• General

    Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe

    Baruch atah adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam       I’ve been to enough Seder dinners to know that lots of traditional Jewish prayers start with this sentence. So in my book, I wanted to include it.  Now I don’t know that Daniel’s mom started her Shabbat prayer with these words exactly when she lighted the Sabbath candles, but I think it’s a safe assumption that she said something like that.  I got to thinking about the English translation – specifically “universe.”  Nowhere in the NASB do we have the word universe.  It doesn’t sound like a Bible word, does it? If Daniel said, “Baruch atah adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam,” what…

  • General

    Loosing the Loins of Kings

        I have so many good memories associated with the kids’ Daniel Bible study.  Chapter 5 really captivated them – especially in light of Isaiah’s prophecy about Cyrus. It is I who says of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.” And he declares of Jerusalem, “She will be built,” And of the temple, “Your foundation will be laid.” Thus says Yahweh to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him And I will loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: “I will go before you…

  • General

    Come with Me to Babylon

    I guess I’m going through an empty nester midlife crisis.  We dropped my boy off at college in August, and I suddenly had a burning desire to write a book.  The idea has been bubbling and stewing in me for a dozen years or more, but it sprang to the surface when my days were no longer filled with chauffeuring, homeschooling, and dance and theater momming. The seed for the book was planted a dozen years ago when some of us homeschool moms did a Daniel Bible study with our kids, and the story of Daniel hit me in a way it never had before.  I wondered how Daniel’s mother…