What is a "handfasting ceremony"? Are you a witch? Pagan? Sorry if I'm using the term wrong.

Hi Kelli, So, are you saying you are a witch or a pagan? Or both? Would you mind telling me what that entails? Thank you.

I noticed someone on this group said she is a witch and on other homeschool groups I've seen people call themselves "witches", "wiccan", and "pagans". I just thought they were all the same, meaning, I guess, if you're a witch, you worship Satan. Apparently I have no idea truly what any of these are so I figured it would be best to ask.

I'm not sure he did it single handedly. I have a feelig TLC had a lot to do with it. There's no way that family would let a bunch of cameramen/women in to invade their privacy without something in return.

I'm not trying to start a heated debate, but I really don't understand. I was raised as a Christian so when someone says they are a witch or a pagan, I automatically think they worship the devil. Is that true? If not, are there people here who do actually worship the devil? Please define witch, pagan, and devil worshipper. Thank you.

What about some MAJOR punishments? Take away her cell phone, iPod, bed, TV, everything, until she works at McDonald's or wherever to pay you every cent back. She needs to be punished. If she's willing to steal from her parents, shaming her is useless. She isn't ashamed.

My sister, at 16, got pregnant, then aborted it. A few months later, she got pregnant again. This time she decided to keep it. My parents never knew about the abortion. They supported her when she got pregnant (2nd time) and we all surrounded her with love. She made mistakes. I make them, too. It wasn't fair for me to judge her. BTW, it took her a long, long time to grow up. At 43, she finally has.

Excellent! How long will he be home? My son is in Iraq, so I know how you feel.

He's in my prayers.

We always pray before a meal in a restaurant, as we do at home. It has nothing to do with being showy. We do it because we are thankful.

Perhaps you could find a pastor to speak with about these things. I wish I could answer them more intelligently for you.

I agree with you, Kelli. My dd is great at some things and just so-so academically. I do hope she'll go to college and I'll certainly help her in anyway I can, but I won't pressure her to do things she can't. I'm not saying she can't; I don't know yet, but I'll be with her every step of the way.

Those are excellent ideas Thank you!

I'm so sorry. We're barely hanging on to things around here. I get so tired of companies calling to ask why we haven't paid our bill this month. Not to be nosy but are other people getting those calls, too?

I feel for you and your dd. This is a sticky situation. Love the sinner; hate the sin. But, not all church members are going to feel this way, unfortunately. I have heard from my now 24 yo son that when he was in public school it was very common for girls to have relations with other girls. My feeling is that they have already done just about everything there is to do so what's left? Though I have no advice for you, I do feel for you and all involved. Someone is bound to get hurt and what a shame. This is the time when those girls really need Christian support. Good luck with this.

Please educate me on Gothardites. I've never heard of that. And it is true that not all can afford to adopt. But, have you seen their house? I think they can. :) I don't understand why my comment is getting so much attention. I simply said how I feel. I don't recall saying it's how the Duggars feel. I am entitled to my opinion. I have no intention of moving in with them and start dictating how they live. I've only been here a day and I'm beginning to wonder if this is the kind of response I will get every time I don't agree with the general populace.

No, I wouldn't. Because most bio parents don't have 18 children. And, no, I don't. You are missing my point. My point is that if someone feels the need to have that many children, I would suggest helping all the less fortunate children waiting for parents.

BTDT! I hope tomorrow is a better day for you.

Saying a prayer right now.

Oh, I'm so jealous! I want to be a grandma!

Actually, I'm not arguing anything. Why would you imply that? I was simply making a statement of what I did as a child and how handling mercury did nothing to me. You can make the argument, if you're inclined to do such, that just about everything in this world can cause problems of some sort. I won't get into a debate with you because I recently left a forum because that seem to be the mainstay and I'm not interested in that. I'm also not saying that mercury can't cause problems. Again, I was making a personal statement.

I'm not sure I "expect" them to, but I certainly hope for their sakes they will. We have encouraged them and explained the benefits of a good education. I understand that not all graduates of college will go onto make careers out of their degree. However, the chance of a good job is much more likely with a degree of some sort.

When I was young, I used to roll around little balls of mercury in my hands. Guess what? I'm not autistic. :)

I haven't decided how I feel about the Duggars yet. They seem very sweet and very sincere. I do have trouble with populating the world with that many children when there are so many orphans available. I understand how most people want their "own" children, but they certainly have that. If it's their desire to have children in their lives, why not adopt some? They could have had, say three, biological children and adopted 15 more. Think of the love they could have shared with children that will probably never know the love of Mommy and Daddy. I also have trouble with the mom having baby after baby that are her children, not the children of her children. These are kids, not parents. They really shouldn't have to be responsible for their siblings to the extent the show portrays. Helping out is one thing, but raising them is entirely different. I'm not sure these children even have friends. At least, from what I have seen on the show, and I haven't watched it much, it seems they are totally engulfed in the responsibilities of raising children. I think that's wrong. They need to be children.

My goal is to have her finish high school and go onto a technical college and finish with a degree in anything. I know how hard it will be for her to get a decent job without an education beyond high school. I really don't care if she does the tests or not. Actually, I'd rather her not, which is why I deleted them from the SOS program. When she does well, she's excited, but when she doesn't, which is more often, it really gets her down and she feels like she can't do anything. So, I just deleted them all. I would rather she felt like she accomplished something by doing the work, than to feel like a failure by not doing well on tests. Currently we are doing Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra and she is having trouble. My other dd is doing well. When she realizes this, it embarasses her so I try to work with her alone while my other dd is doing SOS. Thank you.