Today is yom shishi ~ the Hebrew word for the 6th day of the week. Today is also our preparation day for yom shabbat, the 7th day of the week and our rest day. We rest on the 7th day because Yahveh rested on the 7th day and I look forward to this day more than any other! This is also the best day to visit our home, for there is always an abundance of food. I spend all morning cooking and baking for the Sabbath. This morning I made 2 loaves of whole grain bread and a pan of whole grain sticky cinnamon rolls sweetened with honey and agave nectar. I made a pan of lasagna to cook tomorrow night and all I have to do it put it in the oven when Sabbath is over. For tonight, I have a crock pot with potatoes and carrots, seasoned with garlic, onion and chives. We will eat them just like baked potatoes with cheese, butter and sour cream on top. I usually stew some deer meat to go along with, but I forgot to thaw some out. We will eat the potatoes and veggies with a loaf of whole grain bread.

I try to make our Sabbath meal special so that the children always look forward to this day! For a treat tomorrow, I made strawberry yogurt and we will have a simple lunch of leftover potatoes and carrots (for I always make enough for 2 meals). We also have the bread I made for sandwiches. For breakfast we will have the cinnamon rolls and fruit. I may even make up a strawberry banana smoothie. I don't mind doing non-cooking prep on the Sabbath (like cutting up fruit), but we do all of our cooking the day before.

". . .then he said to them, "This is what YHVH meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the YHVH. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning." ~ Exodus 16:23

I love having all of our meals prepared for Sabbath! It means that I can rest and enjoy the day with my family. We will read the Bible together, relax and enjoy our day off together. If it is nice, we will go on a walk to the park. If it is cold like I think it will be, we stay warm inside and play a game after our Bible study (which usually lasts a few hours).

This afternoon, I will finish up a blog post that I started on healthy snacks, take the kids to the library (Friday is also our library day) and then to Chess Club. Then we will come home and have a family dinner together and sing the song, "It is Shabbat!"

". . . six days of the week, anticipate and seek, the first of His Feasts. . . It is Shabbat!"

Happy Sabbath!