Sukkot was the very first festival of God that I ever celebrated.  Last year (2009), we were invited to a "camping trip" with special speakers.  We loaded up the whole family and headed to the lake.  Now, this was the first time that I had by choice celebrated Sukkot but I did remember a time when my parents invited us to dinner and we ate out on their backyard deck(2005).  My dad told the kids to gather sticks and he began to place them through the lattice over our heads.  We then ate and blessed God and looked through our Sukkah to see the stars.  It was a fun night with not alot of meaning for us.  The only reason that it was special was because not only was my dad grilling and preparing supper but my mom was full force into the preparation.  My dad makes dinner look easy.  He is a natural born chef and can cook up some award winning recipes.  My mom, more or less, fulfills her duty as wife and mother; so when she is excited to be preparing and serving it gets your attention.  My mother has one great passion and that is the scripture.  That night she was putting it into action and it thrilled her.  We just all observed and enjoyed the good food.  As I look back now I am so thankful for this memory with my mother and father.  This was just before they moved to the other side of the earth.  When they returned for a visit it just happen to be Sukkot 2009.As if our home was not temporary enough for them they were journeying to a lake in Dallas for Sukkot, with or without us.  I had missed them so we decided, Corey decided, to join them.  When we got there we did not want to leave.  In fact, the kids stayed.  Yes, M.K. who was the only one not home schooling skipped school and stayed at the lake to celebrate with my parents.  Corey and I came to get clothes and food and headed back to the lake.  To my surprise, a lady from New Braunfels was sharing on "being the bride of Christ" - my favorite subject!! This got my attention.  For me, the question arose - what does the bride of Christ look like?  After celebrating Sukkot last year I was convinced that I will always celebrate this day. I was even more convinced after I read the scriptures of the priest and prophet, Zechariah.  Zechariah 14 tells us that our Lord will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem... the Lord will be King over the whole earth.  v16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
Our celebrations now are obedience and just a shadow of how things will be with our Father.  It is a sweet picture.  It is an answer to prayer, to discover this truth in my Bible.  My children are getting a clear picture of what they are holding out for.  Especially for the girls, I had asked God to give them a picture in their minds of how the bride would feast with her King.  This is worth living for.
Now, this year, we will be in Jerusalem for Sukkot 2010!  All of my guide books say that this is the time to visit.  Everyone is out of their home and in a Sukkah!
I have given you my journey through Sukkot by backyard grilling and camping at the lake, so here is the specific instruction:
First, let me restate Galatians 3:29.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
FYI - I love being an heir.  Study this verse out.  What is an Heir?  What is the promise?  This is worth your time.
Next, Leviticus 23:39-44.  v41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year.  This is to be a lasting ordinance. v42 Live in booths for seven days.  This is to remember that those who obeyed God in Egypt were saved.  They came out a mixed multitude.  Anyone who believed the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were saved and began their journey to the promised land. 
This is a great foundational truth for us to know as believers.  This is an amazing miracle that our children love and must know to understand the God they choose to believe in.
On the holiday of Sukkot, we are commanded to dwell in temporary shelters or booths, as the Israelites did in the desert after the Exodus. The commandment to "dwell" in a sukkah can be fulfilled by simply eating all of one's meals there. However, some people study the scriptures and even sleep in the sukkah. This is what we are hoping to experience in Jerusalem.
Sukkot is a seven-day fall festival which takes place on the 15th of Tishri and commemorates the sukkot (Hebrew for booths or tabernacles) where Israel lived in the wilderness after the Exodus.
Building a Sukkah is a memorable and fun family experience. Children of every age can help just as we did that first celebration.
On Sukkot, we are commanded to use Arbat HaMinim, the four species, to "rejoice before God." The Four Species are: 1) Etrog (lemon-like citrus fruit) 2) Lulav (palm branch) 3) Hadas (myrtle branch) 4) Arava (willow branch). The three branches are bound together and referred to collectively as the lulav.
With the Four Species in hand, we say a blessing and wave the species in six directions (east, south, west, north, up and down) to symbolize that God is everywhere!  As we did this at the lake we truly felt different from this world.  I am sure we looked different too.  For us this celebration takes us into the scriptures where it tells us that we are just passing through.  This world is our temporary dwelling.  Do not get too comfortable!
Our family started this day by watching a film on Netflix about Italy.  They have some cool traditions.  Once again I found myself considering our traditions that we were passing on to our children.  I am interested in our German heritage.  I also love Texas and am proud to be a Texan but lately I have been thinking about being an American.  What a great country that would allow us to have freedom to worship in our own way.  I don't know if this will always be the case.  While it is, I want to examine my identity.  As an American, Texan with ancestors from Germany I want to remember that when I accepted Jesus Christ, I took on the identity as a child of God.  I was adopted.  I must take up the traditions and customs that are important to Him.  Rather than spend the summer tracing my family tree online I am going to grasp tightly my Bible and maybe head down to the little German town of New Braunfels for some river time.  Join me!