gadgetlady

How do you determine what is literal and what is allegorical. If Jesus treated it as literal, is that good enough for you? Because He was pretty clear about OT stuff.

So was Jesus crucified, did He die, and was He resurrected on the third day?

No one HAS to do anything. But it seems that if all you do is attack and never provide a basis for your OWN beliefs, then it appears to me that you're afraid of being attacked because your own foundation is so shaky. I just can't think of another reason why someone would be "all in" on the "attack" side of this discussion/thread and yet be afraid to stick a toe in the water about his/her own beliefs.

I haven't had time to post in the thread (barely even had time to catch up and keep up) but I noticed with interest that Ron stated several times that he didn't want to get into a discussion of different religions (specifically Catholicism) and yet was dragged into it and then attacked -- by pretty much everyone. And yet TOM isn't willing to discuss his beliefs because he's afraid of getting attacked. Maybe it's because he's seen the bloodshed (and participated in it). Jesus, in the New Testament, treated the Old Testament as literal. If it's good enough for Him, it's good enough for me. If you believe that Jesus was crucified, died, and was resurrected on the third day, it seems you can only believe this through the authority of the Bible. And if you believe this to be literal, why do you disregard other doctrine and say it must be allegorical? It just doesn't make sense.

THAT'S not good. Definitely get some taken out.

I'm extremely tight in the am and have good restriction in the pm. It's rather annoying at times to only be able to get a protein shake down, but if I had some of my fill taken out I'd be able to get way too much down at night. So I just deal with it. Right now I'm struggling to get down a shake because I had a few nibbles of cheese while I was making my daughter a sandwich. Frustrating!

VERY well said!

Hi everyone, If you read back through the thread you'll get itinerary information. The terrific rates we got last year are unfortunately no longer available because the group closed in December, but when I checked into add-ons in January of this year an outside cabin was $1391.96 per person for double occupancy. If anyone new wants to join up, let me know!

I am married to a man who loves me no matter what my weight is. He's worth his weight in gold. He always encourages me in whatever endeavors I undertake, including the band. He's a gem.

Hi Melissa! It's due in early April but a few people have paid already. I'll be connecting with everyone in mid-March but if you want to pay before I call you, just let me know :-)

Stress is a definite possibility. If you're more than a week late, an over-the-counter urine test is probably pretty accurate unless your hormone levels are unusually low. But to be safe you should have a blood test.

The cars that always astound me are the ones that have one sticker that says "Keep Abortion Safe and Legal" and another one that says "Save the Whales".

You are not alone! I have 2 precious daughters and a wonderful husband and I was a basket case before the surgery. I just recently found the letter I wrote to my girls in case I died on the table. Thankfully, the risks of this surgery are low (and the risks of obesity are high). I'm glad I pushed through my fear.

LOL! In our case, a gondola is a boat, like the ones in Venice, Italy (our website is www.gondola.com if you want to see pix). But a gondola is also the thing below a hot air balloon and the thing that takes you up to the top of a mountain to ski (not a chair lift, but an enclosed car). They are pronounced differently, though. In our case, GON-doh-lah. For the ski-lift gondola, it's pronounced gon-DOH-lah. Furthermore, the housing under a blimp, a roofless railroad car, the rig that hangs from the side of a building for window-washing purposes, and a series of different types of retail shelving fixtures are all called gondolas. So I can see why you were confused.

ROFLOL! Well, we're in the gondola business so our Valentine's Day is taken up with making sure OTHER people have a good Valentine's Day! I oversaw the proposals, the flowers, the chocolate hearts, the bottle messages, and the specialty champagne and chocolates for over 50 couples. We start ramping up to Valentine's WEEK (it is a 7-9 day event for us including the weekends before and after) from the middle of January, and Valentine's DAY is the apex. I fell into bed at 4am, pooped out, but not as much as some of our gondoliers who drove 9 or 10 cruises that night. Luckily, I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who is very romantic the REST of the year, when he's not recovering from Valentine's Week himself.

I was explaining his perspective. And I meant unhappy in the marriage -- not unhappy as a person.

