Me too!! We didn't have a female marry us to make a "statement" or anything. Just at the time, we weren't members of any church and so the church we married in had the associate pastor marry us and it was a female. I never even thought twice about it but my mom almost had a heart attack! :lol:

Thanks for the info Ria! I am enrolled at Piedmont Baptist Graduate School in NC. Can you tell me what the basic differences are between these presbyterian denominations? The titles are so similar that I am little confused. Also, I am under the impression that Presbyterian follows reformed theology. Is that true of all these branches?

So my first class in grad school is on Christian Ethics but this question is NOT only for Christians. I have to write my first research paper on the topic of divorce and remarriage. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND DIRECTLY TO THIS POST I really, really want the input of the intelligent ladies of this board (you are all so different and have such varied life experiences) but I have NO INTEREST in starting a debate. So, if you are interested in sharing your thoughts on the questions below, please pm me or email me directly. :D I want to include research from a "woman on the street" perspective in addition to all the literature out there so if you'd like, please answer the following questions: 1. What religion are you? (include denomination if Christian but I am also interested in hearing from Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Agnostic, Pagan, etc. women) 2. Under what circumstance do you believe it is OK to get a divorce? 3. Under what circumstances is it OK to remarry? 4. Do you think that divorce or divorce with remarriage disqualifies a person for church leadership? Thank you so much for your participation in this. I am instructed to write this paper from a Christian perspective (which I would do anyways since I am one) but it is really important to me to see all sides of it. In the interest of full disclosure: I was raised believing that divorce and remarriage is a sin. But, my parents divorced when I was 28yo and both of my brothers are now divorced....so this topic obviously hits home for me. Oh yeah, I will not use anyone's name in my paper. It is more of a data-gathering expedition.

When I get burned out I do three things: 1. Take a break from the daily grind. Do some fun field trips. Do a fun unit study on something you both love. Curl up in bed in your pajamas and do nothing but read. You name it. 2. Remind myself (write it down if I have to) of why we started homeschooling in the first place. As cliche as it sounds, having a "mission statement" or "philosophy of education" really helps to keep me focused. 3. Pray. God brought me into the world of homeschooling and He will sustain me in the tough times.

I am curious as to what each Christian denomination believes regarding women in ministry. I know that sounds vague so let me be a little more specific. Does you particular denomination allow: - women pastors? - women teachers? (in a mixed setting) - women deacons? (who are actually deacons, not a deacon's wife) I'm pretty familiar with the arguments for and against...that's not the point of this post. But I have just started my master's degree in theology and while I don't really want to be the senior pastor of a church, I would like to be a teaching pastor (as in Sunday School, Bible studies, etc.). Not classes for little kids (not my spiritual gifting) but classes for adults (not just women). I also eventually plan to get my PhD in theology and teach at the university level but that will take a while. Right now, dh and I attend a nondenominational church but we are fairly new there and don't have a real commitment to it yet. We are interested in investigating denominations that will allow me to use my spiritual gift of teaching without my gender getting in the way (yes, dh is totally supportive of this). Any info you have on this would be greatly appreciated.

That is very cool that your ds and dh train. My dh is big into weight-lifting and strong man sports and he turned me on to MMA. Now I think I like it more than he does. :D I don't know what you mean about the Silva fight, though. They fought in the UFC not Elite XC (which went under last week...thank goodness).

To say the least. I was disappointed in the way Silva danced arouns and just generally goofed off for the first two rounds while Cote seemed to be doing all the work. Then for Cote's knee to give out... Personally, I think they should scrap that fight and have a rematch when Cote is healed. Silva did not deserve a win for that. At least some of the undercard fights were better.

I work mon-fri 8am-3:30pm and I take 2 graduate classes per semester (online right now but eventually I will have to go on campus). Dh works 4pm -1am. He has Tuesday and Sunday off. I choose the curriculum and plan the lessons, and dh implements them (although our 10yo is pretty independent). I do laundry and clean bathrooms and dust, dh washes dishes and vacuums/sweeps. I handle the bills, he grocery shops. My boys clean their own room. We both cook. The key for us is to stay on schedule. We never let the house get messy because then it is SUCH a monumental task to get back on track. For instance, I do one load of laundry (at least) every day. I do NOT let it build up and try to tackle it once a week because I would be overwhelmed. He straightens the house in the morning and I straighten it before bed. It is teamwork and that's how we roll in this family! :D

Just got home from seeing it and....I thought number 2 was better. Number 3 was really good but number 2 had more of a storyline IMO.

