:iagree: :iagree: :iagree: Thank you all for such a great discussion thread. Blessings, Lucinda

As another poster pointed out, this is not the same author. You may possibly be thinking of Hal Lindsay who wrote The Late, Great Planet Earth at close to the same time Mr. Wilkerson wrote The Cross and the Switchblade.... Totally different person. He may at one time projected a possible date, but I hope you don't throw out the whole idea of the second coming of Christ and the rapture of the church because of one person's error. Many of us do believe that we should be watching and praying, preparing our hearts and ministering to those in need. (Matthew 25 comes to mind, with the parable of the ten virgins that Jesus taught.) Blessings, Lucinda

:iagree: Well said, well said. This is the belief that my family, our church and contemporaries all hold on to. There are too many people surrounding us that are receiving confirmation of the word of the Lord speaking to His people in these very critical days. Along with this, I have felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit for months now to be prepared both practically and spiritually. I have been storing up non-perishable food since last November. We need to be prayed up and holding tightly to Him, trusting Him no matter what may or may not happen during our individual life span. I personally believe that we are living in days that are pointing toward the coming of Christ. We may or may not be living in the last days, but I do know that we each face our own last days here on earth. May we all be like Moses and pray that we gain hearts of wisdom regarding the use of that time. My prayer is that I will use my time, energies and resources in the best way possible. As always, the main thing is to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. Blessings, Lucinda

I could be wrong, but I don't think this is the same guy you are thinking of. David Wilkerson is the author of The Cross and the Switchblade and has been very respected NY City minister for many years. He teaches primarily on the transforming power of Christ and, among other things, on the second coming of Christ and living in the latter days. Personally, I would rather take heed and be practically as well as spiritually ready for anything - rather than scoffing and ridiculing. In the days of Noah people did that even as they were engulfed by the waters. We never know what God may have in store, especially in these days. We shouldn't be immobilized with fear, I just think we need to be careful of our attitudes and what we say. The main thing is to stay focused on our relationship with the Lord. Blessings, Lucinda

Thank you, Nakia. I couldn't have said it better myself. Mr. Wilkerson is a well respected man that has been ministering effectively to people for many years. I don't consider him to be a celebrity at all. He is very humble and caring of others. Blessings, Lucinda

Oh, I am so in agreement with you! You can get on your soapbox anytime, Sweetpeach! 90% of what I listen to is worship music. The other 10% is either classical or some other instrumental. Thanks for the offer of music. I tried that once with a friend but because of copyright laws it was not transferable on the iPod. I do have a lot already though, and plan to buy more albums whenever I get iTunes gift cards -- which seems to be pretty often anymore with my family. Blessings, Lucinda

I am friends with a couple that have told me the same thing. They met during the Wimber days, etc., etc. LOL! I had not heard of Vineyard music until I met them a few years ago. Many of the songs are familiar worship songs, but I did not know where they had come from. Yes, I too love the music because it is soul nurturing. I visited a Vineyard church in another town a few months ago and the music was outstanding! Thanks for your post, Lucinda

Since getting an iPod for Christmas last year, I have been listening to a lot of Vineyard music and loving it. What are your favorite albums and/or songs? Blessings, Lucinda

Dd was very enthused to get it and realize that there will be many more. NOTE: For those that have not sent post cards yet, could you be sure to address the card to dd instead of to me? No huge deal, but it would be nice for her sake. Blessings, Lucinda

We have a gallery style wall of family pictures behind and around the piano, and then there are more sitting on top. We also have a crystal lamp and a beautiful fabric print runner. It's full, but looks very nice together. Blessings, Lucinda

I think your husband is demonstrating great love toward you, just as your heavenly father is. Ponder that in your heart and trust Him. Blessings, Lucinda

As a Free Methodist, based on Wesleyan doctrine, I completely agree. Blessings, Lucinda

:iagree: I think there is a time and a place for guided Bible studies, but when a person is ready to search the Bible for themselves, it is a sign of real maturity. Blessings, Lucinda

:iagree: What she said! And as to the other question -- if you feel good about the math curriciculum, then I'd say stick with it. Your positive attitude will help dc stay on track, even though it isn't the favorite subject. Blessings, Lucinda

It was recommended on this board and we are currently doing it for 4th grade science. It would work well for 5th grade and up as well. It is very thorough and also inexpensive. Dd will end up with a very nice notebook at the end of the program that she will be able to hold on to for reference. If you are interested, here is the link. Next year we are going to go with a homeschool outreach science course offered by a local graduate program at a Christian university. The course is outstanding, covering a broad range of general science with lab time. I thought that CGC would be a great one to use this year before she advances to the university's program. You may also want to check with local colleges/universities in your area for similar homeschool outreach programs. Blessings, Lucinda

I give dd the vocabulary to do on her own one day per week. She is also able to do the jingles without me, and she can also do sentence classification on her own...but the rest of the curriculum is pretty teacher intensive. I don't know what to suggest other than just going at a slower pace. We have been doing Level 3 at a lower frequency per week over both 3rd and 4th grade - which I think is fine since I've been told by others on this board that both levels are nearly the same. We only do grammar 3 times per week, and then do dictation and free writing time on the other two days. She is doing fine with this. Next year we will concentrate on composition more than grammar. I hope that helps. Blessings, Lucinda