I don't have a lot of time today to get into this, but I had a feeling a lot of what I said would be misinterpreted so I wanted to clarify based on the responses I've seen. Just like all of yours', our marriage is also a partnership. We do each have our own strengths and weaknesses. For example, I was a math minor in college and he doesn't have good math skills, so it would be patently idiotic for me to expect him to take care of the bills. If he desperately wanted to, I would certainly take the time to teach him to do so. But he doesn't, so I take care of them. It works this way for a lot of things in our marriage. He doesn't rule over me with an Iron fist, and I don't use my feminine wiles to influence him. I do, however, respect his opinions greatly and if he wishes me to do or not do something, I will comply. We always, always, always present a unified "front" to our children -- if we disagree about how to discipline or attack a problem, we will discuss it together until we reach a conclusion. Any of you who have "know" me from this board certainly can't think I am a weak-willed doormat!

Not really. Because many times he didn't originally see my point of view, and when he does he changes his opinion. It's only when we're at a stalemate, which is rarely, that one of us has to give in. And I choose that to be me. Not out of obedience, but out of respect for him. And he has a vested interest in making good decisions because -- as I said earlier -- the weight of the success of the marriage is on his shoulders. I'd rather be in my position than his Anyone who knows us knows that our respect for each other runs deep. There isn't a person in the world who knows us in real life who would say he treats me as inferior, subservient, or below him.

I tried explaining this to a non-Christian woman once, several years ago, and she looked at me like I had two heads. Hopefully I'll do better this time. In the Greek, there are two separate and distinct words for obedience and submission; they are not the same thing. The word used in this scripture is not the one for obedience. The word is often used in the same context when discussing military rank, etc. A functioning unit must have a head, and our children know that Daddy is the head of our household. I am valued and important and not ever treated as a second-class citizen. In fact, my husband believes that making me happy in the marriage is his responsibility. If I am unhappy, it is his duty to fix it. If the marriage failed, he would place the blame squarely on his shoulders. This is how the whole thing takes form in our marriage: when we don't have the same opinion about something, we discuss it and try to see it from the others' point of view. If we can't reach a mutual agreement and an action has to be taken, I willfully submit to my husband's position. I find that I am generally a bit more hot-headed than he is and he can often take a much more even-keeled approach to things than I can -- so it's actually a very good thing. Sometimes he'll want me to not act on something, and when I don't I look back later and realize he was 100% right in his approach. Practically, does this mean I never ask my husband to do things for me, but I always do what he wants without question? No, not in the least. You have to remember that that qualifier -- "as the church submits to Christ" is huge. Christ doesn't have any nefarious goals for His church. Also, the qualifier, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" is equally huge. Rather than unimportant, secondary, subjugated, inferior, or diminished, I instead feel important, honored, protected, and safe. I am a well-educated, strong-willed woman. I am not inferior to my husband. We are partners. But in the rare circumstances when one course of action must be taken and we disagree on which way to go, I submit to him and have invariably found that to be the best way to go. I hope I did the issue justice. I'm having a particularly awful day, so if something doesn't make sense I'd be happy to clarify.

I've had plenty of "intense moments" since being banded, even early on, and never had any problems

LOL! You haven't been on this board long if you think you need to be delicate! As soon as you feel up to it; for most people that seems to center around 1-2 weeks, but for some it's sooner.

BJean, I've had the same experiences. It's very sad. One time I called someone on it and he got in my face, defending his selling me a defective item. There's a quote I love; I think Francis of Assisi originally said it. "Preach the Gospel always. If necessary, use words."

The churches I've attended have emphasized the FULL verse: Ephesians 5:24-26, Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. What this is asking wives to do is in the context of the church submitting to Christ as its head, not submitting to everything the husband says like it's the law of the land, most especially abuse, both mental and physical. What it's asking husbands to do is much harder -- because what Christ did for the church was to DIE for it. I think the entirety of the verse speaks to mutual respect between husbands and wives. Any church that talks about what women need to do but not how men need to respect their wives is cherry-picking its doctrine and taking God's word out of context.

It hasn't happened to me, but I also wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS on your little blessing!

I should clarify that he leaves out the deer part. He just says, periodically, "May you rejoice in the wife of your youth — may her breasts satisfy you always." or sometimes just "May her breasts satisfy you always." I'm thrilled that they make HIM happy I think God designed it that way.