That is so exciting about your son!!!! He should get on the Ultimate Fighter Show someday! So you gotta tell me what his song is! Yeah, Cote is gonna get stomped...Silva is pretty much unstoppable. What an amazing athlete! BUT....I hope Koscheck wins!!! I know he's not popular with most but I dig him for some reason. Also, UFC 91 has Couture vs. Lesnar which ought to be interesting and I want to see Amir Sadollah fight since dh and I never miss the Ultimate Fighter show. And UFC 92 is going to be AWESOME. I'm glad Elite XC went under in a way. I thought it was a trashier version of UFC and that whole Kimbo Slice fiasco was just embarassing. Dana White won't even pick him up. Well, fights will be starting soon.....

Tonight is the big Silva vs. Cote fight and I am SOOOOO excited!! UFC fights are the only thing I will buy on pay-per-view and I don't know any other women who love MMA like I do (but plenty of guys). Is there something wrong with me? Does anyone else watch it? :D

That is one of our FAVORITE movies!!!!

We use it as a supplement to MUS.

Yeah, I know. I don't think she was trying to be rude...she's just very passionate about the topic, you know, trying to "enlighten" me. But it did sting quite a bit and now dh is very conflicted. He couldn't even watch the whole thing.

I feel ya.....my ds likes workbooks and checklists and anything that has a definite beginning and a definite ending and has NO "artsy-fartsy" stuff involved. Even as a preschooler he hated to color. I tried to do lapbooks with him...yeah, right. My youngest ds seems to love arts and crafts stuff so maybe I will get my chance to do the literature/lapbook route?

My dog lives "on a farm with lots of room to run" or so my kids think.

Apiphobic was brave enough to admit she is an atheist. Good for her! So in the spirit of confession being good for the soul, here goes: - I don't do read-alouds very often. We all just seem to read silently but in the same room with our own books. - I don't cook from scratch. My favorite thing to make is reservations. - I work full time...and I like it. - I didn't breastfeed. - My kids are vaccinated and circumcised. - I don't always separate my laundry properly before washing. - I don't do the submissive wife thing. - I am obsessed with MMA fighting and watch UFC religiously. - I think it is OK for women to be pastors - I don't really like kids other than my own. - I want McCain to win but I think Obama will win... and I will live. - I can't stand denim jumpers. There. Now she won't be standing out there all alone! :D I would be willing to bet that we are all so different that the "homeschool stereotype" would fall apart if we all knew the truth about one another.

The other day I walked in and saw my 10yo ds reading (for fun!) and I thought "I taught him that." And I was warm and fuzzy all over. :D What a gift and privilege...for me.

There was a blow up today? I totally missed that. :confused: I am a proud right-wing conservative christian and I would MUCH rather be around an atheist than a fake christian. It's not like it's contagious...sheesh. And I agree that BOTH sides should consider and educate themselves on the other's POV and this applies to everything: religion, homeschooling, parenting, etc.

Oh no...not Nestle too! Don't tell me, I don't want to know.

A friend of mine sent me to a link with a documentary about WalMart called "The High Cost of Low Price". Maybe I live under a rock but I had never heard of it before and I CRIED MY EYES OUT while watching it. It made me want to go out and burn down all the Walmarts!!! Only one problem...dh is a manager at Walmart and they might frown on that. I am not naive. Deep down I knew that all that nasty stuff was true, I just tried really hard not to think about it. Now that I am thinking about it, I am really bugged by the fact that dh works in a company like that. I have this somewhat irrational desire for him to quit on principal (not that Walmart would care). But here's the problem...how many companies out there are NOT like Walmart? I've read all the nasty stuff about Target (one of my favorite stores) and about sweatshops and all the outsourcing this country does, etc. But what we are supposed to do? My convictions tell me to take a stand but the economy and my wallet say "go to Walmart, it's cheaper". I heard a commercial for some stock broker company that can take a look at your investments and tell you which ones are contributing to causes you don't believe in. I don't think I want to know. By the time I get done cutting out of my life all the companies who treat their employees badly, make them live off poverty wages, and give money to causes I am against, I'll be living naked in a box somewhere. What's a girl to do? How do you all handle this?

:lol::lol::lol: YES! I had forgotten all about it. In junior high I broke up with my "boyfriend" because he wanted to do certain intimate things that I did not want to do. He was broken-hearted and called the radio station and had "Maneater" by Hall and Oates dedicated to me! :lol: Maneater? Give me a break. I was 13yo. :D

That's true. It's easy to forget that we are kind of doing the very same thing that Iran wants to do. But...of course, I'd rather us be doing it than Iran. :tongue_smilie: So, then I guess it becomes more about who can be the toughest kid on the playground???? That is really depressing.

That's exactly what I am worried about!