Wow. That is soooooooooo tempting. Just asked our girl scout leader here if we sell girl scout cookies. She said "No can lah". :glare: Apparently my students actually bake their own cookies and then sell them. Can you imagine? Heathens! :tongue_smilie:

I saw a bumper sticker recently that said: I may not agree with what you have to say, and I wish you would shut up. For some reason it made me laugh. :lol: ANd I wish someone would have assigned a veteran to me when I first joined 8 years ago. Perhaps I wouldn't have posted 90% of what I post. :tongue_smilie: I wonder if they have samoa girl scout cookies in Malaysia? Off to search.... :driving:

I know what you mean. I thought I knew what poverty was until I saw it here. We say "Well, yeah, but we are in America. It's different." But you are right, humans are humans. We have the same basic needs. They can be met differently (as a PP pointed out... like access to a fresh water supply looks different here than it might in the states). I'm not saying one has to do this, but people here DO sell personal items in order to eat... they DO leave their children in sub-par situations so they can work to feed them... they DO sometimes eat just white rice once a day for weeks at a time. I often wonder if I could handle that. What if? What if things got so bad for us financially that our only choice was to leave our children in sub-par daycare so both of us can work...or starve/be homeless? So in answer to the original question...how do I define needy? I really have no idea any more.

I am YE because I interpret the Bible literally, but I do not think it affects your salvation. There are "spine" issues and there are "rib" issues. This is a rib issue to me. Ken Ham's basic stance is that he interprets the Bible literally as well BUT he adds to that "and if you do not understand Genesis to be literal the you must not believe the rest of the Bible literally either therefore you are calling God a liar and you are not a Christian." This is a false dilemma. There are many, many famous theologians that interpret large parts of the Bible literally but see others as symbolic. For instance, R.C. Sproul uses a literal hermeneutic for most of his theological writings but is more symbolic when it comes to eschatology. Does Ken Ham feel the same way about Sproul as he does SWB and Enns? Or is his ire saved only for those who do not have a literal interpretation of Genesis but he pays no attention to the rest of their theology? And wouldn't that be awfully hypocritical of him? Just wondering aloud here...

No ma'am, I do not. They eat what I make.

My 12 yo son's reaction to the movie: "Wow, mom. This looked like one of those boring movies but it was really awesome!" A family favorite here!

Christianity is not an act. It is a state of being. A book being labeled as "christian" usually means it is written from a christian worldview. Some christian parents want curriculum written from a christian worldview so that label in the title makes that an efficient process. ;)

1. Kerfuffle is now my favorite word. 2. What is that saying about even bad publicity is good publicity? Think of all the people who will check out WTM initially out of curiosity over this whole thing and will be so impressed they will become WTMers! 3. My favorite saying: "The best revenge is living well." Rise above, continue to flourish. That will burn your critic's butt more than anything else. :D

Yes I do and I am not ashamed to admit it. My oldest ds does not like to read even though he is a very good reader. I started offering incentives for him to read certain books and now it is building (slowly) a love for reading in him. ;)

:iagree::iagree:

This is a hard one to explain for me because we are sort of all over the place. 1. I can live with profanity (words are just words) EXCEPT when they use G-d Da--. I hate that. That's when words are NOT just words. 2. I can live with "fantasy" violence. My kids have seen LOTR. But not blood and gore violence like the Saw movies. Those are pointless and disgusting. 3. I am most strict about sex. I do not believe in "awakening" those desires before their time. The last thing my 13yo hormones-raging ds needs to watch is a movie with sex scenes. He is trying to keep his thoughts pure and it is my job to help him. 4. I also have issues with and will not allow tv shows that portray the father as a bumbling but lovable idiot with a long-suffering wife who just smirks at what a moron he is. I am trying to raise boys into godly men who will lead their family.

:iagree: good one! But I've been thinking a lot about shopping carts lately. Hmmm... maybe I'll start a thread.

IEW Mathusee FIAR

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

I'm sorry I sound like such a whiner. I am supremely grateful to have her in my life, I am just getting exhausted from the red tape nightmare. I know it will all work out eventually. I'm just...worn out I guess.

