Be careful! Once you start reading on it.... :tongue_smilie:

:lol::lol::lol: Well, it has been a slow process and it was really about a year ago, while I was studying, that I looked at my dh and said "I think I'm becoming a calvinist!" To which he said "I know. Me too." :lol: So I probably have been more on the calvinist side of things for about a year but I thought today I would make it official. :tongue_smilie:

No, the school is christian but non-denominational. So it is ok to be a dark-sider. :D The hardest thing is not have one single church anywhere on the island that is reformed. About 95% of the churches here are charasmatic (even the catholic church considers itself catholic-charasmatic).

After about 3 years of questioning, studying the bible, reading countless books and wrestling with faith, church and doctrinal issues... it happened.... I have come over to the dark side. Sort of. While I do not fully embrace all aspects of the Reformed faith (I still believe in believer's baptism rather than infant baptism, still dispensational rather than covenant, etc.)...both dh and I have come to fully embrace the 5 points of Calvinism. This huge for us. It is a total shift in our thinking and it has been a long time coming. Working on this master's in theology has REALLY given me an opportunity to study it in depth and as much as my flesh was fighting it, my heart and my brain knew it to be truth. What I realized most is that I fought it because of my own pride...I wanted to be in control of everything instead of God. Both dh and I have never felt so RELIEVED and confident and at ease in our faith as we do now. It's like massive light bulbs went off for both of us. Thank you to all who answered my questions so patiently over the years. The seeds you planted have finally sprouted. :D

Do you own either the Canon Powershot S95 OR the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7?? I am looking to buy a new point and shoot digital camera that has video ability as well. My biggest desire is a camera that can take pictures pretty quickly. I know I won't get the speed of a DSLR but I have one of those and I never use it because I don't want to lug it around. But I would like to get as fast as possible with a point and shoot. Dh and I have been researching and we are "pretty sure" we have narrowed it down to these two. Any advice?

At the risk of sounding terribly nosey... I'd love to pray for you and your family especially since you are doing full time missions... do you care to be more specific about your challenges? We are committing to pray specifically for missionaries around the world and you are on our list! :D

Wow...a tiny town in the mountains of Germany? Could it be any more picturesque? I am jealous. :D

What were the biggest events or moments (good or bad) in your life in 2010? What are your biggest hopes for 2011? For me the biggest events were: -adopting our baby girl (good) -my husband breaking his neck in a motorcycle accident (not good but grateful as he is still alive) My hopes for 2011: -finish my master's in theology degree (April 25!!) -finalize our daughter's immigration -other than that I am really hoping for a nice, calm, uneventful year. I know that sounds boring but after all the big changes in my life in the last two years I am ready for a year of little to no change. :D

Oh Nakia, I just love you! I hope that this year is an easier one for you. Praying for you friend...

Oh wow. I am so glad he is ok. What great reflexes!

Happy New Year to all the fine men and women on the WTM boards. I love technology and the way it helps you connect to people you would never "know" otherwise. I have been on the boards for 7 years and that seems like nothing to some of you and like a lot to others. Over the years we have "shared" births, adoptions, deaths, marriages, divorces, illness, and triumphs. We've bickered and argued...cried for and supported each other...we are just like, well, a family. :D So to all of you WTMers out there...may 2011 be everything you need it to be...may you be blessed beyond measure.

I know exactly what you mean. He makes a great point in his book about christians who say they just don't feel "called" to evangelize. But according to the Bible we are ALL "called". Dh and I have been having lots of serious discussions about big changes we will be making for 2011... praying for you and your decisions as well. Adopting two of our children has been the most amazing blessing!

It's not a stereotype ...more of an observation...and a sad one at that.

:lol: Hardly. My not liking the way they run their postal service is not quite the same as the majority of an entire nation seeing "no reason" to learn about the language, cultures, customs, etc., of any other nation because "let's face it, America rules the world!" I may not love the way they run their postal service but at least I took the time to learn about it. I am not minimizing every other culture on earth by saying their language is not "worth" learning.

No I got her point just fine thank you. And if you look closely you will see that I did NOT quote her entire post (deleting the part about Spanish being more widespread). But I DO agree with her view that the rest of the PP's comments were myopic. I don't care which additional language you choose to learn (as I mentioned earlier in the thread). What bothers me is the type of "attitude" I presented above (which was exemplified in the original post quoted). There is a big old world out there... it might be nice if more Americans started acting like it.

Wow :iagree: You know what, you CAN live your whole life quite successfully never speaking anything but English. But this whole "America is the BEST...woo hoo...we're the biggest, baddest country around...we don't care about your culture or your language because ours is the only one that matters" attitude can only be described as myopic ...and maybe sad too.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Learning ANY second language is a HUGE benefit and it is so interesting to me that America just doesn't seem to think it is all that necessary. My ahma went to school for exactly TWO years (when she was 6 and 7 years old). She cannot read or write. But she can speak 5 languages fluently. In my school EVERY SINGLE STUDENT who is NOT from the U.S. speaks more than one language. I even have kindergarten students that speak 2 and 3 languages. It has just always seemed arrogant to me that so many Americans see no value in a second language. :confused:

Well my dh was raised catholic and I was not. He was married for a short time before we met then got divorced. When we decided to get married his dad wanted us to wait so dh could get an annulment of his first marriage (apparently he had "grounds"?). But the annulment process is long and messy and neither dh nor I were interested. His father said if we didn't go through the process then our marriage didn't "count". Dh started going to a protestant church after that. I was not attending church at all and he talked me into going back. But his family still blames me for his switching "sides". They also blame me for him being in Malaysia too. :D

These are such fun to read! Thank you!!

I am so sorry! :grouphug:

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

I have one ds who is super athletic and one who is anything but. :D We choose to focus on making thier strengths even stronger rather than focusing on making their weaknesses...um...less weak? We could push our oldest ds into every sport imaginable, make him suffer through practices and embarass himself at games until he leaves home, but he will NEVER be a star athlete. OR we can focus on what he IS good at (music, computers, math) and help him become GREAT at it. We have tried both approaches and everyone is happier when we go with the latter. :tongue_smilie:

This made me LAUGH... you are so right. Even over skype she still manages to get to me...sheesh. :tongue_smilie: I seem to have misplaced my big girl panties again... :D

Thank you so much for these replies. We LOVE carrying here, wearing her in her sling, rocking her to sleep, etc. She loves to snuggle and I just am not ready to give that up. At this very moment she is asleep curled up on her daddy's chest. :001_smile: