Citation-Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility

Monday, I was on my way to Whole Foods and a police car made a u turn in the street and started tailing me. I wasn't sure what the speed limit was, but I was pretty sure that I wasn't speeding. I pulled over into the nearest gas station and waited for the officer to approach the car.

He pulled me over because I do not have a license plate on the front of my car. In Texas it's a requirement to have one on the front and back. Since I bought my car in Georgia, and in Georgia you only have to have one plate, my car did not come equipped to put a plate on the front. I asked at the dealership, but they basically told me I was out of luck. Perhaps I could try a body shop.

The officer issued a warning. He asked to see my driver's license and my insurance. Of course the insurance card that I had was expired and so I was issued a citation for "failure to maintain financial responsibility". Doesn't that sound horrible?

The good news is that if I send in a copy of my current insurance before May 30th, I do not have to pay a fee.

Menu Plan Monday 4-28-08

I am working on incorporating more menus into my menu plan. I want my children to be excited about veganism and not give up on it due to a lack of variety, so I have been investing in more cookbooks. My most recent purchases are Seven Secrets Cookbook and Best Gourmet Recipes both by Neva and Jim Brackett. There are some fabulous recipes in both.

This week I plan to try the frittata and the potato patties for breakfast.

Here is what our menu plan for this week looks like:

Breakfast

Frittata, toast with peanut butter

Potato Patties, scrambled tofu, fruit

Pancakes, skillet potatoes, fruit

Waffles, skillet potatoes, fresh fruit

Cream of Wheat, toast with peanut butter, fresh fruit

Dinner (Served at 2pm)

Basil and Tomato Pasta

Pigs in a Blanket

Stir Fry with Asparagus

Mexican Mountains (Haystacks served over potatoes)

Supper (Served at 6pm)

Sandwiches and Salad

Soup and Bread

Fresh fruit and toast with peanut butter

Homemade pizza and Salad

Visit the Organized Junkie for menu ideas

Music Study-Is Music Really Amoral

All of pastors of the mega churches today tend to agree with the fact that music is amoral, suggesting that in itself music contains no good or bad qualities. They go on further to suggest that it only the lyrics of a song that make it acceptable or not to God.

Come let us reason together and examine this theory. In I Samuel chapter 16 King Saul has an evil spirit upon him (vs 14). His servant suggests that he get a harp player to make him feel better (vs 16). Another servant suggests David who is a cunning player...and the Lord is with him. The scripture goes on to say in verse 23 that David played the harp with his hand and the evil spirit departed from Saul.

Notice here that there is no mention of any words being sung, the scripture refers solely to David's playing of the harp suggesting that the very music itself was powerful enough to drive out the evil spirit. Would it not stand to reason that if music could drive spirits out, that it could invite them as well?

I believe that I Samuel chapter 16 proves without a doubt that music is NOT amoral and that an anointed servant of God can play music that causes demons to flee.

African American Homeschoolers

Kysha over at Love's School posed the question :How many African American (AA) homeschoolers do you know?

This is definitely a hot topic. I was actually introduced to the concept of homeschooling (as a viable option) by and AA friend of mine when I lived in the Atlanta area. Of course with it being Atlanta, there were several AA homeschoolers there. As the years have passed, several of them have put their children in church school.

Now, I am a part of a group that has over 100 families. There are 3 AA families including mine and one of the families is mixed. It doesn't bother me to be one of the only AA families. I attended an elementary school that was probably only 2% AA and I attended and HBCU (Historically Black College or University) so I am really comfortable with any mix of people.

Most of the negativity that I get is from AA people. I hear things like why did you "waste" all that time in college if you were not going to use your education? Your kids are strange, to which I respond, "No, they are peculiar, thank you Jesus!" What makes them strange? The fact that they would rather read a book or go outside than watch tv. The fact that they don't flinch when they here a curse word because they don't know what those are. I hear things like "How are your children going to learn how to socialize"? To which I respond, you're kidding right? Have you met my children. I'm trying to teach them to stop talking so much!

Unfortunately a lot of the ills of the AA society keep more of us from homeschooling. So many sistahs are single parents just struggling to keep the lights on. My prayer is that we will realize that training our children for the kingdom is more important than any wordly education we could ever give them.

