An Evil and Wicked Heart by Leslie Vernick

The content below is not my own.  

"5 Indicators of An Evil and Wicked Heart" comes from IBelieve.com and was written by Leslie Vernick in 2015.

If you have read my post about Narcissism and Gas Lighting, you will find the article below very revealing. 

I hope it brings you much peace as you move through difficult interactions with those in your life.

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5 Indicators of an Evil and Wicked Heart

Originally posted to IBelieve.com on 2015 January 22 by Leslie Vernick. Content Retrieved 26 January 2018 through https://www.ibelieve.com/blogs/inside-ibelieve/5-indicators-of-an-evil-and-wicked-heart.html.

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As Christian counselors, pastors and people helpers we often have a hard time discerning between an evil heart and an ordinary sinner who messes up, who isn’t perfect, and full of weakness and sin.

I think one of the reasons we don’t “see” evil is because we find it so difficult to believe that evil individuals actually exist. We can’t imagine someone deceiving us with no conscience, hurting others with no remorse, spinning outrageous fabrications to ruin someone’s reputation, or pretending he or she is spiritually committed yet has no fear of God before his or her eyes.

The Bible clearly tells us that among God’s people there are wolves that wear sheep’s clothing (Jeremiah 23:14; Titus 1:10; Revelations 2:2). It’s true that every human heart is inclined toward sin (Romans 3:23), and that includes evil (Genesis 8:21; James 1:4). We all miss God’ mark of moral perfection. However, most ordinary sinners do not happily indulge evil urges, nor do we feel good about having them. We feel ashamed and guilty, rightly so (Romans 7:19–21). These things are not true of the evil heart.

Below are five indicators that you may be dealing with an evil heart rather than an ordinary sinful heart.  If so, it requires a radically different treatment approach.

1. Evil hearts are experts at creating confusion and contention.

They twist the facts, mislead, lie, avoid taking responsibility, deny reality, make up stories, and withhold information. (Psalms 5:8; 10:7; 58:3; 109:2–5; 140:2; Proverbs 6:13,14; 6:18,19; 12:13; 16:20; 16:27, 28; 30:14; Job 15:35; Jeremiah 18:18; Nehemiah 6:8; Micah 2:1; Matthew 12:34,35; Acts 6:11–13; 2 Peter 3:16)

2. Evil hearts are experts at fooling others with their smooth speech and flattering words.

But if you look at the fruit of their lives or the follow through of their words, you will find no real evidence of godly growth or change. It’s all smoke and mirrors. (Psalms 50:19; 52:2,3; 57:4; 59:7; 101:7; Proverbs 12:5; 26:23–26; 26:28; Job 20:12; Jeremiah 12:6; Matthew 26:59; Acts 6:11–13; Romans 16:17,18; 2 Corinthians 11:13,14; 2 Timothy 3:2–5; 3:13; Titus 1:10,16).

3. Evil hearts crave and demand control, and their highest authority is their own self-reference.

They reject feedback, real accountability, and make up their own rules to live by. They use Scripture to their own advantage but ignore and reject passages that might require self-correction and repentance. (Romans 2:8; Psalms 10; 36:1–4; 50:16–22; 54:5,6; 73:6–9; Proverbs 21:24; Jude 1:8–16).

4. Evil hearts play on the sympathies of good-willed people, often trumping the grace card.

They demand mercy but give none themselves. They demand warmth, forgiveness, and intimacy from those they have harmed with no empathy for the pain they have caused and no real intention of making amends or working hard to rebuild broken trust. (Proverbs 21:10; 1 Peter 2:16; Jude 1:4).

5. Evil hearts have no conscience, no remorse.

They do not struggle against sin or evil—they delight in it—all the while masquerading as someone of noble character. (Proverbs 2:14–15; 10:23; 12:10; 21:27,29; Isaiah 32:6; Romans 1:30; 2 Corinthians 11:13–15)

If you are working with someone who exhibits these characteristics, it’s important that you confront them head on. You must name evil for what it is. The longer you try to reason with them or show mercy towards them, the more you, as the Christian counselor, will become a pawn in his or her game.

