SEASONS - SHOULD NON-JEWISH CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE PURIM?

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The true understanding of Purim starts with the study of The Book of Esther.

Previously I wrote about the love story of Esther and the King.  It was re-published not many days ago in this blog, with the hope of refreshing some people's memory about the story of Esther before the date of Purim.   The story tells how the celebration of Purim came about.  It would be a good thing to re-read this story for yourself before Purim if you have not already done so. ( http://dancinginseason.blogspot.com/2017/02/pen-art-winter-love-story.html)

Long story short though; and to make things even easier and convenient (but not nearly as much fun) a short, brief, to-the-point summary of the whole tale follows here on this same page:

Esther had hidden her Jewish identity and the King had fallen in love with her and taken her to be his Queen.  Esther’s uncle Mordechai had overheard some people plotting against the King and gave this information to Esther in order to save the King’s life.  It was recorded in the records of the King but the King had forgotten to reward him.  The King appoints Haman to rule under him and Haman demands that everyone bow down to him.  Mordechai refuses to do this.  Haman prepares to persuade the King to hang Mordechai from the gallows and to use him as an excuse to kill all people who are Jewish.   Haman talks to the King and persuades the King that all Jewish people should be killed and they draw lots to set the date.  In the meantime the King discovers that he has overlooked rewarding Mordechai.  He asks Haman what he would do to reward a man who saved the life of the King and Haman, thinking it is him that will be rewarded, says he would parade him through the kingdom on the King’s horse wearing the King’s robe and wearing the King’s ring and announce loudly that he is a hero the King wishes to honor.  The King then asks Haman to do this for Mordechai and Haman is deeply humiliated.  His anger toward Mordechai is more than ever.  Haman continues with his plot to convince the King that all Jews are bad and must be eliminated knowing that the King doesn’t know that Mordechai is a Jew.   The proclamation is sent out under the King’s signature and Mordechai goes to Esther and asks her to reveal her true heritage and idenity to the King in order to save her people.  Esther prepares by prayer and fasting and goes before the King to make her petition.  This very act will be putting her life in great danger.  No one usually went before the King un-summoned.  Yet, the King listens to Esther and lets down his scepter for her to speak.  She states that she will reveal her petition to him and Haman at a private banquet in her quarters.  This happens three times, each time the King and Haman come together, dine with Esther, and then she tells them she will reveal her request at their next banquet.  At the third meal Esther reveals Haman’s plot against her people and begs the King for mercy.  She also reveals her own identity in the process.  The king is angry that someone would plot against innocent people like this, and asks who the evil person is.  That is when Esther reveals Haman’s true intentions to the King.  The King is very angry with Haman and has him hung on his own gallows which he had prepared for Mordechai.  The King puts Mordechai in charge of his kingdom directly under him, as Haman once had been.  The proclamation to kill the Jews cannot be reversed, but the King gives the Jewish people the right to defend themselves.  They prepare and win the battle for their people and all is well in the end.  The King issues a new proclamation that the day of their victory will be celebrated forever after.  That “forever after” part is why we celebrate Purim today.

If you look carefully at all the vivid details of the story you will grasp that the bloodline that produced Jesus Christ was saved from extinction on the first Purim.  This is the part you will not hear in a Jewish celebration, but this is the MAIN REASON a Christian has for celebrating Purim.  What better reason could there be?

 Had there not been that first Purim, no Jew or Christian would exist  because the Jewish people would have been wiped off the map and we would not have had the birth of Christ, nor his life, death and resurrection that make our Christian faith possible.  Christians could not exist without the Jews, because Jesus was Jewish!  

So you see – A Christian probably has more reason to celebrate Purim than a Jew.  The Jewish people are only celebrating the salvation of the heritage of their people.  The Christians are celebrating the salvation of the whole world that was made possible by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

We can always look back to see that everything that happened to the Jewish nation of Israel and all of the Holy Days they celebrate today are just shadows and types of how we all have came to have salvation through Jesus Christ. 

So – if you are a Christian – study this well.  Then join in the celebration, because it is great fun and a wonderful thing to do!    In 2017 the holiday of Purim starts at sunset on Saturday, March 11th and ends at sunset on Sunday, March 12th. 

I’ll tell you another little secret that is hidden from many Christians today – God loves celebrations!  

He gave us many dates that He wishes for us to celebrate because we are members of His royal family.   If you are missing out on it all you only rob yourself – come join in with the rest of your family!  ALL are invited to God’s table; you only have to accept the invitation.  Never let anyone tell you different!   



Don’t miss the family holidays that our Father has taught us to keep!  He wants us to be a joyful family, a family that plays together and has fun together.  He wants us to always remember the things He has done for us and celebrate those things forever.  He wants to see us smile and love each other’s company.  He wants to see us have festive meals together and to set aside time just to be a family together.

If you have missed this one point, you have missed the secret to joy in the Christian life.  Don’t let the world rob you of your joyful heritage!

So, go ahead!  

It is okay!  



Celebrate Purim with a Messianic understanding.

The most important part of the whole celebration will be the telling of the story of Esther.  You can find many plays and parodies on the internet that will help you do this.  The scroll used to read the book of Esther is called the Megillah.  You can find beautiful copies of it in bookstores and on the internet.  

Read the scroll and/or have a play.  Appoint one reader or several readers with different parts or give out scripts to your guest and let them read and act out a play.  It is all fun!  

