I'm very sorry. May his memory be eternal.

Jesus died to conquer death by death and to reconcile all things to Himself. This portion of Scripture puts it really well. Col. 1:13-23 "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard..." We were just talking about this subject on another board, and the idea of reconciling or redeeming ALL things to Himself, as it was intended to be came up (in my mind). It was intended that all things created exist in a state of worship and communion with God, even time. Jesus even reconciled time to Himself on the cross and through the resurrection. You see this lived out in the framework of Orthodox Christianity. Everything we do, when we participate in the life of the Church is a chance to participate in this reconciled and redeemed creation. All things, even time, become an opportunity for communion (unity) with God, if we only participate. Though as we start out on this journey our vision of what this means is very dim, and we can only understand and see a glimmer of the light that is possible, as time goes on and we participate more and more and receive the soul healing that Christ works out in us, the light gets brighter and we see and understand more of what it means to live in this redeemed or reconciled state. Disclaimer: I'm a brand new baby Orthodox Christian, so don't take my words as dogma. This is my personal experience as of yet. I don't speak for the whole Church, just for my own personal experience, and how this verse and this idea of salvation is being worked out in my life, thus far. It's a journey of repentance, cleansing, healing, and continuing on from "glory to glory." "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." -2 Corinthians 3:18

Tough question. I'll think on that and maybe answer later. I'm having a tough time with the "benefited" part. Contemplating...

Not Reformed here, but I have a suggestion; I hope that's OK. I promise to give objective advice. :D What if you and your family took a little time off of church attendance and in it's place study the topic of "going to church?" You could tackle it like any important subject: read the words of the "greats" on the subject, what did they say about why we go to church, what does the Bible say about why we go to church, were there "greats" in your tradition who didn't have a church of their persuasion, if so what did they do? It might be fun to study the act of going to church, and you might also get a better picture of why Christians do it and maybe the result will help you with deciding what venue would be best in your situation.

I second the Capitol city dress up, make it a costume party. My DD dressed up Capitol city style for Halloween this last year. So fun!

OtBrink, I had rebellious periods too and I felt protected by my angel or Jesus. I always felt Him calling me back when I was living in an unworthy manner, well still do, just over different matters. It's a lifelong journey of repentance, eh?

I don't know how I know, but ever since my first childhood memories (age 2 or 3) I remember believing in God and wanting to know God and be near/with Him. As a little child, age 5 or so someone told me His name, Jesus. I had my mom take me to church, even though she wasn't church going. I called upon Him in every need by singing the Jesus Loves Me song. I don't have any very emotional stories or obvious "this is God" moments but a long abiding love and longing to know Him and be with Him and now that I'm Orthodox and the music is worshipful, worship Him. I hope you find the assurance you are looking for. Sometimes when I have doubting moments, which are more frequent now that I'm Orthodox (which makes me think the enemy is at work) it helps me to zoom out and look at big picture across time and space and the immensity of that puts my mind at ease that there must be God.

I second Psalm 91.

This thread has been on my mind, and since my last post I stumbled across this series of videos describing the history of Orthodox Christian worship, and how our worship comes directly from the Old Testament Temple worship and synagogue worship. These videos are very short (2 minutes or so each), but very informative to explain our liturgical worship, and also to explain icons (which was a topic earlier) and incense, etc. etc. in the use of worship and the historical and theological significance of these. I highly recommend these to anyone who is interested in the Jewish roots of Orthodox Christian worship and/or ancient Christian worship in general. The one titled "The Divine Liturgy" explains the ties to Temple and synagogue worship. http://www.youtube.com/user/stpaulorthodox?feature=watch Enjoy!

This college allows you to go at your own pace, which can be very fast if you are motivated: http://www.wgu.edu/.

Thanks for all the advise and links everyone! Now does anyone know what the best off site option is, that has the most convenient and frequent shuttle back and forth from the parks? DH is doing his best to balance budget and time maximization, as well as my need to be able to conveniently return to the room midday for a nap, etc....

I wonder what the wait times are like in May.

Ages 14, 10, 8, and 5 in May. :D

Ah The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Cure... <3 The cries of humanity come in many forms and styles. These speak to me, but I do exercise a bit of caution that I don't rely on this music to feed my soul, but only to enjoy the common human groanings. All things in moderation a wise priest once told me.

We are going to Disney World in May. This will be our first time. We have 4 kids, so 6 all together. We need advice for a room to fit all of us, 1 king and 2 doubles or queens and 2 bathrooms and a shuttle to and from the park. We are used to the family suite at LaQuinta at Anaheim and around $120-$140 per night with a shuttle that goes back and forth every hour or so, but we can't find that in Orlando. This will be our first time at DW. We will have 7 days there. I'm so excited! Can I get some advice from the DW experts?

If my priest saw this, I think he would :svengo:. I love John Chapter 6, especially from vs. 48 or so and on. This is the heart and soul of our Christianity! And as for me, :001_wub: .