They want you to believe that:

1. Their horrible actions should have no serious or painful consequences.

When they say “I’m sorry,” they look to you as the pastor or Christian counselor to be their advocate for amnesty with the person he or she has harmed. They believe grace means they are immediately granted immunity from the relational fallout of their serious sin. They believe forgiveness entitles them to full reconciliation and will pressure you and their victim to comply.

The Bible warns us saying, “But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord (Isaiah 26:10). 

The Bible tells us that talking doesn’t wake up evil people, but painful consequences might. Jesus didn’t wake up the Pharisee’s with his talk nor did God’s counsel impact Cain (Genesis 4). In addition, the Bible shows us that when someone is truly sorry for the pain they have caused, he or she is eager to make amends to those they have harmed by their sin (see Zacchaeus’ response when he repented of his greed in Luke 19). 

Tim Keller writes, “If you have been the victim of a heinous crime. If you have suffered violence, and the perpetrator (or even the judge) says, ‘Sorry, can’t we just let it go?’ You would say, ‘No, that would be an injustice.’ Your refusal would rightly have nothing to do with bitterness or vengeance. If you have been badly wronged, you know that saying sorry is never enough. Something else is required—some kind of costly payment must be made to put things right.”¹

As Biblical counselors let’s not collude with the evil one by turning our attention to the victim, requiring her to forgive, to forget, to trust again when there has been no evidence of inner change. Proverbs says, “Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips” (Proverbs. 25:19). It’s foolishness.

The evil person will also try to get you to believe

2. That if I talk like a gospel-believing Christian I am one, even if my actions don’t line up with my talk.

Remember, Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13–15). He knows more true doctrine than you or I will ever know, but his heart is wicked. Why? Because although he knows the truth, he does not believe it or live it.

The Bible has some strong words for those whose actions do not match their talk (1 John 3:17,18; Jeremiah 7:8,10; James 1:22, 26). John the Baptist said it best when he admonished the religious leaders, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God” (Luke 3:8).

If week after week you hear the talk but there is no change in the walk, you have every reason to question someone’s relationship with God.

Part of our maturity as spiritual leaders is that we have been trained to discern between good and evil. Why is that so important? It’s important because evil usually pretends to be good, and without discernment we can be easily fooled (Hebrews 5:14).

When you confront evil, chances are good that the evil heart will stop counseling with you because the darkness hates the light (John 3:20) and the foolish and evil heart reject correction (Proverbs 9:7,8). But that outcome is far better than allowing the evil heart to believe you are on his or her side, or that “he’s not that bad” or “that he’s really sorry” or “that he’s changing” when, in fact, he is not.

Daniel says, “[T]he wicked will continue to be wicked” (Daniel 12:10), which begs the question, do you think an evil person can really change?

[1] Tim Keller, Jesus the King, page 172

Forgiveness

Praying for Wisdom

As Easter approaches...think about 

• LOVE, 
• BETRAYAL, 
• ABANDONMENT, 
• SUFFERING, and 
• FORGIVENESS.   

"Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

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God LOVED the world so much that: 

• He sent His only Son (Jesus) to us -- here on Earth
• to a place where He (God) could not be--God does not dwell with sin
• to pay for our sin -- all sin must be punished
• to set us free -- so that we (forgiven of our sins) can be with God after our bodies pass away.

But the world BETRAYED Him (Jesus).

The world ABANDONED Him (Jesus).

And still He (Jesus) LOVED us, SUFFERED for us, and FORGAVE us.

This Easter, please focus on this lesson in LOVE and FORGIVENESS. 

1. Anyone you need to FORGIVE, please do. 
2. Anyone you need FORGIVENESS from, please contact.

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1 Peter 4:  Living for God's Glory

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2 Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the pagans: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

4 Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 That is why the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so you can pray. 8 Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without complaining.

10 As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. 11 If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Bring Some DISORDER to Your Mind and Family

My family has been working on purchasing a new board or card game every month this school year (2016-2017).  During this implemented family-game-time game-collection-year, we have ended up with a game called DISORDER.

As a child, Trivial Pursuit (the Original) and Scrabble were the two most-played games in my home.  I remember enjoying the family time and forced interaction of everyone.  While we did not always 'play nicely' during game time, we certainly learned about each other, educated ourselves, challenged our minds, and slowed the isolation that often occurs when siblings reach the teenage years.

