mlbrowninwa

I hope SD takes care of Pitt. I like the Ravens chances alot better if Pitt is out of the mix, but if you're going to be the best, you have to be able to beat the best.

Well if you like D you had to like this game. Congrats to the Ravens!! Titans are next! Three more wins to go!!

I feel they can take care of the Titans, but i still have my doubts about the Steelers

My plans for the new year is to try to become a better father and husband(everyone can always find room for improvement:D). I plan(as we all do) to return to the gym to get rid of some of these extra pounds and go back to less junk food and more good things. But my main goal for the new year is to further my spiritual journey and strengthen my relationship with Jesus. I'm sure i can come up with more that i will post after i've given this some more thought.

Playoff football starts this weekend and i can't wait. On Sunday that feel good story of Pennington leading his new team to the promised land will end. Ed Reed and the Baltimore Ravens are coming to town to put on a show for all the land to see. Going to be a great game indeed!

Big VT fan here! Can't wait for our game on the 1st. Maybe we can pull out a bowl win after kindof a down year for us.

For everyone in the AFC, watch out, the Ravens are coming. They are really looking like they are getting it together at the right time. Just glad the Pats are out.

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope everyone has a great holiday!

Yes Pam that is going to be a good one. I tonight am very upset though. I have been a New York Jets fan for about 30 years now. It has been so many years of disappointments. With today's loss at Seattle, i can't put up with it any longer. They are cursed or something, year after year the same problems. Doesn't matter the players, the coaches, always the same. Heck they couldn't even get NYC to rezone land to build their new stadium and ended up having to once again go in with the Giants to play seconds to them at their new stadium in New Jersey!!!! Baltimore has been my second team for years. They will now become the first!! I need some new jersey's anyway, this time they will be Ravens purple!!! Enough is enough!

Welcome. I'm sure you will enjoy, lots of great people on here.

Saturday night football on tonight. Lets go Ravens!!! I really don't like the Cowboys!!

:lol:Thanks for your replies. Sometimes i think the more we look and study the more questions we bring forth. I enjoy reading all the responses here on this board though and getting opinions from everyone, LDS members or not. It truly helps guide the journey.

Thanks for all the replies. Even though she still doesn't believe it, LOL. However, I am going to continue to read and learn where i can. I do plan on starting to go again and finish my meetings with the missionaries. I'll keep you posted of my progress.

Hi again all. Just have a little something to share. Each night at some point I will sit down with a bible. I say a quick prayer for God to show me a message and close my eyes and flip though the bible slowly. I stop at a page, open my eyes and read the first verse at the top of the page. I have been looking into the LDS church for some time now and read the Book of Mormon daily as well and i always say a prayer that God will lead me in the right direction. I just wanted to share what I read tonight. I stopped at Luke, chapter 8, verse 1 thur 18: 1 Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, 2 along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; 3 Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples. 4 One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him: 5 “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. 6 Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’ 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. 12 The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. 13 The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. 15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. 16 “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. 17 For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all. 18 “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.” This kindof hit home with me tonight when i think about my other church experiences, how many people say they follow God, but in reality do not and how for those who truly do follow him we should not do it in secret but shout it to the world. And verse 18-the more we listen to his word, the more we will understand! That really seems to be true. What are your thoughts?

Thank you one and all for your responses. I will let her know them as well. I really don't know where she gets this stuff from. When i was meeting with the missionaries the last time, they were always very respectful of her not being there. They only asked once if she would like to join, but she declined and that was that. My son however joined in and even went to a couple services with me and i think he truly enjoyed it. My daughter sided with my wife and stayed out. What happened to "daddy's girl"? I believe she feels that she would be frowned upon for a lack of a better term due to the fact that she is not a stay at home mom. She is an engineer for a very large company and high up the corporate ladder for her position. She is the "bread winner" of the family now. We both work very hard and as most two income families, struggle to keep all the balls in the air. However i think we do an excellent job keeping everything going and still find time to spend together on the weekends. We both refuse to work weekends and that give us all time to reflect and reset.

