120th Earthstrong of Rastafari

"Rastafari is a cultural, religious, and revolutionary movement that began in Jamaica in the 1930s. Inspired by Biblical prophecy and the teachings of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, followers of Rastafari identify themselves as Africans seeking to return to the continent. Early Rastafari drew upon ideas of African pride and unity, coupling them with local Jamaican traditions to forge a unique way of life. Today the movement has spread around the world, empowering people of African descent and embracing people of all races"




Today we celebrate the birthday of Rastafari.

July 23, 1892. 120 years ago a baby was born. He was the 225th in an unbroken line of Ethiopian monarchs of the Solomonic Dynasty. This lineage was founded by King Solomon and Makeda(The Queen of Sheba).

In the bible it says in 1 King 10:13, "And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants."

The story goes that King Solomon invited the Queen of Sheba to a banquet, serving spicy food to induce her thirst, and inviting her to stay in his palace overnight. The Queen asked him to swear that he would not take her by force. He said ok as long as she would not take anything from his house by force. The Queen assured that she would not,she was rich and powerful after all. However, as she woke up in the middle of the night, she was very thirsty. She reache over an sipped the water.Just then King Solomon appeared, warning her that she was breaking her oath, water being the most valuable of all material possessions. So..because she rank the water, she set the king free from his promise and they spent the night together.

An he gave her his ROYAL BOUNTY...

We know that his "royal bounty" was his seed....She carried it back to Ethiopia with her. The story says that she gave birth by a stream to a royal child named Menelik.

That lineage continues thru Jesus Christ and then thru Haile Selassie I also known as Rastafari.

We(not all Rastas) believe that When Rastafari was coronated on Nov.2, 1930..a biblical prophecy was fufilled.
Psalm 87:4–6 is also interpreted as predicting the coronation of Haile Selassie I. During his coronation, Selassie was given many of the same titles used in the Bible: "King of Kings," "Elect of God," and "Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah the Author of Mankind," "the Power of Authority," etc., are just some of more than 38 titles and anointments placed on Selassie.

Our faith is a biblical faith that does not lend itself to reading books.
That is why people always think that Rastafari is a "black thing"...
It is not.

It is so FAR from a color thing. It has NOTHING to do with you skin color or your hairstyle.
It has to do with your HEART....an what is INSIDE.
It has to do with letting go of your PRE-CONCEIVED notions and being able to UN-WASH your mind of all things NOT of TRUE.

For me...there was a moment. THIS MOMENT.
A moment in time when my life changed.
All that was dark in my life was BRIGHTENED by the MOVEMENT of GOD in my heart.
My life was NEVER the same.
It was like I was touched by his hand and my life was no longer what it appeared to be.
I was different.
I was FRESH.
I was forgiven.
I was SAVED....by JAH(Which is short for Jahovia or GOD).
I was NEW.
I was at the beginning of my life...RIGHT THEN.
And my life
HAS
NEVER
BEEN
THE
SAME.



So on this day....we celebrate his birth. His life. An the life he has given US.
Rastafari!

Truth....on a daily

Sometimes in the blogging world there is a misconception that a blog tells you EVERYTHING about a person...so to speak.

When we follow a blog....
We think we "know" people.
We think we know what they do on a daily basis.
We imagine all kinds of things about them.
We imagine their lives all tidy and neat, with perfect children who do not argue, homemade meals on the table for dinner, and a homeschool day that is SURE to MOLD a GENIUS.

But let me tell you...THAT creature is a MYTH.

The Mom who has it all under control, everything together, that "does it better than me" Mom...she NEVER existed.

I am here to tell you, from the INSIDE of the blogging world,
THAT
DOES
NOT
EXIST.

I will let you in on a secret....for ME and MINE anyway,
What we write about on our blogs...is a SNAP SECOND of our lives.
It is our "best-foot forward" most of the time.
I try and be honest an keep it real...but inevitably...we write about more of our TRIUMPHS than our DEFEATS.

I couldnt keep up with a DAY BY DAY, BLOW BY BLOW, blog if I tried.
Too much happens in my life.
Too many thought go thru my head...
too much "stuff" happens on my journey.
Good and bad.
Triumphs and defeats.
Arguements and make-ups.
Laughs and cries.
Smiles and frowns.

And....We all have flaws.
I have good days and bad days.
I argue with my husband....and we make-up.
I cook good meals....and I go thru drive thrus.
I pray for our kids...and then I yell at them.
I teach them...and they teach me.
Sometimes I am proud of the work I i that day...and sometimes I have to ask God for forgiveness.