As a parent, I have always tried to play a game with my children at least once a week.  When they were younger, it was easier since the games were simplistic and encouraged memorization and brain growth.  However, now, with our children in double-digits, the games have reached a level of thought and analysis that tend to spotlight the parents' education, abilities, and exposure to the world versus the children's grade-level-knowledge.  Therefore, unless a parent wants to lie by holding himself back from a win, game-time often ends with a parent-win.  This can be discouraging after awhile.

However, the game DISORDER has helped to bridge the distance between educations of those playing in our family.  DISORDER is a game of word creation and continual change.  Players receive letter cards; however, the backside of the cards are the words WILD.  This means that every card is both a letter and a wild card.

To play the game, players place these cards on the board to work on ONE word together.  As the next player lays down a wild or letter card, each player then has to come up with a new word that could fit into that space using those letters (or wild) cards in the order in which they appear on the table.  I know this seems confusing at first, but it is quite wonderful for continual word modification using suffixes, prefixes, making words plural, transforming words into adjectives and other parts of speech to not be the one who loses the round by actually spelling the word.  The person who ends up spelling the word loses the round and receives the points showing on the cards placed on the table.  This encourages the players to keep modifying the word--in their minds--by  creating new words with the same number of letters, with the letter cards showing, and being able to choose whatever letters to use in the wildcard spaces.

An example of word manipulation is when my daughter brought up the concept of 'gruntled' as a word.  As I mentioned earlier, to not be the person who actually spells the word, you want to keep adding to and adjusting the cards--in your mind--into different, longer words.  We all know the word 'disgruntled,' and the assumption is that the use of 'dis' turns a word into the negative/opposite version: disassembled (opposite of assembled), disagreement (opposite of agreement), disabled (opposite of able), disarm (opposite of armed), disuse (opposite of use) and so on.  However, when my daughter asked if 'gruntled' was a viable word, we had to really think about it.  It made sense that it should be a word, given the traditional usage of 'dis' in the English language; however, it seemed awkward as a word.

Analytical Grammar (online) writes this about the words 'disgruntled' and 'gruntled:'

Today's Lunchbox Lesson: DISGRUNTLED and GRUNTLED

DISGRUNTLED: an adjective, meaning angry or dissatisfied.

In many cases, the “dis-” prefix adds a negative element to a word, leading many people to ask if there is an opposite word, GRUNTLED. However, "dis-" has another function as well. Instead of being negative, the “dis-” prefix in “disgruntled” is an intensifier. It means “utterly” or “completely” and adds emphasis to the root.

Back in the 1600s “gruntling” meant “grumbling.” So if someone was "gruntling," they'd be even MORE upset if they were "disgruntling" --and it does look like “disgruntle” was a verb before it became an adjective and we started to use it to describe people’s emotions.

So is GRUNTLED a word? Interestingly, it has actually become one according to some dictionaries. Those say “gruntled” is a back-formation that people derived from “disgruntled.” In other words, so many people thought “disgruntled” should have the corresponding positive word, “gruntled,” that it emerged and was accepted. Granted, the word isn’t common, but the first known use of “gruntled” as an adjective to mean “in good humor” or “pleased” in the Oxford English Dictionary is attributed to P.G. Wodehouse, who included this sentence in his 1938 novel, "The Code of the Woosters":

"He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled."

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary puts the first use in 1926, but doesn’t show the source. At any rate, GRUNTLED may one day become commonplace.

Given the information above and the concept of traditional 'dis' usage in the English language, we considered 'gruntled' a true word. The cards placed on the board at the time of her thoughts on 'gruntled' came when she would have completed the word GRUNT. Therefore, to avoid placing the last card for a word completion, she could have added a card to extend the word to plural (adding a 's' card or wild card to the 6th space on the table) or added a card to the 6th, 7th, or 8th spaces on the board. Then, if someone else did not want to be the person to lose by spelling gruntled, he could have added cards in front of the GRUNTLED spaces, once again adjusting the word, but into the negative version of DISGRUNTLED. The rules for DISORDER say that no proper nouns or abbreviations can be used; however, anything found in a dictionary is fair-game as a word to use.

