Right, but Albeto seemed to be lumping us all into the same category. No where have I posted that I have done any of the above nor that I believe others should do any of the above. I don't want to pass laws limiting the rights of others but I am for upholding the laws already in existence if the majority of Americans vote to do so. Again this is supposed to be a democracy.

I make zucchini all the time and my favorite way is to slice tomatoes, zucchini and onions and then layer them in a baking dish. Between each layer sprinkle a little parmesan cheese and salt and pepper and dot with bits of butter. You can bake it uncovered for an hour for firmer veggies and covered for softer ones. I've also done it with just zucchini and onions and whatever cheese I happen to have on hand. Oh yeah-bake it at 325.

I am certainly not out to prove anyone here wrong or argue concerning personal beliefs. I am thankful that we all live in a free country where we are entitled to our beliefs, opinions, and free speech to express them. I have done that here and answered the OP's questions. I have found it interesting and enlightening to read others' opinions as well. :-)

I don't see where I ever said that anyone should be happy with intimacy without sex. I simply stated that intimacy doesn't equal sex and vice versa. That was my only point.

Are you suggesting that all people who believe homosexual relations to be a sin are homophobes? Actually, I don't think conservative Christians are keeping silent because they are in "mixed company". I think the opposing people scream the loudest and, therefore are heard more. This is true here as well as in the big picture. The people consistently voted down the right to gay marriage. Then a handful of self-important judges decided it was their job to make the decision for the American population. I am not trying to get into a debate about whether or not gay marriage should be legal. I'm still not sure how I feel about the government deciding who can and can't get married. However, it is clear that a minority made a decision that went against the majority in what is supposed to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

I didn't mean to pretend that anyone had been silent on this matter and I don't think anything in my post infers that. I also did not say that all conservative Christians behave as I described. If you go back and reread my post you'll see that I was referring to this particular board. You are right on the second point. The poll does not show that the majority of us are conservative Christians. What I should have said is that the poll shows that there is a large percentage of conservative Christians on this board.

One need not give up intimacy just by giving up sexual relations. There are plenty of people who have never married or had sex but, who still have intimate relationships with others. Many men don't know how to have an intimate relationship aside from sex. My only point is that sex does not equal relational intimacy or vice versa.

Well the poll results are answering this very well, and it would seem, that the majority of people who hang out on this forum are conservative Christians.They just aren't the ones speaking the most and the loudest. Many of us tend to try to follow the scriptures which instruct us not to argue with those who refuse to listen so we hush up and let others have the last word. It does not mean we give in or give up but that we are choosing to obey our Lord. We know that it is not our job to convince the masses-simply to share the gospel and serve our Lord by living quietly and doing the work that God has given us. If you read so many of the more controversial threads you will see plenty of gracious Christians who gently post their views and then quietly back out of the discussion.

I also wanted to say that I don't believe it's my job (or anyone else's) to tell someone about their sinfulness. If asked (as on this thread) I will give my opinion but I am just as friendly and nice to someone who is homosexual as I am to someone who is heterosexual. It is not my job to police sin.

I am a Christian and I believe the Bible to be God's word. I pretty much take the New Testament as it is. I think it's fairly clear, except for Revelations. Because of my beliefs concerning the Bible, I believe homosexual relations to be sinful. I also think adultery is sinful, because the Bible says so. I don't think that it ceases to be sinful just because all adult parties are consenting. What God calls sin is sin and I think it's pretty straightforward. Just because all are adults and all are consenting does not mean the behavior is sanctioned by God. God created man and woman-one man, one woman- to procreate and populate the earth-to make families naturally. These are my beliefs. I do want to add that this belief really comes down to one's view of the Bible. I don't choose to believe homosexual relations to be a sin because I think they should be. However, I do choose to believe God's word fairly literally and from that view, the Bible is clear on the topic.

I never required that my children take music lessons. Both have requested to of their own accord. My son took guitar for two years and continued to self teach for several more years. He loves playing the guitar. My daughter asked to try the violin and did that for two years and then asked to switch to the piano. She's been taking piano lessons for about 6 months and loves it! I td my kids that I would only buy them an instrument and pay for lessons if they would agree to practice daily for 1 year. After that they are free to continue or quit. As long as I am paying for lessons, I require daily practice.

We are on vacation now-in the Florida Keys. :-) We try to go once a year on a big family vacation. I also go to the FL state homeschool convention every year. We missed a vacation last year because we decided to put the money towards our mortgage instead. Hubby and I took a week long trip to Savannah, GA for our anniversary in February. That was the first time we've ever done that. It was our 20th.

I thought way too many of the chapters concerned English literature that the majority of the population has never heard of. I've thought about only reading the chapters that were about the more well known examples of English lit. I may go back and do this but since I plan on doing a more in depth English lit in high school, I decided to skip this one for now. I guess it all depends on what your purpose is in reading the book. Mine was to help my daughter have a cultural knowledge of well known English literature. The book, as a whole, wasn't accomplishing this for us and my daughter really disliked it so we decided to ditch it for now. I recommend downloading the free sample and trying it out first. You might also want to take a glance at the table of contents to see what is covered and whether or not it meets your educational goals.

