The messy house drives me nuts... whenever anyone shows up. I had to start getting dressed :glare:, because it's apparently the season to drop by unannounced. That's our motto! Oh, and we just finished 'A Christmas Carol' and ds absolutely loved it :grouphug: Beautiful quote. (meaning, I will be quoting YOU, because that was a beautiful sentiment)

One caveat. God put together the scripture, through the Church. God chose the books, through the Church. If God had wanted it in, it would be in there. ETS, I believe the act of handing the scriptures over to anything other than God, to either blame or give tribute is blasphemous. The word is God's word, He's given it to us. While the Church may have been the vehicle, God was driving and giving credit for the word of God to anyone/anything else is tantamount to lifting them above God.

It was one of those questions that, if it's wrong (as it was), could be (and probably was) very offensive. I don't like asking those questions, lol, but I really thought I could slip it in and finally get an answer. :lol: Oh, and thanks for reading my posts :p

I'm sorry, I really didn't think anyone would notice the question (except you, since I quoted you)... It's so rare that folks notice my posts, but I should've known better. I can understand wanting to separate those from at home. Thanks for answering :) Again, I'm sorry.

n/m thanks for the responses.

We'd be taken for holy rollers :lol: Indocrination begins at 9 and goes on till we're done. We've moved from the desk in the kitchen (it's too cold right now) to the cozy couch, so ds is normally sprawled on the floor :p Our order really depends on what was done and how it went the day before. I take the hardest thing and we tackle it after devotions. Follow up with whatever we didn't want to stop the day before (normally either reading or history). From there we just get to whatever we get to. Oh, and all this time Luke is running, hopefully dressed, but not always, yelling and sporadically joining in. After lunch, ds does whatever alone work he has so I can work with younger ds. This means that older ds moves to the table to stare out into the yard with longing while occasionally moving his pencil and Luke jumps on the couch chanting whatever it is I'm trying to teach him. Really, it's become such bedlam lately..... I think any visitor would run for the hills :lol:

http://littlecitykids.com/approach/index.php?category_id=4633 It's free and there are TONS of ideas here :) Sometimes I let my youngest color the pages left over from older ds. IOW, if there were pages we skipped, then I save them for younger ds and he gets to 'do' big kid work. Also, I bought two wipe-off books from Walmart. One is the ABCs and one is numbers. As long as he colors in crayon they're reusable, and as I remember they were very cheap. hth

Maybe you could invite him to dinner? It almost sounds like he's trying to be friendly, in which case, dinner makes much more sense. Also, you'll have dh there ;) I might also explain that during school hours, we're much to busy to entertain guests, something I'd think he would already understand.

Dh remembers being told his adult years would be spent attempting to survive an ice age... LOL I put those as fads, because they sure seem like fads. I know they pass, lol, killer bees went out with flannels ;) I just finished a book by 'Ms. Manners' on how to talk :p She mentioned the trend towards offering the opposite of tradition verbal offerings. IOW, on the loss of a loved one, a lot of people (I've been guilty of this) say things like, "it's all for the best," "they're in a better place," "at least it's over" etc. On the 'we're pregnant' announcement, "it's not too late," "now your life is over," "did you mean to" etc. And on announcing an engagement "hope you have a good lawyer," "it's not too late," "do you know what you're doing" etc. It DOES seem like the trend is to say only the opposite of the traditional, "I'm sorry" or "Congratulations." It's a fad I'm trying to remove myself from :p

Or even just near your side of the house (without hitting the house at all). It's incredible how LOUD trees are when they snap and fall. That was my first thought when I read your description, although I would've said it's more of a, 'crack, whoosh.' :lol:

We just finished "A Christmas Carol." While not a devotional, I did find it moving and it has definitely refreshed my spirit :) Also, you might want to rent the new(ish) Nativity movie. It's really beautiful, imo. :grouphug: No tree here... no shopping... no presents... no money... All we can afford is Christmas spirit this year :(

Yes, and perhaps one person's "honest," especially an 'outsider' to that situation, and another's (like the one that experienced it) could be very different things. I'm not comfortable with the idea of judging someone's forgiveness, whether or not it's 'honest' or good enough. THAT, is between them and God. God knows their heart. I think that a lot of wrong could result from digging around in this. I mean, why create bitterness or resentment where it does not yet exist? That does happen. Ime, another perso's 'helpful' digging can result in more indignation than the 'victim' was originally saddled with. If the idea is to release yourself from that burden and release them from the burden of that sin against you, then what purpose does all this "honesty" serve?

I think that's why I have problems getting really hyped up about a lot of things. Swine flu? Bird flu? Killer bees? I might get all huffy at first, but then perspective slips in and I remember being terrified I wouldn't be able to leave my home, because the killer bees would've taken over the world :p

I think forgiveness is between one and God. If they don't feel so bad about it, then why try to make them feel worse?