I highly recommend that you give this game a try with your children--if they are in double digits.  Children younger than 10 might not have the grammatical abilities to play the game competitively.  DISORDER teaches grammatical skills and word manipulation in ways Scrabble never could, encourages fun family interaction, and makes it possible for everyone to do their best, without parents having to cheat by letting the kids win.

**I purchased my game through Hollar.com.  They were selling it for $4!  You can't beat that!  If you are interested in learning more about the game or purchasing your own box, click HERE.

Indivisible--Don't forget That Important Word

"IT'S TRUMP"...that is what the front cover of the newspaper declared in bold, block letters on Wednesday morning, November 9th, 2016. When a race is this debated, it is always a perk to go out and purchase a memento of the election, making sure to have a brief record of an event that will be brought up for elections to come.

"IT'S TRUMP" was not the only cover option that Wednesday morning, though. If you wanted an article focused on Trump, you purchased that newspaper; however, if you were focused on H. Clinton's side of the election, you could choose, "She's Out."

Despite the recent rioting in the streets (which is illegal) as well as the sense of loss by women that a female did not win the Presidency (which is inconsequential on the greater scheme of things), life as we know it will go on.  Obama was considered an extremist, and even with his 'change,' America still stands, grocery stores still have food, people still go on vacation, and freeways are still crowded daily with workers commuting.  The focus after the declaration of Trump as the future President should have been that the public voted, a decision was asserted for the leadership most desired, there will be change to come, and American women should pursue personal hights instead of living vicariously through H. Clinton.

TJ Brown expresses his thoughts on the female scorn of H. Clinton's loss below.

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Dear Women: A Hillary Clinton Loss Does Nothing To Harm Your Personal Ambitions

The public reaction to Trump’s victory has been an unrelenting frenzy. Two sides forecast something that's either Utopia and Armageddon. Maybe it could be somewhere in between?

And something else is on people’s minds as well, particularly among the left: what does this mean for women?

What does Hillary's defeat mean for women? Nothing.Throughout her campaign, Hillary Clinton has been no stranger to using the appeal of her gender to garner support. To many women, this was a major reason to support her. The narrative has been of aspirational transferation by the shattering of the glass ceiling. Women and girls everywhere were supposed to finally find personal inspiration by electing the first woman president of the United States via identity politics.

And now that that opportunity has passed, many of these women and girls are heartbroken and dispirited. All I can say to these people is: don’t let the failure of one woman influence your perception of what can and can’t be achieved by women.

From someone who was fed the same line from the left when we elected the first black president, I can confidently say that you’re not missing much. Sure, there was a temporary “wow” factor that came with electing the first black president. Being a black man myself, I was bombarded with reasons as to why this means black people can do anything they set their mind to.

But later I realized that having a black president doesn’t mean I’m any more or less likely to achieve success. The same should be true for women.

Your Own Success
The validity of one’s hopes and dreams shouldn’t be measured by other people's record of achieving them. I didn’t realize my potential through collectivist association. I don’t believe in what I can achieve based on someone else's merits. Especially for reasons as trivial as skin color. And women shouldn’t find themselves feeling any more or less ambitious because of the failure of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

The glass ceiling isn’t broken by putting one woman in office, or one black person on the CEO board. It’s broken by individuals, millions of them, pursuing their own path towards happiness. Don’t allow feminists or left-wing pundits to feed you lies about how a loss for Hillary is a loss for women. It’s not. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The loss of any authoritarian ruler, woman or man, is a win for the possibility of individual achievement. The four-year continuation of economic and social micromanagement, cultural division, war, corruption, and lies was inevitable with either Trump or Clinton. Neither have any interest in what truly contributes to what breaks glass ceilings: being independent and freed.

Progress and Ballots
The greatest accomplishments of women in history weren’t realized at the ballot box. They were realized in the market, through human action and individualism. So tell your wife, sister, mother or daughter that Hillary’s loss is a loss for Hillary alone.

The greatest accomplishments of women in history weren't realized at the ballot box.The evolution of civilization – including the whole of humanity – will continue long after Hillary’s political career. And by then, billions of women around the globe will have played a far more monumental role in innovating and directing the course of history. 99 percent of them will do so through voluntary means, via the volition of their own personal freedom and pursuit of happiness.

