I have not read all the replies, but I will say this. I go to a theologically conservative church. For a long time I believed adultery and abandonment were the only reasons for divorce, but I just didn't understand why God would want someone to stay in an abusive marriage. Then an article about divorce caught my eye and I read it with an open mind. I always go to Scripture and try to see beyond cultural Christian belief. Anyway, the article was discussing the idea that Christian divorce is acceptable beyond those two reasons. I'll skip the details, but it made sense. So I emailed my extremely conservative pastor and asked him what he thought. He told me he agreed. He said that he doesn't believe the two cases mentioned by Jesus and Paul were meant to be exclusive of other reasons. He pointed out that if that was true, there would be inconsistency between the two passages. Instead, he believes each case was given as an example of a spouse breaking the covenant of marriage. It is the breaking of that covenant that is sinful and allows divorce. He went on to say at there are other actions/abuses that break the covenant and he spoke of the difficulty of determining truth when a pastor is dealing with requests for support in divorce. It is very important that a pastor hold people to their vows, but it is equally important that a pastor have discernment and support those whose commitment has been violated. God hates divorce, but he loves His people more than marriage. On a completely different note, a former pastor of mine (a supposedly grace-filled church) revealed to us that a long time mentor of his was found to be a serial adulterer. Why did he tell this to the congregation? To lift up the man's wife as an example because she chose to forgive and work on their marriage despite over 15 years of affairs with various women. That makes me sick. The woman can choose as she wishes, but to use her as an example of godliness? Um, no. And what a surprise to find out later that my pastor was a serial liar of a lovely wife. Who knows what she has had to endure.

Wash Windows, clean light fixtures, wipe down baseboards, clean oven, weed or weed whack around bushes, flowers,and trees, clean window and slider door tracks, clean the top of fridge and other tall things, organize DVDs or books, teach younger sibs a skill, clean refrigerator, defrost freezer, plan and prepare 30 days of freezer meals, paint porch, railings, or house, iron clothes, clean the inside and doors of cupboards, and organize junk drawers. I hope it's not a super expensive phone!

No, neither director I have had did tutoring. They were too busy with other responsibilities.

Praying for those babies and parents!

Actually, what bugged me is that this new Nancy will be a woman in her 30's. What in the world?

Praying and thinking of you, Cat.

Praying for him now! And for you and your son, too.

Sorry, posted too soon. Praying!

Actually Rory is a song writer, and has written for other successful country singers from the Oak Ridge Boys to Blake Shelton.

I allow my children to read while eating, but not library books. I'm happy to encourage reading, but the exception is family dinner.

Praying for Caden!

Yuck. What a waste!

How about you call the shop and ask? I'm sure they would be happy to help you out.

I would have loved to see Denker fired, but I think the Dowager enjoyed the entertainment. She obviously had Denker's number and enjoyed toying with her.

He is such a wonderful Santa. We don't live far from him, and I'm pretty sure he was the Santa at our local mall years ago as well. Anyway, today a story came out saying that a little girl with cancer visited him. He gave her a bell to ring and told her to ring it whenever she needs prayer. What a sweet man.

They could be part of the Church of God, Worldwide Association. A friend of mine is, and they do not celebrate most holidays, including Christmas.

I understand that you are probably tired of hearing her say she wants to quit and then do nothing. My suggestion is that the next time she says that, you hand her the info for the program mentioned above. Tell her that if she is serious, you will be her biggest supporter!

Could you do any work reviewing contracts or other legal documents?

My son commented that the punter was going to need a body guard!

No way, it could have laid eggs even if the worm itself didn't gag me.

Goodness, I cut your quote because I was in a hurry, thus the ellipses indicating more text. The whole quote was right above and fully in context. And I stand by my statement that your assessment of Americans' ability to discuss the subject. You just dismissed this discussion as predictable and cliche. Many people are having an honest discussion and were willing to look at causes and solutions to the problem. Your statements do not add to the encouragement of others to explore the topic. You continue to insult and it appears to others, although perhaps not intended, that you have a disdain for your fellow board members when it comes to their ability to intellectually discuss this matter.

"Americans are incapable of rational, informed discussions.." That is Not only insulting, it is a gross generalization of our population.

You are not alone! We looked at rescues for over a year, filled out apps, and talked with many, many volunteers. And here I sit with my sweet, naughty 9 month old puppy. We went to a breeder who cared about his dogs and had people travel thousands of miles to buy his puppies. And ours was the same price and cheaper than the rescue dogs of the breed. Our process was so similar to yours, it is astounding. Four human adoption home studies went through here, but getting a dog was nearly impossible. And that is with a fenced yard, the desire for and adult dog, and willingness to provide very good care including pricey food! I love my sweet Velcro Dane, but could have done without the adolescent behavior of this crazy pup. Regardless, we are dedicated to her and would have been to a rescue dog as long as it was older child-safe. What a crazy world it is!

P.S. I think changing the kitchen would be key in giving it the farmhouse feel, so I would put more money there and make basic decorating changes in the rest of the house. You will have it looking the way you want years before you would have a fully functional, old farmhouse. I've have lived through a farmhouse reno and it is not fun! Edited because spell check spelled my word incorrectly.

I have lived out in the country most of my life and the look of that house would be considered "fancy farmhouse". It has Victorian influence, but the white siding and painted trim windows look classic farmhouse to me. It would be much easier to remove a few Victorian features and decorate it in the farmhouse style than to renovate a farmhouse To replicate even most of the 99% you say this house has. It is so close to farmhouse with that porch and the surrounding land, I say go for it!