Why Essential Oils Aren't Just for Your Crunchy Auntie

If you haven't heard about oils yet, you probably live in a cave.  But I think even cave dwellers are rootsy enough to have heard of Essential Oils, so maybe a cave in Siberia.  Or  the most northern ice caves of the world.  Needless to say, they are everywhere, and moreso as of late.

A few years ago when I was pregnant with my first I was trying to figure out who I wanted to be present at the birth.  I was a little hesitant about the "full exposure" aspect of birth and wanted, preferably, no one I knew too well there besides my husband, but someone who could help my husband that wasn't on hospital staff.  Basically a midwife or doula.  I decided to go with a student doula.  I had a list of some students I received from a local instructor, and like a stalker went on their FB pages first to see if I liked their FB "vibe"-- yeah, I know.  But admit it, you'd probably do it too.  

Then I called the one who it seemed like in real life we could be friends.  We met up, and sure enough I liked her.  Our meeting made it clear that I feel comfortable with her, and we had one more meeting prior to the birth just to go over my plan & other details.  While this blog is not about doulas, I do highly recommend one.  Or a midwife.  They are like water in a desert, and my husband was so grateful to have the help during my 36 hr natural (hellish) labor.

Now mind you, I'm working on changing this - and slowly making progress here - but I tend to put people into boxes.  At the time, I was a few steps back from where I am now (still progressing - hopefully always progressing) and she said one thing that caused me to immediately place her in one of my categorical mind boxes.  She said "I'm into essential oils, so if you are interested in that, it's something I offer with my doula services."  

Insta-crunchy.  In my mind I put her into the doula-east-side-flower-child-tree-hugging category.  Not that I have anything against this, but since she said that I really "understood" her better - since I so accurately categorized her. *note sarcasm here*  Regardless of my category placing, she did an amazing job as my doula, gave me lower back massage in the contraction phase, brought a massive bottle of coconut water, made the best soup I ever had, and had a few tricks up her sleeve that enhanced her awesomeness and made our birth epic.  But when she offered oils I was like "oils? Oh, no thanks I'm not a hippie".  

Oh how the tides have turned.  You see, you just don't know what you don't know 'til you know it.  And you know, even though I use oils now, I'm still not like a hardcore beatnik - all things considered - although I guess how granola one is is subjective.  I've had a number of my sister's friends reference me as her "hippie sister."  What. Ever.

Now I am part of groups with names like Oily Life and Oils baby! - dedicated to the sharing of EO information between oil lovers.  You know, it definitely is a "latest thing," however, it's a thing that has wild amounts of history, science and studies (and controversy) behind it's name.  It's been used since the Egyptians (or longer) for health, beauty, cleaning and the small & great pleasures in life (smelling fresh, pleasing home aromas, relaxation, the list goes on).  

I want to share with you why the EO craze is not just for the crunchy, but also for normal people across the globe.  There are legitimate reasons why so many are obsessed about them, and a few reasons why it has spread like wildfire as of late, to half the women you know.  

The Basics

1. Health Benefits

If we think of these little beauties as what they are - a plant with vitamins & minerals & other beneficial properties created by God, distilled and condensed into a super potent version of the original plant - the qualities that you would normally get from such plant are now packed into powerful little droplets.  It takes something ridiculous like 22 pounds of rose petals to get 5 mL of Rose oil (hence it's crazy price!)  So imagine, knowing the obvious health benefits of herbs like oregano, clove, thyme, rosemary, lavender, frankincense, lemon, tea tree, etc...and responsibly using them for all manner of ails via diffusion, topical application & in some cases taking internally, you are getting a mega-dose of the properties of the plant in each drop.  