You can either be a part of that 99 percent who change the world, or you can sit on the sidelines waiting for one person to do it for you so you can feel good about their success while neglecting your own. I personally hope you choose the former, because the beauty and imagination that clouds your mind right now, will prove to influence more lives in the long term than any politician could dream of. Don’t rely on Hillary Clinton to legitimize your dreams. Don’t allow Donald Trump to negate your humanity or your character.

Elitist Figureheads
Take the first step in being the change you want to see in the world rather than just voting for it. And the best part is, you don’t have to become president to accomplish this. Capitalism yields opportunity for all people's creativity and visionary passions.

The only thing holding you back from this accomplishment of self-determination is your willingness to go for it. So drop the political admiration and aggrandizement of elitist figureheads. Exploit liberty to its fullest potential; that’s how you smash the patriarchy.
TJ Brown
Taleed J. Brown is a content intern at FEE and hosts the popular YouTube channel "That Guy T".

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

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As a woman, I understand that it is nice to see 'one of our own' succeed in higher places in our government and world; however, my success, achievements, and future are not based on whether 'one of my own' ultimately achieves a position. My opportunities, as well as my children's, are based on personal drive, intellect, and pursuits. While I can understand why some people--who voted for H. Clinton--are dubious of how Trump will do in office, is he really any less prepared than Obama was when he sky-rocketed onto the scene and swept up the election in 2008?

Since Trump was declared the future president-elect, there have been groups arising and rioting...not protesting, but actually rioting. As Americans, it is our right to peacefully assemble and protest occurrences in our government; however, there is no right to riot. It all seems rather childish and petty, actually.

When Obama won his first election, there were no riots, yet Republicans were just as afraid of him as Democrats are of Trump.  Perspective is what is needed.

No matter who you voted for, there is now going to be a change in power in the White House, and the Republic has spoken. Isn't that what we want? To be heard? Whether the person I supported won or not, the public was heard, and perspective and rational thought is needed to prevent the extremists from rioting and causing social disruption.

The time has come to concede the loss, appreciate the dynamic shift in political runners, and know that any ceiling 'not' broken by H. Clinton 'not' being elected does not stop the next qualified woman from throwing her bonnet in the ring and trying to provide support and guidance for the American people as a future president. 

Becoming president should not be about gender or race.  It must be about what is best for the Republic: this ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, for LIBERTY and JUSTICE FOR ALL. When it becomes about one's gender and not the benefits of having that person in the office, we have lost sight of what government office is all about. It is not about wealth, fame, and power; it is about governing to the benefit of the nation, under God, and indivisible. 

By making an election about labels and titles, we divide ourselves. We must be Americans before we are Democrats or Republicans. We must strive for unity before lashing out like children and rioting in the streets. We must ask God for strong, capable, honest, and knowledgeable leaders to step up and run for office BEFORE we get wrapped up in the symbols of donkey or elephant. 

Liberty. 

Justice. 

For all. 

Focus on the liberty the upcoming president can provide. Focus on the justice to be restored for American citizens, and focus on the idea of all of us working to better ourselves, encourage our children, and provide a better country for future generations of leaders, no matter what color or gender.

Approaching Education

Image from Lifehack.org

Recently reading articles about education in America and where it has gone awry, I came across Laura Wheldon's article "How School Crushes the Child's Natural Love of Learning," and I thought she did a very good job assessing standard, public-school-style learning in confined classrooms, filled with too many children, too much to cover, and too little mental freedom.

While she does well to remain focused on issues with current, mainstream school, she does not shy away from then suggesting--at the end--that the organic processes associated with traditional education--day-to-day lessons on life and personal interests--are those most productive.

For a republishing of the article, click HERE.

Understanding Pronoun Usage

Shorter but Not Always Better

Everyone remembers what a pronoun is in standard English: a pronoun replaces a noun in order to avoid repetition.  However, if you have not clearly established (in a thesis, topic sentence, or closing sentence) the subject of the sentence, you cannot use a pronoun to avoid repetition because it is not avoiding repetition if there was not a clear subject indicated to begin with in the sentence.  Using a pronoun, in this case, causes confusion.