While the reading is happening there are actions that must take place with the noisemakers you need to furnish:  When the name of Haman is stated people should boo loudly or shake grogers.   

When the name of Mordechai is given, people should shout “YEA!”  When the name of Esther is given people should clap their hands. 

Start by preparing a festive meal for your family and anyone else you want to invite.  If you really want to have fun – ask them all to dress like one of the characters in the story, or simply ask them to wear any costume they choose.  The dressing up in costume is symbolic of the fact that Esther hid her identity from the king.  Wearing costumes makes this point.  

You could make your room look like a royal banquet hall and put noise makers at each place on the table. 

 Suggested foods: 

Hamentaschens:  You may serve almost anything that you like in this feast, but most people make sure they include Hamantaschen cookies.  These are cookies filled with fruit marmalade or poppy seeds.  They were originally called “mundtaschen” which means “poppy seed pockets” and the word “hamantaschen” is Yiddish for “Haman’s pockets.”  

These cookies are triangular in shape to represent the triangular-shaped hat worn by Haman.  Some people have also thought there are three points on the hat to represent the victory for the three founders of Judaism (which is where our Christian roots took place):  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  These cookies are traditional and delicious.  There are many recipes available in cookbooks and on the internet. 

Drinks:  Though it may at first seem an unusual custom for Christians to participate in; it is also customary to serve alcoholic beverages at Purim celebrations.  I chose to imitate Jesus at our house – Jesus drank wine, but Jesus never got drunk.  This is what I have taught my children all their lives, and moderation is the key to pulling off this part of the celebration.  Alcoholics are totally excused from this practice and to be praised for refraining.  Have alternative beverages for those who wish to abstain.   

One of the most interesting commandments related to a traditional Jewish Purim has to do with drinking.  According to Jewish law, adults of drinking age are supposed to get so drunk that they can’t tell the difference between Mordechai (the hero) and Haman (the villain).  This drinking tradition stems from the joyous nature of Purim.  It also symbolizes how ironically we sometimes live our lives mistaking good for bad and bad for good.

There are lessons to be found here and they are many – but when this commandment was given people only walked, there were no cars at the time.  Now in the age of driving it is too dangerous to keep this commandment and a true Christian would not participate in drunkenness.  So – most people chose to add moderation to this part of their celebration – only serving drinks to those who chose to drink wisely and not letting things get out of hand.  

Of course it goes without saying that if you choose to participate fully in this custom you should drink responsibly by arranging for a safe ride home, or BE IN your home so you do not have to leave.  Don’t ruin a joyful celebration by becoming a drunk.  Remember Haman lost the victory.

Mishloach Manot:  These are pretty decorated baskets of easy-to-serve foods that are customarily sent to others on this day as part of the celebration.  Most of the baskets will contain nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, hamentaschen, fresh fruit and breads.

Be Charitable:  With one’s friends and relatives well-fed and happy, Purim stipulates that one must also take care of the poor. The holiday’s second obligation is giving to charity. 

As a Christian, you most likely will not be in a synagogue that auctions off some of your Mishloach Manot and uses the money to care for the poor.  It is suggested that you might start a fund in your home that goes to charitable causes.  Have a decorated basket to be given away by lottery to everyone who buys a ticket at your party.  This brings up the fact that Haman chose the lot as a way to pick his date to destroy the people. The word “pur” translates to “lot.”   Many biblical dates were chosen by lottery.  Reverse that bad action of Haman by having a lottery to help the poor.   Draw “pur” to determine the winner.   The money that the participants donate for the lottery can be used as a donation to your pre-selected charity. 

It is also great fun to take these baskets personally to others in the community during this time.  Many people allow their children to do the delivering.  It teaches children the act of having a giving heart and that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

So there you have it.  Deeper layers of the meaning of Purim will come to you each year as you revisit the story.  You will come to cherish the story of Esther and you will see more and more of Christ in the story each time you celebrate Purim.  God is such a great storyteller!  What better way to learn the ways of The Kingdom of God than to listen to the stories of our Father?  

Could anything be more fun to do?

Happy Purim!

THE HOUSE DOCTOR - AN ORGANIZED HOME IS A HAPPY HOME

ORGANIZING YOUR CLOTHES CLOSET

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

To quote Edmund Burke:  “Good order is the foundation of all things.”  This has never been more true than in the case of the organization of a well loved home.   Your daily living needs CAN fall into perfect harmony with your busy life; if you will only just stop for a moment, take a deep breath and get yourself more organized. 

Please don’t think of this part of loving your home as a negative activity!  It can be a fun adventure, and when you are completed with all of it; you will be so happy with the results that you will feel like a whole new person! 

The longer you put this off, the harder it will become.  Saying I don’t have time is just the same as saying “I don’t want to do it.”  Most of us feel this way when it comes right down to getting things organized.  We just keep procrastinating and unfortunately this brings added stress and less harmony into our homes.  Of all places on earth, your home should be the one place where you are guaranteed to find peace, joy and harmony.  That is our goal!  

So here goes; take a deep breath and let’s begin to climb this mountain together!  All the remodeling, arranging and changing isn’t worth a thing if it disintegrates into an unorganized mess.  We have spent the time, money and energy on those things; let’s polish them off by getting everything organized.

With the tips I’m going to give you; organizing your home will become as easy as eating a piece of cake! 

Let’s tackle one happy adventure at a time.  The first and easiest place to start is with your own closet.   

