used in the past.  The change has been a slow, gradual transition.

For now, just changing out various little pieces of the decor each season is working great.  Every time we make these easy little seasonal changes, I feel we have moved into a fresh new house.  Because of this; I never get tired of our decor.  It certainly keeps us from getting bored with our house.

Occasionally all of this festiveness bleeds over into the bedrooms, the bathrooms and the downstairs den and study, even the laundry room, just depending on how much rearranging we want to do when.  Christmas, Fall and Spring seem to always wonder all over the whole house.  If we like a certain season and don't want to leave it - we simply leave that color scheme up until we are ready to move on.  There is no law that says we HAVE to make changes.  We make them as we have the time and whenever we are ready.  I've found it is easier to transition one small piece at a time as the season approaches.  It is a scheme that can be very flexible, depending on  the time and energy available.  It can also be spaced out, a little here and little there as one day leads us into another.  If everything starts feeling to much or too cluttered I can always do what I call "minimalist decorating."  I strip everything down to the bare bones furniture, polish the wood and the floors and just enjoy a little simplicity until I get back into a festive mood again.

This technique has made our house much more interesting and we are never bored with our decor.   In the end it cost very little because we simply use things we've accumulated over the years, only adding a piece here and there and remembering to give away or eliminate the pieces that no longer work for us.  People are always amazed at the changes that have taken place around our home since their last visit. 

If we took the time and trouble to lay out every little family heirloom and every special piece of decor that we love all the time, it would just be one cluttered mess, but this way, we do get to enjoy our special treasured pieces for a season and then put them away and pull them back out when that season rolls around again.  You begin to develop a certain anticipation for what comes with the changing calendar.  Here are some examples of the way things have changed from season to season:

LATE WINTER

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day is so much fun to decorate around, I just use most of the same things I used for Channakah, mostly silver and white, removing the blues.  The silver and white carry over and blend well with the reds of Valentines Day later.  Dazzling is the word that comes to mind.  I don't have many pictures of this New Year's schemes I've used.  I will have to take some next year!  We really don't make a huge deal about the American New Year at our home, as we pretty much follow the Hebraic calendar and celebrate the Hebraic New Year that happens during the Spring Holy Days.  Still, I decorate a little and we often have friends over to celebrate the changing of the American civil calendar with a special meal and a toast of thanks for the year that just passed by.

Then there is Epiphany in early January, a beautiful seasonal tradition.  I simply leave the Christmas decorations of the manger and the wise men up longer, letting the wise men draw closer to the manger every day.  I usually put the manger scene up in my kitchen and let the wise men move from our living room to there as the season progresses.  I actually bring out the manger scene and put it in our Sukkah for The Feast of Tabernacles, then move it in the house during the Christmas season.  There was actually a lot of time between the birth of Christ and the wise men appearing with their gifts.  Some think two years.  Leaving this out longer puts more emphasis on the real time frame in history.  Our kids used to love this when they were younger.  Now I'll be showing the same things to the grand kids.  I don't worry about hurrying to clean up Christmas.  I always wait until after Epiphany has passed.  It is easy to keep some of the reds from Christmas and use them for Valentine's Day in February.  That helps us to transition without being so drastic from season to season, a little here, a little there, until you have the whole look when the next season arrives.

Also with February comes Valentine's Day.  I pull out the silver, reds and whites.  I usually completely rearrange the furniture in my living room, moving out my two modern chairs and pulling in my more classic red wing-backed chairs.  I love how the reds blend with the silvers and whites to show off our house and our hearts toward one another.  I leave the silver from New Year's and incorporate it into the Valentine's themes.

SPRING

St. Patrick's Day is all green and silver and white.  This works well with my annual Purim Party that usually happens just before St. Patricks Day.   With Purim our house starts to turn more green and we lose all the red.  I keep some of the silver and white, it looks totally different with green!   Some of these greens transition on into my spring decor later.  I love colors that lend themselves to one season and the next.  

PASSOVER

Another early Spring tradition at our house is Passover.  We celebrate Unlevened Bread and Early First Fruits as The Resurrection.  It is a beautiful sacred time.  I have two sets of dishes that I use only at Passover.  One set is blue and one set is pink, white and brown.  I alternate using them and decorating for the season around them.

When the world's tradition of Easter arrives, we are usually already in Resurrection mode and so we continue to celebrate the Resurrection with all our friends who keep Easter.  To us it is simply a "Resurrection Celebration" because we follow the Hebraic calendar that Jesus used, which usually has the date of the Resurrection already done by the time the rest of the world gets around to celebrating.  We feel it is okay to celebrate the Resurrection ALL THE TIME, so we just join in on this day with our family and friends who don't quite understand the religious calendar the same way we do.  God is full of love and grace and so are we and our friends and family.  

And....it give us even more reasons to be festive.  With Easter comes the traditional things of spring that we don't bring out at our house until after Passover.  We don't worship these things or put too much emphasis on them, we simply see them as seasonal signs of spring to be appreciated for what they are and we thank the Creator who created them for their loveliness in our lives.  We recognize that our friends celebrating Easter are worshiping the same God that we are and that they appreciate the basic biblical theology of salvation from Jesus Christ the same as we do.  We too enjoy the cute little childish and seasonal things that go along with the more serious things of life. 