EOs used in these ways have been used in studies like this and this and this shown to cause significant decreases of blood pressure, heart rate, and skin temperature.  They can help those suffering from behavioral disorders like ADHD, enhancing positive emotions and decreasing negative ones.  And this is the tip of the iceberg.  Here's some more health benefits:

• anti-viral, antibacterial, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, and antiseptic.
• activates the immune system
• a system of delivery for nutrients directly to cells.
• is absorbed into the body under a half hour, without any extra garbage (additives).
• enhances wellness on all levels: physical, emotional and spiritual.
• increase your frequency

There is a wealth of information out there on the health benefits of essential oils - and one of my favorite facts is how hard big pharma is attacking the EO movement.  I'll give you one guess as to why, and it's not because they are ineffective. 

2. Beauty

EOs were buried with the kings and queens of Egypt, and while we know they are of benefit to our health, unfortunately they won't keep you alive forever.  But knowing how and who used them in the past shows just how valuable they have been throughout history.  Frankincense and Myrrh were gifts among gold for baby Yeshua (Jesus).  It's one of a few "fads" that keeps on keeping on.  I've used them on minor cuts and burns, moles, wrinkles, sore muscles, my armpits, canker sores, head & sinus pressure, yeast, rash, and even as an oil-pulling mouthwash (diluted with coconut oil)... to name a few.  


The floral scents are often used in candles, perfumes, lotions, creams, natural deodorants, powders, face washes, hair treatments...the list goes on.  I don't have to link you up to anything, just search "essential oil beauty treatments" on pinterest and your search will be complete.  Don't believe me, look for yourself.  Personally I love me some jojoba mix/frankincense/lavender on my face right before bed.  Relaxing and great for my skin.  

People buy such expensive creams and lotions full of additives and unnecessary preservatives when all you need is a couple bottles of these babies and maybe some shea butter/coco oil or carrier oil of choice and you can make like-creams for a portion of the price over and over and over.  Like honey, a good quality essential oil does not have an expiration date.  

3. Quality

Speaking of quality, not all essential oils are made the same.  Companies that sell EOs for dirt cheap are not selling you pure essential oils.  In fact, all they need to have to be labeled "100% pure" is 30% EO.  Yowzers!  The rest can be additives.  This is a topic I did more than my fair share of research on, but with all the information out there, I finally went with two (or 3) companies that I found had responsible and transparent preparation practices.  This blog has a wealth of information on this topic.  

What it comes down to is choose your own, but remember that you are putting a very concentrated product into your air and on your skin (and possibly internally - although I don't suggest this with any company besides Young Living, as they now have a line labeled safe for consumption - again, responsibly - there is a lot of debate here too, but I have used some internally and I'm still alive).
  

My allergy recipe: Lavender, Lemon & Peppermint with a spoonful of local honey.

If a brand of oil got it's plant from a farm grown with pesticides, those are now very concentrated on and in you.  If there are chemicals used to distill the plant, those are now very concentrated on and in you.  I use and trust these brands:  Young Living and Rocky Mountain Oils.  Although I don't use it, I would consider doTerra a solid competitor in quality to the aforementioned.


4. Cleaning

While it does make a difference, using any ol' brand of EO for cleaning purposes is probably "ok".  Not great, but ok.  I have a problem using my most expensive oils to clean a dirty bathroom floor.  If I can find a cheaper lemon - lets be real - I'll use that over the spendy one for cleaning purposes (I don't feel the same about my skin though).  


With the antiseptic, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of a great majority of oils, turns out they make great cleaning tools.  Plus they smell fresh, are effective, and they are not toxic - which I care about, having two finger-sucking little people sprawling around on the floor all the time.

Well, I'm exhausted.  So I'm going to end this here.  But my point is this: You don't have to be a hippie to use essential oils.  If you like the idea of clean living, chemical-free beauty, enhanced health, fresh air & the like...then oils may be for you, too.

Do you love oils?  Tell me your favorite!

Shaloha!

Permaculture: I Love You So Mulch!

Lets talk about mulch, ba-by.
Let’s talk a-bout de-bris,
Let’s talk about all the green leaves, and grass clippings,
Mulch can be…
Lets talk a-bout...Mulch.  

It’s much more provocative than it seems.  It’s like the “plain jane” you know that has a wild and crazy side once you get to know her.  

