Posts by forest heathen

28

I hope I'm not stumbling you, she said as we sipped drinks at the track...I

by MissFit in

i have a sweet jw friend.

she is elderly and had heart problems and is hard of hearing.. she is a tiny thing and very loving.

she is a convert and had been "in" for around 20 years.. she came "in "after her divorce.. we started hanging out together a couple years ago when i called her for a ride to the meetings.. .

Farewell from Confused and Alone

by confusedandalone in

jw
friends

i use to hate when people who made goodbye posts on message boards.

why would they think that just because you no longer post on a chevy truck forum or a los angeles lakers forum the world would crumble around those still left there.

this place is definitely different.

forest heathen

Dear Confusedand(not)alone,

I only just get here and off you go.

However, I do get it. I've joined forums where I've found friends, support, and understanding just when I needed it. And then the time would come where I knew it was time to move on.

Heh, but then I would find myself popping in to say "hi" months or even over a year later. Can't help but wonder how old friends are doing.

Not sure I understand the Lakers forum thing though. Spurs fan here. (Won't mention the number Five and Yesterday)

Wishing you all the best life has to offer and hope to see you pop in again to say "hi".

~ Forest Heathen

37

I saw a trolley (cart to you cousins in the U.S.A.)

by punkofnice in

yes.. peterborough city center u.k. ''what does the bible really teach'' displayed on it.. a family of 3 i know were sitting on the bench just behind it.

i'm not going to say anything derogatory about them as they are nice folks even if they have to shun me now i bear no malice.. as predicted not a single person was paying any attention as they walked by.

i noticed some other canvassers (non religious), were actively approaching people and handing out leaflets.. on the market i saw the jw charity stall and again not a single soul was interested or even near it.. i'm glad this 'urgent never to be repeated work(tm)' is being vigorously carried out by god's chosen people.

forest heathen

I wonder how people are being reached ...?

I've been in the same house for over three years.

This house is in a nice established neighborhood. There are retired folks and families. (Plenty of people home during the day)

During this time I was out of work for almost exactly one year.

During that year I was home pretty much every single morning between the hours of 8 -11 a.m.

My husband and I are grandparents and live with our grown son and his family. When I've not been home (I help watch my 4 grandkids) my daughter in law has been. She is awesome. Ex-Mormon. She knows I would love to have someone stop by. She would like it too. She feels for my mom who has two JW sisters who don't talk to her.

Still, I've never seen them on our street going door to door. Not come home to magazines or tracts under the mat.

ONCE we saw them pull up and park in front of our house. Saw two ladies with their bags get out. My daughter in law and I were both home and we both got happily excited in anticipation of their visit. Turns out it was just a return call to our next door neighbors. Spanish speaking "sisters".

There's a congregation out there seriously not working their territory.

One time I came across a JW table set up in front of a truck stop. Two sisters and a brother. Chatting with each other. Ignoring the table. Ignoring the people walking by. They need to go to Costco and take some lessons from the in-store demo people.

~ Forest Heathen

43

"Only if you get a court order." wink, wink

by rebel8 in

recently had a discussion with a surgeon who said jw parents "usually" (her word, not mine) privately say they will take blood if the provider gets a court order.. yet another person, with no connection to dubs and no motive to make this up, saying this same thing.

interesting.. i'm surprised the thought police have not come out with an article saying jehoopla reads the hearts and judges as bloodguilty those who are relieved when forced to take blood..

forest heathen

My brother and his wife are both anesthesiologists. I used to to be a medical technician, and they kept encouraging me to go on to nursing. So, of course this subject would come up.

They've told me that some JWs do indeed accept blood, especially since their privacy is protected. I was secretly happy when my sister in law told me that she's got court orders for minors of JWs. I hated it when this discussion came up when I was still "in". Because though I 100% believed in paradise earth ... I was not so firm or unwavering on disfellowshipping and blood issues.

