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http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/07/the_worst_ever_christian_clich.html :lol::lol::lol: Enjoy.

I just read that, too. Spot on. Kevin DeYoung always nails it.

And therein lies the issue. Some people ARE coming from that viewpoint and that is why I would choose to give them the benefit of the doubt... That they were trying to be caring... And not being purposely rude. I also think if I were dying I wouldn't be all that concerned about polite vs. rude. But I am from old school manners where you usually just smile, accept that the other person THINKS they are doing the right thing, feel blessed that they care enough to try, and let it go. YMMV

I recently finished a master's degree online through Piedmont International University. http://Www.pbc.edu I loved it. Online learning is exactly my style.

I always have. I work full time and so does dh. We used to work split shifts so I would get home at 4pm and he would leave at 4:30pm and we split the homeschooling duties. Then we moved here.our youngest ds now goes to our school and loves it but the older one wanted to continue homeschooling so we let him. He does online classes and then we do discussions in the evenings and on weekends, etc. I actually think it is easier when they get older because they don't need your constant supervision. We have a nanny for our 2yo so there is an adult in the home while he works on his lessons but that is about it. It can be done but it is busy and you have to be organized.

Yes. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I don't think the friend had any nefarious purposes in mind. It sounds like the friend CARES about the patient and is trying to share something important. Politics isn't eternally important but to some people, the state of your soul is. Honestly, if I were an unbeliever and on my deathbed, and my friend who is a Christian DIDN'T try to share the gospel with me one last time before I died, I would think she wasn't much of a friend. .

I like that idea!!!!!!

What do I do with myself now? Who am I when I am not "the one who is trying to get a visa for her daughter"? For the last two years I have spent so much time and money and mental energy on this process and now that it is over I feel like I am wandering around in circles and bumping into walls. I am thrilled. Don't get me wrong. But I feel ... I don't know... Weird. :tongue_smilie: .

Ok, seriously... Diet coke just came out my nose. :lol::lol::lol: I say all the time that God gets blamed for a lot of things he supposedly told someone to say or do. I will say right here and now that I have never actually heard God tell me to do or not do anything. I'm not all that sure he has ever actually "laid anything on my heart" either. I simply read the Bible, try to follow it as best I can, and keep in mind the fact that God is sovereign. I'll leave the "word from God" interpretations up to the Olympic Christians. :glare: .

:iagree: Unless my parents specifically asked if I thought they were doing the right thing, I would hold my tongue. They are adults. I don't like people forcing unsolicited opinions on my choices either. If I ask you what your opinion is then fine, but if I don't, then giving it is crossing boundaries. And I am speaking from experience as my parents divorced after 30 years of marriage. Telling them who is making the right choice and who is making the wrong one sets you up as choosing sides and that never goes well. They both need to know that you love them no matter what and you and your kids will still be a part of their life. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

That is a good question. My situation is all over the place. My oldest ds definitely still considers America his home. My youngest ds came here to Malaysia when he was 4 and is about to turn 8 so many of his memories are already of Malaysia. But he is Korean by birth and holds onto that pretty tightly too. So I don't know how he'll end up seeing himself as far as a nationality is concerned when he gets older. Much will probably depend on how long we stay here and where we go next. My daughter is a Malaysian but now she is also an American. I will be curious to see what she thinks when she is older. But realistically, dh and I are American and those values are all over our parenting so it is bound to have an affect. I guess it wouldn't bother me that they identify more with another country as long as they are not anti-America. .

Well my story is a little different. In my family breast feeding wasn't "icky" but it was equated with poverty. My grandmother had 12 children and she breast fed them all. She had no choice. They grew up in abject poverty with not enough shoes to go around so the older kids had to take turns going to school. So when my mom grew up and got married she wanted nothing to do with breast feeding because it reminded her of being desperately poor. NO FEMALE in my family breast fed. No one. No aunts, cousins, nothing. Being able to buy formula was a sign you had made it out of poverty. So when I had a baby it never even occurred to me to breast feed. I had no examples to follow and it was seen in my family as something only poor people in third world countries do. Dh was adopted so his mom had no experience with it and she had already passed away anyways. I wonder what my mom thinks of it now. I think I'll ask her. :tongue_smilie: .

:D I think I will hold onto this and try not to worry about it.

She just turned two and is no longer using a pacifier and lately I have been catching her chewing on her nails... A lot! Yes, I keep them cut short. It doesn't matter. It's like the act of chewing on them is what drives her, not how long they are. Neither of my boys does this and no one in my family does so I am really perplexed as to what to do. I just keeping moving her fingers out of her mouth and saying "don't chew your nails". The only time she doesn't do it is if I let her have her pacifier back which doesn't seem like the best way to handle it. Any suggestions? .

Well the only child I gave birth to was at age 28. Then I adopted at age 34 and again at age 40. Do I still count? :D Although the age span can be challenging, it also allows me to give each child a lot of individual attention as they go through each stage. We are done now and very happy with our family size.

I have to disagree. I live in a country that does NOT tip for services of any kind and it shows in the utter lack of customer service. They get paid either way so getting good customer service here is like spotting a Yeti.

I always use subtitles!!!! I thought I was the only one. :D

We had some box meals like hamburger helper but also a lot of home made meals like stuffed cabbage, pot roast, etc.

It is quite a journey, isn't it? The mountains of paperwork, money, scary interviews, waiting, more money... Feels like it will never end! It is fitting though, that we picked her up from the hospital on Jan 12, 2010 and we pick up her immigrant visa on Jan 12, 2012. :D Congrats on being nearly done with your process as well! .

No. Every year I go through my phase of wanderlust but we love it too much here. :D

We get 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of dark give or take 10 minutes all year round. The only difference is it shifts from 7 to 7:30 and back again all year. No daylight savings time either. That is life on the equator!

Congrats from one adoptive mommy to another. :grouphug:

Well, Anwar was acquitted which was a good thing for travelers since the 10,000 person mob outside the courthouse were his supporters. Overall it was pretty peaceful but then three bombs went off and that caused some chaos. But we left a little later than planned so by the time we rolled into town, the chaos had pretty much dissipated. Today was a day from hell though... 7 hours sitting at the embassy with three kids. We were miserable. But in the end .... SHE'S APPROVED!!!! :D We pick up her immigrant visa on Thursday and that means we can finally take her to the U.S. As soon as she steps foot on U.S. soil she becomes a permanent resident and then we can apply for her citizenship. I am so happy I could cry or laugh or scream or whatever. Two years almost to the day... It was totally worth it. Now we will spend two days enjoying KL, pick up her visa on Thursday afternoon, and head home Friday morning. Thank you for all of your prayers! .

:iagree: Roll Tide Roll!!!!!!