Seems I remember an important organization dude dropping dead while giving a talk in Hawaii.
For some reason I remember my dad talking about that. At a circuit or district assembly? It was just a few years ago? My folks live in Hawaii.
Billygoat
JoinedPosts by Billygoat
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Billygoat
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23
The Extremely Rich, What do they do with it?
by joelbear ini'm comfortable but by no means rich.
i own just about everything i could possibly want.
i have travelled all over the us and some of canada.
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Billygoat
I am a pretty simple person to please I guess. But I just couldn't have all that money and enjoy it when others are starving, in pain, have no education, homeless, etc. I should do more than I do with what I have.
I think all of us could do more in some way or another, whether financial support or giving time. It doesn't take a lot to lift another's spirits. Sending an encouraging email is cheap and takes 2 minutes. Having coffee with a local homeless person doesn't cost but a few dollars, but could be enough to give them hope for that day. 100 people donating $5 a piece can make a difference to someone who doesn't have anything.
Mozz and I have always said that if we won the lotto we'd still be poor. I want to help pay for my cousin's college tuition. I want to set up trust funds for our nephews. I want to help my brother Josh finish his colledge education. I want to get out of debt for myself. I want to get my own photography studio. I want to help my best friend pay off her college loans. I want to start schools in downtrodden areas to teach people to start their own companies to help build their economy.
Ack...so much to do, so little money to do it with. LOL!
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28
Your First Love...
by Country Girl ineveryone has a first love, and there's usually a wonderfully dramatic story.
juveniles arevery dramatic.
what happened with your first love?
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Billygoat
My first love was when I was in the 4th grade, with a boy at the Kingdom Hall who was a year older than me. He was the 2nd oldest of five boys from a family that wasn't looked too highly at. Single mother pioneer, DFed father, all the boys were darling but a bit naughty. Johnny was the handsomest and sweetest boy. Dark black hair, tan skin, and cerulean blue eyes that makes the sky look grey. We used to pass notes back and forth at the meetings. I'd lay my bible down and he'd stick a piece of paper in it. Or he'd give the note to his little brothers to bring to me. LOL We used to love being in the same car group when we went out in field service. We'd hold hands under our coats or bookbags. LOL! He was my boyfriend off and on until I was a sophomore in high school. He was my first kiss. My best friend (worldly next door neighbor) dated his older brother Harold for a summer and the four of us used to hang out at the local pool and park. Fun times! So innocent back then.
My father hated Johnny. He was handsome and a little cocky and I loved the "bad boy" image he always personafied. He wasn't baptized, not gonna get baptized, and just wanted to work on cars. LOL - such a James Dean character. It wasn't any secret he didn't like my dad either. I think he saw how abusive my dad was and was mad that he couldn't do anything about it. I remember Johnny telling me if we got married, I'd never have to worry about money as he'd take care of me and he promised he'd NEVER hit me like my dad. I thought he was my knight in shining armor. I remember my dad yelling at me that if I married Johnny, then I'd be living in a trailer down on River Road with 4 of his rugrats running around and he'd be hauling water for a living. I hated my dad for saying that. He didn't know the Johnny I knew...it was so much more than the boy boy my dad saw. When I moved out of state in my sophomore year, Johnny and I lost touch. I heard he had a hard time with our breakup, but since I was 2,000 miles away with a very oppressive father, it was hard to write or call or anything. I couldn't even check on him as our mutual friend was killed in a car wreck that year too. We didn't talk for years.
I saw him about 6 years ago when I went back to visit my grandparents. I bumped into him at Kroger. We nearly cried when we saw each other. We hugged and hugged for a long time in the canned vegetable aisle. People walked by with their carts looking at us funny. He was about 40 lbs heavier and losing his hair. He was wearing a work boots and a jumpsuit of some kind, with oil and dirt all over it and he was a mess. He didn't look well. His beautiful blue eyes had greyed and he had huge bags under his eyes and lines on his face. Life had been hard on him. He didn't have the same "bad boy" spark I remembered in him. He did marry a worldly girl and had four kids with her. They lived on River Road in an Airstream and he hauled water for a living. OMG! I was so sad...my dad was right! LOL
I've emailed with him a bit over the years. He's divorced now and has custody of his kids as his wife didn't seem to care about anything but herself. He got a decent job at a local plant. I do feel sorry for Johnny though. I feel like Life and growing up a JW got the best of him.