SPRING

THE GREEN TIMES OF SPRING

After Easter we tend to enjoy the greens of spring in and around our home, and the essence of new life that abounds all around us.  We leave all of this up in our rooms right through Mother's Day and most of May.  I think it may be one of my favorite decorating schemes.

Lately I've grown fond of using yellows and gray in the spring time too:

EARLY SUMMER BRINGS MEMORIAL DAY/FATHER'S DAY/PENTECOST/INDEPENDENCE DAY

We get all red, white and blue when Memorial Day approaches.  The memories of all those who gave their lives for our country and our freedom brings out the patriot in me.  Out come the flags and the nation's colors.  These things go well with Father's Day celebrations, because almost every Dad I know is patriotic.  Strangely enough, these colors work great for celebrating Pentecost too.  I usually add a lot of green plants into the Pentecost season, more ferns and such.  Then comes the 4th of July and we find ourselves already decorated with the traditional colors!  I love how these seasons can be blended when you decorate.  Gives me a breather in the rearranging time.  

LATE SUMMER
GETTING BEACHY IN JULY AND AUGUST

We are people who love the mountains, but in July and August we get beach fever.  If I can't make it to the coast every summer, at least the main living areas of my home will take me there in my mind.  I feel everyone should think of a weekend at home as a mini vacation and a relaxing place to retreat from the hustle and bustle of a busy life.  Your home should always be your sanctuary.   I love bringing out these fun and whimsical items and making the house a summer paradise.  Note the dishes change, as they do in every season.  So do our foods and the recipes we use.  Our back deck becomes BBQ heaven.  I love using the glass top outdoor table as much as the indoor kitchen and dining room tables for festive summer meals.   I have shelves in my building just for storing seasonal sets of dishes.  I've gradually accumulated these over the years.  Many of them have been gifts from family and friends who know how much I love changing my dishes with the seasons of the year.  The best place to find such seasonal dishes is at yard sales and thrift stores.  People get tired of them after their season is over  and practically give away the best sets!  The way I use them seasonally, I never get tired of seeing them.  

Notice how I've used seasonal picture frames for bringing out my families favorite seasonal memories?  This is an easy and inexpensive way to make a seasonal change in decor.  I look for these frames on sale after their season has passed and frame the season's photos that we just went through.  It is always fun bringing out last year's memories when I pull out that box in the next year.

FALL - SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER BRING THE BEGINNING OF THE FALL HOLY DAYS AND THE BEAUTIFUL TRADITIONAL FALL SEASON OF HARVEST AND THANKSGIVING.

Fall is probably my favorite season, though it is so hard to pick a favorite!  I love what Fall brings to our home.  We celebrate the Hebraic Fall Holy Days; The Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement and The Feast of Tabernacles that usually fall in September and October each year, according to the phases of the moon.  It is a beautiful worshipful time for us as a family full of festive meals and remembering the old old stories that speak of Jesus Christ being our Savior in the form of prophecy.  Below is a table set for The Feast of Trumpets one year.  

All of the feast days of fall speak to us of harvest and teach us the biblical lessons around harvesting our lives.  The traditional American Thanksgiving does the same.  I actually believe that the latter evolved from the former, and we celebrate all in our home.  I love the warm, friendly, coziness of all the Fall colors.  They tend to make the poet in me come alive.  When the fall days of The Feast of Tabernacles arrive, I always try to get the whole family away from work and into a quiet peaceful setting for a family vacation that gives us time for renewal and relaxation together.  It gets harder each year as our family grows, but having a seasonal house that they all look forward to returning to helps keep the nest together even after all the little birds have learned to fly on their own!  My family loves fall and my home reflects this.

EARLY WINTER

The end of November brings Channakah, which leads us into the Christmas Season.  Yes, we do celebrate Christmas at our house, unlike a lot of Hebraic thinking people, but we also celebrate Channakah.  This is simply becuase we know the miracle of Channakah is true and real and it teaches us so much about the Light of Christ.  We have come to realize that Christmas was the time of the Conception of Christ (conceived in December, born in the Fall) and we whole heartedly celebrate the Conception of Christ during the Christmas season.   We don't worship our trees at all, we simply use them as reminders that Christ is the light of the world and we try to avoid commercialism during this season and appreciate true giving from the heart.   We also use the traditonal aspects of Christmas as a time for appreciating our family and friends.  For us it is a time to take a deep breath and get reacquainted with one another at the end of a busy civil year.  Most of us have more time off during this season, so lots of festivities are always available to enjoy in our home.

Something I have used over and over in each season is candles.  Buy candles on sale after their season has passed and use them the next year.  I have a lot of ivory and white candles that serve me in every season.  You can put candles in with any arrangement and make it more special.  They are so flexible and candlelight makes every season more cozy and romantic.  The light of the candles lend a certain sacredness to the religious celebrations and helps to set the mood for almost any gathering.

Well, can you see how much a house can change with each season and say welcome a different way with each of the twelve months of the year?  I hope this little visit to my seasonal home has been inspirational to you and sparked some ideas that you can incorporate into your own decorating schemes.

Another little trick I've found handy is to use seasonal decor when you are on a ten year do-it-yourself transition in remodeling.  Seasonal decorations will destract the eyes away from the things that you just have not had time to do yet.  People tend to only notice the beauty of the season and relax in the care and love you are giving your home regardless of how finished or unfinished your remodeling is.

I would love to hear some of your ideas too!  

May you all find blessings and a heart for your home in whatever season of life you are living through.