I HAVE A D-40 AND IT WOULD NOT STAY BEHIND!!! i have recently purchased a backpack for it, and since that, i love it even more. great travels call for great cameras and photos.

my feeling is that your dh needs to get involved and assert his fatherly authority with this boy. men listen to men. teenage boys should be scared of girls' dads.

i saw your question as i sat down this morning...i do not have to read the whole thread, so i apologize if i am redundant or raise questions. feel free to pm me... absolutely, at the risk of sounding crazy to the average person, demons show themselves...rather, i would say that they are "unveiled" to us. i have encountered them often in dreams, primarily, but i saw one as clear as day in waking time, and it identified itself...strange but not scary because i know i am protected. i can also become aware of different spirits at work, as the holy spirit reveals, but not "see" them. when i began to show signs of having the gift of discernment, (which i think i've always had but have in the past couple of years needed to exercise it faithfully,) things started happening that i didn't really like...like the above situation. i talked about it with a trusted friend, and she said, "rather than be bothered by this, thank god that he is showing you so that you can properly pray. we can get freaked out or scared by the enemy's attacks, or we can just take them as a matter of fact, realizing that there is a whole dimension that we are not typically privvy to, and if we are given a glimpse, it is for our benefit. the bible speaks clearly about the "spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" and the prophets of the old testament speak to the evidence of the heavenly armies, etc. pray for confirmation, pray for protection--but never address or speak to the demons...Jesus is the mediator and he has already won the battle. speak to him concerning it. claim the protection of his blood and covering over you and your household, and sleep peacefully at night. the best defense is resting in him, not giving undue attention to the evil that is constantly present. are you aware of attack? noted...climb deeper into the cleft of the rock. ;)

i told my son that he had to learn piano as a foundational instrument, and later on, after he shows some proficiency, he could branch out from there.

i'm not a vet, but i've had a pregnant guinea pig before...they pretty much look like a sack of potatos, and then there are babies in the pen. sack-like appearance became very pronounced, and as time went on we could definitely feel the babies in there! i can't tell "how fat" your piggie is from the photos, but that is the general shape mine took when she was pregnant.

for you to say that adultery or fornication or joining together of two human individuals in a sexual relationship is no worse than telling a lie or killing someone is very misleading (not to say they are different in "badness" but that they have different implications). if it says the two become one flesh, then you are joining yourself together with another person FOR LIFE and the implications for that and for family and for all of society are huge. There were many laws governing sexual practice because it was the beginning of family. Family was the place where the commandments and worship were centered and the passing of that from generation to generation was what preserved the Godly heritage that He intended for his people. Someone else in a previous post was talking about birth control. why would the invention of birth control change that intention? God didn't invent birth control, we did. Just because we invented something cool and "liberating" doesn't mean we abandon a spiritual principle because it seems superfluous. the joining together of our bodies with another human being brings about inordinate affections, idolatry, lustful tendencies, etc. it is a denial of self-control, which is a fruit of the spirit. we can sit here and nit-pick details, or we can admit to what all of us know--no one likes to be holy and righteous, self-controlled and patient. so we figure out loopholes. then when we screw up we try to figure out ways that we "feel" we were right about what we did. we can't just repent, turn from our sin and do what is right. there is no exception in which the sin of fornication, adultery or anything associated with it is okay. (i know--i've been there--i screwed up too, so don't say i don't know what i'm talking about). God ordained a plan to preserve the integrity of his people and one of those ordinances was sexual purity, but it was intended to flow out of love and obedience to HIM not to love and obedience to another person. Herein lies the distinction.

only by people who want to assuage their consciences... so no. s*x outside of marriage is a sin.

i would refuse to stop homeschooling or eat my cats.

thank you! now i really feel part of the group!

just finished: Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham Teaching the Trivium by the Bluedorns The Ever Loving Truth by Voddie Baucham in process : Dewey the library cat bestseller i picked up at sam's club. love it. love all cat stories. for sunset down-time in the long summer evenings when i really want something very light. about to read More Jesus Less Religion

maybe i'm a dunce and can't find the right abbreviation thread but what in HECK does S/O mean???? it's driving me crazy!

