John 12:4-6 (New International Version) 4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

I didn't read all the answers, so I apologize if I repeat someone. If your husband is a true believer, and he finds that his friend has true fruit of salvation, your husband can most certainly baptize him. My husband, who is a baptized, born again Christian, baptized me at a local beach. The 'pastor' at the 'church' you have been attending for a few weeks seems more than questionable to me. Baptism is not for obtaining membership to a 'church'. It is because you have repented and been born again. Just my opinion, but you may want to find another group of believers to fellowship with if that man has any leadership role. I find it disturbing that he would not baptize a believer.

In Matthew 27, it says that Judas tried to return the 30 silver coins to the chief priests. Matthew 27, 3-4 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. "I have sinned,"he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." The passages in bold indicate to me that Judas was aware that he had sinned, and was sorry for it. However, they do not tell us that he repented for his sin. In fact, in verse 5 it tells us that Judas hanged himself. To me, this would indicate that Judas was so distraught over the situation, he could not handle it. If he had, in fact, repented of his sin and received forgiveness from the Lord, his burden would not have been so heavy that he felt the need to end his life. To me, it has nothing to do with the 'sin' of suicide. It has to do with why he commited suicide. Based on this, It is my opinion that Judas is in hell. Being aware that you sin, or even being sorry for it, is not sufficient. We must also confess and repent. The bible says that we must 'perservere to the end', which it does not appear that Judas did. Of course, just my opinion. ;)

Hey, I know this is off topic, but tell me that I can get a copy of this song?! I wasn't sure one existed, but have been wanting to find one! Where did you find it? Ladies, help me out here! Is there one for just the New Testament, or is there one for the Old Testament, too? One with all of them in it? Can someone PM me? Please?

Wow, great post. I wholeheartedly agree.

:iagree:

:lurk5: Great post! I'll be watching... I have two boys, age 3 and 5. I also have two stepchildren, age 11 and 14. I struggle with the same exact issue you posted about; explaining why we homeschool without putting down public school. Since their big brother and big sister go to public school, I don't want my little guys to worry about them, feel bad for them, or think someone is being treated unfairly. It's tricky...

We've taught our boys (3 and 5) that Santa isn't real, but that it's a fun make-believe that people do. But we're also teaching them that some kids think he's real, and that it's not their job to correct other children. It's tough. We've had some awkward moments when strangers (the dental hygenist and the grocery clerk, for example) ask my ds5 what he asked 'Santa' to bring him for Christmas. He just politely but, um, not discreetly tells them that he knows Santa isn't real. Ugh. It's a tough decision. Hopefully someone will have some advice on how to talk to your dd. Sorry I'm no help.

Stacy, I'm sorry the little one has strep, but I'm glad you had her checked. I'm also happy to hear the car problem wasn't a big one! Hang in there. You'll all be feeling better soon. :grouphug:

Stacy, you poor thing! My 3 year old had hives a few weeks ago. Not sure if that's what you're describing or not. We could not figure out what was causing them. They'd come and go, on different parts of his body. But, when we gave him Benadryl, they'd go away. It took us a while to figure out that a new (supposedly allergen free :glare:) laundry detergent was to blame. Even then, it took another week to figure out that a blanket that we keep in the family room had been washed in the offending soap, and was causing occasional recurrences. All that to say, has she been exposed to any new foods, soaps, household cleaners, etc? My pediatrician told me that if you give benadryl and the rash goes away, then you know it's an allergy to something. Maybe you could try that? Hugs to you and the little one; I know well how hard it is to be home with the children and have no car. I'll say a prayer for all of you.

What's with everyone and all their expired milk today? :lol: Seriously, we never have that problem around here. I've gotta keep on top of it or we'll run out!

Heather, I'm not sure where you are. I'm about an hour north of Detroit. One of the story time librarians at our library knows that I homeschool, and she's involved with 4H. I don't know much about it either, and my guys are a bit young (3 and 5), but they do have groups in our area. In fact, the librarian said she was going to bring me some information about the club, but then story time took a break for the holidays. We'll be starting back next week, and I'll ask her for it again. If you want to pm me and let me know where you're located, I can ask her if she knows of any clubs close to you.

My son is 5 1/2. He's doing second grade language arts, and we recently learned about homophones. He LOVES it. We have quite a few I Spy books. In one of them, you're supposed to find a bee on each page. I don't know how many times you can say 'I wonder where the BEE could BE?' in ten minutes, but he still chuckles every single time he says it. :D Ah, the adorable life of a five-year-old who makes grammar jokes... At dinner, he told me he made up a new joke. It goes like this: Coffee makes you cough. E. Well, it was funny to him. :lol: ETA: I'm born and raised in Michigan. To me, Mary and Merry are homophones. Our children's librarian is Ms. Merry Jane, and it's pronounced 'Mary' Jane.

Sounds like my 11 year old step son's feet when his eczema is really bad. His mother thought he had athlete's foot, too, when it started a few years ago. But the athlete's foot medicines did no good. We have him use Aquaphor on his feet daily to keep them from getting bad. Do a search, there was a great thread a day or two ago about home eczema treatments on this board.