In case you were worried I was just writing about things for moms, I'm here to tell you no! That's not it.  My purpose of starting this blog is to share about my many - sometimes unconventional - interests, which span a wide spectrum -  in the hopes that maybe you'll learn something new (because I LOVE learning new things).  So we’re heading into the topic of permaculture: a topic we have not breached yet.  We’ve done oils, we’ve done mama, we’ve done parties, music, chanukah...we're on this journey together.  But now it’s time to talk about how to change the world, and how mulch is going to help do that, and make your life more exotic at the same time.

If you don’t know about permaculture, go look it up.  Or if you’re too lazy to do that we will get into detail on what it is some other time (it’s like the universe of all things “sustainable gardening-ecosystem-building” - an expanse of unexplored information constantly burgeoning).  I’m going to start with something more simple, an important element in permaculture.  Mulch.

Think:  Water retention.  Soil protection.  Organic resurrection.  

If I can rhyme to make it more alluring, I will.

Can I just say something, before I start?  I hate hearing people say “I have a black thumb”.  Because it’s a straight up lie.  It really is one of two things.  

1. You have not mulched. 

or 

2. You just don’t care to really learn about growing things.  

Sorry not sorry.  I used to have a “black thumb”.  But actually I was just a laggard who thought I could shove a seed in the ground and it should grow.  Plants have preferences too, you know.  They like water, some like sun, some like alkaline soil, some like acid - if your soil sucks, they need nutrients to grow just like anything else.  So don’t tell me you have a black thumb.  Just say you’re not interested in learning about what plants need.  You want your tree to give you fruit?  Lets learn to give your tree what it needs to give you fruit.  It will return the love a hundred fold.  You’ll be swimming in fruit.

Whew.  Needed to get that off my chest.  So mulch.  Let me tell you how I personally feel about mulch.  I have a friend who is a tree trimmer.  He has mulch coming out of his ears, and I haven’t told him yet, but I literally dream about the day our house is done so that if he needs to unload some mulch he can dump it all over our yard.

Another friend of mine used to trim trees with my tree trimmer friend.  He made connections with some county tree trimmers and now they come drop piles…magnificent piles of mulch in his yard on a regular basis.  Want to know how I feel about that?  Totally jealous.  I want mulch.  I want it all over, everywhere.  You might think “well that’s a little quirky” - but that’s because you don’t know mulch yet.  The pictures in this blog are credited to our friend with the mulched garden.  It is certainly paying off...look at those kabocha squashes!  I admire what his diligent work & creativity and a ton of mulch is resulting in for him and his beautiful family.  He's doing some awesome permaculture work here on kauai on the west side.  Check him out @westkauaifarms

So you want to know:  Why do I need mulch?  

Here you go:

1.  N(C)+3-6”M= -W  (I made that up - don’t you miss math class?)  In other words: Newspaper (or cardboard) + 3-6 inches of mulch = organic weed eliminator.  Ciao, Round-up! I don’t even need you, vinegar.  Im’ma mulch these weeds to death.  Mulch makes for a nice garden path material as well.  

2.  Hey, did you know after you throw down that newspaper/cardboard and the thick mulch layer, you’re also naturally attracting beneficial wormies into your garden?  These guys LOVE to enrich your soil and convert the paper/board into garden gold (worm compost).  

3.  THEN, get this.  If you sheet mulch an area, the mulch breaks down over time and becomes SUPER EPIC soil for your plants.  It’s EASY and it’s called “no-till gardening” or "sheet mulching" and it’s amazing.  It takes more time if you’re in a dry climate, but you are literally enriching the quality of soil just by topping it off with an organic mulch that has tons of other useful qualities.  Adding some organic manure before putting down your cardboard in the beginning process helps with fertility.

4.   Mulch RESERVES moisture.  When you have a solid top layer of mulch, you need as little as 10 percent of the water that other gardens do.  Some also acts the opposite in super wet situations - it absorbs excess moisture in flood, saving your plants from an anaerobic situation.  Sign. me. up.

