I grew up in a church that had 1000+ members. We attended there for a while after we were married. It's a good church. There were no doctrinal problems, but we always thought the sermons were a little "light". We switched churches 7 years ago because of a fabulous preacher who really preached "meaty" sermons and the church, though quite small, was growing. Three years ago, our pastor was caught in infidelity and the church went into crisis. We were able to pull out, but we were quite damaged. Fast forward to today, we now have a wonderful, caring pastor, but our church, while we average about 70-80 each Sunday, is demographically skewed. We have a huge number of elderly. So, the burden of running the church falls on a few and it's exhausting. We do love our church, but our kids attend all the youth functions at our old church, since there's nothing for them at our church. And I agree with what a PP said about mega-churches being re-bound churches. I do want to serve in church. I think it's important. But in our church, the burden of service falls to a small group because the poor little old ladies who hobble in with their walkers..... They can't run the games at VBS, or do those other things. And I'm in charge of Children's Church, but I can't find many volunteers, so I teach half the time, even though I'm missing the sermon. Though it's come down to, if my two daughters are the only ones who will be in Children's Church (as it is often), I just cancel Children's Chuch. Sometimes I really want to go back to our old church.

He was truly amazing. I don't know when I've seen a goalie work that hard.

It ain't over, Baby! Come on boys!

And I think that's about it!:(

Poor Tim Howard. He has played a game, that's for sure!

Can you get it on Univision?

Goooooaaaaaaaaal! Belgium! :(

It is pretty agonizing!

I am having a heart attack. But I will be seriously ticked off if they have to have one of those stupid shoot-out tie breakers. Those poor goalies must be exhausted!

We adopted all of our children and so, in a sense, we have more "control" than others maybe, but when we adopted our last 2 girls DH said we were done. I would have loved to adopt again, and we had an opportunity about a year and a half ago, but declined, which was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I understand the reasons.... we have 5, we are in our mid-40's, none of our kids are low-maintainance, but I guess I mourned when we "declined the opportunity." I cried. I day-dreamed. And it's tough now. I used to put all the outgrown clothes away for the next one, but now when my baby grows out of clothes I give them to charity. And there's a little lump in my throat.

Bummed Mexico lost. I didn't watch the game (church trumps the soccer game) but I heard Mexico played well.

I have personally not used Sonlight, but I do think you would be doing yourself and your children a disservice if you didn't check it out for yourself. As a Christian parent, you have an obligation to not only raise your children in the faith, but also to give them an excellent education. Just because a book is written by a Christian author or has Christian values does not mean it is excellent literature. My kid picked up some books by Danae Dobson (Dr. James Dobson's daughter) in our church library. Now, from a strictly content stand-point they were good books. Good lessons, etc. But they were the most poorly written books I have ever seen. I couldn't believe they actually got published. But they was Christian. So, there is a balance. We use A Beka's readers in the early grammar years in our house and I don't think anyone would argue that they are a very Conservative Christian publisher. But they don't necessarily us Christian authors. The selections they include are from good children's literature. Besides, what is the definition of Christian literature? A Christian author? A book that mentions God? A good book with no bad language or violence?

That was great!

He sure is! So is Cavani. I'm cheering for Columbia, though. And I really don't know why!

You are not the only one!

Ok, so what is Uruguay going to do without Suarez? In one of the earlier games he made their only 2 goals.

Woohoo! Go Brasil! Love that shoot-out at the end!

My dh is an engineer and he makes a decent living. We're not rich, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a different world that we live in now and people just need to learn how to navigate it. When I was a teen, everyone worked in the summer in the agriculture industry. Back in the 80's, if you got on at a good packing shed you could make $3-5,000 in a summer. That was good money back then. Plus, a kid learned how to work and work hard. Now, because of all the regulations, it is very hard for kids to find a job. One thing I think, too, is that there are a lot of factors involved in getting a job, keeping a job, how much $ you make.... and some are not in a person's control. Dh didn't seek out the job he has now. He's just a regular guy, not in a particularly specialized field, but he is smart and he's a hard worker and so a guy he used to work with was looking for an engineer, so he called dh and dh got the job. And a significant raise. So much of where a person ends up in life is a result of who you know, being at the right place at the right time, taking advantage of opportunities and just dumb luck in some situations. Oh, and it's not just the CEO's and those "at the top" on Wall Street who are well paid. Somehow those pesky celebrities and sports stars don't get their fair share of bashing when people complain about how much some people make. Why don't we ever see "Occupy Hollywood" or "Occupy the NBA"?

My children have "earlier" bedtimes - 8:30 for my 8 & 10 year old and 9:00 for my 11 year old. The reason.... Dh and I are in bed by 10:00. He's up before 6:00 every morning, and if I want to get any exercise in, I have to be done before he leaves for work. My children are extremely interactive and high maintenance. When they are up, dh and I have to be "on". And we just need some time to relax and have a little private time and just be quiet for a few minutes before we go to bed, and the only way that's gonna happen is if the kids are in bed with lights out.

We've done the first book, and are a little over half way through the second. We go very very slowly. I don't think it (predestination) has come up. What I find to be most Reformed so far is the idea of God's sovereignty over people and events. Although we are Reformed, and this being our belief system, I am probably not as sensitive as one who does not believe that way.

Kind of makes me want to go out and get a mullet, too. To wear with my leg warmers.

I sit down, watch a soccer game and try to forget about all the things I have to do. Which is what I am doing right now.

And this is what I struggle with. Facts are facts and I accept that, and if my body needs a significantly fewer amount of calories then that's not something I'm going to be able to change. And I also realize there are a lot of things in my diet that I can change without killing myself, but... What it's going to take to make a significant change in my weight.... I just struggle with. That's what I'm almost paralyzed by, really. I enjoy cooking and I enjoy eating. To me, that is part of my quality of life, and to have to go down to a 1300 calorie/day limit, because that's what it's going to take.... I am having a really hard time. And I do try to exercise, but I hate exercising. And I know.... excuses, excuses....

Morning Girls, It has been such a nice week. Kids have been at VBS every morning and all I have is my 3 year old. Today.... ** housework ** work on our own VBS stuff (kids are at my parents' church's VBS this week, ours is in a couple of weeks) ** post office Have a great day, all!

I completely understand! Last spring my dh had business in Germany and in England. And I stayed home. And then his company was sold and the chances of him getting to Europe again are pretty slim. There have been many times where I just want to say, "da&n the torpedoes, full steam ahead" and worry about the mess later. But I don't. Because I am responsible!