You don't really need one, because so much of it is oral. I had a pack of those black-and-white blank journals for the kids - they are lined on the lower half of each page with the upper half blank - and that was perfect for copywork and doing the illustration exercises. Cheap and available at WalMart.

:grouphug::grouphug: and our very sincere gratitude to your husband and your family for what you are giving up to serve us. I'll be praying for him and for your family.

Carli, I can't say that I "turned from" non-Calv to Calvinism - it was more like the Holy Spirit kept showing me. (Is that a Calvinist answer or what?!) The Lord brought specific people into my life to explain things, led us to a church that teaches from a Calvinist view, and by the Holy Spirit, reading Scripture was like trying to sip from a fire hydrant. The Word just poured forth confirmation to me. I don't think I've ever heard our pastor preach on predestination, he just preaches from the Word. God is so much bigger (more sovereign, more glorious, more powerful) than He was in my early Christian walk. And yet He is so much more personal. It's like getting to know a friend - the more you see, the more you know - the more intimate you are. I used to wonder if I was really saved. Did I pray hard enough? Did that time I asked Jesus into my heart count, or did that one? Oops, I sinned; I better go ask Him to save me again. My acknowledgement of sin was far too light; my esteem of Him as my Savior was far too casual. The TULIP (yes I'm a 5pointer who believes that if .5 goes, they all go) assures me of so many things that take the onus off of me, thank God, and rest all the glory upon Him where it rightly belongs. I can look back and see the places where He has worked things, good and bad, together for my good. Not my earthly happy-moment good, but my eternal, grow-up-and-love-Him-more good. My father's death, the loss of a baby to miscarriage, the salvation of those I know and love - all in His hands, far more capable than my own. Here's where I stand at this point in my sanctification: there's not a part of me that is unaffected by my sin; there's no part of me to which I can turn for help. Despite my sin AND with no regard for any so-called righteousness in me, God chose me from the foundations of the earth. Jesus' suffering and death on the cross paid the exact, precise penalty for my sin. He didn't pay extra just in case He missed something, and He didn't pay short and leave it up to me to make up the difference. The Spirit regenerated my dead heart at a time determined by Him, and when He did, His truth made all the sense in the world - so much sense that to choose anything but to follow Him would have been madness. And because He has paid the price for me, He's not going to let me slip from His hand. I am His doulos; He is my Master. There are no shackles between us, just His love pouring forth. He is becoming more and more the center and focus of all. This life is just a blink; we are being prepared for eternity in His presence. I once lived in the world, but was ignorant of its creator, was partaker of thy providences, but knew not the provider, was blind while enjoying the sunlight, was deaf to all things spiritual, with voices all around me, understood many things but had no knowledge of thy ways, saw the world, but did not see Jesus only. O happy day, when in thy love's sovereignty thou didst look on me, and call me by grace. Then did the dead heart begin to beat, the darkened eye glimmer with light, the dull ear catch thy echo, and I turned to thee and found thee, a God ready to hear, willing to save. That's from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. I highly recommend it for your personal devotion and study.

http://bibchr.blogspot.com/ http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/ http://stevenjcamp.blogspot.com/ http://www.challies.com/ http://www.albertmohler.com/blog.php http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/bookmark.htm http://www.sfpulpit.com/ http://purechurch.blogspot.com/ http://teampyro.blogspot.com/ http://www.oldtruth.com/ http://doulogos.blogspot.com/ http://theologica.blogspot.com/ http://voiceofvision.blogspot.com/

You've found one of my favorite bloggers! His personal blog is here: http://bibchr.blogspot.com/ and he is one of the three (also like-minded) Pyromaniacs at http://teampyro.blogspot.com/.

Torture. Absolutely go with the torture. Give in to your inner Machiavelli. It's even better when they do it right in the middle of the room, where you can very deliberately walk over them and act like they're nothing more than a misplaced piece of furniture. :D

My heart hurts, Laura - how incredibly arrogant are those who would say such a thing. I'd like to ask them: how do we ever learn and grow if it's not through our trials and mistakes we make, suffering the consequences and recognizing the wisdom of choosing a better path? My husband and I did not remain pure before marriage. This line of reasoning would tell us that, since we engaged in premarital sex, we have no right to take a stance for purity before marriage. Hogwash. Some people need to be reminded how far the east is from the west.

:iagree: Christa, my dd (almost 10) was in ps with a spiral new-math curriculum that had her so boggled that she wept daily over math. Her self-confidence was absolutely abysmal and it broke our hearts. When we switched from ps to home, I had to just completely stop doing math that bore any resemblance to what she had been doing. We went back to basic math facts using handheld electronic games, flash cards, hopscotch, kitchen math - and sometimes just stopped doing math altogether. It took us an entire year to undo the emotional strings that were attached to math (and I'm not sure they're completely gone, but they're certainly less influential than they used to be). What a blessing that you love math and are enthused about teaching it! But I'd recommend backing off any rigorous curricula or high expectations until she is also enthused. That might take weeks. Go to your teacher supply store and buy colorful workbooks that review concepts she knows. Be content with making progress in her attitude about math, even if she learns no new math concepts for a while. Once we loosened some of those emotional strings, my daughter made it through a review of MathUSee Alpha level, all of Beta, and 10 lessons into Gamma level in less than one school year. We just had to get out from under that emotional cloud.