You NEED to have an organized clothes closet in order to function happily in life.  Having your clothes clean, organized and well planned will make a HUGE difference in your attitude at the very beginning of each day.  It will free up SO MUCH of your valuable time. 

How many of us are rushing around in the mornings, wadeing frantically through the middle of screaming kids who are getting ready for school, while agonizing over fixing husband’s lunch and organizing his work clothes (did you forget to wash his socks AGAIN?); looking for that other shoe to go with that outfit again, or wondering what we washed for ourselves to wear when we did the laundry last week?  Why can’t we find it in the closet?   

Every home in America seems to have a sock eating laundry room.  Where do they all go?  When we finally do find the clothes we were looking for, we realize nothing is pressed and we try to get the wrinkles out by sticking the clothing into the dryer for a few minutes.  Once that is accomplished and we put it on and look in the mirror we see a huge gap in the side seam where the threads have come unraveled while in the dryer.  Oh no!  We panic and grab whatever we can find to cover our body with and rush out the door, herding other people as we go.  We wind up going to work looking like we slept in our clothes, and we are totally grumpy to the kids on the way to school and also to dear husband who hasn’t a clue of our stress level at the moment.  All because we feel sorry for ourselves and think and feel that we have no time to tend to our own needs while helping the rest of the family survive.  Everyone is unhappy because stress is contagious.

Been there, done that; do not want to go back again!  Let me tell you there is a much easier way to live! 

The whole goal of THE HOUSE DOCTOR is to explore ways to produce a home full of love, peace, harmony and beauty as easily and as inexpensively as possible.  We want home to be a soothing place where you can enjoy the seasons of an abundant life.  The scene I mentioned earlier is absolutely NOT the results we are seeking here; but everyone has been there at some point and time. 

The joy comes shinning through when we finally begin to understand how to avoid this.  Unknown to half the population in this country, there really can be a day when you wake up on a Monday morning and jump out of bed realizing that your breakfast will be easy to fix, your kids will have their things all ready to go and their homework all finished and organized, your wardrobe will be perfectly planned out, and there will be a whole tank of gas in the car.  You can even smile as you send hubby off to work knowing that you have packed him a perfectly healthy lunch with a sweet little love note tucked inside for a surprise in the middle of the day, and he will be totally assured that he can come home to a healthy dinner on that same evening, maybe even candlelight and wine!  

No I'm not talking about Blondie and Dagwood or Ozzie and Harriet.  (I just told my age and even might have lost a few of you here.)  Honest…..I’m not joking!  It IS possible!  It CAN happen, but you won’t get there in one day.  It is a cumulative process of getting organized one step at a time, and you must lay the foundations for each of these processes to flow smoothly and correctly inside your home.  Soon it will become just like clockwork.  Just trust me and read on.

Let’s start with the most important part first; that would be you!  When Mama isn’t happy; nobody is happy! 

Everyone depends on you.  But guess what?  You need to have your life in order before you can help anyone else.  Your clothes are important.  You can't leave the house without them!  Let’s begin by organizing them first. 

Wait until you have a whole day to set aside so you can tackle this project from beginning to end and be done with it.   Chose a day when hubby has to work and send the kids to grandma’s house!  Go straight to your laundry room and take an inventory.  What do you see? 

You need to make a list of the items you will need to purchase for the operation of your closet and your laundry area.  Do that first. Put these items down on your list and check for what you already have and what you do not have.  I’ll give you a good basic list.  You can adjust it for your own purposes and budget. 

If you go right out and buy everything I am mentioning here, you will spend about $200 at your local Walmart.  You will recoup much of your budget by not having to buy any cleaning supplies when you buy groceries for the next two months.  You will also not need to buy any new clothes for awhile, because you are going to see how far these organizing techniques will stretch your current wardrobe.  You might be shocked!  You can also make do with what you have on hand and around the house until you can afford some of the items on my list.  If you need to just buy them slowly over time as you get the money.  Figure out what works for you.  So my list below is the top of the line, luxury supply list!

ITEMS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR LAUNDRY ROOM AND CLEANING OUT YOUR CLOTHES CLOSET

 Several matching, stacking plastic clothes baskets (3 or 4 for sorting and two for storing dirty clothes),

30 metal and plastic clothes hangers like you find in uptown department stores, both for hanging dresses, shirts and blouses. They should have that little hole in the middle that lets you hook another hanger on to them (get 30 of these others too) that hold pants and skirts with the metal clothespins built in on each side for fasteners. 

3 or 4 containers of good laundry detergent.

3 or 4 containers of fabric softener

3 or 4 bottles of spray-on stain-remover. 

A steam-iron and an ironing board along with some good spray starch. 

One box of sandwich sized plastic baggies. 

Two small plastic trash containers with a swinging lid on top that you can keep covered, but easily drop things into.

10 clear plastic shoe-box-sized containers that can be purchased at the dollar store. 

So go on now!  Go right out to the store immediately and purchase any of these items that you do not already have on hand and/or decide how you will use what you have to make them happen.  Bring it all home and go straight back to your laundry area/room. 

Now remove anything from your laundry area/room that doesn’t pertain to doing laundry!  It is a laundry area, not a junk place or an extra storage bin.  Gather all the unnecessary items and place them wherever they really belong.  Establish a house rule that no one will pile things in the laundry area/room just because it looks like an available space.  It isn’t.  Sweep and dust the area.  A clean laundry room means you will be folding clean clothes and not dragging them through a pile of dirt and grime and having to wash them all over again!  

