We have friends who have been missionaries in Japan for over 30 years. Their youngest daughter, who is in her early 20's and living in the U.S., has been in a serious accident. A horse that was loose ran across the road and hit her side of the car. She is in intensive care in critical condition. Please pray for the bleeding to stop in her brain and that her brain pressure will stabilize. She is under sedation and on a ventilator. Her parents are currently in Japan, but I am sure they will be traveling back to the U.S. to be with her. Please pray for them and for everyone caring for their daughter. Thank you all.

I'd have her take it without delay. Poison ivy is miserable. BTW, Zyrtec might work better than Benadryl.

Become a vegan (or cut out dairy). Use cloth pads.

My two cents as a non-Catholic, pro-life Christian: I won't use any birth control that has any potential of preventing implantation. That includes all forms of hormonal birth control and all types of IUD's. I see no Scriptural prohibition on the use of other birth control methods. Condoms plus spermicide are 99% effective and I don't have any moral qualms about them. I have used NFP and I personally think it is more beneficial to the marriage relationship to use other methods (YMMV, of course). Blessings to you, AnnE-girl.

I :001_wub: my LONG L.L. Bean fleece robe. I bought it years ago and it's still keeping me warm.

:iagree: with both of the above posts. There have always been those who have faithfully followed Christ, both inside and outside of "official" churches. I hope this wasn't directed at anyone in particular. If so, it was a very unkind thing to say. Maybe I've misunderstood, though, and you're speaking in generalities--in which case I would tend to agree.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Fun!! :)

I couldn't watch it. I watched a little of it. Horrible. That poor man. As others have said--if you're not angry, you're not paying attention. :(

Some of us would beg to differ. ;) I like this simple article on which church is the original church of Jesus Christ. I'm not looking for a debate, so that's all I'll say on the topic here. Peace to all.

When I was questioning whether or not I was a Christian, I found the book of 1 John to be very helpful. Blessings to you in your search. ETA: gotquestions.org is also an excellent, non-denominational resource.

The New Testament teaches that Christians are not under the law given to the Jewish people. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." Romans 10:4 "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:14 "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." Galatians 3:24 (I recommend reading all of Galatians 3 for more insight on this.) I believe Christians are only obligated to obey those Old Testament commandments which are repeated by Christ or his apostles in the New Testament.

Oh, boy, Janeway. Lots of good questions. :) I'll take a stab at a couple of them, probably not all at once. I'm a theologically conservative Christian of no particular denomination, so my answers are coming from that perspective. Before Christ came, righteous Jewish people did not go to hell; they went to a place referred to by Jesus as Abraham's bosom (scripture here; a good summary here). We know that King David expected to meet his son in the afterlife as well. I believe that saints who lived before Christ's death were saved by repentance and faith, even though they had incomplete knowledge of the coming Savior. “Then [Abraham] believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.†Genesis 15:6 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:10-14 The Bible also indicates that in the past God had mercy on those who were ignorant about Him: "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.†Acts 17:30-31 (Read Paul's whole sermon in Athens here.) Now, faith in Christ (not membership in any particular church) is necessary for salvation: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.†Acts 4:12 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:6 I do believe that those who have not heard of Christ will be judged based on the knowledge they did have and how they responded to it: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." Romans 1:20 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7:8

I like this natural deodorant (not an antiperspirant) for kids: Keep It Kind For myself, I like CertainDri. It's not all natural, but they don't test on animals. :thumbup1: I really like Everyone Soap for the bath, but I don't use it as shampoo. It's one of the most inexpensive natural body washes I've found, and it smells yummy. Out of an abundance of caution, I try to avoid products with lavender and/or tea tree oil.

LOL. I'm not a Hillary fan, but I :001_wub: free speech.

Like this guy who apparently sent one of his victims a "Sorry I Tased You" cake. I wish I were kidding. ETA: I looked for this story on Snopes before posting here, but they hadn't mentioned it yet. Correction: the police officer sent his victim a photo of a "Sorry I Tased You Cake," not an actual cake. Classy.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Here's an infuriating article about 11- and 12-year-old football players who have been threatened with *lynching* for taking a knee during the anthem. Their head coach has been suspended for the season for doing the same. And I'm sure most of you have heard about the high school football announcer who suggested that people not standing for the anthem be shot. :rolleyes:

I really like what David West, a basketball player, had to say about Kaepernick: West compared Kaepernick’s actions to someone being drowned with "the environment around you, and the waves and current getting stronger," and once the person’s head is above water, "you hear people in the boat complaining about you splashing.†“We’ve got to look at ourselves and ask whether folks are capable of treating other people like human beings,†he told The Undefeated. “That’s a fundamental question we have to ask before we get to the color of your skin. Do people have the capability to recognize humanity in other people? When you shoot somebody with their hands up, as a human, you should feel that. When you’re choking someone to death and you have your arm around their neck and they say, ‘I can’t breathe,’ you should be able to feel that s—." “And if you can’t feel that s—, then I’m wondering if you have the capacity to recognize humanity. That’s what all of this is about. And until we’re ready to have a serious conversation like that, people are going to continue to fuss about somebody taking a knee."

According to this article, one of the police officers knew the father before the incident. Some bad blood there, maybe? Absolutely inexcusable and horrifying.

We have Rose Publishing's fold-out Tabernacle booklet and love it. I have also seen the denominations comparison chart Patty Joanna mentioned and thought it seemed sound.

When I was on a mostly vegan diet (I ate eggs) for several years, my endometriosis pain decreased markedly. I no longer needed huge amounts of ibuprofen, and I could actually function on the first day of my period rather than staying curled up in a fetal position with a heating pad or in the shower. It was really glorious. I am no longer mostly-vegan, but I have found that just cutting out or cutting down on dairy is very helpful in decreasing my endo pain. I am also a kidney stone former (25+ stones in my life), and I had no stones at all while I was mostly-vegan. I easily maintained a thin figure. However, I think the diet did make me feel a bit more spacy and more apt to be sleepy during the day. I might have avoided that by taking iron.

I've done it many times and never had a single complaint. Maybe it's against the rules at some places?

IMO, 3-4 weeks is way too long to leave a dog in a boarding kennel, even a nice one. My dog was always super stressed by even a day or two. We have stayed in nice hotels with a dog many times. We always left our dog in the hotel room, inside a fold up pen, with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. I came back to the hotel once during the afternoon to let him out. He understood the arrangement quickly and knew we would come back. I don't think he always knew that at a kennel. :( It probably helped that all our "stuff" was in the room with him. If you hire someone to come to your home and take care of your dog, please be sure they are very responsible and take time to play with and snuggle with your dog. She's going to be very lonely (not trying to guilt trip you; it's just a fact). You could try dogvacay.com if you want to hire someone to care for your dog in their home. I have no experience with it, but I'm sure it would be more pleasant than a kennel. The sitters usually have pets of their own as well. However, your dog may still wonder if you're coming back for her!

There's a debate tonight?