Here's to you John. I wish you the best Life you can imagine for yourself.
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50
WTS Emergency Meeting
by doinmypart inthe disaster relief committee at patterson organized 3 meetings this past memorial day, monday september 5, 2005. the meetings were held in lake charles, louisiana; bossier city, louisiana; and ball, louisiana.
over 1,200 elders were in attendance from louisiana, missouri, arkansas, and texas.
i took horrible notes, but want to share a few things.. the elder opening the meeting emphasized the importance of confidentiality.
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Billygoat
Day one after the hurricane a few brothers from the HKRC went into New Orleans/Slidell area and began assessing damage to Kingdom Halls. The elders divided parts of southeast Louisiana into zones, my notes are sketchy and memory missing a few points, but in one zone 5 KHs are gone, 2 heavily damaged. Around Lake Pontchartrain 7 KHs are gone, 7 moderate damage, and some with light damage. On day two the brothers did more assessments, but martial law was put in place and they had to leave. Interesting. Do you mean to tell me that their primary interest was the condition and health of their real estate holdings?
That was the first thing I noticed too! -
40
How do female "unbelieving mates" do it? My tribute!
by Check_Your_Premises ini am a male ubm, aka "unbelieving mate", which is hard enough.
i hate seeing my wife, someone who i have the utmost respect for, humiliating herself through her enslavement to this silly man-made publishing company.
i hate seeing her become a drone.
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Billygoat
carla
Sometimes I wonder if he notices what he is missing. I think he does. Or sometimes me & kids will be talking or laughing about something that he missed and I know he feels left out. What are supposed to do though? Quit everything cause he has a new social club? One day it will dawn on him he doesn't know his own children. Even though they have already said it point blank to him. But because it was in the heat of the moment, he thinks they didn't mean it. But they did. How long before it matters to him? Maybe never. At the hall I'm sure they just keep telling him, 'you must suffer for jah'. How sad for him. He is the one missing out on his own family.
I'm so sorry. I wonder if there is a way you can spin this to your own benefit? Like a man that can't take care of his family, how can he take care of the flock? I can't remember the scripture that states that...
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40
How do female "unbelieving mates" do it? My tribute!
by Check_Your_Premises ini am a male ubm, aka "unbelieving mate", which is hard enough.
i hate seeing my wife, someone who i have the utmost respect for, humiliating herself through her enslavement to this silly man-made publishing company.
i hate seeing her become a drone.
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Billygoat
The separate, private bank account works well for a teenager with controlling parents or a spouse whose partner has taken complete control over their finances, etc. You know the type. The ones who mark the tyre with chalk to see if it was moved without permission.
These were my parents. Yes, those people exist. My dad would also check the speedometer and feel the hood of the car to see if it was warm. If it was warm, he'd ask where'd I been. Grocery store perhaps? Getting gasoline?
I just do not understand parents that get totally paranoid over their kids. My father never realized that HIS reactions like that actually put huge chasms in our relationship...not mine.
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73
Barbara Bush: Hurricane victims better off, were "underpriviledged anyway"
by professor in.
now we know where gw gets his "compassionate conservatism" from:.
hurricane katrina victims in houston, texas were "underprivileged anyway" and life in the astrodome sports arena is "working very well for them," former first lady barbara bush says....
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Billygoat
eyebrow,
It was poorly worded, but I see it as a woman that is trying to see the good that might come of this. And you know what? I bet for some of these poor people, they may actually have a better life post flood than pre flood. After they are able to leave the shelters and re-establish thier lives.
I do think you're right that Mrs. Bush was trying to see the positive. But her comment reflects that she's not looking at the whole picture. I think flower's point was that no matter what their physical circumstances, MOST of the evacuees (whether at the Astrodome or any other shelter) will NEVER be better off emotionally. They may have a new lease on life financially, but they will never get their moms/dads/children/siblings/other family back. They're gone. If I had a choice to live in the slums with my husband and family, or in the 'burbs with them being dead...I'll pick the slums anyday. Material posessions will never make up for their loss of family and friends. They'll grieve that for the rest of their lives.
