it has been along time since i have posted something.
my wife and i have just moved to ny just west of jamestown.
our log house in pa was so far from everything it was costing us to much time and money.
Hey.....good to see you post again STADD. You moved to some beautiful country. Haven't been by Lake Chatauqua since 2007.
Hope all goes well for you guys. I'm now living in Florida. (took your place) lol I'm in Bonita Springs for the last 23 months and do not want to see snow or ice again except on TV.
HappyDad
my great-grandmother was a jw, my grandmother is a jw, my mother and two of my aunts are jws.
in 1983 mom, then 18 years old married my father, a wordly man and was baptized later the same year at a district convention.
i was born in 1984.. my bedtime stories consisted of the bible stories and you can live forever books.
Sounds familiar. Keep it coming. And welcome to the forum. You are not alone!
HappyDad
a special message to her daughter, ann marie if you are watching this site.
your mother is eighty-eight now and her memory is going fast.
please call her, ann marie.
Lord Jesus......let Ann Marie see this post and talk to her mother before it is to late.
Amen,
HappyDad
i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.
there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.
there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.
With all the hundreds if not thousands of posts about evolution, trinity, soul, the true religion, and everything else where posters want to debate scriptures and everything else about God...........at my age (68 and about to be 69 shortly........I really don't give a shit about any controversies anymore.
I just wat to live the life I have with what time I have left and let the cosmos figure it out when I rot.
HappyDad
PS...I still enjoy all of your posts on a daily basis even if I dismiss you as a person still searching.
The best life to you all!
after decades of "marriage" to bethel being laid off is like a divorce, shattering and devastating with feelings of betrayal and distrust.
i have been made redundant from an employer with generous terms yet it was an emotional trauma being torn away from what i as a big part of my life.
being laid off so casually by an organisation that claims to be far superior toanywordlyemployer must be devastating.
Hopefully some of them will wake up and maybe we will see a few on this forum in the future.
HappyDad
http://whyimcatholic.com/index.php/conversion-stories/jehovah-witness-converts/125-jehovahs-witness-convert-lou-everett.
this story of a jehovah's witness who became catholic is at the top of the heap.
i was angered at what happened when he opened up and poured out his heart to a "caring" brother.. cc.
Several other famous/infamous ex JW's have become or returned to the Catholic religion. Tom Cabeen who was a pressroom overseer at WT headquarters and part of the 1980 purge became Catholic. Then there is Jeff Schwehm who at one time posted on this forum returned to the Catholic church and was on the Catholic TV network called EWTN talking about his experience. I never met or spoke with either but did quite a bit of great back and forth emailing with Jeff Schwehm. Both are good men and sincere in their belief.
I wish them the best.
I was born and raised Catholic and even thought for a while that I might return to the church, but that would never be. The church does a lot of charity but like all religion, history has shown the horrible things that have taken place.
Even though I still believe in God and have attended various churches, being an actual member is just not for me.
HappyDad
someone was asking me in the chatroom about the number of hits the site gets.
here is a brief summary (of what we currently get per week):.
21,000 visitors.
My response of the chat room.......It allowed my to fall in love with the most wonderful ex JW that I met there. I never thought I would fall in love again at my age, but it happened. Made trips to visit her. It was a long distance romance but it was the greatest! Within a month....we started talking about being permanent (marriage in the future) It didn't happen.
The summer of 2004 was the best thing that ever happened to me. Even though it ended by the end of September, I knew I would know how to love again. She was and I'm sure she still is a wonderful lady. And I thank her for showing me what it is like to have someone and an extended family like/love/care about me.
Her grown kids are the greatest. She is the greatest. Haven't seen or talked to her since 2007 (her choice) and I respect her choice.
If you read this Gold.....know that I still think positive of you.
God Bless and be happy.
HappyDad
this is a question for ex jw's who have joined another christian faith group.
the purpose of my question iis to find out which christian faith group you chose after leaving watchtower and what convinced you to travel this new spiritual path you are on.
i am interested to know because i personally would like to find a genuine faith group where i can feel true christian liberty as i initially thought i had with the witnesses.
A few years after leaving WT I attended a First Evangelical Free church. Very non judgemental and I loved it. Then after being invited to an Assembly of God church by a good friend, I fell in love with it. But not for long. Very radical and judgemental like JWism. A lot of crazies there! In between when I got into a relationship with an exJW I met on this forum who is a Christian now, I went to Calvary Chapel with her. Calvary Chapel was really great but none close enough to where I lived in western PA.
Now that I am living in Florida I have attended a few non denominational churches that are great. No commitment or membership pushed or needed, and that is the way I like it.
I am a believer in spite of what others want to believe.
HappyDad
these are some of the things the wbt$ 'taught' me:.
dishonesty is fine if it's to trick people into joining the cult.. if your spouse stops believeing, the best thing you can do is break up the family.. the laws of the governing body overrule any other laws...or else!.
my friends are conditional.. avoid loving people, they'll only let you down or get df'd.. unintelligent dumbos are better than intelligent ones if the dumbos are elders or above.. hate is better than love.. i am not good enough and god will probably enjoy killing me.. demons will appear in my room at night.. ignore practicallity if being practical or loving prevents the leaders getting money or praise.. god hates.
I agree and have experienced everything said. But most of all....LongHairGal said it best for me.
"The biggest lesson I ever learned was how valuable my non-Witness family and friends really were. And, I'm so grateful they were there when I decided to exit the JW religion!
There were other lessons learned, of course, as other posters have mentioned. But, this was MY most valuable lesson!"
HappyDad
just a note that 10 years ago, (christmas day, 2005), was my last time inside a kh.
a lot has taken place for the better in those 10 years:.
1. met the love of my life and happily married for 9 years, two days ago.. 2. completed a master's degree.. 3. work at senior management level in the it field.. 4. have a savings and retirement, and no debt outside of a mortgage and 1 car loan.. 5. lots of travel to several places that i never would have done as a jw.. 6. contribute to what i believe are meaningful causes.. 7. read, think, and meditate for myself.. 8. have a great extended family i inherited from my wife.. 9. lots of other great stuff, too much to list.. none of this is intended to be boastful.
Happy for you on having the best revenge....."A life well lived". Many more decades of happiness to you!
HappyDad