5.  Mulch comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  Some organic material options:  spoiled hay (make sure no seed!), grass clippings, wood chips, rocks, dead leaves, garden clippings, living mulch…etc.

If you want to fall in love with mulch, watch this vimeo sensation: Back to Eden

I promise you, plain jane is gonna take off her shoes and show you her dance moves.

Shaloha!

http://permaculturenews.org/2016/01/22/mulching-with-purpose-and-precision/

http://permaculturenews.org/2015/07/31/the-oft-forgotten-art-of-growing-mulch/

http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/9-easy-steps-sheet-mulching

Little Hums - Lullaby Release!

Before my first little bug was born I had this fabulous idea to record old traditional lullabies in a non-cheesy fashion.  I also wanted a picture & lyric book to go along with it, but unfortunately no artists seemed up for the task - and I am not about to try my hand at that.

I’m sure it’s changed a bit since then, but the market for reasonably un-annoying lullabies on iTunes at the time was scarce.  So I went for my idea it and finished it.  Really fast actually.  I set this wild goal of 1 song per week (recorded and mastered) and I was done in 20 weeks (I made two 10-song albums actually, but I’m only releasing one - for now)!  Remember, this was before I had my kid (in fact a lot was probably done before I was even pregnant - baby fever I guess…).  Now it takes me months to sit down and attempt to write half a song.  The fact that this album was actually released yesterday and you're hearing about it today is evidence of motherhood. At least my motherhood.

Anyway, I waited and searched for an artist to make my lullaby book/album duo dream happen, and it never did.  So EFF it I say!  And now, over two years and two babies later, I am releasing an album that’s been a long time coming!

Tell your wives, tell your pregnant friends…because there’s a new lullaby album in town.  I’ve tried it on my own littles, it seems to work.  And I really aimed for the “not annoying” element.  I have taken some artistic license and added some bright lyric themes to the mellow-dramatic songs (Rock-a-bye Baby, for example), and some fun a cappella harmonies, such as in Row, Row, Row.

Please, Listen to the full album here and Enjoy!

Shaloha!

POP Party

As I’m pinning away, prepping for Abe’s 2nd birthday party, it hit me.  Why did I never blog her 1st?  Well, probably because I didn’t have a blog at that point.  But it was pretty epic, and I love sharing a good success story.  

So if you’re doing a “POP” themed party (all inclusive pop: soda, bubbles, popcorn, lolly…etc.), perhaps this will inspire you!

We had ours at a local golf course pavilion with (in my humble opinion) has the best view on the south side (of Kauai). 

The only downside was that it was a ridiculously windy day and all of our balloons were untied by halfway through the party.  The rest was great!  We also used our coffee trailer (Dark Roost Coffee - Yelp us if you're on island!) as an all natural soda "POP" service.  Homemade organic syrups with club soda (or champagne for the "parent pop").  

Anyhow, check it out!

 the Invite

 Pop's helping maneuver the trazillion balloons.

Owning a cute food trailer has it's perks.  

Dark Roost transformed into Abel's "Pop Parlor"

Bubble Thank-You's 

Bubble Area

Homemade Soda Pop (club soda & homemade syrups)

"Parent Pop": Champagne...mmm

The windy day did not treat these balloons well

Fortunately my nephew captured the runaways and created his own balloon bouquet.

Yep.

The (four) of us!  When lil' man was just a grape in my belly.

The bubble zone was well managed by the older cousins.

Nothing like clean eating

Auntie Dana making it happen

Ring Pops, bubble gum, lolly pops, popcorn, bubbles

She loves center stage

Shaloha!

Pregnancy Problems, Due Date Dissuasions & Postpartum Panacea

PC Blenda Montoro Miller

For women only (or inquisitive men who don’t get queasy easily!)

Since baby amnesia kicks in about 5 seconds after your baby is born, even remembering all of the ails of my pregnancy is a challenge (maybe mom brain has something to do with that, but definitely the baby amnesia too)…and my latest birth was only 4 months ago.  