Not today, but later after you have your clothes closets in order and your basic laundry area set up, it might be nice to consider anything you could do to make this area feel more cheerful and pretty.  After all, you do spend a good bit of your precious time inside this part of the house (even though we are going to eliminate a lot of that work time after today) you still we be in this part of the house often.   Why not make it as pleasant and as upbeat as possible?   If you are blessed enough to have an actual room just for laundry you might think about using one corner of the room as a craft/office/desk area.  You could be tending to your desk work and bill paying while you are waiting on the dryer to finish and the washer to spin out.  Just a thought to tuck away - but all of that is for another article on another day.  For right now just concentrate on getting your basic laundry area needs covered and in good order.   

Take any of those flimsy plastic hangers (the kind you get clothes on at WalMart) or any wire hangers (the kind the dry-cleaners give you) and either throw them away or give them away.  Use the new ones you bought instead.   They will hold up much better because they are strong and they swirve.  Hopefully your laundry room has a hanging space available to hang your new hangers from.  These should be THE ONLY types of hangers you will ever need from this point forward.  They are well worth the small investment. They are excellent choices that will  help keep your clothes much more organized.  Combining the two types of hangers together for hanging as one gives you so much extra closet space.  Enjoy the fact that there will now be no more tangled piles of hangers to sort through and untangle on laundry day.  Just hang the new empty hangers on your laundry shelf until needed, making sure you keep all the hooks turned in the same direction.

Hopefully your laundry area/room has some amount of shelf storage space where you can place all the containers of laundry detergent, fabric softener and stain remover.  It may sound crazy to store so many of them at once, but this means you have at least one month’s supply (probably more; maybe even TWO months) of all your laundry cleansers, and you will not have to make that last minute run to the store just to pick up laundry detergent whenever you finally get around to washing clothes.  This will give you at least a whole extra hour in your day each week for a month, so use that time to do something you haven’t had time to do with your husband or kids.  Have a date.  Read a story. Sing a song together. Make mad passionate love.  Cook a special dessert, take a bubble bath,etc.  You will be amazed how not having to make so many little trips to the store changes your life! 

Organize these detergents neatly in the near by space that you have available.  If you do not have shelving, I suggest you find a way to make that happen.  It will be well worth the time, money and effort to have a place to keep everything organized and together.  Find a good place to store your iron and ironing board, then pray that you never have to use them!  I hate ironing, but sometimes it is necessary.  You don't want to have to go out and buy these items at the last minute before an unexpected event.  Best to have them ready and on-hand in a place where you can conveniently locate and use them.    

Take a damp rag and wipe all the dust and spilt detergent and lint and cleansers off the tops of your washer and dryer and surrounding areas.  Find a space, either on the top of your washer and dryer, in a corner of your laundry space, or on an empty shelf nearby for storing the plastic clothes baskets.  Keep them neatly nesting within each other until laundry day.  You will use them for sorting clothes.  

Make a space for the two small trash containers.  Put a trash bag inside both and use one for throwing away the lint from the lint filter of your dryer.  Empty this when full.  Saves steps.  Use the other one for a place to put wet dish towels and dish clothes after use until laundry day arrives.  The top on the container will keep them from smelling up the whole house and they will be out of sight.  Every time you do laundry; remember to empty this container and wash them.  Store any wet items here until you can get to washing them.

Put ONE clothes basket in your bedroom beside your clothes closet for right now.  It will become your dirty clothes hamper.  Once your closet is clean and organized, just set it inside the door.  Use a tall one that doesn’t take up much floor space but still holds lots of laundry.  Drop your dirty clothes in here at the end of the day.  Just close the closet door and all of your dirty clothes are out of sight.

Okay, this next task is going to sound crazy at first.  Take everything you have hanging up in your closet that is washable off the hangers and sort into stacks on the floor of your room by colors, blues with blues, reds with reds, blacks with blacks, etc.  Keep the dry-cleaned things hanging, but lay them on top of your bed and sort them into like-colored stacks too.   Now put one stack of the clothes into the washer at a time and wash, dry and hang on a temporary hanger until you find a way to coordinate the many single pieces of your wardrobe into whole matching outfits that you are sure you will be wearing.

Tip for when you are washing clothes:  when you pour your liquid detergent into the washer, have the fill-water already turned on and running to fill up the washer.  Measure the detergent out into the cap of the detergent container and hold the detergent under the running water of your washing machine to dispense.  When the water washes the detergent from your detergent cap into the washer, simply replace the empty cap on top of the detergent container.  The washing out from the fill-water while you put the detergent into the washer will keep the cap clean after use and prevent it from becoming a sticky mess when you turn it upside down again and this will keep it from leaking all over your  washer and dryer space, leaving detergent residue everywhere.  

Now, take one clothes basket out of the stack on your laundry room shelves and set it on the floor of your laundry room for holding the clothes that you no longer wear or use.  Discard them as you go.  As you wash and dry each load of clothes hang what you REALLY want to keep on the new hangers.  ONLY KEEP WHAT YOU REALLY WILL WEAR.  Drop what you do not need to keep in the laundry basket so that you can take it to your favorite charity later.  So much of our closet spaces are cluttered with things we never use!  Get rid of those things!  Fold them and put them aside in the clothes basket.   When the basket is full, load it into a box and drop off at your favorite charity.  Others may be happy to receive the things you are not using.  Your closet will be happy to have more space!  You will not have been wasteful.  If you have spare clothes left over when you are through sorting that you are sure you will not wear; get rid of them!  Don't feel guilty.  Don't make your closet space feel guilty either.  

