Sukkot! and other Mills happenings

Last Friday at sundown began my favorite Jewish holiday... Sukkot, which is sometimes referred to as the Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Booths, or the Feast of Ingathering. It's a little like our Thanksgiving but oh so much more!

Anyway, we built our sukkah (hut) this year for the first time. Well, we sort of built one... we used our carport and decorated it. We had an awesome time munching on homemade pizza (every Friday night is homemade pizza night at the Mills' house) and sharing what we are thankful for and marvelling at how God has provided for us. We got most of our information from the book "The Feasts of the Lord", if you're interested.

Here's some brief points of interest:
There is obviously the symbolism of God dwelling with us as the people would dwell in tents in and around Jerusalem for the week.

During Sukkot there is a water drawing ceremony (water poured onto the altar as a sacrifice) and a lighting ceremony (temple light up with torches). It was during those ceremonies that Jesus proclaimed that He Himself is "Living Water" and if anyone is thirsty they can come to Him. He also said that He is the "Light of the World".

Sukkot was often referred to as THE feast. The big one. Kind of like how we see Christmas. And you know what we do at Christmas, right? Spend ourselves into a frenzy of gift buying and decorating and all sorts of wild activity and indulge. Nothing new under the sun... this is the holiday when Jesus cleared the temple of all the vendors camped out in the courtyard that was meant for non-Jews to come and pray to God.
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In other news, parts of the house are shaping up, thankfully. Here's the sort-of finished dining room/ multi-purpose family room.


My favorite parts are:

1. The grey walls, of course. And they way the grey and brown and white go together!!!

2. The awesome white metal pendant light fixture I scored at the ghetto thrift store for next to nothing.

3. The magnetic chalkboard with my huge calendar. Be warned, though. If you are planning on painting a chalkboard make sure the surface is smooth (yes, like a real chalkboard) or the chalk won't write very well. Imagine writing on a sidewalk versus writing on a real chalkboard.

4. Having space for all the leaves of our table.

5. Another major thrift score. That perfect fold tray wooden high chair that matches our dining chairs perfectly. It's great because Acacia can climb up and down easily but won't fall out if she's squirming. And, I can stick Jackson in it while I'm cooking and let him hang in the kitchen with me to make sure he doesn't stick his tongue in the outlet or try to get in the toilet... both of which I've seen him try.

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And finally... Jackson is making the cutest scrunched face smile these days.