Everyday Set-Apart
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Family Letter 2013

12/13/2013

9 Comments

 
Picture
At the beginning of the year our family had no idea what changes Yahweh had in store for us. A courtship, a betrothal and a marriage and now as we are coming to the end of 2013, we are happy to announce that another big change is coming! Joe and Naomi are expecting their first child in August of 2014.

This past year seems to be marked by one particular event- Joe and Naomi’s relationship.

In November 2012 Naomi and Bethany had planned a trip to Kansas in order help a friend who was dealing with cancer, Mrs. J. The J family was having trouble keeping up with the regular demands of life (homeschooling, farming, cooking and cleaning) in addition to a rigorous juicing schedule (as well as other natural cancer treatments).

Fast forward to January and our family is excited at the prospect of Naomi beginning a relationship with a young man named Joe. Before January we had no idea who Joe even was! Now here he was a prospect of marriage for Naomi. Joe was living only 10 minutes away from where Naomi and Bethany were going to be staying in Kansas. We thought that this could possible be an advantage for Naomi and Joe getting to know one another, in an otherwise ‘long distance’ relationship.

After e-mailing for a few weeks, Mike and Gina met with Joe and his parents to see if this young man was indeed a prospect set in place by Yahweh himself. This whole relationship was filled with prayer from the beginning, constantly asking God for wisdom and discernment. After a nice lunch and dinner together both families agreed that Naomi and Joe did appear to be compatible in beliefs, interests and life goals. Joe was the sort of man that Mike and Gina trusted to be honorable in his interactions with the girls, even when they were not present. 

 Naomi and Bethany’s trip to Kansas went very well. They both had fun and learned a lot. This time was a wonderful opportunity for Joe and Naomi to get to know one another. Joe helped on the farm and the girls spent several evenings cooking, talking and laughing with Joe and Kat (One of Joe’s sisters). Toward the end of the girls’ stay Joe called Mike wanting to know what the ‘next step’ was in the relationship. They agreed that Joe should come and meet the rest of the Potts.

After getting home from Kansas, we had a week and a half to prepare for Family Week, a week long camping trip that celebrates Passover, the feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. This was our second year at Family Week and we are hoping to attend again this coming year. It’s a great opportunity for cleaning out the leaven and re-learning to depend on God for the strength to live the life He has called us to.

Joe came to visit us two days after we got home from Family Week. The whole family enjoyed getting to know Joe over those two weeks! During that time Naomi happily agreed to become Joe’s wife! In other words, they got engaged-to-be-betrothed and the planning for the betrothal started. The remainder of Joe’s time in Indiana was spent with Naomi, writing out their Ketubah (written vows).

Naomi and Bethany had planned on attending Purify 2013 Retreat for Hebrew Singles, but since Naomi wasn’t single anymore, Emily went in her place. Emily and Bethany both grew in their relationships with Yahweh, with each other and with other singles. While those girls were at Purify, Naomi kept Lydia company at home and they started working out the details with the Betrothal ceremony. Emily and Bethany are planning to attend Purify 2014 and Emily is going to be one of the photographers for the event.

The Betrothal date was set for May 19th, Shavuot. The ceremony was beautiful- and exciting! Two sheep got loose and had to be chased down. The place was crawling with excitement as we celebrated their betrothal- but that’s not the only thing that was crawling! Shofar Mountian is also referred to as “Tick Mountain”.  Naomi and Joe were excited to make their commitment to one another but the excitement was bittersweet. The Potts family and Naomi Fox left in the morning, and the newlyweds would not see each other again until September 10th, when Joe would come to take Naomi as his bride.

Throughout their betrothal, Joe and Naomi chose to keep contact through handwritten letters. During that time it wasn’t unusual to ask “where is Naomi?” only to find that she was writing to her husband!

In the summer we were busy harvesting the garden! With the harvest came the canning… is it just me or does the canning season always collide with the hottest, muggiest days of the summer? Either way, we were very blessed with many tomatoes, green beans and hot peppers.

Because our home fellowship has nearly out grown homes, Mike and Gina have been a part of a project started by two other families in our fellowship- The HUB. The HUB has proven to be a wonderful idea, bringing people together who, otherwise, may not have known each other. One of the main purposes of the HUB is to start other ‘home fellowships in central Indiana.