Forest Heathen

26

Finally learned how to live the REAL real life

by forest heathen in

jw
friends

someone suggested i post an introductory thread.

i am a married, rather young grandma of four precious rugrats, ages 2-9. i guess our only child son and his only child wife didn't want their own kids to be "onlies".

my other half and i married rather young (18 &22) and will be celebrating 31 years together this summer.. i am sort of add, keep thinking i am still 28, love my husband now more than ever, and am so glad i woke up and left the crazy cult.. my husband and i began studying months after marrying and then decided to take the dunk.

forest heathen

Oh wow! I am so overwhelmed by all your warm welcomes. Thank you!

I don't think I've ever been given such an amazing welcome before. I can tell I am going to love it here!

To Lisa Rose - I will pass along to my son your thanks. He was always community and service oriented and is so proud to serve. His father and grandfather were both in the Army and he is glad to follow in their foot steps. (My husband had just gotten out when we married).

To ExWhyZee- No one really tried checking up on our MIA status. It was the oddest thing. We've run into a couple of families over the years, and the conversations have been sort of like this:

Them - Oh hi! It's be so long since we've seen you. How are you.

Us - We're fine. How are you?

Them - Great. Are you attending at another congregation now? (Never mind the hubby's beard and my Yin Yang or OM or Pentacle necklaces.)

Us - No.

Them - Well, good seeing you. We've go to be going.

Us- Nice seeing you too. Bye.

I did have a "brother" FB friend me. It was fine, for months, and then he and my daughter in law got into a debate over military service on one of my wall postings. He quickly unfriended me. I do have several ex-JW friends from previous congregations.

To Will-be-Apostate - I don't want to get in trouble for advertising or posting commercial sites. However, I think I am okay in telling you the name of the series is Dreamers Forest. My pen name is Joelle Martin. If you google those together you should get my website. If you have any trouble send me a private message. My books went out of print last year when my publisher went under. It was a small press and didn't withstand under the economic troubles. They were in print for about six years. I am now writing adult romance and hope to be published again. In the meantime, I have made my books available on Kindle, so you can still read them. I am considering using a popular print on demand source to get them available in paperback again too.

To Too Tired2Care - my current job takes me away from home a lot so I don't watch much TV. My son and daughter in law like GOT. I've not watched it. I do love medieval and renaissance stuff. I've been to Ren Faires. I dress up as an elf (ears, cloak, and all) for book signings and Trick or Treating. But when it comes to TV I am more of a BBC person. I love Doctor Who, Father Ted, Red Dwarf, Primeval, and Torchwood.

To Designer Stubble - I know you!!!! And you know me ... as Forest Girl.

To KateWild - You made me stop and think. But really no. We didn't discuss going or not going back to meetings. I guess the closest thing to "discussion" was on a few Sundays, when we first began fading, we would have a conversation that went something like this:

Hubby - Maybe we should go to the meeting.

Me - Do you want to? Should I iron something?

Hubby - We should. But I do need to mow, change the car oil, or some other excuse. Or else, I don't really feel well.

Me - Yeah, there really is a lot around here I need to catch up on too. Or else, me either I didn't sleep well.

And then we would both drop it and stay home. Very quickly even this kind of conversation ended. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that hubby and I even discussed what made each of us not go back.

~ Forest Heathen

43

"Only if you get a court order." wink, wink

by rebel8 in

recently had a discussion with a surgeon who said jw parents "usually" (her word, not mine) privately say they will take blood if the provider gets a court order.. yet another person, with no connection to dubs and no motive to make this up, saying this same thing.

interesting.. i'm surprised the thought police have not come out with an article saying jehoopla reads the hearts and judges as bloodguilty those who are relieved when forced to take blood..

forest heathen

"Recently had a discussion with a surgeon who said jw parents "usually" (her word, not mine) privately say they will take blood if the provider gets a court order.

Yet another person, with no connection to dubs and no motive to make this up, saying this same thing. Interesting."

I believe you.

My brother and his wife are both anesthesiologists. They've told me that "behind closed doors" JWs will agree to take blood. Medical records are private and no one elses business.

