Outside my window...
Friend Hubby, The Grand Duchess, and I drink our coffee on the front porch on Sunday mornings. It was BEAUTIFUL! Sunny, mid 70s, and low humidity. I also discovered that I need to fill the front porch with citronella candles.
I am thinking...
About racism. I was raised in integrated schools and an integrated military community so it's not always my first choice for topic of conversation. However, the fact remains that I am, indeed, an African American woman. I live in the suburbs in a mid to upper middle class neighborhood. I have been the ONLY African American Girl Scout leader in my service unit for 10 years, though a handful have started but not finished. The life I live does not exclude me from subtle racism and what is offensive to some may not be offensive to all. Here are 3 experiences that have popped up recently.
1. Being of Native American as well as African descent, I side with those who would abolish Christopher Columbus Day in favor of a Native American Day instead. Comments from a former next door neighbor of mine: "Does changing the name make things all better for the people that this happened to hundreds of years ago? I think not! I'm sick of all this crap about slavery, oppression, poor me my great great great great great grandfather was mistreated so everyone owes me BS! This country DOES NOT OWE ANYONE ANYTHIG! If people do not like the laws, beliefs, holidays, or religion here go to the middle east and have a nice day!"
Mind you, nothing in my original post said anything about slavery. It only mentioned changing the purpose of the day.
If you don't know it, racism is a spirit. The people it chooses to use may die, but the spirit doesn't. The ONLY thing that can kill the effects of the spirit of racism is restitution. It's not happening.
Sioux protesters ‘attacked’ by security dogs, pepper-sprayed at Dakota pipeline site (VIDEO)
2. My daughters and I were in our favorite purse store and without warning, the sales representative reached out and started running her fingers through The Grand Duchess's hair. Touching a black woman's hair without her permission, telling your co-worker to do the same without her permission, and then exclaiming with surprise that it is softer than yours. No! Just NO. We were totally unprepared for a proper response, as was this woman from an article that we had recently read.
In South Africa, there is widespread protest about black women, their hair, and their refusal to submit to a European model of beauty.
Protests over black girls’ hair rekindle debate about racism in South Africa
3. A Caucasian homeschool mom on my friend list posted a video of a popular African American man and declared that he was a good role model for African American youth. I privately explained to her why I felt that her comment was elitist. As I stated earlier, I grew up in integrated schools. The only black history I learned in school came from textbooks that essentially praised MLK as a "good black" and had a few short sentences about the violent rhetoric espoused by Malcolm X. It wasn't until I became a homeschool mom that I learned all of the history that my textbooks omitted. In essence, the school decided for me who was a good role model and who was not. I felt that by her comment, she was doing the same thing. She asked me if it would be appropriate for her to post the video without comment and I agreed that that would be a good idea, and I thanked her for her sensitivity. I realize that I didn't have to, but I appreciate someone who at least tries to sincerely understand. I am not, however, fond of the little white girls that I have watched grow up in their WASP homeschool communities suddenly become "down with the struggle" as they become adults, conveniently hiding the fact that they grew up in homes that were literally worth a million dollars. Umm, no. I have a special list on Facebook for friends who are intolerant and unsympathetic toward others who have a different view point. I'm not talking about those who promote sin, I'm talking about those, who no fault of their own, are prevented from being heard or helped throughout our court system.
I am thankful...
For friendship. A friend whom we met in Texas now lives in Switzerland and works with international diplomats. He needed a real estate agent in the DC area and I was able to connect him with a friend from Okinawa. I love that! Also, that my husband's first roommate from his first Air Force duty assignment have been discussing Torah over the phone almost every day this week. I am thankful he has a friend to talk with.