That's what we did.............until we decided we hated the book and ditched it. :-)

When I started homeschooling, we new moms were desperate to talk to more seasoned homeschoolers! There weren't any locally. On the rare occasion that I was able to spend some time with a veteran homeschooler, I asked all kinds of questions and was so thankful for their help and time. Nowadays, none of the newbies seem to want or need help from the veterans. At the homeschool meetings, the newbies spend the whole time telling the old-timers how to homeschool. It feels more like they are patting us on the head, than we them. I stopped leading homeschool meetings for this reason. I still go to meetings some times just for fun. After all the new mamas leave (because they're so busy!), us older moms sit around and just enjoy one another's company and laugh and and talk about the good ole' days. Now that's a good time! :-D

When we are getting ready to start a new year, I plan the whole year out on paper. I just plan roughly by taking the things we need to accomplish in the year and dividing them evenly into 3, 12 week terms. I sit down for about 20 minutes every weekend and plan for each upcoming week in more detail. I keep my planner open throughout each homeschool day so that I can check in and see what we've accomplished and what is left for the day. I check off things as we complete them and then my planner doubles as an educational log which I am required to keep here in FL. If we don't get to something, I simply cross it off and roll that assignment into the next day or week.

Oh my! That sounds painful. I will be praying.

I live in Florida. We are required to keep a portfolio of each child's work and a log of all education activities. Once a year, each student has to be tested or have a portfolio evaluation by a certified teacher. All of this may sound intimidating but it's really easy. The portfolio just needs to have samples of work done throughout the year. My lesson planner is the educational log and there are tons of certified teachers who homeschool themselves. You just find one that chooses to line up with the law and not her own, personal beliefs. ;-) We've been using the same evaluator for 10 years and she's wonderful! We really enjoy our annual meetings with her. The Florida law states that each child has to show progression commensurate with his/her ability. Most (if not all) children meet this requirement easily. The authorities do have the right to view your portfolio and log at any time but they have to give you notice-something like 30 days. I've been homeschooling here for 13 years and I've only met one or two people who have had this experience. It depends on which county you live in-some are more homeschool friendly than others. I've never heard of anyone in my county being called in for a portfolio check.

I was raised in a nominally Christian home and we attended Baptist churches off and on until I was 11 when my family stopped going to church period. When I was 19, a friend invited me to church and I felt the love of God wash over me there. I knew that I had finally found what I had spent my whole life looking for. I attended that church for a while. It was an Assembly of God church (pentacostal). My friend moved away and I didn't experience any real growth or fellowship there. After a couple of years, I became friends with a lady from a different church(Church of God-also pentacostal). The people there were more serious about Bible study and sanctification and they welcomed me with open arms. I went there for 7 years and became very involved. Then the pastor of that church announced he was leaving. As we began going through the process to select a new pastor, I realized how much the church had been built around our previous pastor rather than around God's word. I realized how much could change just by bringing in a new pastor. The more I read scripture, the more I saw in the church that wasn't in line with God's word. I eventually left that church and have been searching for a church that fits with my beliefs more-a church that is really trying to follow God's word and not man made doctrines-for 11 years now. I have attended Baptist churches since then but haven't found a very solid one. I don't want go to church for concerts and pep talks and sometimes that's all I find there. I want congregational singing and expository preaching but can't find a church any where near me that includes both. I would settle for true expository preaching but that's not available either. I believe the Bible is God's word and should be our standard for living-for all areas of life. I haven't met many people in real life who actually put this belief into practice.

My kids were allowed 30 minutes of screen time a day in elementary school and an hour a day from middle school age up. All school work and chores must be done first. If my husband were on board I wouldn't allow any screen time except family movie night and rare treats.

I'm a big fan of Charlotte Mason methods and have seen the greatest improvement in my daughter's spelling when using studied dictation. We are using Simply Spelling. It's only $15 for the complete program (a download) and it covers spelling for all age children. Each week the child starts a new passage from great literature, poetry, famous speeches, etc. On days 1-4 the child copies the selection and does one short additional exercise like looking for and circling prefixes or focusing on some of the more difficult words and breaking them down into syllables. On day 5 the child writes the passage from dictation. I've pulled my own copy work and dictation passages from my daughter's school books for years but am loving the convenience of having them all done for me. I also like the little extras this program provides.

I find Marmee very inspiring as well. :-) Now you have me wanting to read Transcendental Wild Oats! Off to search for it in in the kindle store.............

This thread inspired me to try another Alcott book-Eight Cousins. Anyone read this? I tried the first couple of chapters and really enjoyed them. The main character is 13 when the story starts. I'm curious as to how old she is at the end of the book?

I attend a Southern Baptist church because it's the closest to my beliefs available but still a far cry from where I would like to be. I guess I would be considered Reformed Baptist but I've never been to a Reformed Baptist church-lol. I was raised in and out of Baptist churches. I went to a Church of God for years as an adult and finally found myself back to my Baptist roots. However, I am not happy with my church at all-I just feel that it's the best of the worst in my area.

We love Truthquest history guides for this purpose. :-)