Naomi, Bethany, Emily and Lydia celebrated their fist “Blog Anniversary” this year. They have all enjoyed writing articles for young ladies and women, to encourage and challenge- not only to encourage and challenge these women but also themselves!

Finally, after a long separation, Naomi and Joe celebrated their wedding on September 10th! This is a definite highlight in our year. After the wedding, Naomi and Joe started on their way to Arkansas. We joined them in Arkansas for part of their Sukkot celebration and they came to Indiana for part of ours. Joe taught a knot-tying class for the boys at Sukkot, Sherman and Clayton enjoyed learning the new knots.

Now Joe and Naomi are soon to be parents and we have a house full of future aunts, uncles, one grandma and one grandpa. We are blessed.

May Yahweh continue to bless and grow our families in this coming year.

Yah Bless,

The Potts

Picture
9 Comments

The Wedding

10/10/2013

4 Comments

 
Picture
Let me give you a look into the wedding from my perspective. 

The brides wedding dress was hand made, by our mom, using 100% white linen, as was her head covering. She also made us girls green dresses using cotton.


The anticipation rose as everyone made their way outside to wait for the bridegroom. We were waiting for the bridegroom to come for his bride. As we stood waiting we heard the sound of the shofar! The excitement grew as we looked for the direction from which the Bridegroom would come. After what seemed like forever we saw him coming. The bride started to walk (quickly) toward her bridegroom.

Joe and Naomi had not seen each other for 113 days, She got to her bridegroom, then they stared walking back to the building to start the rest of the ceremony inside.  

The ceremony was wonderful, it included; a speech from a friend of our family on betrothal, Joe and Naomi told their story of how Yahweh led them to each other, they read their Ketubah, we watched a  slideshow (pictures from when they first met in Kansas, Joe's visit in Indiana, their betrothal and their time of separation). Mr. Fox closed with a prayer. Dinner included lasagna and cheesecake which is significant because it was also what Joe and Naomi had when they first met. After dinner we had dancing and celebrating. It was a wonderful time of laughter and making good memories.

There is a slideshow and some other pictures below. Feel free to comment and tell us what you think!
The happy couple.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Joe and Naomi with their Ketubah(Written wedding vows). Their Ketubah was hand written by themselves and signed by witnesses.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.


Blessings and Shalom,

                           Emily



4 Comments

Joe and Naomi's "Biblical Wedding" (A Video Interview)

10/4/2013

2 Comments

 

Picture
It's been nearly a month since Joe came to get his bride. Naomi's things have all been moved to Arkansas, her presence is missed and her cooking is too but this is the new normal. Our family is glad to see Joe and Naomi happily married and we have adjusted quite well to Naomi's absence. Now that Sukkot is over we are getting into a new routine.
    I haven't made the time to write an article about the wedding, wedding feast or Sukkot yet but here is a short video that a friend put together. AskYah interviewed Joe and Naomi after the wedding and this is the finished product!
 Joe gives a bit of their background story and Naomi shares about what it was like to wait for Joe. More pictures and articles to come soon!

Thank you Ask Yah for making this video! :)

Bethany
2 Comments

TOMORROW!!!

9/9/2013

3 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
We CAN'T wait! The excitement is building and time is running out. Less than 24 hours until we see Joe! Tomorrow at 5:00pm we will start watching for Joe; he is coming for his bride. Tomorrow we will be finishing up a million little details and they are building up to the final event- The Wedding. So exciting! :)

All right, we need our beauty sleep!

Goodnight!

-Bebs and Lids
3 Comments

     
    Facebook Page

      We Want Your   Input!      :)

    Submit

    Categories

    All
    365 Day Picture Challenge
    Baking
    Beards
    Beauty
    Bethany
    Books
    Brothers
    Character
    Cooking
    Daughters Of Yah
    Emily
    Family
    Fitness
    Flip Flopped Friday
    Flip-Flopped Friday
    Food
    Friends
    Games
    Give Away
    Guest Posts
    Head Coverings
    Healing
    Journaling
    Lydia
    Make It Yourself
    Midwifery
    Ministry
    Modesty
    Music
    Naomi
    Proverbs 31
    Quilt
    Review
    Shabbat
    Shema
    Sisters
    Sukkot
    Unleavened Bread
    Wedding
    Work
    Yhwh

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from net_efekt, ilovemypit, rafeejewell