Baby Jo-Jo and the vultures!

Little baby Jonas is growing up so fast! I felt like Elijah's babyhood lasted forever, but each child after him has grown up just a little quicker...but I'll TRY not to get too sentimental over it. He has changed tremendously in the past month. His hair is getting longer,curlier,and redder each day! He also has 4 big teeth with 2 more on the way. From the moment he was born he has lived up to his name...because he is just such a peaceful little dove. He is so good natured and sweet. My heart swells just thinking about how sweet he is. The boys continue to love him even more every day too. Jonas thinks that Elijah is the funniest person in the world- they seem to have a special connection. They other day we were heading out the door to go to dinner at a friend's house and Caleb had a scab that opened and it was bleeding quite a bit. Well, while Matt and I were taking care of his hand we heard Jonas wake up from his nap and he started to cry because no one was coming to get him, but all of a sudden he stopped crying and we were relieved by that- thinking he had calmed himself down. Then in walks Elijah carrying Jonas! He had gotten him out of his crib all by himself! Elijah then went on to explain to us how he got Jonas out...and thankfully no one got hurt! Jonas was just glad that someone finally came and got him out of his crib! Caleb loves to play peek-a-boo with Jo-Jo, which is a game that they both like. Caleb is very good about sharing his toys with Jonas and he also loves to help me give Jonas a bath. From the time Jonas was born I have referred to the older two as "the vultures". I don't mean this in a bad way, but as you can see from the picture, as soon as I set Jonas down they swoop in to smother him with hugs and kisses. All you can see is their big heads and just the very tip of his little red head. I am glad they love him so much, but they don't really understand the concept of "giving him space". I think I must say those words 100 times a day, but that's ok- it's a learning process!

Passover and Redemption

Most of you know, but some may not, that we keep the biblical feasts and festivals. My very favorite feast is Passover. It is the perfect picture of what Yeshua did for us on the cross. So, this Passover we got together with our home church (6 families with a total of 18 kids!) and a few other families and friends and had a seder at our dear friends, the Kniseley's, home. We had the best time. For those of you who have never attended a seder, they usually last a long time. So we were there for about 8 hours. One activity that was a lot of fun was each family was given 2 chapters from Exodus and each family acted out their chapters! We got chapters 1 and 2. Caleb got to be baby Moses! He was so cute. Elijah was the big Moses and Matt was Pharoah. I had a more complicated role (being the only girl in the family)... I had to be Moses' mother, Pharoah's daughter and Zipporah!
Passover is my favorite feast for several reasons, but the most important one is that it is a perfect picture of our redemption through Yeshua, our Messiah. In a traditional seder there are what is called the "four cups". The first cup that we drink out of is the cup of sanctification(to be set apart), the second is the cup of deliverance, the third cup is the cup of redemption, and the fourth cup is the cup of hope. In a traditional Jewish seder there is a cloth with four pockets and the matzah(unleavened bread) is placed in the middle pocket and it is broken in half at the beginning of the ceremony and half is placed back inside the cloth and the other half is set aside for the afikoman. After drinking the second cup and eating the meal the afikoman is hidden and the children get to search for it and once it is found it is broken for each person to have a piece and at the same time the third cup of redemption is filled.
For believers the breaking of the afikoman and the drinking of the third cup of redemption is the most important part of the Passover meal, for it points directly to our Saviour. Most christians call it the "Last Supper", but Jesus was sharing the Passover meal with the disciples. In Mark 14:12-17 it says "And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover? And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher says, Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?' And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready for us there. And the disciples went out, and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. And when it was evening He came with the twelve."
Then in Matthew 26:26-28 it says "And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread and after a blessing He broke it and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks He gave it to them, saying "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many of forgiveness of sins." In these verses Jesus was breaking the Passover unleavened bread and telling the disciples to drink of the third cup of redemption and was telling them that it represents His redeeming blood... that He was going to die for the sins of the world for the sake of redemption. We most commonly recognize these verses from communion, but when Messiah tells us to do these things in rememberance of Him, I believe He is talking about keeping the Passover feast. Don't get me wrong, we can break bread and remember Him any time we join together to worship, but I also think that He specifically wants us to keep the Passover feast because it is the perfect reflection of what He did for us on the cross.
Again he mentions the cup of redemption in Matt. 26:39 "And He went a little beyond them and fell on His face and prayed saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt" and v.42 "He went away again a second time and prayed, saying "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done." He knew He had to die in order for us to have redemption! I just want to praise Him for that sacrifice.
So as many jewish people are celebrating the story of their deliverance from the bondage and slavery that they experienced in Egypt, the believer in Yeshua, our Messiah, can celebrate that through redeeming blood of the Lamb, God passes over our sins and we are saved and set free from our bondage and slavery to sin.