Wash and dry everything and hang whole groups of coordinating pieces and matching outfits together.  Put the shirts, blouses and tops on the top hanger, underneath that hanger hook in the other hanger with the metal clasps for hanging pants and skirts.  Hang very dressy dresses by themselves and put less used dressy items at the back of your closet. 

So your whole coordinated outfit should be hung together, such as shown in the photo.above. 

   

Since your closet should be completely empty with your unmatched clothes all either piled on your bed or sorted in clothes baskets for washing, you can match everything as you launder them.  The colors seperated together just makes easier matching when you are putting outfits together.  Make sure they are all hung securely and neatly using your new hangers. You will probably come up with many new combinations that you enjoy.  This is the beauty of taking the time to sort through things.  It will be like getting a whole new wardrobe.  With all of your clothes out of the closet and starting the coordinating with a new slate, you will get creative and see many more pieces that you already have that you love but didn’t know you had a match for. 

Make a list of the separates that you want to keep which have nothing to go with them.  Fold  them into a separate basket until you are able to coordinate a whole useable outfit from new purchases.  Don’t let them take up room in your closet until they can be used.  Tuck this list into your wallet and ONLY buy the needed items when you are shopping instead of buying on impulse. 

 Once you get a complete outfit sorted out with the separate matching pieces all ready to hang together; pick out the jewelry that you will wear with that outfit.  Put that assortment of jewelry (I usually have a necklace and earrings and maybe a bracelet) into a plastic bag and ziplock the bag to store. Attach the bag of jewelry for each outfit behind the clasp on the lower hanger of your coordinating clothes.  (See the photo illustration.)

Now everything (exept your shoes) will be hung together when you pull your outfit out to wear.  No more searching through the closet for three or four pieces that go together then running back over to the jewelry box to pick out your jewelry for that outfit.  No more untangling necklaces and looking for earring backs.  Everything you need is right there in one place, and all hung together when you need it.  This makes life so simple and easy when you are dressing each morning! 

When you have your first outfit all together with it’s own set of jewelry, hang it on the bar in your closet nearest to you as you first open the closet door.

Some people like to hang like-colors together in their closet because they are looking to make it easier to match things.  We already have everything coordinated together in once place; so  I tend to disagree with that thought, even though it DOES look pretty!  

Instead; I like to hang the outfits in the order that they will be used.   Assemble all of your clothes this way, starting with your favorite outfits first, then mixing and matching all the left over separates together in the combinations that you like.  Don’t hang anything that you are not sure you will wear.

Hang one coordinated outfit at a time in your closet until you have at least a month’s worth of clothes all coordinated.  This would be about 30 coordinated outfits, one for each day of the month.   If you don't have that many clothes, just use what you have and make this a goal for new purchases.  Slowly add to your collection of outfits until you have 30; then STOP!  You will never need to go clothes shopping again!   

Remember to hang all outfits in the order that you want to wear them, allowing for work outfits on work days and casual outfits on casual days. If you will be needing two outfits for some days just hang them side by side then move on to the next day's clothing needs.  Just go down the rack thinking “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and start all over again four times in a row.  Hang all your clothes in the order of what you want to wear for the next 30 days of the upcoming month. 

Guess what?  If you don’t have time to wash for a whole month, you will not have to worry!  For one whole month your wardrobe will be beautifully coordinated and in order.  As you find the time to do laundry, just remember to keep coordinating everything this way as you go along. 

Now, isn’t that a whole lot better?  Is your mind feeling a whole lot less stressed?  Don’t stop here though; we still need to work on shoes, pajamas and underwear.  Easy-peasy though!…Find a drawer for your underwear and fold it neatly in that drawer.  Again – I suggest 30 of everything.  Find another empty drawer for your pajamas and a few sweat pants and t-shirts to fold to wear around the house when you are just “being comfortable” and relaxing.  Almost done…...

You should have nothing in your closet now but your wardrobe.  Closets are meant for clothes, not extra storage warehouses!  Keep your closets functioning as they should.  Hopefully you have a shelf above your hanging clothes.  If not; have someone install one for you, or do it yourself.  THERE SHOULD BE NOTHING ON THE FLOOR UNDER YOUR CLOTHES!  When you vacuum your closet, nothing should be in the way of your vacuum cleaner.  Everything should be easily visible to you when you open that door.  No junk piles!  Also, no one can hide out in your closet without you noticing their feet!  Just thought I’d throw in a little safety; not that you probably need it, but it will make you FEEL safer if you ever suspect anyone.  Just open the door and look – if you see no feet – you are home free.

Now take those ten clear boxes that you bought from the dollar store and store a pair of your favorite shoes in each one.  Stack them neatly on your shelf. Put the shoes you wear the most in the most accessible spots.  If you are like half of America you will have several pairs of shoes you never wear left over.  Give them away with the extra clothes.  Let someone get some use from them.  Just keep up to 10 pairs of shoes, the ones you REALLY wear and when you look up at them on your shelf now you will be able to find them easily because they will be neatly stored in those clear plastic boxes and you will be able to see the shoes you need through the box. 