Another one here who uses both. Moose is an auditory/verbal learner. FLL is a great fit with him. Pie is a read/write learner. The out-loud repetition of FLL drove her batty. Transitioned to R&S and it fits her learning style better. Another difference I've noted is FLL is a spiral, isn't it? Round and round, back to nouns again, now adjectives, now a poem, back to nouns...while R&S sticks with one topic then moves along to the next. So I'd consider that difference if you are trying to decide between the two. I think they both succeed in teaching grammar, but the learning style of your students will dictate which one will be a better fit.

Purposely misspelled words to make a store name cute. Like Krispy Kreme. It's Crispy, and it's Creme, with a C! The reel-a-ter told us the house was built on a nook-you-ler waste site. Mixing up site, sight and cite. Site is a place. Sight is what you see. Cite is to quote. Get it straight. The following words are irrationally difficult for me to say without stammering in conversation: mucus, labia, scrotum, saliva. Bad words in our home: pee, shut up, stupid (as an insult). My kids say butt and fart but only because Mom and Dad are so immature that those words make us giggle. :D

Karen, your testimony is beautiful and stirring and I'm praising the Lord because of it! :001_smile:

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Thank you! I'm a doof - the thrill of the green square - oooooooooooh ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

College football, Tour de France, and sometimes figure skating. Although skating is not nearly as fun to watch as it was about 15 years ago!

Well, I just found that I have two squares, and yesterday I had one. So it might have been me! To all of you rep-pushers, thank you so much! :) Now I'm going to go spread some rep, too. :001_smile:

It's great that your sister is starting to "see the light"! Your love of hs'ing is probably a good witness to her. Would it only be a valid turnaround of her opinion if she sees it your way, though? I think "keeping my child away from certain types" is a very valid reason for hs'ing. My kids went to ps for a short time and I am thankful that they are less exposed to the subcultures of fashion-at-all-costs girls (in kindergarten, no less) and glued-to-the-xbox boys at our ps. It was far from our primary reason, but it was a factor. I can see it being a major reason for a family in an area where crime is rampant and the school is not safe. This may or may not be the case for your sister, but I just felt like there was an inference that this is somehow a less noble or less valid reason for hs'ing. :001_smile:

You Shall Teach Them Diligently

Jill, I had a laparoscope-assisted vaginal hysterectomy in March. Kept my ovaries, so I can't say much on the hormone issue, but I'm perfectly willing to discuss the procedure and recovery here or privately. I didn't want to go that drastic either, but I'll join many others here in saying I love the results. Go to the Hystersisters, for sure!!

I was in your very shoes not too long ago. Draw near to God; He will draw near to you. Trust. The sad state of the church in America is that so many have bought into the mocha in the lobby and milquetoast in the pulpit dumbing-down trend that we must be extremely careful as we seek a local body. Pray, pray, pray. What are your deal-breakers in a church? Look for a pastor who teaches from Scripture, rather than topic-driven sermons - teaching line by line through a book or passage, rather than "new series on finding joy in marriage starting next week!" Look for a church body who loves to worship and praise. I could talk for hours about this but I've got to get our day going here - I will check back later.

Since I'm the one who said "blacking out chunks of text" in a previous post, I think you might be referring to me. :001_smile: I believe that Scripture only means what Scripture was intended to mean. Fallen mankind does its best (sometimes) to interpret it, and it is only by the Spirit that we understand it. Even then, we see dimly. Vastly different interpretations of a passage of Scripture means somebody has it wrong. It may not mean that somebody has it absolutely right, either; but I think it is a slippery slope to say that varying personal interpretations are all the result of equal caution/diligence in searching the Scriptures. Scripture doesn't flatly contradict itself. I believe we can be sincere in thinking we've got a portion of Scripture all figured out, but we can be wrong. We won't sort it all out until we are face to face with Jesus (and then it won't matter because it will all be so obvious), but until that time, we should keep our hearts teachable, lay down our pride, seek the wisdom of righteous teachers past and present, seek the Spirit's aid, and be very careful in our handling of Scripture. There is a right way and a wrong way to interpret Scripture, which is not a welcome viewpoint in this postmodern culture, but Scripture warns us over and over of this very thing.

It was when I understood that, short of God's grace, we all would throng to the gates of Hell, that I finally "got it". The backdrop of the 5 points of Calvinism made Scripture come alive and make complete sense to me. It widens the gap between sinful mankind and holy God; it gives God all the glory and all the credit.

The juxtaposition of God's sovereignty and man's free will in Romans is not attached to the same event, though. God is sovereign in our justification (He chooses and saves whom He pleases - election) but we are then set free from bondage to sin. It is in our sanctification that we must choose whether to walk in the Spirit or in the flesh. Very rough paraphrase of Romans 6: God saved you, freed you from bondage to sin and filled you with the righteousness of Christ (sovereignly). Now go live like it (use your will to live in the new life you've been given)!

:iagree: and well said!!

As the provider of the funny link, I just want to apologize if it crossed the line and offended. It's certainly intended to be tongue-in-cheek, but it's probably only funny to us solid Calvinists. :001_smile:

I think you're right on target. We don't know who will accept or reject the gospel; it's our responsibility to spread the word. The Holy Spirit moves where He will, and only a person whose heart has been regenerated (made alive) by the Spirit will understand and accept the gospel. I don't believe we choose whether or not to believe the gospel when we hear it; either the Spirit has opened the eyes of our heart to see, therefore we do believe, or the Spirit has not, and the gospel is foolishness to our ears. What comes next (if we do believe) DOES involve our will, though. Once we've believed on Christ as Savior (because the Father sent the Spirit to draw us to His Son), then we choose whether to walk in light or darkness. We'll battle the flesh all the days of our lives, so every day we choose whether to walk in the flesh or walk in the spirit.

I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God gives the growth. 1 Cor 3:6-7