I have a 11yo stepson. While I never claim to feel the exact same way toward him as I do to my two bio. sons, I feel it is hurtful to assume that someone's stepmother will not care for them 'as much' as their biolical mother does. I love my stepson, and care as much about his saftey, future, happiness, etc. as my bioligical sons. Just because we don't have the same exacty type of bond does not make one bond 'more' or 'less' than the other. As to the OP, I totally understand your situation. My husband and the mother of his two oldest children were never married. However, they have joint custody, and neither one can move out of the state without court permission. And likely, given the age of the children (11 and 14), the court would let them decide where to live if one of them did move. No advice, just :grouphug:. It's a very hard decision.

The Bible. :)

Wow. WOW. I coudn't agree with you less. That's just, wow. I absolutly want my boys to wait until they're married. That is God's plan. I find nothing at all 'creepy' about it, and honestly, I had no idea anyone actually found it creepy. I guess, now I do.

Hey, what a neat idea, I've never even heard of this before! I will be using this soon when we host our home fellowship. Thanks for the great idea!

Well, I've mentioned on these boards a few times that my family does not attend a 'church'. Rather, we have home fellowship with other believers. I'd really like to point out a few things: The church is not a building, it is the group of people that are true followers of Christ. In the Bible, the church is never the building where belivers meet, it is the believers themselves, collectively, as a whole. In fact, our family makes a clear distinction when discussing these two very different things. We refer to either a 'church building' or a 'steeplehouse' when refrencing the building, and we use the word 'church' to denote true followers of Christ. In the new testament, Christians met primarily in homes. Which would also indicate that they met primarily in small groups. This is the biblical model, and the one we follow. The new testament is also very clear that believer's meetings are run by a group of elders. Not one man. One may bring a teaching, one a song, one a prophecy, etc. Not 45 minutes to an hour of listening to the same man speak, week after week. Also, elders are men. Not women. Women should not teach in a beliver's meeting, unless it is just a meeting of women. The bible is expicitly clear on this. I know many like to debate this, and that's not my intent. I believe there is no room for debate. I'd ask you to read 1 Corintians 14 and Titus 2 for reference. Search the scriptures, and learn about BIBLICAL fellowship of the saints. Forget pretty much everything that modern American 'Christianity' teaches. The book of Acts is very clear, with lots of great instruction on how we are to meet together. Then pray, seek the Lord. If we truly desire fellowship, he will draw us together with other believers.

We are currently using Developing Motor Skills in Art with my ds 5 1/2. He's in second grade academics, but I like to keep things like art at his 'age' level instead of his 'grade' level. He still needs motor skill practice, just like all 5 year olds. He's really enjoying the projects. I skipped some of the first few, since they were mostly coloring. We kinda pick and choose what we do. But they've been a lot of fun, and have gotten my very non-creative little guy actually looking forward to his art lessons. I got a set of the teacher's book and student packet used for a good price. Of course the student pages aren't 'used', and I make copies of whatever student pages we use, since I expect to use this again with my younger ds.

My opinion? You should've let her choose which she wanted to do; decorate the tree, or go to the concert. That's just my two cents. My dh, I suspect, would probably agree with you. Which means in our house, my dsd14 would not have gone, she would've decorated the 'stupid tree'. :) Well, we don't have a tree, but I'm sure dh would've made her stay for a planned family thing. He doesn't like short notice, either.

I am not a fan of children babysitting siblings at all really, so maybe my opinion is skewed. I was responsible for my then one year old sister when I was 13. All day, five days a week, while on summer vacation, and frequently in the evenings and on weekends during the school year. It is VERY stressful for a child to be so responsible for their sibling. Ironically, my now 19 year old sister lives with me, dh, and our family. Funny how I'm responsible for her again after all these years. But I digress... I don't even have my very mature 14 year old stepdaughter babysit my 3yo and 5yo boys. She will play with them and occupy them while there is another adult home, but never without an adult here in case of an emergency. I know she could, she is absolutely wonderful with them. Very patient, thoughtful, loves them to pieces. But I just can't bring myself to put that responsibility on her. I'm sure that has much to do with my childhood, and very little to do with reality. But that's how I feel.

It's traditional chicken noodle soup; chicken, noodles, carrots, celery, and onion. So this will freeze good? It did definitely 'grow'; I had no idea I'd end up with such a big pot of soup! But if this means I can keep homemade soup on hand in the freezer, instead of store bought canned soup in the cupboard, well, I'm one happy lady!

A few days ago, some lovely ladies here helped me with my stock and soup making questions. Now, my wonderful smelling pot of soup is simmering away for dinner. However, there is NO WAY we will eat all of it tonight! So, can I freeze it? Will it freeze good, and taste good later? Or is it soup for us for the next few days? :)

I had this same exact problem with my ds who just turned 3. We are toilet training, too, and doing well. However, if it had been a while since he went, and I said 'do you have to go potty?', he'd all of a sudden realize that yes, he indeed did have to go potty. And then he'd go while he or I were taking off his pants. It seemed like once I brought it too his attention, he had to go so bad he couldn't hold it. Even if he didn't really have to go that bad (based on the amount of output, if ykwim). So what I've started doing is, when I know it's time for him to try, I'll say 'come here!', not saying why, or else I would just go to where he is. Then I make sure we're very close to the bathroom (pretty easy, since the family room, kitchen, and his bedroom are all within a few steps of the bathroom). Then, I remove his pants and underwear as quick as I can, then say, excitedly, 'time to go potty!'. and he runs and sits on the potty. It's working quite well. I also found the trick was to wear undies and pants that are very easy to get off.