We do not have the dvds/cds/tapes, just the books :) Oh, and we aren't doing the history either ;) Monday - Quiz on info from the week before Tuesday - We follow the guide on the left... Salve amicus Latina, Salve Magistra; Oremus; Adeste Fideles; recite conjucations, ending, decline, etc. After all that (we start every day, except Monday, with that), we cover the new lesson orally. We go through all the words, the motto, and whatever new form we're learning twice, once at the start and once at the end. We'll memorize the new form by writing it on the board and erasing random words until ds can chant the whole thing without the words on the board. We discuss any new grammar and also the meaning or history behind the motto. Wednesday - Starts the same as Tuesday, but we'll do 1/3 of the exercises after we're done. We also chant the new words, motto, and form at the beginning and end. This is the day we cover the derivatives. Thursday - Same, except he does the second 1/3 of the exercises. Friday - Take a wild guess :p

At least, let the bank know they can't toss your personal info around in an unsealed envelope :glare: I'd be upset.

Have you tried the library? We had some problems with various programs and now I use the library as our primary math source. I borrow various books on whatever subject we're going to cover (geometry, fractions, etc). Some are story books from the kid's section, some are GED books, some are 'for Dummies' and most are meant for clarifying for students that aren't doing well. HTH

I'm surprised other doesn't have more votes :p I don't think it's appropriate, but I think it ranks up there with asking if 'that' is your natural hair color, or why you have the number of kids you have, or why you got married. IOW, people are curious and I'd rather them ask than assume, or people are wondering about their own situation and want to find out more about someone else's situation (in which case, all you can do is ask). I don't think it's completely rude, but the follow up definitely can be :) Lol, whenever anyone asks us fertility questions we go with the '9 months' response. IOW, when are you going to have more kids? About 9 months after we get pregnant. Did you plan your pregnancy? Yes, for the 9 months leading up to birth (or if I were pregnant at that time), I'm planning for it right now.

Woof, don't I know how that is! Vile creatures, nearly impossible to get rid of, and with all the rain we've gotten (under ANOTHER flood watch) it just seems like an ongoing pestilence.

I think sometimes we misinterpret blessings. Her son IS a blessing, but she can't see it. She (it sounds like) is so sure of this that she will not see the blessing. Other than sending her to her Bible and a lot of prayer I don't know what to say :(

That's why I think what the pastor is doing is a good thing. This man is in what seems to be a dead-end relationship. If he was a woman he'd probably have more support from the 'move on' crowd. She doesn't want to be married, he should not be there. I'm pretty sure there's a ton of Proverbs for his situation and illumination of its ultimate end. Speaking from a female perspective... it almost sounds like a matter of buying the cow if the milk is free. I think her point is, if it's a marraige that was started with private vows in the woods (as a pp mentioned), then it could be ended just as privately and quickly. I do think we're bound by the laws of the land and that is where I disagree on common law marraiges. Besides the fact that here a common law marraige only comes about if the couple has lived together as man and wife for a certain period of time (I think it's three years?), there's also the matter of how you file for things. I know this sounds so nit-picky, but how are you filing your taxes, how does the government 'see' you? I'm not sure if I'm putting the carraige infront of the horse, but it seems to me that part of respecting those God has put above us is following their steps for certain things, ie getting married by the state. :iagree: The idea is that they should be treated and seen as one outside of the body. It's not so much expulsion from a building as expulsion from the body. You are told not to eat with those that call themselves brother while being idolotrous, drunkards, exploiters, fornicators, etc. :iagree:

Having people jump down my throat making assumptions, because I'm a Christian. I don't even want to add to that. Rant off ish.

I agree with nearly everything, except that I'm not sure that marraige status is optional, so much as, if you're married, then you should say so, iykwIm. You're doing so good :p :iagree: I Corinthians has quite a bit on this. Earlier in the thread I quoted chapter 5, that explains the why's of church discipline (for lack of a better word) :)

LOL, I didn't mean to imply everyone should be married. What I meant was, if you're in a relationship that is like marraige then you should be married, because that is what God wants (sex only in marraige). I missed you btw :) :grouphug: I guess my concern is more for someone collecting money based on 'single' or 'widowed' status when, in reality, they are not single, they are married, in which case, aren't they lying by omission? Or, if they're choosing to "live in sin" with another in order to maintain their 'single' status, then aren't they compounding one sin by a host of others? We have someone in our church that fits the profile (older, relying on widow pension, living as a married couple with someone else, but unwilling to amend that, because of the dent in their livelyhood that would result). The church is struggling, because we also have younger couples that are living together, using the older couple as an excuse. So, is the 'excuse' good enough? Or should the body put their foot down and say, we have to be as Christ-like as possible. Our church is suffering because of the strife this is causing. Really, something so 'simple' as this can really cause a ton of other problems.

Finally! The people you agree with are old enough to have facebook profiles! Life is looking up :)