Hi again all. My wife and i finally talked a little about the church last night. I am not a member at this time, but have been doing alot of reading and have been thinking strongly about attending more than here and there and taking back up my talks with the missionaries. She said we were going to have problems there if i decided to attend the church due to the fact that the church is so family centered that it would cause problems as they continually try to pull her in as well. She has no desire to attend or have anything to do with the church. I told her that i have seen many references to people that are the same, but for some reason she thinks it causes big problems. I told her that i did not think that was the case. Any church you attend would like to see the entire family there, not just one or two. I continue to pray that she will have some sort of spiritual awakening. So i told her that i was a member of this forum. I had gained so much welcomed info here. So i post this for members to respond to. Would the church and it members respect her desire not to be involved in the church?

I understand some of what you are going through. My wife and I have been married for 16 years. I have been a member of two different christian denominations in my life and was an active church goer until we were married. My wife has never been a very "religious" person although i know she believes in Jesus. We have both had friends over the years that were members of the LDS church and i have always felt a certain pull from the church. Back at the first of the year, after completing our move to the west coast I decided to explore churches in the area. One of them I decided to explore was the Latter Day Saints. I called, meet a few times with the missionaries and attended a few services near by my house. However this really seemed to turn my wife off to the entire church idea as a whole. She continued to tell me that she knew Mormons and what they believed and we should not be part of it. She had not attended one service or talked to the missionaries or even read any of the info that I had gathered. Over time i stopped going and cut off contact with the missionaries. However now i feel an even stronger need to return to the church. I read some of the book of Mormon again, but it was the gospel of John that sent me back on this track. I have recently started a journey to renew my life and I plan to go back to the church, call the missionaries back and maybe even join. I am currently reading a book called Mormon America, basically a history of the church written by non-members. They so far seem to present the church in a nice and honest light. But i have noticed my wife looking at the book. I continue to pray that she will open up some day, but I do not think she will stand in my way if i choose to attend.

Thanks to all for the replies and advice. We will continue to work on it, you have given me some new ideas to focus on. He has made an improvement from last year, but we still have a ways to go. Things really have changed since I was 14. And i have a hard time thinking that its for the best either. The amount of things that are out there that influence our kids is crazy.

What are we to do with kids these days. I have a 16 year old daughter and a 14 year old son. I feel my daughter is the typical 16 year old. She has a slight attitude at times, but for the most part is responsible and does what she is asked to do. My son on the other hand goes out of his way to do everything he is told not to do and lies about everything. Grades in school are terrible and has been in trouble with the law before. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get through to him? I'm running out of them. So far nothing has worked. Doubled his chores, took everything he has away, no phone, no computer, no friends over. Doesn't matter, still the same.

My biggest problem has always been tobacco. Have stopped several times only to go back at some point, but this time I feel it's going to be different since I have asked for help from above. Thank you for your replies. Going into day two now and feeling good!

Welcome and may God bless you and your family! I as an American truly thank you and your husband for your service to our country.

Ok, today I decided enough was enough and I'm going to try to renew my life. Last night as i put out my last cigarette i asked God to come into my life once again and lead me in the right directions. I asked to be cleansed of my addiction to cigarettes and my body to be healed from the damaged i've done over the years. I have started reading the scriptures again and am really trying to listen to his word and direction. At some point over the next few weeks i will return to a church to further my transformation. I ask that all of you pray for my success. For too long I have lived the way I wanted not the way we are taught to live. I now truly believe that I will never really be blessed until I follow Jesus completely. As it is written it is a narrow path that only a few follow. I can't wait to see what is down that path.

None of us truly know how bad it really is. I for one think the number is worse than reported and what gets me is that when the that bad report was released the stock market went up! Nothing in the economy has made since for months. It will get worse before it gets better!

Well same old Jets if you ask me. After watching them for the last 30 years, you learn to put up with the disappointments. I knew they would drop at least one more game this year. Just hope this was a wake up call for them. They need to stop reading the NY papers that had them in the Super Bowl all week!

Hello to all again. It has been several months since I last checked in on this site. So I am kindof starting over. Yet once again researching the church again after several months of not looking at all. Always like all the insight that i find on these boards, so i'm glad to be back.