Because....
I live a REAL life.
A life full of ups and downs.
A life that I have committed to God.
Because I NEED his help in this life.
I make mistakes ...DAILY.
And sometimes...I blog about them.
Sometimes I don't.
Sometimes I expose myself a little and sometimes I REALY let you in.
Because on this blog...just like in this LIFE...
I
am
trying
to
stay
true.


Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long
Psalm 25:5




.

A day in a PIRATE's life....

If you woul have told me 15 years ago that THIS would be my life...
I would have laughed.

(Turn off the music player on your right before watching this...)

Between Now an the Future....

"Do you wanna walk outside with me???", that is how it starts.

He wants to walk and talk.
He wants me to hear his ideas....his plans, his visions for the future.
The wall that will be "here".
or
The greenhouse that will be "there".

So...Walking thru the backyard, I listen to his plans.

I feel the heat and the dirt between my toes...I saturate myself HERE.NOW.

Because THIS is no small feat....We DID this.

We He had a dream.
He said we could do it...I just followed.
If it were up to me- we would have rented forever.
Not because I wanted to...
but because I am a "NOW girl".It is hard for me to think too far ahead.I live in the NOW. HERE. Maybe it is because it is confusing to me. Maybe it is because my brain just doesn't work that way. But it is hard for me to think about mortgages and MATH (gag) when I have clothes to fold, mouths to feed, dance classes an football to get to AND SCHOOL to TEACH.
So all in all...THAT was the reason that I just couldn't SEE it.
I couldn't focus on it.

But HE did.
He KNEW all along .
He COULD see it.

From driveways to kids forts...his dreams are NEVER small.

I walk along beside him and relish in this life.
I listen to the sound of his voice as he carefully lays his plans.
I want to be saturated in THIS moment.
I want to remember THIS heat.THESE conversations.THAT song that he is singing as he walks and sings and talks.
And you never know what The future holds.
Because ..He. Dreams. Big.
Thank goodness....
because-
I am pretty sure I someone little needs something from me.
RIGHT NOW.
Here. Now. In THIS moment.

So...I walk and I give thanks that God put together 2 people who think DIFFERENTLY...But have learned to work so well together.

I love this life.
What a blessing each moment is.

Things I want to teach my kids....

* To be Grateful in life.
* Treat others as you want to be treated.
* Be true to themselves.
* Happiness is a choice.
* Living up to Gods expectations is ALL that is expected.
* I love them...no matter what.
* Wisdom is inside them.
* Doing the RIGHT thing is always easier.

The Tradewinds

For the first 10 years of my marriage...I didn't work.
Not for any money anyway.
I mean I had baby after baby.
I changed hundreds of diapers...
I nursed for 1000's of hours.
I cleaned many a toilet and spent "hard time" cleaning the floors.
I hardly left the house an watched MANY times as my husband and friends went to concert after concert while I stayed in.
I wiped nose after nose. An cleaned up puke more than I want to remember.
I wiped heiney's and potty trained 4 youth.
I cooked MANY meals( I say that loosely...I am not a very imaginative cook. Daddy does most of the cooking. Shhhhhhh. Don't judge. I do enough of that for myself.)
I wrote TONS of blogs an had all sorts of time to "sort-out-my-shit".
I educated my kids, and spent HOURS doing research on parenting and faith.
I read lots of books and formed many opinions in those years.
I truly believe that God used THOSE YEARS to shape an mold me.
I BECAME ME...in those years.
I learned WHO I was in that time.

An then, about a year and a half ago, I was offered a JOB.
You know, the kind that PAYS money.
It would mean being away from the family on Friday and Saturday nights...
but it would also mean less stress, and more time for Daddy to be home.
It would mean more money comming in an more money going out.
It was a blessing...and totally unexpected.
I knew it would help me get out of my comfort zone and jump right back into "the world".
I was so used to being with my kids and family.
I was safe and secure in my own world I had created for myself....
surrounded by babies, diapers, toys, books and LOVE.
THIS would be an adventure!!!

Because....this was no regular job.
THIS was a job as a cocktail waitress at Tradewinds Tropical Lounge in downtown St. Augustine.
It is known as the "Oldest Bar in the Oldest City".
To me...it is a mix of a honky tonk and "Roadhouse".
They ha ha the SAME BAND play Sunday thru Thursday nights for about 30 years!!!!
It has been there so long that Jimmy Buffett was FIRED from there and then went to the KEYS...and we all know the story from there.
Not EXACTLY where I would have THOUGHT my first job back in the REAL WORLD would be.
And NOT just because I never thought I would HAVE a paying job. LOL.
I have learned that .
I don't think ANYONE ever WANTS to go to work.
But...having a job at Tradewinds might be the BEST JOB ever,
AND
I have found that I say the same things at home to my KIDS as I do to my CUSTOMERS at WORK....