Both of my pregnancies were similar, but I had some very strange, “no-wonder-no-one-mentions-this” side effects that I just think need to be told to new moms.  Because some of it freaked me out.  Some weirded or grossed me out, and you don’t hear about these things on your “fruit-sized-baby” app.  You have to search the babycenter forums to discover if your weird body experience is just a pregnancy thing, or your health is deteriorating.  

****Men don’t read on unless you want to be grossed out by real pregnancy talk.  It can get gruesome - I’m very serious****

PC Blenda Montoro Miller

I had some of the normal symptoms:  

Bloating

Fatigue

Forgetfulness

Hormonal

Fat feet

constipation

Blah blah blah.  

These ones are expected.  What nobody tells you about are the ones like:

new and plentiful skin tags

Hemangiomas (blood vessel clusters that look like a red mole or patch on your skin)

Spider veins

Lots of discharge

Swollen lady parts after sex (ya! that’s a thing!)

Massive and dark colored areolas 

leaky boobs 

voice changes

drooling

can’t hold in farts…or pee

joint pain (I thought I was getting rheumatoid arthritis in my hands)

shots of pain (sciatic nerve) down your legs and in your butt

…the list is endless

Not all at once, I assure you.  And every women's experiences are different.

Just wait until you’re walking along in the grocery store with your big belly, no big deal, and suddenly BAM a jolt of pain in your butt and down your leg.  “Whoa that was random” you think, and then BAM! It happens again 4 seconds later, and then BAM! 1 minute later…you look like a spazzy jumping bean walking through the grocery store, that is, until you discover that walking with wide legs, bending at the knees and kicking your right leg out helps stop these pains, then you just look weird.

I only experienced a number of these, but let me tell you…let me just tell you.  Because you need to be prepared for any of these things at any stage of your pregnancy.  And although the symptoms themselves are unusual, know that you are not.  You are experiencing strange but normal things, and unless its really bloody or super painful, you and the baby are probably just fine.  We are all in this mum thing together, and know you’re not alone in these experiences.  

So warn your fellow moms-to-be.  Don’t let them worry something is wrong with them. Next time you’re talking with your pregnant friend, instead of the generic “get ready to wear nothing but stretchy pants!” you can say “Just wait until you have sexy time and afterwards your lady parts double in size for an hour! It’s crazy!”  Yikes.

***

As you near the big “due date” there is no way to prepare for what’s about to happen, really.  But you can try.  

First off, babies don’t need a lot of stuff.  You don’t really need to load up on most of the supposed “necessities,” buying into it is just making someone rich and your house more cluttered.  Think minimalistic, and you’ll probably still overdo it.

Physically prepping, some people do the perineal massage every couple of days to prevent tearing.  I tried it but wasn’t into it.  I tore with my first badly, but not with the second at all.

Maybe take a voice class as prep.  I’m a singer so I know a thing or two about this…singing uses similar techniques to good labor breathing.  It sounds a little silly, but when you’re in labor, groaning in a lower pitch while exhaling during contractions can help reduce the contraction pain significantly.  My sister said she followed the ghost cries coming from down the hall when she arrived to help during my labor…

Bring coconut water - lots of it!  I had my husband crack almost a gallon’s worth of coconut water when I knew my second was on his way (but we still had some time to kill).  Say yes to ice during labor.

Hmm…mainly just know that all your inhibitions will be lost midway through labor (or sooner), so get ready to be exposed.   Don’t worry about pooping or not while you push (I was very concerned that this might happen, but suddenly when you’re pushing a head out of there it becomes less important).  My sister, who I invited to be a part of our son’s birth, reminded me recently of my “pee on the floor” labor moment…one I had totally blocked out of my mind.  My contractions were coming so hard and so fast I couldn’t make it to the bathroom, and I couldn’t tolerate a laying position (thus ruling out those little hospital bed porta-potties), my husband put a puppy pad beneath me and said “just go” and I’m practically crying, “I can’t do it! I can’t!” when finally my pride was brought to an all-time-low as I gave in and I blubbered “I’m peeing on the floor…” All the while my sister is trying not to make me mad by laughing at the ridiculousness of this moment she’s observing.  Like I said.  All your inhibitions.  All your pride.  It’s just gone.  At least I can laugh about it now.

