Wow! It has been quite some time since I have had the chance to blog. I don't know where to begin. My last blog -- Suck It Up! has pretty much summarized what I have been doing over the past few months. Here's my priority list in a nutshell:

1# My God - Friend Hubby and I have been looking into the Hebrew roots of our Christian faith and have had a few eye-openers. As a result, we have eliminated pork from our diet and tried to bring more of a Sabbath atmosphere into our home on Friday evenings. We are not legalistic about it, but we recognize that it is something that we are growing into. I have always believed that obedience is the highest form of worship and that the Lord has always intended for us to be doers of the Word, not hearers only. At the same time, I know that I don't have all the answers so I'm not planning on looking down my nose on someone whose faith-work looks different than mine. Above all, this "journey" must be led by the Spirit, otherwise it is not worth taking.

#2 My Husband - Last year, we started on the South Beach Diet and his blood sugar levels were looking great. This summer, they have not been so great. Time for me to highjack his diet. On May 15th of this year, we lost two brothers in Christ. One was 47 years old. He had an aortic aneurysm. It was unpreventable. He left behind a beautiful wife and 2 sons, one of whom had just graduated from college and was getting his commission in the Army.

The other friend that passed away was 67 years old. He had the typical diseases that afflict black men of that age group -- diabetes, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, etc. I can remember giving him a sound admonishment at a luncheon 5 years ago last month about his eating habits. I have told Friend Hubby that it is one thing if the Lord calls him home due to something unforseen or unpreventable like the aneurysm or our Dancing Angel's brain tumor, but I'll be doggone if he slips away from me from something that was within his control like what he eats. I'll beat him to death on his deathbed!

He has always done the big grocery shopping. I tried to relieve him from that duty early in our marriage, but I got tired of wrestling with him. However, since he works an hour away from home, he has begun to realize that his wife of 21 years is actually capable of going to the store and not draining the checking account dry on groceries. Who'd a thunk it? So, needless to say, we will be returning to a more South Beach Diet menu.

#3 My Children - If you have been a regular reader of my blogs, then you know that I called last year the year of the Uncle and Aunt. That was nothing! This has been the summer of the Uncle and Aunt!

It appears that our nephew, Fresh Prince, will most likely be raised by us. His parents don't have any plan to come and get him, they have stopped calling him, and they have stopped sending any money to help us take care of him. Essentially, they have abandoned him. It is sad, but we have to say, "Praise God!" that he had a home to come to when they gave up on being parents.

Fresh Prince's older brother, who was abandoned by my sister as an infant and has been raised by my mother, came to visit us on 06/23/2008. On 06/28/2008, My Diva went to visit family in upstate New York. On 07/14/2008, My Diva returned from upstate New York bringing with her two 14 yo nieces! So for a week, I had 7 children! The older nephew left on 07/23/2008 and the nieces left yesterday. Now do you see why we need to hit the reset button?

Something exciting happened while they were all here! My Diva got a college recruitment letter from Harvard University! She had already received letters from Yale, Columbia, Georgetown, Amherst, and others, but Harvard (obviously) is the icing on the cake (no pun intended, we are both cake decorators). Her PSAT scores were phenomenal! Given that she has never been to school a day in her life, I am a pretty proud mama!

Boy Wonder has been whining about missing school (that's my boy!) so we started working our way back into our school schedule this morning, with a few changes.

I bought a book called "Plants Grown Up" at a used curriculum fair and I believe it will help Friend Hubby and I to prepare Boy Wonder and Fresh Prince to prepare for their Christian Bar Mitzvah in 3 years.

Princess-in-Training also needs to prepare but she is only 8 and we have to start small. For her, I have dug out the Keepers of the Faith handbook that I used for her older sisters.

#4 My Home - I NEED to decorate SOMETHING! I also need to clean! With all that has been going on around here and getting back to school, my nesting instinct has kicked in. I am reminded of a principle that I learned long ago, but have not put into practice in a while. It is the "little by little" principle. A Scripture in the Torah says, "Little by little I will drive them out before you." I can do anything if I just take small enough steps to get there. As tight as finances have been, I think I may be able to squeeze $20 out of each check per month and do something to improve my home (by a can of paint, some curtains, etc.).

#5 My Self -

*Body - I have been trying to go back to the Y now that the kids are in higher levels of martial arts because they are at the karate school for longer. I also need to get back to the South Beach Diet.

*Soul - I received bad news today. My sweet pastor's wife, who also lost a daughter to a brain tumor, went home to be with the Lord today. She had been fighting with multiple myeloma. The myeloma did not kill her, but all the medication she's been on had an effect on her heart and lungs. Hers will be the second funeral that I will attend in 3 months. I have to schedule a lunch date with the widow of the 47 yo that I mentioned earlier. I have rearranged my work schedule (again). I'm going to see how well it will work before I have to tweak it again.

*Spirit - Today, I began to pray that the Lord will give us a congregation of believers that are on the same journey that we are on. I don't know if the Lord will lead us to a congregation of messianic believers or if the Lord will bring families to worship with us in our home. I am open to both, but I recognize that spiritually I am drained and I can only be filled completely through the fellowship of the saints. Friend Hubby has become the minister of music at a very old and traditional Baptist church on Sundays. I will go out there with him sometimes, but I know that there is more for us that that. The Lord knows what I am longing for and only He knows how to fill me up! My trust is in Him.

#6 My Ministry - It is time for me to begin preparing for our Girl Scout year. I'm excited about how our girls are getting older and have more opportunities to do new things!

Sooo..... I'm ready for a reset, are you?

Until next time........