Robert and Lisa's journey into observing the sabbath began when Lisa was challenged to state which day was the sabbath with support from scripture. After realizing that, even though she had read the entire bible, she could not remember any scriptures to support her belief that Sunday (the first day) was the sabbath. Thus began her research into every scripture in the Bible that mentions the sabbath. Upon completion of this study, she was shocked at how important the keeping of the sabbath is to our identity as a people who are in covenant with the one true God, YHVH, the creator of heaven and earth. She also recognized that it had NEVER been changed from the 7th to the 1st day in scripture. This went against everything she had ever been taught (and believed) about the Bible. With Robert's support, the children and Lisa immediately began to try to keep the sabbath to the best of their understanding. Lisa then explained to the children what they would be doing and why, as the chore schedule would now be changed so that no work, no homeschooling, and no shopping would occur on Saturdays. For the first sabbath, Lisa cooked a special meal on Friday, so that we could enjoy the day together without having to cook. The children and Lisa sang praise and worship songs, read scripture, and relaxed on that very first Shabbat (around 2004-2005). The blessings of this obedience to His word was palpable throughout the day, and Lisa knew that she had found the truth. Thus began a journey that could not be conceived in her thoughts at the time.Obedience to the truth of scripture, instead of the doctrines of man, opened Robert and Lisa up to a new journey that they did not foresee. Their deeper understanding of scripture literally changed the trajectory of the life of their family! When she says "journey", Lisa did not mean a quick detour or short exploration but rather, she meant a new journey that would forever change their understanding of the Bible and how they live their lives on a daily basis. It involved letting go of beliefs and traditions that they had held their entire lives. It also included the blessings which come with walking in biblical truth. This meant that family members did not always understand or agree with some of the truth that they would ultimately embrace. Though these challenges were difficult to endure, the blessings from the Father that they saw in our lives, and in their family far outweighed the negative.Now, their family looks forward to their weekly Shabbats and Friday's are very busy as they prepare enough food for Friday and Saturday. This lets them fully rest from their labors of the week. As a family, they gather in the evening on Friday and have blessings of the bread and wine, blessings of our children, and all husbands and wives that are present bless each other in prayer. They sing the Shabbat song to open Shabbat, and then enjoy a meal together. On Saturday (Shabbat), they have coffee together and a special Sabbath Sweet that was prepared (usually by our daughter) on Friday. If we are home together then we read the weekly Torah portion. However, sometimes we get together with other families of like mind to fellowship and have bible study together.
show less
Comments