Leshika My Darlings

Family is so important to me. Within the past few months, my family has grown in number, with the welcoming of my baby brother Daniel. He is seriously the loveliest child I have ever known. He constantly is giving me “leshika,” which means kisses in Hebrew. He is so gentle and I can already tell very smart. I have had an interesting opportunity to see first-hand how my mother showed her affection for me as a baby. It’s by far the most wonderful thing to witness a woman mothering her child. It seriously is the greatest blessing to have the opportunity to have children. I don’t even have any of my own, but I know one day I will love the pants off of my little ones. To encourage, love, care for and teach them will be incredible. I’m not trying to rush things; I know the Lord has perfect timing, but what a wonderful day it will be when I am a mother.
If you don’t know, my step father is Israeli. Since I am living with him and my mother, I have the chance to experience another culture. We live in a kosher household, have Sabbath dinners every Friday night at sundown…(which if I ever miss- a major guilt trip follows, but I enjoy being with them so it works out)… sing songs, recite prayers, and are generally surrounded by other Israeli families that somehow are related to me. It’s crazy at times, and the lack of privacy is hard to get used to, so is the chattering in another language I cannot understand even a little bit… but I have learned lots from it. My Aunt, who I don’t think is technically my aunt… but anyways… is the kindest woman I have ever met. So many years, I have been taught how important it is to be a good Christian wife to your husband, but I have never really seen what that looks like. My aunt, who is Jewish, is the epitome of the proverbs 31 woman. She is up at the crack of dawn, cleaning, cooking, getting her children ready for school, and always showing me hospitality and kindness. I asked her today why she does it… How she does it? She told me that her husband is supposed to be the king in the household, and her children the prince and princesses. But that isn’t why she does it, she says, she loves them and wants to make life the easiest and best that it can possibly be for them. She wants to give them every opportunity to do well. She wants them to learn things, have friendships and healthy life. She wants them to know what it means to serve, so they can learn to serve the Lord. She wants them to know she loves them… with all of her heart. Cooking and cleaning are nothing she says, love is what I want them to know. Sometimes I think they take her for granted, but I can see she loves them, and if I can, I know they can feel it.
I think it’s so neat that God is teaching me new things from people I least expect. I want to one day have a family and my greatest hope is that they know I love them… with all my heart…cooking and cleaning is part of it… but I just want them to feel loved…. And “leshika” their precious little faces!