I know I didn't answer your question directly, so I'll attempt to do that now. Yes, there was a time where I wanted my Christian walk to be more Jewish. I was a participant in the modern Protestant vein of Christianity known as Messianic Christianity. I attended Friday evening Shabbat services, Saturday morning Sabbath services (I'm not sure if I got these names right, it's been many years), and participated in many other activities from that recently introduced (historically speaking) tradition. It didn't satisfy. In fact, it served as a burden to my husband and I and felt very contrived. It was short lived in our lives, about a year or so, and we left that vein for non-denominational Christianity for the next 12 years. Somewhere in this time I also used Heart of Wisdom homeschool resources, which seems to be a Messianic Christian homeschool resource. So, yes, the desire was there, but it was not satisfied at the core of what the desire really was (for me) from these Messianic Christian efforts. Since converting to Orthodox Christianity I have fully embraced the cycle of fasts and feasts and though it hasn't even been a year yet, I can see the help it has on my soul. I can rest in the traditions that have been practiced since the earliest Christians walked this earth, and I can trust that the Holy Spirit has led His Church until now and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.

These portions of your post really jumped out at me, and I relate to these descriptions of where you are at with my own Christian journey. Two years ago the "same old same old," was taking it's tole on my Christian walk in the form of church programs, fads, leaders (authors/pastors/influences) which made their way into and out of the church for a good purpose, which was to edify and build up the body of Christ, but for me all that was just wearing me down. I couldn't reconcile all the influences that came into the church where one guy says "this," and another guy says "that," and there wasn't enough consistency, agreement, or evidence to me that all these programs and leaders were being directly influenced by the Holy Spirit. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I thought they were of an evil spirit or something, but the lack of agreement on major points just made me think, "How can all these men who say different things be directed by the Holy Spirit?" I got to a point where I couldn't read any more Christian books or attend any more seminars or participate in any more church programs. I took about a year off and pulled away completely from all authors and programs, etc. It was nice to spend a year off of all that stuff and just "be." But then I felt a distinct need for something. I thought to myself, "if I can't read anymore authors, participate in any programs, or attend anymore seminars without wanting to pull my hair out, then what CAN I do to in this Christian walk thing? Who can I listen to? What can I read, and if it's the Bible only, then who will interpret it for me? How do I know what the Bible means?" This experience led me to post on the General Board and ask what I should do with my Christian walk from here. I got some really great replies (many, many pages) and a couple of ladies introduced me to Orthodox Christianity. I had never heard of such a thing. I was scared. I didn't want to change churches or go down a totally different path. But, I was so much at a dead end I decided to look it up and listen to some podcasts. I dialed up Ancient Faith Radio and the Foundations of the Orthodox Faith series and my husband and I listened to hour after hour of what it looks like to be an Orthodox Christian. Then we listened to Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, which instructed us on church history and why western (American) Christianity looks the way it does today. My eyes were opened so wide I could not go back to the way I was practicing Christianity before (well I didn't want to go back to that anyway), but now I had something to dive into. So many of the questions that were in the back of my mind throughout my entire Christian walk were answered, such questions as: what happened to miracles, why does the church look so different today than it did in the book of the Acts, what's the deal with fasting, why does Jesus say to the man who asked for salvation that he should sell all he has and give it to the poor (who does that?), what about our form of worship - where did that come from and is that how Jesus established worship to be, what do the words of Jesus mean (they seem so hard to do), and on and on...question upon question was answered for me in the history, practice, and the lives of those who lived and live within the Orthodox Church. So, a year and a half later on Pascha of last year I and my family were baptized (our oldest child a few months later than the rest of us). I'm not going to lie, it was and continues to be the hardest path I've had to walk thus far in my life. It's not easy being an Orthodox Christian and I believe that the enemy of our souls is particularly upset that we became Orthodox. We have had several very unpleasant (to say the least) experiences since then, and they continue to dog us. However, now with the strength of the Orthodox Church and the 2,000 years of history and examples to look to, and of course the help of the Holy Spirit, and all that the Church has to offer in the cycle of fasts and feast days, I feel more help than ever in my Christian walk. I hope you find exactly what you need to be completely close and united to God in Christ. May God grant you peace and grace in this journey to you and your family. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat.

Orthodox Christians do not believe in Original Sin. My priest taught me that it was a western innovation within Christianity, not a "Christian Innovation." We believe Christ conquered death by death.

Nono, may your cousin's memory be eternal.

35 minutes, 26 miles. This is the closest Orthodox Christian church to me.

Peace and Church and Peace and more Peace, oh and Mercy with a topping of Peace. :D

5LM, yes, well said, but I disagree slightly in that the program gets most of the credit in my book. Without that program I would have possibly just read a picture book, have the kids narrate back, end of story and no gems were found. But, because of the "method," as you rightly called it, we got so much meat out of our little story books. That's why I clarified what kind of responses I was looking for though, and that would include "methods," or anything that has been a "love" experience. I'm looking for high quality resources, methods, etc for all our subjects, not just literature. I want to get the true, noble, just, etc out of say, science and history and geography and art. Many gems have been listed here. I'm looking into a certain art program. I love Beautiful Feet geography in a similar way, it would be #2 in my love list for this year. I like your contribution to the thread. You helped to clarify what I'm asking. Thank you.

Ah, very helpful. Thank you. :D

OK. I posted my confused post while you were posting this one. I'm no longer confused. Thank you.