Welcome to your coordinated life!  By the time you reach this point you should be feeling very grateful.  Grateful to have your closet organized and your stress level reduced; but also grateful that you live in a world where you have so many clothing choices that you can take for granted the fact that you own 30 coordinated outfits, including jewelry and shoes.  We have so much abundance in our lives these days and there are still places in the world where people only have the clothes on their backs and no place to hang them.  We are very, very blessed and we should never take that for granted.  Thinking about all of this may even give you a guilt complex.  Please don't let that happen.  Today it is trendy to appear less materialistic by only wearing the same clothes over and over again and only having a few pieces in your wardrobe to worry with.  I see the logic, and the sincerity in this line of thinking; but I also think for most of us today the logic is misplaced and misguided.  It APPEARS that you are doing without and helping the world, but in fact you are simply not using your blessings.  You doing without does not mean that others automatically have!  If you want to help clothe the needy of the world think about sending the extra money you have normally been spending on making your unorganized wardrobe work for you as you rush through life to someone who could actually use it for buying clothes that they need.  You can easily do this once you have your 30 outfits neatly hanging in place; because as I said before; you will never have the need to go shopping again!  Take that several hundred dollars a year you have been using because of your unorganization and give it out in surprise gift certificates to broke college students, or give it to a mother with six children to clothe.  Now that would be more useful for everyone.  You also could volunteer the time you save by not having to do laundry so often, and not having to run to the store all the time to work in a local shelter that provides clothing for those who find themselves in need.  Remember, you are going to take everything you don't use to your favorite charity too; so please stop feeling guilty for receiving the fruit of your hard earned labor and just remember to thank God for His awesome provision of giving you an abundant life that overflows to add to other peoples abundance too.  Rejoice and be glad that you are using wisdom and order in your life and don't take on other people's misplaced and misguided guilt.  

Next step – go and do this same thing for the rest of your family members, or have a closet cleaning seminar in your home to teach everyone how to do this for themselves.  Now each person living in your home will be coordinated with good, clean, attractive clothes that they like to wear for a whole month.  Your family portriats will look awesome!  Your Christmas cards will be lovely!   Make everyone take a closet inventory about every six months and keep the order going.  This step shouldn’t be too hard with the foundational work you have already done up front.

I hope you have enjoyed this first step in getting your house organized.  Keep reading THE HOUSE DOCTOR section in my Saturday blogs for more organizational articles.   Keep looking for more organizational tips as well as the usual decorating and remodeling tips for making your house into a home. 

So go enjoy your extra time; your pristine and organized laundry area, and your coordinated wardrobe!  I will eventually post another article which will have instructions you can use for making all of your own cleaning products.  This will save you even more money, make your home healthier and keep you doing the things you enjoy instead of pushing a shopping cart all week.  Be watching for that article during an upcoming post, hopefully before your first few months of laundry room supplies dwindles down.  For now, just bask in the new peace and harmony you are now going to find in your morning routines simply because you got your whole household's wardrobes and closets organized!  Life is good!

MONDAY NIGHT MENUS - A RAINY DAY STAY INSIDE PICNIC

(From the recipe collection of Sheila Gail Landgraf) 

MAKING COOKING AT HOME EASIER
(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Are you missing the BBQ grill while the rain is pouring?  

Want a way to bring a little sunshine inside the house on a rainy winter day?  

Here is a way to make the same tasty foods inside!  Smile….The sun will come out tomorrow!  This picnic may take a little planning.  You need to marinate the ribs the day before cooking, and you will need to let them cook for 4 to 6 hours - so plan your schedule accordingly to use the ribs recipe.  You will need to soak the beans for a day before preparing and they will need 8 hours in the crock pot.   It will be worth the trouble; slow-cooked ribs are very tasty, and the beans just naturally go with the flavor of the ribs.

Tonight's menu consist of Rainy Day Ribs with Hot Cheese Mini Muffins, White Shoe-peg Corn And Tomato Salad and Bacon And Bourbon Baked Beans.  

Who cares if it is raining when you've got this feast going on?

HOT CHEESE MINI MUFFINS

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

¾ cups buttermilk

1 beaten egg

4 tablespoons softened butter

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degreees.  Mix all ingredients together.  Pour into mini-muffin tray and bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

WHITE SHOE-PEG CORN AND TOMATO SALAD

Ingredients:  

Two cans Green Giant white shoe-peg corn ( or use fresh if available)

2 quarts small cherry tomatoes (washed and halved)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 medium red onion (chopped)

1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)

1 tablespoon basil (chopped)

Dash of salt

Dash of Pepper

Directions:

Toss together, chill and serve.

RAINY DAY RIBS

Ingredients:

5  pounds beef ribs –separated

4 tablespoons minced garlic

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup ketchup

2 tablespoons A1 Sauce

 2 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon bourbon

5 onions peeled and chopped

Directions:

Mix all ingredients but the ribs and the onions together in a bowl.  Pour mix over ribs into a zip-lock bag and marinate in refrigerator overnight.  Next day pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees.  Line a broiler pan with foil and overlap lots of extra foil on the sides.  Put ribs and onion in the foiled broiler pan and pour marinade over them.  Roast open in oven for 15 minutes.  Take ribs out and cover the ribs and onions tightly with the overlapped foil. Reduce oven to 250 degrees and cook for 4 – 6 hours basting and turning when appropriate.