"Don't do THAT!! Are you SUPPOSED to put that THERE? Get down off the table, you might FALL! Pick THAT up. That dosen't go there! Are you serious???Go! You are not allowed in there!!!!"

So ..all in all...it has become as familiar as HOME to me.
A different family...but family all the same.





.

I heart Pinning!

Sometimes something comes along an CHANGES YOUR LIFE.

That is Pinterest for me.

This is what my To-Do list used to look like:

An that WHOLE spiral is FULL of them.
I make them for everything from school to kids appointments to blogging ideas.
I was a List making FOOL.

But now...
There is Pinterest an it has made my life SOOOOOOOOOOO much easier.

It is a virtual cork board..of sorts.
On their website it says:

"Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests."

My boards include...
Homeschool(homeschool ideas)
We're Crafty(things to make)
Eye Candy(eye candy)
Sugar and Spice(Girls stuff)
Where the heart is(home ideas)
Rastafari

Food
Wordsmith(inspiring Words)
Just to name a FEW.

So you can see...it is a PLANNING GIRLS DREAM!!!

Go...
Run....
If you need an invite...leave me your email.

I promise you that you
WILL
NOT
BE
SORRY.

Happy Pinning!!!!!

Everyday is a GIFT...even in the "first-world".

Living a life full of EXTRAS is beautiful.

"Extras" are sometimes the things that make life easy...
like a car..when you know what it is like to WALK.
OR
the washing machine...when you know what it is like to wash clothes IN A BUCKET.
OR
Sometimes it is the freezer...because THAT means we don't have to CARRY our ice miles from the store.

I love those kinds of "extras" ...those are the "third-world" problems that are solved by living in the "first-world".

The other day my friend Heather posted a HILARIOUS video that describes EXACTLY what I am talking about when I say, "first-world" extras....Here it is:

(Before you watch this video...turn off the music player on the right column.)



I mean REALLy...this is
HOW
WE
LIVE...
Angry at the computer for taking too long...when it has been 7 seconds ALREADY.
Mad when the pantry is TOO FULL to fit the stuff we JUST BOUGHT....UUUGGHHH.
Bothered when the water they bring us at the RESTRAUNT...tastes "funny" because it isn't bottled....WAAAAA!!!
Irritated because we have to GO TO WORK....BLAH!

We are spoiled in ALL kinds of ways.
We live in a world FULL of FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS.
We live in a place where we are "blissfully unaware"..which basically makes us UNAPPRECIATIVE and UNGRATEFUL.
We forget how lucky we are ...on a daily.
We manage to CONVINCE ourselves that LIFE for us is HARD.
BUT...It is NOT.
We are BLESSED...one reason being because we live in the FIRST-WORLD.
And we have to OPPORTUNITY to be IGNORANT to "third-world" problems.
We have to ABILITY to LOOK AWAY when we feel uncomfortable...
We change the channel when we want to be distracted.
It is THAT easy.
And we forget how UNIMAGINABLY BLESSED we really are.

Sometimes the secret to being TRULY HAPPY is realizing that..
Things could be so much worse.
Sometimes being happy is just that....BEING happy.
LIVING happily.
Being JOYFUL.
Living INTENTIONALY.
With the knowledge that our life is a GIFT.

The Secret.........

Jay an I met in 1998....an have been together pretty much since then.

That is 13 years...which by todays standards IS forever.

Sometimes it feels like yesterday...sometimes- it feels like an ETERNITY.

People ask me ALL THE TIME, "What is the secret to staying married SOOO long?".

My answer is ALWAYS ..."Letting things GO. Forgiveness."

And that is the HONEST TRUTH.

In a marriage you have to learn to DANCE TOGETHER.
In each relationship there is a certain way that 2 people "move" or compromise with each other. You either learn to dance TOGETHER...
or..
you step on each others toes CONSTANTLY.

Jason and I learned a long time ago that we were MEANT to do THIS dance.
To us...there is no other reason that God would have blessed us with 4 beautiful children and THIS life, if we were supposed to step on each others toes all the time.

And let's face it...
1. NEITHER of us is going ANYWHERE.
2. We are too CRAZY for anyone else. COLLECTIVELY.
3. I don't even have a BAG big enough to leave. LOL

Sometimes...it is ME who is needs to LET THINGS go.
AND THEN....
There are times when it is HIM who is put to the test.

Either way.....We have an uncanny ability to scream, yell, or fight...then we
LET
IT
GO....
And most of the time - we laugh about it later.

Which is EXACTLY what happened the other day when I was headed to a dental appointment for a tooth EXTRACTION!!! YIKES!