Dd and I are late getting our postcards out, but will be sending the first group out this weekend. We plan to send out in groups of 8-10 at a time. We did get both lists, and I also want to thank you for all of your work. We appreciate it very much and look forward to sending and receiving ours. This is the first time we've done anything like this before. Lots of fun! Blessings, Lucinda

Wouldn't this be mandated state by state rather than through the national government? Have you searched through your state's website yet? You may need to check with your attorney. Blessings, Lucinda

Wow! These are all good ones. I'll add the following to the list: Gone With the Wind Jungle Book Mary Poppins The Sound of Music Charlie Chaplin flicks - any of them I'm sure there are many more. :lurk5: Blessings, Lucinda

I teach art at a private classical school, and our classes are 55 minutes in length. When my students approach me I ask them if they can wait until class is over, and if they answer, "no", then I take their word for it and let them go. Only one student can be gone at a time though and it has to be quick. As for drinks, they are not usually allowed to go because they can easily stop at the fountain on their way to and from class. Hope that helps. Blessings, Lucinda

Milk from certain grocery stores (more are carrying RBST free in recent months), fresh eggs and naturally grown/free range chickens from a nearby farm, and organic veggies from our CSA farm (Community Sponsored Agriculture). Blessings, Lucinda

I remember my mother going through this same stage, the time before you go gray and your brown hair is turning mousy and drab. That's where I've been for about five years. I have been coloring my hair off and on, and just recently I got a weave. It's fun, it's perky and stylish and I feel better about myself. It also helps because I have very fine hair and now it feels a bit thicker and easier to manage.;) Blessings, Lucinda

Well, I will say this once and then I'm going to drop out of the conversation out of respect to the OP and because I really don't want to get an argument going. I have many, many years experience with the mentally ill. Two very close relatives, one being my own adult son, suffers from sometimes very severe Bipolar Disorder. I have seen first hand and experienced all kinds of behavior over the years, including paranoid and psychotic, hallucinations and near death situations. I am a veteran, believe me. So when I made my post, I was also coming from that frame of reference. Paranoid and psychotic behaviors most often do not mean danger, violence, murder, etc. I don't mean that people should throw caution to the wind and be stupid. I just happen to know from years of experience that the stigma of mental illness causes more harm in most cases than the actual illness. Our culture suffers many fears and predjudices that cause us to be inhumane, uncompassionate, unloving people at times. I still believe that I would handle the situation with caution, but with love and kindness as I suggested. I know it may be fruitless, but I would still go in that direction. My greatest hope in writing these posts is to help erase stigmas and also to consider the love, compassion and hope that Jesus taught. Blessings, Lucinda

I think dh should check with the NA for sure to learn about this man. Along with this, I'm going to throw out a different perspective that will no doubt cause some people to throw tomatoes at me, but here goes. This neighbor of yours is obviously 1. Suffering from mental issues, 2. Looking for attention and/or displacing anger on others over something you have nothing to do with, and 3. In need of some compassion. I'm sure the world has been hard on him. You have no idea how miserable it is to suffer from mental illness. I would not do anything to cause you (the adult female) to be in the way of misunderstanding or potential danger, but if this man were my neighbor I would sit down with dh and family and pray for the man on a regular basis. I would pray that God would use our family to bring blessings into this man's life. I would ask dh if he would consider mowing the man's yard anonymously, and any other kind and thoughtful thing that could be done either by him or him and the children -- wisely and with caution -- but with love. If it snows, shovel the sidewalk. Leave a potted plant by the front door or a basket full of jams and jellies. Bake him some cookies...Check in on him if he isn't seen in awhile, just to see how he is. (You should never do this alone, just dh or dh with family or kids along.) Wave at him and be friendly -- just the opposite of what you feel like doing and what he expects you to do. This may or may not bring an immediate difference, it may take time. He may be paranoid and suspicious at first, but at some point he may realize that you are really a kind family and no threat to him. Believe me, he is used to people reacting negatively to his behavior, so this will be new and throw him off. But the point is, he is a human being with feelings and is obviously troubled and lonely. You don't have to become best friends, just be a good neighbor. If he responds favorably to your gestures, you will have to be firm with setting boundaries, but at the same time leave room for care and kindness. You may be the family that makes a huge difference in this man's life, and you would send a powerful message to your children about how to express love to the downtrodden and grace to the unworthy. We deal with mental illness in my family and I am a firm believer that love is a powerful thing. I've seen it turn people around many times. There is a reason that Jesus taught to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It isn't a sign of weakness to show love, but rather a sign of strength, courage and humility. Blessings, Lucinda

We school most of the year too, taking a break in late summer and again during December/January. Summer is when we might get into a good unit study or some fun lapbooks, and we are also more into science in the summer. It is a great time to take reading books outside into a tent and have a more leisurely learning time. One big plus I have found is that summer is a great fill in time for catching up on things that are behind or that got pushed aside during the cooler months. Best of all, though, is the fact that we can go at a less intense pace during the whole year than we would have only schooling during the traditional school year. It works for us very well. Blessings, Lucinda