BACON AND BOURBON BAKED BEANS

Ingredients:

1 pound dry navy beans

10 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into pieces

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups water

¾ can of BBQ sauce

1 cup loosely packed brown sugar

¼ cup ketchup

2 tablespoons molasses

1 cup bourbon

1-1/2 tablespoons ground mustard

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Directions:

The night before put beans into a large pot and cover with water.  Drain and wash the next morning and put beans in a pot on the stove and heat until boiling, then let simmer for about 40 minutes.  Cook bacon on stove top until fat is rendered and drain on a paper towel.  Saute the onion in the bacon grease as well as the garlic.  Remove onion and garlic when clear colored and add to a crock pot.  Add bourbon, brown sugar, BBQ sauce, ketchup, molasses, ground mustard, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.  Stir well and add in beans and stir again.  Crock on low for about 8 hours, then turn off and let sit for 2 hours to let the beans absorb the sauce and to let the sauce thicken.  It is less trouble to make these the day before and reheat when you serve your meal.  This one of those foods that is even better when it sits in the refrigerator overnight.

SEASONS - PONDERING ASH WEDNESDAY

UNDERSTANDING THE SYMBOLISM THAT IS REPRESENTED BY THE OBSERVANCE OF ASH WEDNESDAY

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

It is almost that time of the year again, the day we see people walking around with smudged ashes on their foreheads.  I grew up Baptist and I can remember being a child and seeing someone with ashes and thinking they just got real dirty and didn’t wash their face.  I never knew the significance of Ash Wednesday until I started going to the Episcopal Church. 

Now that I am nondenominational in my religious affiliations; I find I miss Ash Wednesday and Lent, and even though now I have chosen to mostly observe the Hebraic Holy Days from a Christian perspective; I often observe Ash Wednesday and Lent right along with my Episcopal and Catholic friends. 

I don’t feel this is a requirement of God; but I don’t think God minds it either.  Actually, I think God truly appreciates any time when we humans make an effort to remember to be conscious of our sins and work on repentance and confession and try to set our minds and hearts to the mode of overcoming and the pursuit of the holy.  Lent and Ash Wednesday are days that fall into this type of observance.

Ash Wednesday actually marks the first day of Lent.  Lent lasts for 40 days, and it is a time for meditating and examining our hearts as we make our way through life’s annual calendar up until the day that we celebrate the joyous day of The Resurrection of Christ. 

It is a time to reflect and grow closer to God. 

It is a time to make little sacrifices in our daily living to show our love and devotion to God.

It is a time to put extra effort into prayerful fasting. 

We are always reminded to reflect on the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting in the dessert.  It was a time that he was tempted by Satan and he overcame Satan by The Word of God.   

So; on the first day of Lent, ashes are imposed on the foreheads of the faithful as a reminder that they are mere humans who will live and die one day.   The ashes appear in the shape of a cross and they are worn all of the first day of Lent as a testimony to the fact that we come from ashes (the dust of the earth) and we shall one day return to ashes.  It is to remind us of our own humanity; which emphasizes the fact that without God in our lives we are really nothing at all. 

The mark on the forehead brings many other thoughts.  Some people remember how Cain, an unrepentant sinner, was marked by God.  Cain did not repent nor did he consider bringing the proper sacrifice that God commanded to redeem his sins.  Because of this he was doomed to live with the mark of his sins upon him until the day that he died.  Cain was living in total rebellion all the days of his life.  He was determined to put himself and his own desires above the desires of God.  Cain is a study in contrast to the person desiring to observe the process of Lent.

The whole idea of the season is to remember NOT to be like Cain, but to examine your heart and repent of any un-repented sins before the day that celebrates The Resurrection of Christ, who IS the miracle provided by God that saves our souls from death and merely returning to the dust of the earth.

Since I observe the Jewish Holy Days from a Christian perspective in a very nondenominational way (is that a paradox?)  much of this work of the soul that many of my Catholic and Episcopal friends faithfully go through at Lent are things that I begin in the Fall Holy Days starting with the season of Elul and continuing through to Rosh Hashanah, or The Feast of Trumpets, then The Days of Awe which lead up to The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur.)  I see Yom Kippur as a shadow of the work Jesus did on the cross and it speaks of Atonement, just like Resurrection Day.  Of course, I also celebrate Resurrection Day, which culminates with Early First Fruits at the end of the Passover week when I consider my sins in the days of unleavened bread and ponder how to put them out of my life and how to put more of Christ into my life.  Very similar to Lent, Unleavened Bread is also a type of fast.  So many of these days have the same underlying truths and symbols of Lent, and they actually are more authentic to the scriptures.

So if I join in and observe Lent also, much of the spiritual housekeeping of my adopted Jewish heart has already taken place; especially since I observe the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread and Early First Fruits, where I am reminded to purge the leaven from my life.  Leven represents sin.  Fast days are tied in even before that time though during the time leading up to Purim at The Fast of Esther. 

So, basically by the time everyone else gets around to these housecleaning times of the soul; I’ve already been practicing those exercises and observances in many ways and many days all through the year with God’s Holy Days; but it never hurts to be thorough when it comes to your soul and eternity – so I often chose to join in and go through Lent with my friends, even though I do not feel this is actually required or commanded directly by God.  

We know from historical studies that the whole idea of Lent was actually started by a monk many years ago, and possibly evolved from his own personal studies of those observing the original Holy Days of God we find in Exodus.  He merely put some of the same or similar practices and meditations into a different time of the year and added the imposition of Ashes.  Ashes have always been, since the ancient days, a biblical symbol of showing repentance and morning for the human condition of mankind. 

I think we all can agree the important thing is to be sure you DO repent, during any time or season.   This is what really matters.  After all, repentance should actually be a DAILY observance for all Christians, and these extra; though not commanded seasons of examination, help us to stay aware of what God expects from us all through the year.  It also expresses one’s desire to please God and to offer up sacrifices that are pleasing to Him.  