I had been to this office once before....1 week before.
But I have a terrible memory....which was not HELPED by what seemed like THOUSANDS of backroads.

My appointment was at 11.
It was 10:54...I called Jay at home and am sad to say our conversation went something like THIS:

"Jay...WHERE Am I?? I can't figure it out. I have no idea where I am. WHERE AM I????" I said in a paniced voice.

"I don't KNOW Jana. YOU are the one in the CAR."

Which of course was NOT RATIONAL to me. He KNOWS me. He knows how anxious I am about this freakin' tooth appointment.

"JASON!!!!! Just tell me where the dentist office is. JUST TELL ME."

Again, He said in a calm voice, as if THAT would calm me down, "Jana...YOU are the only one who has BEEN THERE. I have NOT. I have NO IDEA."

But...In my mind, He KNEW because I had told him where I had GONE- 1 week before, alone.

"Jason...You KNOW where I am TRYING to get. YOU KNOW. Was it THIS street???? (pause) JASON...WAS IT THIS STREET I AM ON RIGHT NOW?????" I said in a voice that sounded to me like Cruella D. Ville. LOL

An again, annoyingly calmly, he said, "Jana, I have NO IDEA WHERE YOU ARE. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE IN THE CAR RIGHT NOW!!!!"

Then I turned the corner and there it was.
I had found it.
I have no idea how....but I was there.

So...I said, "Nevermind." and hung up the phone on him.

I know...I should get an award for "Wife of the Year".
I can hear my sister right now saying, "That is TERRIBLE Jana. Terrible." LOL.
At the time...I felt no guilt.
The ONLY feeling I had was FEAR. FEAR of the dentist.
And in the end all they did was x-ray the tooth and have me make another appointment.
"Sweet...all that for nothing.", I thought to myself as I walked out the door.

Then I remembered...
BEFORE the appointment.
I couldn't help but LAUGH on the way home....ALL the way home to be exact.
And the BEST PART was that I KNEW that when I walked in the door....I wouldn't HAVE
to say I am sorry.
I didn't NEED to because HE KNEW I was sorry.
He KNEW that I was stressed...It wasn't ABOUT HIM.
It was ABOUT me.
I KNEW that he DIDN'T NEED it.
And that was an AMAZING feeling.
KNOWING that we have learned OUR DANCE that well.
Knowing that I was ALREADY forgiven...
Before I even HUNG UP ON HIM.

I smiled as I pulled in the driveway and I laughed as I walked thru the door.
I walked up to him an said, "I'm sorry. I was just stressed."
He looked at me an smiled and said, "I know. I know YOU."
An we both laughed.
We hugged and moved onto the next CRAZY thing happening at THAT moment.
We didn't dwell.
We don't HOLD ONTO IT.
We let it go........
We forgive each other.
DAILY.
THAT is the secret...

"The Help"

As soon as we come near the end of the school year my mind starts to imagine the places I will go during the next couple of months.

I imagine places in the past, present, and future....all places that I will go with the help of a book.

I am delighted by the thought of reading something, ANYTHING besides NON-FICTION parenting or homeschooling books.
I am ready to get lost in something DIFFERENT.

I find myself roaming the fiction isles of the library for anything that looks interesting. Searching for something to take my mind off of school and all the heavy responsibilities that are attached to being ENTIRELY responsibile for my kids education.

Trust me...after 9 months of being SATURATED by lesson plans, cirriculum, late night blog reading, field trips, and flashcards...I need a mental vacation!!!

I need to think of SOMETHING besides school.

Just for a minute.

Last week I was given a book by my friend to get me started on my "mental vacation".



I started reading it THAT day and was immediately ENGROSSED...
I mean like I almost FORGOT I had kids.
Seriously...I think one day when they asked me for lunch, my answer was, "It's fend-for-yourself day."
Don't judge.
4th grade math was hard on me this year...I deserved a day(or 3).LOL.

It is an amazing tale of a group of 2 sets of women divided by nothing more than a color and an invisible line dictated by geography and history alone.

On "The Help" website it says:
"Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't."

This book has a way of putting you DEEP in the lives of these women.
It made me feel grateful that times have SOMEWHAT changes and tolerance is the "new black".
In these times...it is NOW more acceptable to LOVE one another...no matter the shade of their skin.
It made me really think about the fact that there are and will ALWAYS be rebels. The "true-at-heart" who cannot just sit back and LET THINGS HAPPEN.
THAT makes me feel blessed...to know that there have always been those who ROSE to "higher heights"...no matter the struggle.

It was an amazing book that you should RUN and buy...
or- ask a friend ...I bet you know someone who has a copy!!!
Happy Summer Reading!