A Rainbow OF Celebration

"I am the Light of the world"
John 9: 5

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
Galatians 3: 28

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." John 1: 1-4 We welcome you to celebrate and glorify our Savior Jesus with brothers and sisters around the world. What a fun and wonderful way to grow closer to Jesus, and also those who are in the same family, one in Christ. Celebrations such as the Biblical Feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Weeks, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkoth, Hanukkah, Purim, Sabbath) all remind us of the wonderful grace of God, and paint a picture of what God has done, is doing, and will do, His redemptive story. Our families have been celebrating these feasts for several years and these holiday celebrations have been life changing and heart changing for our families, bringing us into a better understanding of who God is, His plans, and purpose. As with any celebration, it is the heart that counts, and a good measure for us when celebrating the Biblical Feasts has been: "Is God glorified in our actions? Are we doing what we do for God's eyes, other's eyes, or is it from an overflow from our heart?" We have not kept to 'dates' (calculations of the new moon in Israel) in our celebrations, but have used the Jewish calendar dates as a guideline, adjusting dates when work has not allowed our husbands to be home celebrating with us. "...For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month. For they could not keep it at the regular time...Then the whole assembly agreed to keep the feast another seven days, and they kept it another seven days with gladness...their voice was heard; and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place to heaven. 2 Chronicles 30: 1-27 Here we see the feast of Passover celebrated at the wrong time and the people even adding a week! And the most wonderful thing we see is God is honored! A study of the feast is not only fun, but in our case has become part of our life. If you are interested in pursuing a greater understanding of these days, a wonderful simple to understand book is A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays. We have incorporated these celebrations into our own little journals, drawing and recording ‘pictures’, our children have learned through the celebrations! If you have questions, please e-mail, we in no way profess experts, and God is teaching us so much over time. When this Rainbow of Celebration journal was first made it was originally the downloadable file that follows (one of Christmas celebration). We wanted to include a note on the above biblical feasts as they have truly made a change in our hearts as well as homes. We wanted to add this idea to A Rainbow Of Celebration as another way you can make 'life' simpler having a God-focused approach to all learning and incorporate a love of journaling at the same time.

The following is a fun, simple, unit on the celebration of the birth of our Savior! We would like to add that a celebration in Jesus name is appropriate for anytime of the year (we always enjoy a special remembrance and celebration of His birth during Sukkoth, The Feast of Tabernacles). We have included stories, foods, reading books, decorating, and fun ideas for you and your family to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior with brothers and sisters in Christ the world over (or at least in 5 areas of the world :)