Andrea Wideman

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Posts by Andrea Wideman

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  22

  Well, I handled that amazingly well...

  by Joel Wideman in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  as my wife predicted, my mother heard that she da'd herself.

  she called, and spoke with my boy for awhile.

  (she needs her medication adjusted.

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  Andrea Wideman

  Believe me when I say my husband wasn't having fun with this one. What he is doing is trying to prevent her from having a psychotic episode
  I am dumbfounded that she thought we would fall for that take them out for dinner stuff, when I was a JW I didn't let her do it then. She is just too sick. So now we have to speak with her father about telling her to get her medication upped and also that she isn't respecting our decision. Something she certainly expected him to do when I switched from Catholic to JW.
  Well now we will have to screen all our calls to keep her from harassing us until her meds get fixed.
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  53

  Whats the worst dish you ever served???

  by Tez in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i am a reasonable cook when i can be bothered (as paulj will hopefully confirm) but often resort to quick and easy methods, packet mixes, tins etc.. whereas my parner is a brilliant cook!!

  leave him in the kitchen for a little while and he produces something from scratch that is delicious.

  so today i decided to extend my culinary skills!

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  Andrea Wideman

  The worst dish I ever made was a tuna casserole made with macaroni, tuna, spaghetti sauce,onion and corn. No one else in the house would eat it and I made a big pot of the stuff. It was back when I was just learning and experimented with unusual combinations. So I was the one that got stuck eating it because my mom's rule was you make it and then you get to eat it. By the time I was done eating that stuff I couldn't eat fish with tomato sauce ever again.
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  13

  UBM's

  by carla in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does it seem like your past with your spouse is slowly being erased?

  do they remember earlier times?

  does it seem they are not allowed to or should not even think of time before becoming a jw?

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  Andrea Wideman

  I was the JW and my spouse was the one raised in it. You are correct that you find yourself trying to not remember events. This actually affected my kids more because when I was really deep in JW teaching I wouldn't want to sit down and look at photo albums of earlier days when we did holidays. I wouldn't want to discuss those times. I didn't say that to them but now I realize what I was doing. I am very glad I am out and that I really didn't forget those happy holiday times. Now the next time we look at the family album I can share more about what happened.
  The best way I can think of to preserve those memories without JW editing is to write them down now before they get diluted to you too. When kids were small I kept a notebook so we could remember their babyhood and now I can use it as help to fully remember the little details that are so important to a family history. Also just by praying and asking for God's assistance can help you in this troubled time.
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  34

  Why write a letter of disassociation?

  by tfsm in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my question may seem vague but if one decides to leave "the organization", why write a formal letter?

  why not just leave and not have any further contact with the witnesses?

  is there some legitimate legal reason for this or do people do this because the witness thinking has overtaken their logic?

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  Andrea Wideman

  It is important to write the letter of disassociation just so the JW's won't harrass you with shepherding calls. They will leave you alone from that point forward. Plus as an added benefit you have closure. It felt so liberating when I wrote mine and hurried out to the mailbox to send it.
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  39

  what makes you smile?

  by Ellie in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  Andrea Wideman

  My family.
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  7

  Where are the witnesses?

  by gringojj in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my wife and i just drove by the kingdom hall.

  its is wednesday at about 12:30 in the afternoon, and there about 30 cars there!

  my wife says they must be out in service.

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  Andrea Wideman

  You are right that people have gotten smart and just don't answer the door. I dropped off a bunch at the funeral home from where my mom was buried. I used to put them in doctors' offices and public places like that. At the meetings that is something that was really getting covered the last time I went. How to place mags when people aren't home.
  I have to say though that I will be surprised if anyone these days just drives around while in service. Gas costs too much and JW's aren't encouraged to focus on careers. Which means that most of them don't have high paying jobs.
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  9

  I wonder how my mother-in-law will react.

  by Andrea Wideman in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my mother-in-law is a jw.

  she is the one that gave the knowledge book and took such and interest in my baptism that she made sure whomever needed to know did about why i wasn't with the other people getting baptized that day.

  i couldn't fit in the seat.

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  Andrea Wideman

  I did ask them if they wanted to stay JW's and I would respect their beliefs. They informed me that they were only being JW's until 18 and then they would have left it anyway. I believe their exact words were yahoo! When I told them about my decision.
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  9

  Saturday morning, a Peaceful New World tract, and a conversion van

  by Gopher in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this past saturday morning, two jw's encountered a householder (a friend of my co-worker) with an interesting perspective.

  his brilliant and humorous insight into the "peaceful new world" tract is below!

  id just settled down with canettis brilliant novel, translated as auto-da-fe, to listen to a saturday midmorning beethoven concert, when the doorbell went off.. .

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  Andrea Wideman

  I loved how the artwork was dissected in such a humorous way.
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  6

  Story-Lillian Cruz from Hingham Massachusetts

  by DannyHaszard in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  http://www.freeminds.org/women/lillycruz.htm

  my name is lillian cruz and this is my story

  i was the one at first searching for truth from the bible.

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  Andrea Wideman

  This story is a real eye opener. If I wasn't out of the JW already this story would probably have me writing my disassociation letter. I can really relate to her searching for answers.
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  51

  Husbands! Smack your wife across the mouth!

  by PopeOfEruke in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  great advice received from a close jw relative who we visited last week.

  she said that husbands are the head of the family, and if the wife doesn't support him in serving jehovah then he should give her a good smack across the mouth, thats what she deserves.

  if only adam had given eve a good smack across the mouth when she proposed eating the fruit, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now!

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  Andrea Wideman

  Fact is that abuse can be prevalent regardless of faith. Especially in high control groups. My sister who is Catholic married a Lutheran at age 17. He abused her for years and she is still with him. You talked to the priest and they would say to stick with him. Many may deny it now but that was the attitude back then and depending on which priest you spoke with could be the same opinion you would get today. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that it could be the same with elders. I would have to say that some husbands might take the attitude of headship a little too far. They could use it as an excuse to abuse their wives or their kids.