Pronouns are vague, and while they can be used in any type of sentence, you should only use them when the noun that they are replacing is very clear.  While pronouns are a perfectly acceptable form of noun replacement, you need to make sure that you are not incorrectly using them in the most important sentences in your essay: thesis statement, topic sentences, and closing sentences.  Thesis statements, topic sentences, and closing sentences need to be written as if they could stand alone, be read by the reader, and the full intent would still be perfectly clear.  These types of sentences must contain CLEAR subject usage through a noun or proper noun. Pronouns are vague, and it is required that they only be used when the noun is very clear.

For more detailed information on pronouns, click HERE.

Computer Usage...Be Not Afraid

Standards and Fears

I can remember way-back-when...in middle-school...when my step-father brought home our first computer.  What was it?  Hmmm...let's see, it was something we don't use today but was famous (the most-sold computer system in the world to this day)...oh, so many years ago...I have to dig through my gray matter to find the name...

Does this look familiar to any of you?  While the age of my students ranges from 11-111 (Nah, not really.  The oldest student I have had was 62.), there may be some of you who know what this is.

"The Commodore 64"

This was my first exposure to a computer at home...the Commodore 64.  I can still remember my parents trying to instill the fear of the 'money-god' in me to not break it.  While it is not impressive by today's standards--and size--this was a very exciting (and scary) item to have in our house.  

At school, there was a computer lab (in the library) for teacher and student use.  It was home to two of the most prized items on campus...Computer Terminal A and Computer Terminal B (just obscure names for the two computers the whole school--students, faculty, and staff--had to share).

"The Commodore PET"

These 'school computers' looked like this one, and we had to learn C: Prompt codes to get into the internal system that everyone refers to today as the 'desktop'.  So, for those of you old school folks out there who have never been too keen on operating a computer yet find yourselves in a classroom that requires the use of Microsoft Office WORD to complete all of your assignments, I'm sure that you have a lot of questions.  For young students who might not have had much exposure to formal use of Microsoft Office WORD since the modern student uses Facebook, Twitter, and SKYPE more than word processing programs, then have I got great news for you!!!  Below you will find a list of links to take you to a wonderful site that will teach you the basics--and more--about using Microsoft Office WORD.  

If you do not know how to formally double space, create headers, headings, indent, hang-indent, insert images, and wrap text, then you must learn the concepts below as soon as possible.  For an academic class, you will need to learn the basic concepts below to make sure that your work is double-spaced, in Times or Arial font, size 12, contains proper headers with content and page number inserts, and so on.  

While these things might initially send you into a state of shock--similar to how I felt the first time that I sat down in front of that Commodore 64--you will soon get the hang of it.  

So, before we sail off into the future, let's take one last look at the side of my first keyboard...

Do you see those plug slots?  Those would be comparable to today's USB 2.0 and 3.0 slots.  The two on the left were where you plugged in your perrifferial items. The slot on the far right is the power cord slot, and the switch next to it actually turned the power on and off to prevent power surges. Do you own anything today that would work in these holes?  Believe it or not...I still do.  One of these days, I will get the courage to crack off the case of my college computer (an old MAC), and I will attempt to learn it and rebuild it...if it is even still possible by then.  In the meantime...I'll keep focused on the 'new' around me and guide you to the lessons below.

Happy Learning!!!!  The computer is your friend (despite Dan Rather's quote below)!

Learn Formatting of MO Word Documents

The information in this section (below) comes from the Goodwill Community Foundation LearnFree.org as assistance to writers using various programs and are in need of training. The content below is not my own creation. Please see the site for more details.

• Getting to Know MO Word
• Creating and Opening Documents in MO Word
• Saving and Sharing Documents in MO Word
• Text Basics
• Formatting Text
• Page Layout
• Printing Documents
• Indents and Tabs
• Line and Paragraph Spacing
• Lists
• Hyperlinks
• Breaks
• Columns
• Headers, Footers, and Page Numbers
• Pictures, Images, Figures, and Text Wrapping
• Formatting Pictures
• Shapes
• Text Boxes and Word Art
• Arranging Objects
• Tables
• Charts
• Checking Spelling and Grammar
• Tracking Changes and Comments
• Finalizing and Protecting Documents
• SmartArt Graphics
• Styles
• Themes
• Mail Merge
• Editing PDF Files
• Customizing the Ribbon
• Enabling Touch Mode
• Embedding an Excel Chart
• Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office WORD