This week's Torah portion is Bo, which means "come" and is derived from the Hebrew word that means to appear, to enter.

Moses entered into Pharaoh's presence only two more times, yet Pharaoh's heart remained hardened.

This section is famous because it contains the story of the first Passover, as well as the instructions for how the Feast of Unleavened Bread should be celebrated forever.

It's a special passage to me because it's one of the very first sections of Scripture I studied intensively after realizing that the Torah's instructions applied to me.

I learned that I should keep the Passover because I was part of the congregation of Israel (Exodus 12:3). I had read this passage my entire life, but I had always seen it as something that happened to "them." Now I saw it as something that applied to me.

One night at our Baptist church, while sitting in the nursery with one of our new babies, I took a sheet of paper and wrote down all the "rules" for keeping Passover, taking them straight from the book of Exodus. This became my checklist for what to do that year.

On the tenth day of that month, we took a stuffed lamb and placed it on our kitchen table. The kids played with it for several days. I also ordered some lamb from our local grocery store.

I invited friends from church, another family with young children, and asked it they would like to celebrate the Passover with us. They thought we were a little crazy, but they agreed. What fun we had!

We did everything that night like Exodus 12:11 -- with coats on, sandals on our feet, and "staffs" (sticks from the backyard).

Before Passover, we carefully cleaned our house and searched for leaven. We learned many valuable lessons from that experience alone!

We researched hyssop, the plant the Israelites used to apply the blood to their doorposts.

One mother online pointed out that it is sometimes nice to "practice" Passover at this time of the year, when there is no rush or stress. You may also find that you notice details from this Torah portion that might get skipped later this spring. Most of all, look for Yeshua!