I just want to end this reflection on Passover with a few other verses.

"But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our wellbeing fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgement He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth." Isaiah 54:5-9 ...and "By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, and He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the stron; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors" Isaiah 54:11-12

"John answered them saying, I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:26-29

"And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing" and every created thing which is in heaven and on earth and under the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him wo sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and dominion forever and ever" Revelation 5:11-13

A glimpse inside the Vaughn kitchen

My friend Anna went grocery shopping the other day and posted some of the food items that she buys for her family. She was interested in knowing what other people were eating, so I thought I would give a glimpse into our kitchen. We love ethnic food- mexican, thai and indian are our very favorites. Mostly we eat these ethnic foods because they are healthy yet inexpensive. I included my tribute to Goya! When we were on a tighter budget you would have thought we were mexican. Our weekly menu would look like this: fajitas, tacos, burritoes, tostadas, enchiladas, quesadillas etc. Ha. We love food with spice. My absolute favorite spice in the world is curry. I love the way it fills our house with such a delicious aroma. We also eat a ton of rice, cous-cous, lentils etc. There's so much you can do with those three items. I always buy a ton of produce, but it never lasts an entire week at our house. My kids devour fruit and veggies. Elijah is going to turn orange from eating so many carrots and Caleb's favorite veggies are orange and red peppers. They are major fruitaholics and I have a really hard time keeping enough fruit in the house. I try to mostly buy the produce that is in season locally, but every now and then I will splurge and buy some grapes or strawberries- but they are so expensive and they will literally be gone in 2 days- so that is a rare treat. Strawberry season will be here soon and I know that I will be able to buy a bucket full for the same price I can get a small package at the grocery store, so I will just wait. I am really looking forward to our garden this summer and the fabulous farmers market. My 2 favorite things about warm weather are picking fresh strawberries that melt in my mouth and making garden fresh tomato sandwiches. Yum. I am also determined to join a CSA (community supported ag.) this year. There are several CSA's in Greensboro and I just need to pick one to join. Another goal of mine this year is to try and figure out how to buy and store food in bulk. I think we could save a lot of money that way, but if any of you have any tips for keeping and storing bulk items I would love some feedback, because we don't have a lot of storage space in our house. One thing I have yet to figure out is our food budget. Every week I go over our budget, yet at the end of every week our cupboards are empty. My kids eat constantly- all day long. Sometimes I feel like they just need feeding tubes! I know they are just growing boys...and I know I say this all the time...our dream and goal is to one day own enough land to have a small family farm, but I am starting to think it will be a necessity to keep up with their growing appetites!

In a small town

Last weekend we had the joy of visiting our good friends Aaron and Jenny in the small town (if you can call it that) of Laurel Fork, VA. Laurel Fork has a gas station,a produce stand and a fire station. That is it. Our friends live on 22 acres of beautiful rolling land. It was such a welcome relief to my ears to be away from all the noise pollution that we live with in the city. It was beautiful weather when we got there and me and Jenny put a blanket out in the grass and just laid there under the big sky there talking while the kids played. It was so nice and peaceful. Our kids had the best time playing together. Aaron owns a landscaping business and he had a big dirt pile that the kids played in for hours with their toy trucks. I never knew dirt could be so entertaining! He also had a huge pile of landscaping debris about 10 ft. high and he made a big bonfire- which my kids really enjoyed. The men kept the kids while me and Jenny had a night out on the town. We went to play bingo at the community center to raise money for a gym that they want to add on to the existing building. Jenny said it took them about 15 years to raise the money to build their new community center that opened last year and she thinks it will take another 15 to raise money for the gym! Ha. It was real sweet. We were probably the only people under the age of 60. I had a great time. The people were so nice, welcoming, and down to earth. It was very refreshing. We also got to see Jenny's father's house that he just got done building with his own two hands. He is a master carpenter and he built this amazing 3-story log cabin with very little outside help. He notched and dovetailed every log. He custom made all the cabinets, put in the hardwood floor, did all the bathrooms and all the electrical work etc. I was so amazed at the work of one man's hands. Jenny's mother made all the curtains and her sisters made awesome artwork to hang in the cabin- so now I understand where Jenny gets it. I call her the homesteader extraordinaire because she always puts in huge garden and cans all her produce. She will climb tall trees and gather grapes to make homemade grape juice (we actually had some and it was delicious). She is just very efficient and provides and prepares well for her family, which I really admire. She is getting ready to have her 3rd homebirth and we share the same midwife, so I am very excited about their new arrival. What a beautiful family!