Wordkeeping-Keeping God's Word in Our Heart

I received an e-mail from a Mom that is a part of one of my online educator groups. It was about this website. The theme is 21 days of spiritual renewal and hiding God's word in your heart. At the end of the 21 days you will have committed 200 scriptures to memory. The deadline is coming up soon as the first class starts on May 1st. Please check it out if you are interested.

Modest Dress

A while ago God laid the subject of modest dress on my heart. When I attended elementary school at Pensacola Christian Academy (Home of A Beka Books) the dress code was that all young ladies wore dresses or skirts, no pants. We were allowed to wear cullotes for PE but that was as close as it got. So when God laid this idea of wearing mostly skirts and dresses, it did not seem too far fetched. I must say that I was a bit disappointed since I had just gone out and bought several pairs of new jeans, but I received it well. And I still intend to wear jeans for camping, some outdoor activities or when it's really cold. I certainly believe that they have their place.

So now my dilemma is being modest but looking nice. :-) I am convinced that I can do both. With the clothes they are making these days, I may very well have to make my own, but I think it would be worth it. It seems that most tops are cut low to reveal cleavage, jeans and even skirts are made low to accentuate the hips. And it's mostly in the teenage section! Poor little teenage boys. Do they even stand a chance?

At any rate, please tell me where you shop for modest clothes. What is your idea of modesty? Better yet, what is God's idea of modesty or does He even care. I would love to hear your thoughts. :-)

Our Past School Week

One of the reasons that I originally started a blog was to keep up with what the children and I were doing in school from week to week. I have read several blogs lately with Mothers that do just that so I have been inspired to get on task!

We are still working on Lesson 3 which deals with the character trait "Alertness."

This week in Math we learned about the number 9 in the Bible, and answered these questions:
When is the word 9 first used in the Bible?
What is the 9th commandment?
What parable did Christ tell about the 99?
What did Jesus cry at the 9th hour?
Who were the 9 persons stones in the Bible?
Who were the 9 widows mentioned in the Bible?
Who were the 9 people afflicted with blindness?
What 9 people were afflicted with leprosy in the Old Testament?

Math-U-See: Jasmine took Delta test #24 and scored 100%

In Science/Nature we are studying stars and constellations. Some of the things we learned include the fact that there are stars that are larger in diameter than the distance from the earth to the sun (93 million miles). When pondering upon this fact, the song my God is so Big takes on a whole new meaning.

We learned about the different colors of stars and how they are indicative of the temperature. We discussed how colors can be related to the spiritual life, e.g. red can symbolize the blood of sacrifice. Yellow can remind us of gold tried in the fire, etc...

During our outside time we discovered some frog hopper bubbles and spent a little time learning about them.

We worked on putting our garden together which is almost done. Now if I could just find those seeds... (sigh)

I'm glad I took the time to write this out. I didn't feel like we had accomplished much this week, but we didn't do so shabby. :-)

Music Study-The Carnal vs. The Spiritual Mind

I have dedicated Monday nights (the time that I would normally be in choir rehearsal) to the study of music as it pertains to worship. God placed the text of Romans 8:6,7 on my heart. For to be carnally is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be.

How does this verse apply to music? Is it possible that the music that the spiritual mind would be attracted to is different than the music that the carnal mind would be attracted to?

Why is it that today the music that we sing is geared toward the unchurched, the carnally minded? When conversion takes place and you become a new creature and everything about your life changes, would not the music that you listen to change as well?

Why do you listen to the music that you listen to? Would you listen to it in the living room of your heavenly mansion?

Q & A-What Do You Do on the Sabbath?

Question:

Can I ask, what do you do on the Sabbath ? I mean, what do you consider work and not work ? Does your family go to church on the Sabbath or stay home ?

Answer:

On Sabbath we go to church in the morning. In the afternoon we come home and eat. Some weeks we are invited to a church member's house. Some weeks we invite others over. After dinner, we often go to the park and find things in nature that remind us of God.

