I’ve been working on a cookbook, called “A Home-Centered Holiday.” I’m so excited about it, and I’m most excited because I’ll have it ready for you to buy the first week of December, with plenty of time to make family-friendly recipes for whatever holidays your family is celebrating.
Which brings me to the most frequently asked question I receive @thegentlemommy on Instagram. We are Torah-Observant Christians, which means we seek to keep the commands of the Torah in love and appreciation for Yeshua/Jesus, because those are the commands He kept, and because He says in 1 John 5:3, “For this is love for God: to obey His commands, and His commands are not burdensome.” When we look to the doctrine we follow, as a family we seek to follow the doctrine kept by Yeshua and the disciples, which was the Torah.
Please note that everything I share here is simply me sharing the basis for my family’s faith walk. I know that faith is a very personal journey, and we are all on different paths. I love the path our family has found, but I also respect that my path may differ greatly from yours.
I cite Matthew 5:17-20 when people ask us why we do what we do: 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” We love Yeshua, and truly keeping His commands has been such a blessing to our family that we can’t imagine a life that doesn’t include walking in this way.
So what does that mean when it comes to the holidays? Based on Deuteronomy 12:29-32, we know that God commands us not to ask after the way other cultures have worshiped their gods and then seek to worship Him in that way. He also says not to add or take away from the commands of the Torah. Since we believe God is who He says He is, and we believe He is unchanging, we take Him at His word, and this means we want to worship Him in ways He desires- not in ways our culture desires to worship.
For us that means we reject any faith based traditions that are rooted in paganism or other faiths. And if you do much study of the typical holidays of the christian church, you’ll find that all of them are converted pagan holidays with roots that tie back to Constantine and the conquering of pagan nations- literally what is stated in Deuteronomy 12:29 as what God does not want from those who love Him. And so, as a family, we don’t celebrate Christmas, Easter, Advent, Lent, or any other holidays that have roots to other gods.
However, this doesn’t mean we have no holidays at all. In fact, the Biblical Feasts outlined in Leviticus 23 actually all point to Yeshua/Jesus, and these are the primary holidays our family celebrates. Passover, First Fruits, Shavuot, Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and the Shabbat are all feasts that are easy to observe, and they have instructions for their observation in the Torah. Passover: Yeshua is sacrificed, First Fruits: He’s resurrected, Shavuot: the Holy Spirit descends, Yom Teruah: prophecies the return of Yeshua/Jesus, Yom Kippur: He judges the quick and the dead, Sukkot: the marriage supper of the lamb/the millennial reign.
In addition to these, we recognize the Jewish feast of Hanukkah as the Feast of Dedication mentioned in John 10:22, and we observe it as a time to clean our homes of what doesn’t serve God or allow us to serve Him and serve His people. We remember how the Jewish people have fought for survival in the worst of circumstances, and how God stands with His people in times of trial. But do we see this feast as an alternative to Christmas? No. We don’t do presents for religious holidays, we don’t go overboard decorating our home or shopping or loading our calendar with activities.
This is where holidays differ for us. The world tends to be busier during the holidays. We rush to shop, rush to spend, rush to do…so many things. It’s exhausting. But the one holiday that we celebrate the most in our faith? It’s the Shabbat. A dedicated holiday for rest, every single week. We’ve enjoyed shifting away from the busyness of the modern holiday season in favor of a restful one. Each of our celebrations of the Biblical Feasts involve fellowship and inviting others to celebrate with us- but these tend to be peaceful and relaxing celebrations focused on worship and connection to others.
And this is what you’ll see reflected in my cookbook and in my highlights of our life on the farm during this season. It’s slower- I make meals from the bounty of our harvests and keep them ready in our freezer. We end our days earlier as the sun sets earlier and earlier. We cozy up and enjoy indoor projects like knitting, sewing, making soaps, salves, and tinctures for the season, and finally canning all those tomatoes that have been waiting patiently in the freezer. I put soups, stews, and roasts on the rotation. I make pies and serve tea and cocoa. We read together by the fire and listen to good music and chat about our days and dreams together.
I want people to come into my home and enjoy being in fellowship with us. Our home isn’t decorated for Christmas, and yet with a warm fire, nourishing foods out for enjoying, and something delicious to sip while catching up with one another, our home becomes a place where people from any background can gather. And here is my encouragement to you: whatever holidays you celebrate, whatever you believe, my hope is that you feel confident in welcoming others into your home- not because of what your home appears to be, but because of who you are. A good friend with a warm heart creates a welcoming home. Do your guests have a place to sit? Can you offer them something to drink or eat? Can you pause your activity in order to chat with them and hear their stories with an attentive ear? Then you are a worthy host.
I couldn’t slow down to be a gracious host to others until I was willing to step away from the rush to participate in every activity from November 1st to January 1st- initially it was simply reducing our commitments during the season. But over time it shifted into something much, much bigger. Whatever is right for you, my prayer is that this season you find peace and the encouragement that comes from sharing with others.