 Also, have a plan and so long as there’s no danger, don’t let anyone persuade you from it.  You will be proud you stuck to your guns and feel like a victorious warrior afterwards (you gave birth, you ARE a victorious warrior! You beast you!).  That applies to whatever your plan is.  My husband actually tricked me into sticking to my plan (delay and distraction).  

Have a support person besides your man.  It really helps! Doula, mom, sister, best friend…whoever you’re ok with seeing you this way.  And it gives your guy a break if you have a long labor.

Listen, there is A LOT to know about birth, and while it hurts like hell, you really can make the most out of it when you know somewhat what to expect.  Know that your body is made to do this.  Know that you can do this.  It is empowering the more you find out about what your body is capable of.  Research it.  Read Ina May’s Midwifery book, it is pretty empowering.  Watch Ricky Lake’s movie Business of Being Born .  Question doctors, not because they aren’t doing what they think is best - they usually are!  But because you will educate yourself and know if their suggestions are what you know is best for you (this is regarding optional procedures and drugs, not in the case where something is definitely wrong).  

Some birth-y things to look into:

C-Section Health Woes and this 

Delayed Cord Clamping and  this  

Skin to Skin after birth 

Why Breast milk is the Best milk  and this and this  

Breast milk alternative to the eye drops 

Cord wrapped around neck? Why it may not be as big of a concern as we think. 

Alternative thoughts on Vaccinations  

***

After baby arrives, you enter la-la land.  Your hormones are off the charts, you have this little human on your chest…you’re crazy in love…it’s a wild moment.

And then they start pushing on your uterus and next thing you know you’re birthing placenta and your contracting uterus hurts almost as bad as your last contractions. That’s real life.  Also, if you tear, they start pricking you with numbing shots and sewing you back up.  A small form of torture.  Fortunately you have a distraction, (a new baby) and I highly, highly recommend skin to skin time immediately after birth.  Let that cute little creature find his or her way to it’s new food source and watch nature take it’s course.  Check out the link(s) above on that.  The likelihood of a great latcher begins here.  Let them get on your boob ASAP.  Spend some real quality time afterwards just you and baby and the papa. 1-2 hours at least!  If you’re at the hospital, they can do their protocol later.  Put your foot down.   I find it so funny they say “get some rest!” and then come in every two hours to take your or baby’s vitals…good grief. 

Listen, if you care to know, we don’t vaccinate.  You may and that’s great for you.  But for those who are on the ledge, just know that hospital staff is great at making you feel like you’re doing something terribly wrong by not vaccinating.  They don’t say this directly, but subtly and sometimes demeaningly.  If you are choosing to opt out, you hopefully have done a ton of research (this site is really great for alternative views on vaccines and know your reasons why.  If not, you MUST, because if you don’t have the information supporting your decision, you will likely be persuaded into thinking you are a bad parent through subtle fear-mongering.  Just remember, it’s what they’ve been taught is best, so if you don’t know why you’re opting out, you probably will end up doing it.

My hospital of choice really does it right.  They have rooms with a queen size bed that you and hubby rest in with baby in the little baby caddy beside you, all warm and cozy.  It’s almost like a hotel, but…still a hospital.  We get a “goodie bag” of leak pads (like the ones you use for new puppies in the house), monster pads, peri-bottles (a MUST for a good wash down there after using the restroom), Tucks, body disinfectant spray (only if you get stitched up), and various baby goodies you can take home with you (diapers, comb, brush, some creams if you want them).  