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73
Barbara Bush: Hurricane victims better off, were "underpriviledged anyway"
by professor in.
now we know where gw gets his "compassionate conservatism" from:.
hurricane katrina victims in houston, texas were "underprivileged anyway" and life in the astrodome sports arena is "working very well for them," former first lady barbara bush says....
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Billygoat
Andi..Point taken. It is hard not to get too angry and negative sometimes. But for every person who focuses on the negative a little too much there are a dozen people who have their heads up their asses and act like everything is hunky dorey. For every one person who speaks out and insists on change there are a dozen who treat that person as though they are 'complainers' or 'troublemakers'. Thus the condition the country and world are in today. :(
Flower, I completely understand it being hard about not getting angry. I find myself there everyday since the levee broke. Maybe I'm too much of an idealist, but it's VERY frustrating for me to see SO many people just go on with their lives as if nothing happened. I understand the world shouldn't stop for everyone, but there are so many here that need immediate needs fulfilled. And I see people left and right doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. How can they do that? It's heartbreaking really. So please know that I understand where you're coming from...I've been one of those people who've spoken out and people look at me like I'm some kind of freak because I'm frustrated when I can't round up enough people to help the evacuees. It's just dawned on me (albeit slowly) that I can't make people care. I wish I could. The world would be a better place. ((((hugs)))) Andi
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31
*Fluff Alert!*
by mrsjones5 inso i was doing my paper route today and i was admiring all the different colored glazing balls that people have in their yards.
i like gazing balls and i plan to get one for my yard.
but i wonder, what is the point of a gazing ball?
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Billygoat
Are jws allowed to have glazing balls or is it similiar to having windchimes thereby being something that a good jdub should avoid.
Are JWs not allowed to have windchimes? I've got one. Why is that an issue???
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73
Barbara Bush: Hurricane victims better off, were "underpriviledged anyway"
by professor in.
now we know where gw gets his "compassionate conservatism" from:.
hurricane katrina victims in houston, texas were "underprivileged anyway" and life in the astrodome sports arena is "working very well for them," former first lady barbara bush says....
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Billygoat
:how CAN we expect her to "get it"?
By using the intellectual tool of "empathy", just like all of us have to in order to understand situations we can't personally "feel" or live.
Eeeks. Are we talking about empathy again? I agree with you Six, but some people, just don't have that capability. We can get angry all we want over it, but it doesn't reduce the fact that some are just too far removed from a situation to even have the basic empathy skills. I'm not saying that's Mrs. Bush's issue, but a possibility. Flower, I agree with you to a certain extent. Ultimately we ALL have to take responsibility for our actions...intentionally harmful or not. How many times have ALL of us done or said something that later we deeply regret? How many times have you said something and then later it hits you and you think, "What the h*** was I thinking?" All I was saying is I don't think her hoof in mouth disease makes her a bad person. If it does, then we're ALL screwed. Perhaps it makes Mrs. Bush ignorant and uncouth? Maybe. Or brusque and insensitive? Maybe. I don't think it makes her a villain. This past week, in the midst of all going on down here, I am just been made very aware of giving grace. What I mean by that is, focusing on what's basic and important and doing what I can to serve someone that needs to be served. Sure, be angry about insensitive comments. Sure, let's discuss who's fault it is that this whole mess happened. But NOT if it gets in the way of something constructive and positive happening to those that need help in the immediate. Do those issues need to be addressed? Of course. They are valid questions and opinions that need to be aired and heard. I don't want to minimize that for anyone. I just think a lot of people waste time and energy focusing on JUST the negative, when there are so many other needs that need to be fulfilled and the aren't because people are too busy arguing. That's all. I'm not pointing a finger at you personally...but everyone in the midst of tragedy and chaos could use a little grace. I know I need it. I covet it. I'll ask for it if the situation arises. Perhaps even in this thread? I give it wherever I possibly can. Love, Andi