Seasons come and go and what do we learn from them?  

How do we keep our observances pure with the right intentions before God?  

A key element is to let God lead your mind and heart to where He wants your spiritual awakenings to be.  It is best to start any significant season of meditation and reflection with prayer that asks for clarity and guidance and truth.  Every year should be a little different in some way, because God doesn't have us living stagnant lives.  We should be building our characters upon the foundations that he lays within our hearts, improving every year and changing and transforming to God’s image more and more as we go further and further on the journey of the Christian life.  We learn in stages, as we go through daily living with God as our guide and Christ as our Redeemer.  Our lives and days are full of varied things to learn, yet, all of God is constant and never changing no matter what time or season we are currently going through.       

So the ashes are imposed in the mark on the forehead that is put there in the shape of a cross.  It is the cross that makes the mark of Ash Wednesday so different from the mark of Cain.  Here the faithful have their counter-mark, their identification in the sign of the cross as being servants of The Most High God. Instead of being marked as rebellious sinners; they are marked for their imperfect but humble desire to live in total submission to God's will.     

It is also interesting that the ashes are imposed on the forehead as opposed to any other part of the body.  They are placed right over the brain, the part of us that thinks and considers the things of life.  When God captures a heart, the process usually starts in the mind before making its way down to the heart.  

Marks do carry significance.  Remember how God called Abraham to “mark” his own people through the act of circumcision?  Today we consider that one who decides to live in God’s Kingdom and pursue God’s ways with all of his heart is marked of God through the circumcision of the heart.    

Could this marking of the heart, so symbolic of perfect love and obedience to God, be the next step that comes to reside within us after the marking of the mind?  What stays and resides inside the mind eventually shows up and proceeds outward in actions that come straight from the heart which show the heart's true colors of either love or hate.  

We are in constant need of the Word of God to mark our minds. 

Is your mind marked with the words of the Holy Scriptures?  

We are in constant need of the love of God to mark our hearts. 

Is your heart marked with the love of God?

With the marking of the ashes we are also symbolically reminded of a passage of scripture found in Ezekiel 9 which speaks of The Glory of God instructing a man with a writing kit in his hands to go about Jerusalem marking the foreheads of the people who have lamented and wept or grieved over the detestable things that have happened in the city.  Instructions were given for everyone who did NOT have this mark to be killed, showing no mercy. 

Most people interpret this passage found in Ezekiel Chapter 9 to be a prophetic and futuristic vision of Jesus Christ being the “man with the writing kit”.  The “writing kit” is symbolic of The Lamb’s Book of Life, and it is only Christ who has the authority over this book.  There He has recorded those who have given their souls over to Him and He has written their names down in his book and blotted out their sins (which were recorded too) with the covering of his blood.  Let’s look at that passage a little closer, thinking of how a person can be “marked” of God.

Let’s read that passage to be sure of what it is telling us in prophecy: 

Ezekiel Chapter 9:

Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.”  And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.  With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side.  They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.  Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the Cherubim, where it had been and moved to the threshold of the temple.  Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion.  Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark.  Begin at my sanctuary.  “So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.  Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain.  Go!”  So they went out and began killing throughout the city.  While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas Sovereign LORD!  Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”  He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice.  They say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’  So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.  “Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded. 

So what does this passage found in Eziekel that speaks of a “mark” on the forehead mean?

I think it speaks of final judgment, and I clearly notice that those marked by Jesus receive mercy and pardon from the other evil sinners of the earth. 

So whether or not we celebrate Lent in any shape, form or fashion in our lives; the truth is that a day of judgment is coming and the whole earth will receive the wrath of God; except those who have the mark of Christ covering them.   It does not matter which ritual you chose to follow to show the world the shape of your heart during this season; what matters is that your heart is marked and circumcised by Christ.

Are you marked by Him?  

Are you covered in the blood of Christ that assures your pardon from your many sins?  

Now is the time.  

This is the season to draw near to God.  Judgment day will come.  I pray that we all are ready and that our focus is clearly glued to the light of Christ that leads us to our heavenly home with God the Father.    

 In one sense these people are like Cain in that they are protected from death.  The reasons though are very different.  They are protected because they have been faithful and true, Cain was protected so that he could suffer enough to possibly see his own sins and change.  It never happened.  God always allows us these times to consider our sins and He is patient as He waits to see if we will change.  Some of us remain in sin, like Cain, but those of us who are willing to humble ourselves and change eventually reap unimaginable blessings in eternal life.  

Lent will soon began and many of God's people on the earth will start this process of sorting out their lives.  Now you know when you see the marks on people's foreheads; what they are doing and why they do it.  

Have you noticed the faithful?  

More importantly, have you noticed the mark of love and kindness from a neighbor or a friend?  That too might be symbolic of the mark of Christ over their heart.  Some sacrifices involve giving instead of giving up.  Sometimes, during this process God leads people to make changes in how they relate to their fellowman as well as how they relate to God.  

Whatever customs we follow and however we observe them today; in the end we will all be marked, one way or the other.  

Which way will you chose and what will be the sign over your heart?  

Will the things that you have been taught in your head sink down into your heart and spirit and spill out to others in the world or will you be like Cain and turn your face away?

We all have a choice.  

The mark comes from God, but the meaning of it is found within our own souls.  

What will your mark look like?