hi!

by norm67 10 Replies latest jw friends

  • norm67
    norm67

    hi!

    a friend told me about this board some months ago, i've been lurking here ever since and really enjoyed it. so i thought i might as well register *g*. about me: baptized in the 80s, pioneer, ms, the usual stuff...inactive for 3+ yrs now. i don't want to give too many details about myself as some of my family are still in. but there's hope, maybe it's wishful thinking but i've noticed they are having some nagging doubts as well.

    well, that's it for the moment! thanks for reading, sorry it wasn't very interesting

    norm (no, i'm NOT the norwegion guy...or maybe i AM from norway? who knows? *bg*)

  • Latte
    Latte

    Hi Norm67,

    Welcome! Hope that you stick around, there's some good reading here!

    Any clues as to where you are from?

    Latte

  • Prisca
    Prisca

    Hello and welcome!

    Glad to see another new face.

  • closer2fine
    closer2fine

    Welcome! I've been inactive for 10 years now. Same boat as you - baptized in 80's, pioneer etc. I also still have family in. I often cut and paste the researched posts here to a file I'm keeping. I keep hoping that I'll be able to share some of the info with my family.

    Hope to see you posting! :o)

    closer

    "Can you imagine a world with no hypothetical questions?" -- Steven Wright

  • bboyneko
    bboyneko

    Closer2fine, I LOVE YOUR OPUS

  • ozziepost
    ozziepost

    G'day Norm, or should I say a big HI!

    Glad to have you aboard the board and look forward to reading from you soon. How about doing a post on why you exited? It'd be interesting and could be helpful to the many, many lurkers here. I know there are many lurkers in the land of Oz who'd be helped by some good comments.

    See what you can do.

    Cheers,
    Ozzie

    "You can know the law by heart, without knowing the heart of it"
    Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace?

  • norm67
    norm67

    thanks for your kind words, people!

    ozzie: well, i'm not a good writer at all and i'm still a little paranoid about giving away too much information.

    it's a long story, but basically, i spent all my jw life 'on the run'. many jws are on guilt trips, but mine was the worst you could imagine. in my first 2 congregations i was marked for 'wrongdoing' that was NOTHING compared to the things other 'brothers' did. but i was naive enough to report it dutifully to the elders each and every time. you can't believe just HOW guiltridden my existence was. whenever i felt some brothers weren't acting like true christians, i quickly pushed the thought aside and blamed myself for being judgmental. everything, absolutely everything was my very own fault, and it seemed to be impossible to live up to the standards. of course, i tried (quite sucessfully) to keep a happy facade and told everyone how great living in the truth is. i think i did that to persuade myself that is really is the truth, and that i _should_ be happy. i moved from congregation to congregation (with all sorts of excuses like finding a better job there, but in reality it was about the congregations), but things didn't become better. i always had the feeling of being a 'black sheep', even if it was just for the reason that i didn't feel as happy as i should! the pressure was unbelievable. with time, i learned that i'm not the only one feeling that way...and then came the internet...and then the dam broke. it was a painful experience but once i had broken free from the org, i felt GREAT. still do. it's as if someone took a huge sack full of stones from my back. unfortunately i have to keep a low profile because, as i said before, some of my family are still in. but that's just a minor inconvenience compared to my active jw days.

    norm

  • lauralisa
    lauralisa

    {{{norm}}}}

    thank you for sharing your story. I've been out of jw circulation for some months now and am still shaking my head in disbelief and amazement over how wonderful it feels to just leave those huge rocks by the wayside. And it keeps getting better... there is a whole universe (Oops... the "U" word! whatever) - of feelings that i'm just learning how to experience now that fear, guilt, dread, despair, grief, loss, fear, guilt, self-loathing, doubt, etc.etc. are not my predominant states of mind.

    I find much here to help me muddle through the confusing and painful moments that arise from time to time.

    take care
    LL

  • jayhawk1
    jayhawk1

    Hi lauralisa and norm67,
    Welcome to the board! I hope you both will be around for awhile. I have found the people here to be helpful to me. At least I now know there are people who have the same background as mine.

    Norm67,
    I understand being paranoid about sharing too much. Sometimes I think to myself, what if somebody who knows me says something to my former Congregation. Then I realize I could care less what they think of me. After all they don't want me around anyway.
    I just wanted to ask, are you related to normie67, or is that just a coincidence?

    "Hand me that whiskey, I need to consult the spirit."-J.F. Rutherford

  • ozziepost
    ozziepost

    Thanks norm for 'filling us in'. Glad you're enjoying your (Christian) freedom!

    Cheers,
    Ozzie

    "You can know the law by heart, without knowing the heart of it"
    Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace?

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