I am so excited! It is the 25th anniversary of his book "Desiring God" so he is doing a series of online studies for the different chapters of the book and you can watch it live (which is what I am doing RIGHT NOW!). And my internet is even working! Woo hoo! Of course, it is the middle of the night here but it is worth it! :D

That's EXACTLY the problem. The Malaysian government has already moved on as far as our relationship with them is concerned. In fact, when I had to go back to the social services guy here in Malaysia and tell him I needed him to rewrite his home study report to include certain EXACT words the U.S. required (even though the report already contained that same information but with different wording)... he looked at me like I was crazy. I explained that it wasn't me who is crazy...it's the USCIS.

I love Dennis Miller. :D

One step forward and about 42 steps back...sigh... The good news... After our last petition for Natalie's immigration was denied, we filed PILES upon PILES of waivers, additional documentation and anything else we could think of to get them to reconsider. Three months later... TODAY we received "the letter"... it was a letter from the USCIS telling us that they have approved Natalie's application to be classified as an orphan. We were ecstatic! BUT The letter makes it VERY clear that this does NOT guarantee that Natalie will ever get an immigrant visa. :glare: All they did was decide that yes, she IS eligible to be adopted by us (which is a good thing since we already adopted her). So check out this fun process: 1. the USCIS in Bangkok (the closest office to us) sends this approval to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire which will then send us a letter (all the way back to Malaysia) telling us that we need to fill out such-and-such forms and let us know that the embassy all the way back here in Malaysia will contact us for an interview. note: all those same forms are available online but it says not to fill them out until they say it is OK. what year is this??? 2. Natalie has to be examined by an "embassy-approved" physician. There is exactly 1 on the whole island. They want xrays, bloodwork, and a whole long list of vaccinations (which is upsetting as we are currently doing a very modified schedule of vaccinations and now we have to speed that up really fast). 3. after more paperwork, lots of shots, we have to go back to the embassy (5 hours away), pay even more money, and be interviewed. Then and only then will they maybe, possibly give her a visa... but she might also get denied. Seriously... I am starting to think this is some kind of money-making scam. We have spent thousands and thousands and still have more to spend and they STILL might deny her? Really? I swear if I see another sad commercial about all the orphans out there who need homes I am going to roundhouse-kick my TV set. Yeah, sure, go ahead and try to adopt one of these babies. I dare you. :cursing: :banghead:

I love coffee and coffee-flavored anything. Hot, cold...doesn't matter. I love coffee-flavored ice cream and chocolate-covered coffee beans. I would have an IV of coffee if it were socially acceptable.:tongue_smilie:

I'm so sad. No Cheetos (of any flavor) here. Only this sorry excuse for a Cheeto-wanna -be called "Cheezles". I can't even look at them. It's just too sad.

A convert to Islam or from Islam? I live in a Muslim country and this fascinates me!

Pretty much. I have one vivid memory of a girl I went to school with. Her name was Cassandra. Everyone (students, teachers, etc) called her Cassie. And she corrected you every single time. But they still called her Cassie and even in my mind she is Cassie. As a teacher I would often call kids by shortened versions of their names (Michael/Mike) not out of rudeness but more of efficiency and really just without thinking. If they were adamant about it I would make an effort to call them David and not Dave. Hey, I had to remember 200 names a day. I did the best I could. :) When we had our first child we made a rule for ourselves that whatever name we picked, we must be ok with the short version as well or we don't pick it. For instance, i wanted to name our son Christian but I am not a big fan of Chris and I KNOW people will call him Chris and he (and I) would either put up with it or spend our lives correcting people which is just no fun at all. That's also the reason I don't "do" alternate spellings. Both my maiden name and married name have a letter most people miss and I have had to correct the spelling for nearly 40 years. It gets old.

This may come as shock but I am a LEO. :D I would eat pretty much anything if it were dipped in chocolate. My favorite ice cream is german chocolate cake from Coldstone Creamery and if I move back to the U.S. it will be for that alone! I am definitely YE but I don't think it defines my christianity (or yours). I hate cherries or cherry-flavored anything. HATE HATE HATE. But I grew up eating banana and mayonnaise sandwiches. YUM. :drool:

"This is Where I Leave You" by Jonathon Tropper is my book this week and it is HILARIOUS in a dark, twisted sort of way. :D