Hopefully your friends got you a mealtrain.com thing coming for ya, because you won’t be making dinner.  If your labor was anything like my first one, you might leave the hospital with lady parts the size of China (My first labor I pushed for 4 hours and the swelling was SO bad!  It was so unnatural looking…).  Fortunately it takes only a few days for this to go down.  You also have no tummy muscles.  They have been stretched to the brink and you feel like you got the wind knocked out of you when standing up.  Because of this you use other muscles to do things, that aren’t meant to be used for those purposes.  Sitting up in bed to feed puts all kinds of strain on your neck and shoulders, and constantly looking down at your boobs and baby is a position your neck is not familiar with yet.  You will suddenly have ridiculous neck & shoulder pain about a week after birth.  (oh hey, and while pushing you just used and strained every ounce of muscles you have to get that baby out).  Be prepared.  If you have a friend or family member who does killer massages, now is the time to call in that favor…

I learned about padcicles from a blog online and let me tell you - they are little miracles wrapped in pink plastic.  To make them, just get witch hazel, and large pads.  Squirt the witch hazel onto the pads about 2 tbsp each all over, fold it back up, put all in a gallon ziplock and put in the freezer.  Each time you need a new pad, use one of these.  Insta-rellief.

Anyway.  Thats all the unconventional tips and warnings I can think of for now.  Babies are awesome.  

PC Blenda Montoro Miller

Birth…not as awesome.  Hope this helps you prepare!

Until next time.

Shaloha!

PS If I offended you, sorry.  Birth is a very personal thing.  This is not intended to offend.  This is just my experience and what I've learned along the way. Ciao!

O Chanukah, O Chanukah

“We don’t celebrate Christmas.”

Those, my friends, are fighting words.  Not on purpose, but I didn’t realize until a few years ago, when I began saying them. But man…traditions.  There’s no comparison.  I just sat here trying to think of one for like 10 minutes and came up empty handed.

I know that if we were religiously Jewish (Chanukah) or cultural African-Americans (Kwanza) it wouldn’t be a big deal. But since we’re neither (actually Jon is technically about 1/4 Jewish by blood, but we don’t claim it like it’s a thing), it seems like some take it as an offense that we don’t celebrate the same holidays they do, but have the same or similar beliefs as them.  

Well let me start by saying, we definitely shouldn’t assume to think we know what another person believes unless we ask them.  That aside, we have some really great reasons for our decision to not celebrate christmas, and instead celebrate…wait for it… the Feasts of the Lord!

My husband and I have been on a journey of faith that has led us to some interesting outcomes.  I say outcomes, but these outcomes could change in the future to new outcomes.  Some say people don’t change, but I don’t believe that.  Our traditions and doctrines were challenged (we challenged ourselves…I like challenges okay?), and as we walked through these, we adjusted our actions as seemed necessary.  I definitely didn’t expect it all to go this way, it just did.  Sometimes you start down the rabbit hole just looking for a rabbit and end up in Wonderland.  Well I’m in Wonderland and I’m going to go on the record saying that people can absolutely change.  

So…Chanukah!

A semi-appropriate place to introduce our semi-unique traditions.    

I loved christmas!  Like many of you do.  I made my own ornaments, got the tree, set the mood, purposely said "Merry CHRISTmas to everyone I knew.  I even wrote a song about it.  But the change happened about 3 1/2 years ago after watching this video recommended to us by very close friends.  Honestly, I think it’s a very informative video, but I don’t recommend it.  Particularly if you love Christmas.  Don’t watch it unless you’re one of those people that likes having your beliefs and traditions thrown for a loop.

After ruining Christmas (and easter) for us, this video redeemed itself by introducing the idea of celebrating the Feasts of the Lord as read about in Leviticus 23.  These “feasts” (not all about food - but some are! yum!) are all over the bible! Old and New Testaments alike.  They are the “moedim” or “set times,” considered “holy convocations” or “rehearsals”, that the LORD gave Moses to give the Israelites to observe.  I like calling them God’s Holidays.  He set the dates and some guidelines to follow regarding them and said to celebrate them.  

Side note: I don’t know why people bash Leviticus.  I find it scintillating.  

Anyway, we decided we would celebrate those instead.  You may recognize some. There are 7 of them.

