Linda is following Yeshua in a Hebrew way! Here's her story.

I was raised in a very conservative Southern Baptist home in eastern Kentucky. At a very young age I had a passion for studying my Bible, and constantly asked questions. My parents really tried to answer my questions but the one question they could never answer to my satisfaction is “why do we not keep the Sabbath?” Their answers never gave me peace so I continued to ask every minister who would listen. Eventually I married an ordained minister with the Christian Church (Church of Christ). My husband and I had 5 children and adopted 8 children with special needs. After 17 years of marriage he left me for another woman. The shock for me was more than being left with 13 children to raise, the shock was more because I couldn't fathom that a married man could even consider looking at another woman, much less commit adultery. Through all the pain in my life and the changes in my life the One constant has been Yeshua.

About 10 years ago the question of keeping the 7th day as Sabbath had never been answered for me. I had heard all the answers of "historical tradition" and "Paul says the law was done away with", but there was never a peace in my spirit about those answers. So I made a decision to consciously put aside all the doctrine teachings I had been taught and start at the beginning of the Bible, praying for wisdom and understanding, and find my answer. I learned about fringes on your prayer shawl and writing His words on the doorpost of your house and on your arm to remind you of His Torah. Over and over I read these commandments are "forever". At this point I had to have a prayer shawl!

The day my prayer shawl arrived in the mail my granddaughter was sitting at the table being tutored by her teacher. I opened the box and the tutor gasped and said, "that's a prayer shawl!" It turns out she was a Jewish woman whose first language is Hebrew. She put me in touch with a retired rabbi who had taught New Testament theology at a Hebrew university in Ohio. The rabbi taught Biblical Hebrew classes in his home. My church had "Life Groups" and I asked my group if anyone was interested in learning Hebrew. One woman said yes, my friend Sheryl, (another new tribe member) and we began taking Biblical Hebrew. That was the beginning of a journey orchestrated by the Creator that has brought me a love for Yeshua that I can't even describe. The question that has been on my heart since childhood has been answered for me, I keep the Sabbath. The rabbi no longer teaches class but a few weeks ago while searching for a group to celebrate Sukkot with this year, I found a link to Holy Language Institute and joined immediately.

When I look back over my life and see how the puzzle pieces have been put together, I realize if I obey His Word and listen to His Voice, He will put the right people in my path at the right time, and if I earnestly seek for Him to put the desires in my heart, He will be faithful to put a fire in my passion and the tools needed to fuel that fire in my path. What a MIGHTY God we serve!