did you have the above instead of xmas?.
we did as a family with about 16 going to it and giving gifts normally feb time.
now though we have been banned from going as we had xmas this year and you can't have both it would seem.
We never had a family day - until I had my first son and I initiated it. My parents thought it was a great idea. I liked it so much - that I started celebrating x-mas 4 yrs later .
JW's are just like everyone else - they would love to have the celebrations and the gifts - it's what makes the winter bearable. It's sad that they are (and we once were) not allowed to enjoy life.
sunday the 17th iwill be meeting him for the fist time.
i would like some feedback as to any questions you all may have(i have a bunch of my own) of which i will post next sunday night.
please keep them as short as possible so i,m not carrying a whole book when i go.
Hi Released:
I have been corresponding via e-mail off and on over the past year with Ray. I hope that he and his wife are doing well - she was having some health problems. I look forward to your post after you meet him - can't wait to hear about it.
i always had a difficult time with the whole silent prayers issue.. i was always told since i was little that if you prayed to god that he always listens, and that you can pray silently in your head to yourself and he listens.
to me that never quite made sense that he was reading my thoughts, are you sure he hears prayers?
the answer, "if he created your brain, he can surely access it and any prayers" of course that was also used "if you are thinking bad thoughts god can read your mind" etc... and quote the scripture that even if you "lust after a woman" meaning no action, only thought - you were in big trouble!.
Hi Just Tickled:
I do believe God can hear silent prayers - Jesus could read thoughts (see Luke 7:36-40 where Jesus read a man's thoughts and answered them). I also believe that sometimes our prayers are a sort of meditation - a way to gather our thoughts and tap into that subconscious self that knows what the best course of action is.
i am doing a documentary for my capstone project next semester and i need your help.
i am going to make a documentary with community effort to show what its like to be a jw and exjw (the audience being non-jws who have no idea...the average person).
what i need from you, is for you to submit video of you or family/friends relating their experiences.
I'd love to help out. Will you be posting shipping address/info on your website - or you can PM me with it.
what are your favorite songs??.
i love "shout to the lord" .
and "i believe in god.
I like Chris Rice's "untitled hymn" - it's beautiful.
I like Christian Rock - listen to it a lot. I also like Christina Aguillara, Pink, Aerosmith, AC/DC - it all depends on the mood I'm in. If I want to relax and feel good, I listen to Christian Rock. If I want to take off my t-tops, crank the music, and drive fast then it's AC/DC all the way!
facts and reality can get so distorted in the witness subculture that huge blind spots.
are created.
as the current saying goes, "they just don't get it".
The top 1 thing a witness can never understand.....
.....sometimes there is NO answer.
I struggled with this idea - still do. I liked having all the answers given to me. It was hard coming to the realization that most of the answers I had were wrong - and that I would have to search it out myself and try to find the answer. But it is in that one realization that I began to grow.
Somtimes the search for the answer can teach us more than the answer itself.
this is the time of year to take good resolutions and try to keep them as long as possible.
losing weight must be # 1 on the list for most people.
monitor wise, my new year resolution is 1280 x 1024.... how about you, did you think of anything you'd like to change as the new year unfolds?
My resolution is to take diving classes and learn to deep sea dive. I try to learn one new thing each year. Makes life fun.
i got this in my email and thought i would pass it along.
i know many of us are struggling with so many issues involving god and the bad things that happen.
for me this recent tsunami disaster was over the top, i'm beyond understanding and i'm not going to say this article helped me understand any better but it did show me that x-jw's aren't the only ones who struggle with such questions.
Good post Bikerchick!
Jr. - why don't you try being part of the solution instead of pointing the finger of blame. It's a much harder task - but I believe that's what Jesus would want for each of us.
this question would seem funny to non-jw's - but i bet some of you x-jw's will understand.. i look at the world around me and see so much need.
i look at my own life and see so much blessings and wealth.
i give to charity - but i always think - "is it enough?
Thank you all for your kind words. I do feel like whatever I give is never enough - but I think it's just that I'm looking at the whole overwhelming picture when I should be looking at helping one person at a time, or one cause at a time. That was good advice - thanks!
this question would seem funny to non-jw's - but i bet some of you x-jw's will understand.. i look at the world around me and see so much need.
i look at my own life and see so much blessings and wealth.
i give to charity - but i always think - "is it enough?
This question would seem funny to non-jw's - but I bet some of you x-jw's will understand.
I look at the world around me and see so much need. I look at my own life and see so much blessings and wealth. I give to charity - but I always think - "is it enough?" - just look at all that still needs to be accomplished. Children starving, diseases needing to be cured, poor countries that are desparate for clean water and housing. And the tsunami victims on top of it all. I sit in my nice middle class house, with my two happy healthy kids, and think "If I loved human kind enough - shouldn't I sell it all for them" - then I wonder "Is it my conscience that is hitting me now - or my old JW mindset that makes me think I am never doing enough" - what is it that hits my soul so deeply and saddly over all of this?
Do you ever have this problem/question? Do you wonder from time to time - is it the "your'e not doing enough" JW mindset that sets in - or is it something else?
My non-JW husband thinks I'm "over thinking this" right now - so would love your input.