Passover (Pesach)

Unleavened Bread 

First Fruits

Shavuot

Trumpets (Yom Teruah)

Day of Atonement

Tabernacles (Sukkot)

As they approach next year I’ll focus on each one specifically for your reading pleasure.  But for now we happen upon…Chanukah! And No! It is not a Feast of the Lord.  But we still celebrate it?!  Yes!  It’s totally a Jewish thing.  Mostly it’s just so we have something to do while everyone we know is celebrating Christmas.  The story behind it is pretty cool too if you like stories of the religiously oppressed fighting for freedom and miracles of temple candle oil mysteriously burning for 7 days longer than it should have allowing for lawful rededication.  

I have a lot to learn about Chanukah regarding specifics, but if you’re like “Chanukah isn’t biblical” I’ll say “Well Jesus celebrated it” (a common name for it is Festival of Lights, see John 10:22).  

Anyway, I don’t want to get down on your Christmas celebrations, so I won’t.  But just know I’m not celebrating Chanukah just to be alternative or rebel against my childhood…that’s not my gig.  I have great Christmas memories and most of our family thinks our decision is some temporary fling with “finding ourselves” or something.  It’s totally not a fling, and the main reason we don’t do Christmas (or easter or eat unclean things) is because we feel compelled not to, and with much more complicated explanations, believe there is great value in obeying the Torah (the “law of God”) even today.  I may not have graduated from bible college, but I assure you, the studying on this end has been extensive.  I have heard every christian argument (because I needed convincing myself!), and I can give you a great or reasonable answer for every one.  It's just a matter of "going there."  

Update:  I realize this is probably more geared toward christian readers and the inquisitive.  So if you don't already read the bible or take an interest it may not be of much interest to you.  Just a heads up.

Even if you never give up christmas or easter or other traditions, I highly recommend diving into the feasts of the Lord, and giving them a shot.  Stories in the New Testament are rich with Feast references, and understanding why they were celebrating them and when will begin to completely blow your mind.  Jesus celebrated them and happened to make all his big moves on feast days (die, burial, resurrection:::Passover, Unleavened Bread, Feast of First fruits).  The holy spirit even joined in the fun 50 days later and appeared in full force on the day of Pentecost (Shavuot, the feast of weeks).  Sooooo, maybe we should be paying attention to God’s holidays after all?  

I don’t know.  Yes I do!  I think we should pay attention, personally, but I think every person needs to figure that one out for themselves.  The worst it will do is deepen your understanding of Jesus and enrich your faith.

Let me end with this.  I’m not giving a lot of details here.  That’s because I’m not going to be the person to change your mind.  If you’re curious why christmas isn’t in the bible but everyone celebrates it…and why these feasts sound like something you should know about, but you know hardly anything about them for [some] reason…you will go find it out for yourself.  

I’ll just say this.  In Exodus when the Israelites get snapped at for worshipping the golden calf, re-read that.  OK Fine. I’ll do it for you.

Exodus 32:4-6

“4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “[b]This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 6 So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. “

(Italics/bold/underline, mine)

I highlighted that because of what it insinuates.  I don’t know about you, but I was never taught this story the way I’m about to tell you.  I was always told the Israelites got docked because they were worshipping the golden calf.  But check that bold part out.  They were having a feast to the (capital) LORD.  When Lord is capitalized, it’s well known that that means its referring to YHWH in the Hebrew, the Israelites one true God.  So Aaron isn’t saying, lets have a feast to this new golden calf we just made.  The Israelites think they are worshipping YHWH through this pagan cultural tradition (idol) which they had spent their entire lives thinking was the norm.  Like Moses had been their mediator (who they thought died on the mountain after being up there so long), this golden calf became their new mediator to YHWH.  God wasn’t pissed at their intentions.  He was pissed that they used pagan ways to worship him after he just redeemed their butts from slavery in Egypt and it’s idolatrous culture. 

Maybe that will spark your curiosity.  It was a good starting point for me.  Then on to Wonderland.

Told you I would write about more than oils!

Here’s some starting resources

a good BOOK

a youtube vid

that one tradition-killing vid

 

Shaloha!