For good news, long time in coming. On Wednesday, Friend Hubby sent me a text. It was official. He got the new job!!! We are so tremendously thankful! Just a little background. At the time of Dancing Angel's passing, Friend Hubby had been laid off late October/early November 3 years in a row! The house was about to go into foreclosure. He had to look for a job while grieving the loss of our precious firstborn child. Abba answered that prayer by giving him a job that was swing shift, 3-11, working for hours by himself. He could grieve as much as he needed. He stayed in that position for 3 years. It was barely enough to meet our needs, but Yah saw us through. Out of the blue one day, I answered my cell phone and a recruiter was asking for him. We had had separate cell phones for a couple of years so I knew this person was going on old information. Friend Hubby sent him an updated resume and he got a job making 38% more. It was a miracle because Friend Hubby had never even applied for that job. It had come out of "nowhere!" He worked on that job for 8 years until the company went bankrupt. Even before the bankruptcy, we had been praying for another job for him. Eight years of driving an hour to work and an hour home, spending $5000 a year in gas and tolls was taxing, especially after he entered his 50s. After the bankruptcy, he had a year of unemployment, followed by a year of underemployment. Again, Abba met our needs in miraculous ways.
Late in the spring, I started learning about our Myers-Briggs personalities. Being underemployed can make you doubt your skills and abilities. I began to encourage Friend Hubby to not "tone down" his Elohim-given ESTJ gifts.
"ESTJs are natural leaders and enjoy the opportunity to dictate to others. They are often very organized and know how to put together a team. They are outgoing and enjoy being able to get along with their workers, although that is not vital. They can be seen as overbearing and tough on their employees, because they do not have patience for inefficiency. They are very willing to put in hard work to make sure that the workplace is well run and enjoyable. They may be quick to criticize if they feel like others are not living up to their full potential. They are good at setting strict rules and are willing to make sure that others achieve the goals at hand. A workplace run by an ESTJ is usually very efficient and organized."
We live in an age where people are afraid of authority, with good reason! Many have abused their authority. There are those who think that merely exercising authority is abuse of authority. It is not. Yah has created some people with the ability to lead. According to mypersonality.info, ESTJs make up 13% of the population and there are more male ESTJs than female. I knew he needed to be in a management position or in a place where he was in the role of inspecting others' work. He started putting in resumes for those types of positions, we started praying for those types of opportunities, and Yah moved! HalleluYah!
What this also means for me is that I no longer need to be concerned about working. I plan to keep my transcription job for now, but I don't HAVE to work. I can just focus on my classes. Wow! I am still in awe about that. Still processing. I have HAD to work for the past 12 years. I don't know how to act. LOL
A song came on my Pandora station called More Than Enough by Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir came on and I could not stop the tears from rolling down my face and crying out Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I am reading...
Back Channel by Stephen L. Carter
From the learning rooms...
Back-to-school Mom: I have been trying to use a form of bullet journaling for both taking notes and goal tracking. Through one of my groups on bullet journaling, I learned about an app that encourages you to stay off of social media. It's called Forest. It works with your browser in helping you to stay focused for one Pomodoro (25 minutes). Some of the study notes in bullet journaling can be quite elaborate for the artistically inclined. I do have a problem, however, doing more study planning than actual study. I am going to work on that this week.
Young Adulting: The Grand Duchess has been blessed tremendously as well. She has her first "grown up" job! She will be going back to her alma mater and working as a curator for the university's collection of state maps, and as a regional coordinator for the National History Day competition, of which both she and Princess Butterfly are alumni. I am so excited for her. Friend Hubby are paving the path before her with much prayer. Fly birdie, fly!!!
College Freshman: He sent us his first two film assignments this morning. VERY impressive! Given that our Girl Scout troop is working on the photography badge, I am going to take a few pointers from his film.
High School Junior: What a trooper! She is burying herself in her work. I know her efforts are going to pay off greatly.
From the kitchen...
We eat a lot of chicken wings for Shabbat. They seem to be our go to. I am tired of making them the same way all the time. You always hear of these fantastic chicken wing recipes when it's time for the Super Bowl. I decided to try a different recipe. It was good, but I didn't trust the recipe and added too much salt. It would have been great otherwise. I pared it with buttered red potatoes (Sanban doesn't like potatoes. I always said when he left for college I was going to eat potatoes all the time. When The Grand Duchess moves into her apartment, we're having spaghetti with green peppers for our first meal.)
Heroin Wings recipe.
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| Heroin Wings |
Honor where honor is due: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/
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