I consider work to be what I do for employment (I tutor on-line, so I don't work on Sabbath) and anything around the house that is not related to what we are doing that day. I cleanup after us as we go. I rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher after we eat. If one of the children spills something on the kitchen floor, I will mop it if necessary. If I have prepared properly, then only that spot will be dirty and so I am not tempted to mop the whole floor. :-)

At sunset (both on Friday and Saturday) we have worship to bring in and to close the Sabbath respectively.

I hope this answers your question. If not please feel free to ask more. I don't mind at all.

Menu Plan Monday

1. Spaghetti &Mixed Vegetables

2. Pigs in a Blanket & Leftover Mixed Vegetables

3. Haystacks

4. Sloppy Joes

5. Mock Chicken Salad Sandwiches

6. Pizza & Pasta &Salad

7. Potluck at a friend's house (I'm bringing Garlic Mashed Potatoes)

Be sure to check out the Organized Junkie for more great menu plans.

Sabbath Preparations

My family and I have been working on our Sabbath preparations. I believe with all my heart that how you prepare for Sabbath (whether you worship on Saturday or Sunday) is directly tied to your spiritual growth. When I was growing up as a little girl, My Grandmother prepared all week long for Sunday. By Monday she already knew what she was making for Sunday dinner and what day she was going to the store to get it.

By Saturday afternoon, everything was done. All of the clothes were ready. The food was cooked (we only heated it up on Sunday). Sunday dinner after church was the best. Everyone sat at the table and had dinner together and talked about everything that had happened to them that week before.

For those of you who at present do not prepare for Sabbath. I challenge you to give it some thought. God rested on the seventh day,before sin entered the world. He blessed and hallowed that day He made it for man. Not so that man could do whatever he wanted to with it, but because he would need that time with God to be refreshed and take some time from the cares of this world.

So my challenge to you this week is to prepare you heart as well as your home for your special day with the Lord.

Praise Report-Laptop Recovered!

A while back, someone broke into my Mother's house, broke into her bedroom, and stole her laptop. Originally we thought it was someone we knew, but evidently several houses in the neighborhood had been broken into and several items had been stolen.

Of all of the items that were stolen, my Mother's laptop and one other thing (in someone else's house) was recovered. Wow! What an answer to prayer. And just today my brother and I were discussing getting a new laptop for her. I have some other ideas of what we may get instead, but I won't say just yet. Since she has her computer back, she may be reading my blog! :-)

Blog Changes

I was getting tired of the white background so I have been playing with some colors to see which one I like best. Have you ever noticed that as you change emotionally, the colors that you are drawn to change as well? Right now I am drawn to earthtones which is why I picked the colors that I did for my living room.

Tell me what you think about the color or if you have any suggestion of what would go well with my Mocha Moments header.

Going Natural

I'm thinking of growing out my perm. I am tired of getting my hair relaxed every 6 weeks. I don't really want to chop it all off yet, so I have been looking up information on how to transition. Some suggest getting braids. I don't really want braids either. Plus I still have to figure out what to do with my natural hair when I take them out.

Are there any of you out there that have "gone natural". Did you have to do the big chop or did you maintain two textures and trim until all the perm was gone?

I am hoping that one day in the not so distant future I will be able to say with confidence, "I am happy to be nappy!" :-)

Garden Progress

I put the box for the Square Foot Gardening together last week.

Today I went to Lowes and purchased the peat moss, compost and vermiculite. The stuff was so heavy just to even push around in the cart that I couldn't bear going around to find out where the weed cloth was. So although we are one step closer, we still have to get the weed cloth before we can put everything together. The kids are very excited.

I'm pretty sure that I didn't get the right vermiculite, so I will look again when I go and get the weed cloth. I will either take this stuff back or use it in the front yard in the flower beds.I'm not sure why it is taking me so long to get this garden together. Hopefully one day soon I will be able to show that it is actually up and running. :-)

Sew Crafty Friday-Furniture Set Up

I'm not sure if this counts for being crafty, but I finally got the furniture arranged the way I want it. I plan to purchase a chocolate brown entertainment center to replace the one in the picture.

The angle of this picture if from the kitchen. I like the fact that the furniture does not face the television. When I buy my new entertainment center you won't be able to see the tv.

This is the view from when you walk in from the front door or garage. I'm still trying to figure out what to do for curtains-what color, what style...


Let me know what you think!

Be sure to check out Shereen's page for more crafty ideas