by LDH 95 Replies latest jw friends
IW, re-read the same sentence you quoted.
If you can't understand it, then obviously *YOU* never spent four years of your life selling worthless magazines full-time.
I thought surely, with-in that four years, I was in line for SOME type of blessing, as evidence that I was doing the right thing.
Lisa
Island Woman
If you didn't need anything why did you hope the congregation would offer you financial help?
Where did you get that she was hoping for help?? She didn't need help. She was simply repeating the garbage that she had heard over the years.
I did offer a regular pioneer the opportunity to split my firewood for a fee once. I told him he could work it around his schedule just as long as it was done before the rains showed up. He never showed up. Now that's someone that was hoping for help.
I thought surely, with-in that four years, I was in line for SOME type of blessing, as evidence that I was doing the right thing.
You mean you didn't feel the blessing in your heart? Just the sheer happiness of serving a worthless organization didn't bless you enough?
LOL! Just kidding!
Oh yeah, Andi. I forgot about the "bounteous spiritual harvest" I was a part of.
Oh yeah, and pioneer school too.
Don't get me started, IW.
Lisa
Lisa,
Don't get me started, IW.
Sorry, I just post a different side that's all. This place tends to be one-sided, I post what I have seen and many times it is not what others have. That's not to say they are wrong, its just the Org. is as varied as people are varied.
Truly, I personally know some very fine pioneers who do not think that their service to God should be somehow blessed by help from the congregation. That's why I was puzzled by your post.
Sometimes here on JWD personal experiences are related as if they are the absolute norm, the absolute representation of JWs in all congregations. They are not, and I will continue to say so because it is the truth.
IW
If you'd like Lisa I'll give you another pair of panty hose and a $5 bill
But I know what ya mean. Doesn't it feel like you just wasted all that time. I know that sometimes I want to
on an elder. The worste tragedy of being a JW is the amount of time that's taken from you. You can never get that back.
gsx1138
The experiences related here may not be the "norm," but they do represent a pretty big slice of the pie.
When I pioneered, I expected nothing. I figured that my material needs should be taken care of by myself, so I wasn't disappointed that there were no "blessings" in it for me. As a matter of fact, I was one of those straight-arrow pioneers who never cheated on time or anything else. As a result, I ended up in the hospital seriously ill after only three years of "blessed service."
There was one pioneer, however, who received "blessings" in abundance. She never worked, but instead lived off the inheritance she received from her grandparents. She was also invited for dinner constantly, and would be given gas money, and money for any extras from various congregation members.
She was also the pioneer who would be bailed out of jail regularly by the elders for hit and run accidents and driving while intoxicated.
Everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others.
Sorry Island Woman, but I think that Lisa's experience WAS the absolute norm. I pioneered for 2.5 years and don't recall a single blessing - other than being able to spend time with my friends.
There are so many stories in the mags that talk about how pioneers were down to their last cent, and someone gave them food. Or, they didn't have any work and couldn't pay the bills, and someone calls with work for them. Blessings, blessings, blesssing. Trust in Jehovah. He will provide. Pioneering was portrayed as a direct route to God, all expenses paid (or close to it).
The reality of it was different. You ALWAYS drove your own car out in service ($$). You stopped after an hour and went for coffee ($$). I was rarely invited to anyone's home for a meal (other than my friends' homes). Most door to door partners didn't even want to talk at at the doors. Most publishers weren't prepared and some didn't even have the mag/books. You were stuck with kids a lot. You NEVER had money (it's hard to pay for car ins/gas/rent/food on a part time salary).
I was counselled once for not wearing nylons out in service. I told the brother he would have to buy them, since I was broke LOL.
Pioneering sucked.
Lisa, since this thread started I've been sitting here thinking if I got anything after ten years of full time service. The only thing I can think of is that once when I was sick a sister brought me over a bowl of spaghetti. That's all. Just plain, cooked spaghetti. No sauce, no nothing. I wondered about it at the time but maybe that's how she ate her spaghetti.
Edited by - Dutchie on 19 June 2002 19:30:30
Incense_and_Peppermints......I have an orange, and I know how to use it .
-BONEZZ