my husband says i'm a really good wife... :001_wub: and i'm a pretty good cook.

my father had a cat named nameless, pronounced "nuh-mel-uss".

me too, me too...i'm one of those...i thought i was really weird and mostly just keep quiet about this stuff.

i'm glad this came up again...i was just thinking of posting it again. i have not been a "spanker" until recently. My dh and I decided to make first time obedience with a good attitude the rule in our house. We found ourselves to be constantly struggling to define where the boundaries lie and decide what consequences were appropriate for various offenses, without spanking. We sat the kids down and informed them that there would be no more yelling or raising voices--if I reach that point they are clearly in violation of disobeying. The kids like that part--BUT--they have to obey the first time without complaining. If they want an explanation they may have one after they have obeyed, and they may answer with a reasonalble request such as, "just a second mom, I'm just finishing washing my hands..." so we know that they're not dilly-dallying. The consequence for disobeying is 2-3 swats on the bottom (underwear permitted) with a 5-gallon paint stick. It stings...doesn't injure. We RARELY use it. We are not angry when we discipline and the kids clearly understand where they have gone wrong. It makes me horribly sad (and I have even cried with the kids when I spanked them) to do it, but that helps them understand even more--that because I love them I want to train them to obey me and dad, so they will be trained to obey God when they are mature. Honestly, our house has been SO peaceful since enforcing these boundaries and rules. I am not crabby with the kids, and they aren't constantly pushing me, not that they were bad kids before--in fact they're really nice, well-behaved kids that people seem to enjoy having around. But at home, we had the normal stuff--attitudes, disobeying, dilly-dallying when doing chores or not coming right away when called...the kind of stuff that drives me crazy. In all sincerity, though, everyone seems happier.

what about letting him have toys of his choosing in the crib, and letting him know that it's quiet time and he'll have to stay in the crib and sleep, play with his toys, or get a spankin'. that way he chooses a nap, and if he's really not tired he's not forced to sleep, making bedtime that much earlier (a favorite of mine!) :D

:iagree:

i think it's funny reading all these threads. we as humans think we have it all figured out...God must be chuckling because of us...

http://www.teammine.blogspot.com

if you haven't seen this already, get ready for a giggle... http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=87770513015&h=bh7IB&u=5nXq_

:lol: yes...that too!

I think the Proverbs 31 woman is the model for lady-likeness. She is the ultimate liberated woman, strong, sensitive, hard-working, smart, well-dressed, and respected.

we LOVE tim hawkins! we have seen all four of his videos. i found myself laughing so hard that i couldn't get my breath between jokes...then i heard this "plop" on my desk and realized that i was laughing so hard i was drooling! my family does not let me live this down.

Thanks, everyone for your responses. It's been a couple weeks since I originally posted this, but I'm still thinking about it, and am about to write my letter in the next week or so. I have, for the last couple of years, simply listed my curriculum and sent in the test scores, checked the box and moved on from there, i.e. i've been homeschooling under the high school diploma homeschooling option. however, my thoughts about even that have changed. my husband's only concern is what some have mentioned above, and that is that it might pose difficulty for my ds later when it comes time to go to college. however, if i am making this decision based on my objection to the government's involvement in the education of my children, and they later punish my son because of that (when he is of age to make his own decisions as to whether or not to attend a state school), then we have to consider that God will make provision for us. The question here is do I trust him to provide if I honor him with the decisions I believe He has placed upon my heart to make? since i believe he is truly calling me out, dual enrollment or other "benefits" would not be something i have an interest in. it would be a compromise to say "i don't want you involved in my life, mr. gov't, but i'll take a few of the juicy morsels you throw down, since they're convenient for me." KWIM? i can't make a faith-based decision on the one hand, and hold out for contingencies on the other. so, i think i'm going to go for it... thanks for your input. it really was helpful! :001_smile:

"it's all gonna burn" is the motto i try to live my life by when i find that i get annoyed over stuff...oh yeah, and money's just paper. of course there are deeper spiritual principles that could be applied here, such as "laying up treasures in heaven," etc, but i'm sure you know all those...think on them.