33

Just letting you know I passed the exam

by will-be-apostate in

jw
friends

hi, my apostate friends.. a couple of weeks ago i asked for some advice regarding studying methods.

then some of you asked me to let you know my score after i take the exam at mineralogy.. i scored 90%.

i'm pretty happy with it because the exams i take are not in my native language.. if i keep up with the good scores i might get a scholarship and then bye bye watchtower society.

forest heathen

Great score! Congratulations!

70

How do you shut your mind down so you can get a good night sleep???

by jam in

jw
friends

the more i learn about jw's the harder it is.

to sleep at night.

the wife hit the pillow and within 5 min.. she is snoring.

forest heathen

This tea taste good and will knock you out ...

So relaxing it also makes you feel pretty mellow and happy.

No illegal herbs in it. Don't worry.

26

Finally learned how to live the REAL real life

by forest heathen in

jw
friends

someone suggested i post an introductory thread.

i am a married, rather young grandma of four precious rugrats, ages 2-9. i guess our only child son and his only child wife didn't want their own kids to be "onlies".

my other half and i married rather young (18 &22) and will be celebrating 31 years together this summer.. i am sort of add, keep thinking i am still 28, love my husband now more than ever, and am so glad i woke up and left the crazy cult.. my husband and i began studying months after marrying and then decided to take the dunk.

forest heathen

Someone suggested I post an introductory thread. So this is it.

Hi Everyone!

I am a married, rather young grandma of four precious rugrats, ages 2-9. I guess our only child son and his only child wife didn't want their own kids to be "onlies". My other half and I married rather young (18 &22) and will be celebrating 31 years together this summer.

I am sort of ADD, keep thinking I am still 28, love my husband now more than ever, and am so glad I woke up and left the crazy cult.

My husband and I began studying months after marrying and then decided to take the dunk. In the 18 years we were "in" we really were sincere and wanted to help people live forever. My husband went from MS to elder. Conducted the book study in our home. Never shared any of the private meeting stuff with me or others, and auxliary pioneered when he could. I was the perfect elderette. I pioneered. Took our son out in service with me until he began school. I often worked alone at the doors when an "odd out" publisher showed up or worked with the sister no one wanted to work with. Our son was baptized as a teen and was soon being groomed for MS. We had begun homeschooling him, so he often took the group out during the week. He was the substitute reader at our book study (still in our home), and helped with stage/sound and the magazine counter.

We moved around quite a bit (from TX to CA to NV) due to the job situation. I think our last move was the best, because it began our fade. Maybe we were just tired ... maybe it was too much effort to block our individual doubts. After moving to Nevada, within two years, we faded .... all three of us .... pretty much around the same time. We each had our own doubts and questions. We'd never discussed them. We didn't even discuss our fading, it was almost as though we telepathically agreed to it.

Since leaving, I finished getting my two year degree. My husband took some college courses. But now we work together at a great paying job that is actually a lot of fun. Our son at age 18 became a firefighter, but his true calling was law enforcement. He joined the military, had two deployments to Afghanistan and is a peace officer. Luckily our wonderful son does not resent us raising him in "the religion". We don't really have any bad feelings toward them really. It was a religious path that worked for us ... and then didn't.

We now completely embrace the pagan practices of Samhain (Halloween) and Yule (Christmas) as well as birthdays with our son and his family. We vote and are registered organ donors. I

Once I took the blinders off, I saw the world was not awful. People are basically kind. For all the bad in the world ... there is just as much good.

I've always loved writing, magic, and fairies ... and had to deny myself these passions. I began writing and completed a young adult fantasy series and am published! I am not rich or famous ... but getting those itty bitty royalty checks felt good! I am still writing and waiting to be discovered ... .

My favorite quote is from Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt "Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life. You do not need to live forever. You just need to live."

And now I am living like I mean it!

~ Forest Heathen

11

How do you change your profile photo?

by outinthemeadows in

i know this isn't facebook, but how do you change your pic?

it obviously can be done because i've see other peoples photos but i can't seem to work out how...... .

can anyone elighten me?.

forest heathen

How does Gravatar.com change it here? I have a Gravatar.com account and my avatar hasn't come over?

Thanks,

Forest Heathen