YEA TO ASHI'S BROTHER - IN - LAW!!
Tell him we are so proud!!!
Posts by Dawn
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6Congrats to my bro-in-law...the graduate
by ashitaka inmy brother-in-law is graduating today, and i just wanted to tell you guys how proud i am of him.
he's overcome learning disabilities to be one of the top in his class.
he was on the honor roll the entire year, and he stood up for himself when it came time to decide between the whims of his parents and his personal honor.. he dealt with emotional and physical abuse from his parents.
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28
YES!!!!!! Shunning has backfired!!
by Dawn ini was df'd a number of years ago.
my parents never shunned me - they didn't feel that df'ing broke the family ties.
but when my brothers or uncle were in town i was "allowed" to come visit at certain times when their other jw friends would not be around.
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Dawn
Wow - you guys are too kind! Thanks so much!!
It is so sad to see all the hurt and ruined relationships that this shunning has created. I find it has been a great help to me to post my stories here - the bad & the good, because you guys really get the whole picture. I can tell these to my friends who have never been JW but they don't really understand - no one does who hasn't lived it. So thanks for letting me blab
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28
YES!!!!!! Shunning has backfired!!
by Dawn ini was df'd a number of years ago.
my parents never shunned me - they didn't feel that df'ing broke the family ties.
but when my brothers or uncle were in town i was "allowed" to come visit at certain times when their other jw friends would not be around.
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Dawn
Hi Gary:
Fortunately, my husband never did join in with their games - he refused to go also when I wasn't invited. But somehow it didn't really hit them until my son decided he wouldn't go either.
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28
YES!!!!!! Shunning has backfired!!
by Dawn ini was df'd a number of years ago.
my parents never shunned me - they didn't feel that df'ing broke the family ties.
but when my brothers or uncle were in town i was "allowed" to come visit at certain times when their other jw friends would not be around.
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Dawn
Thanks so much guys!! It is so great to have a forum like this where we can share our stories with people who really understand. I am so very proud of my son!!
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Why Ex-JWs Will Never Go From Door to Door
by comforter injehovah's witnesses proclaim the good news of the kingdom under the power of god's holy spirit.
jesus commanded his followers to preach in the most distant parts of the earth and promised them that the spirit of god would guide them in this life-saving work (acts 1:8).. without the spirit of god, one cannot continue preaching about jesus and god's kingdom (matthew 24:14).
one surely will not have god's spirit if one preaches a negative message (against jehovah's servants) from door to door.
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Dawn
As a JW I also thought we were the only ones doing the preaching work - because that's what we were told...remember??
The command is that the good news would be preached in all the inhabited earth - it does not say by "door to door" - the good news can be preached in many ways.
If you're really interested in knowing if this is being done - just search the internet for statistics on Evangelism. You will find thousands of churches that are participating in outreach ministries with in the United States, as well as thousands of missions overseas every hear. How about all those missionaries (from many religions) that have made it their life? How about those missionaries that faced the death penalty in Afghanistan?
I did some research on this topic and was blown away to find out that an estimated 165,000 Christians were martyred for their faith in 2000 - why do you suppose they were martyred? How did people know they were Christian? Because they were EVANGELIZING!! They were telling people about the good news - about Jesus.
The good news is being preached in the earth - statistics and facts show that - they also show that JW's are not the only ones active in evangelizing.
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YES!!!!!! Shunning has backfired!!
by Dawn ini was df'd a number of years ago.
my parents never shunned me - they didn't feel that df'ing broke the family ties.
but when my brothers or uncle were in town i was "allowed" to come visit at certain times when their other jw friends would not be around.
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Dawn
I was DF'd a number of years ago. My parents never shunned me - they didn't feel that DF'ing broke the family ties. But when my brothers or uncle were in town I was "allowed" to come visit at certain times when their other JW friends would not be around. So - whatever - I played along so that I could still see my brothers & uncle occasionally.
But what really aggrivates me is that they will have these big BBQ's or parties when family comes into town, invite all their JW friends.......AND MY SON AND HUSBAND (never a JW) - but I'm not invitied. I have felt for years like they were reaching right into my house and manipulating my own family into their little "shunning game". I decided to take the high road all these years, let my son go. I explained to him that I was a Christian and as such, I would show them respect by honoring their request not to attend, but that he could because they're getting older and every visit could be the last and I didn't want him to miss out.
My Uncle came into town again last week. This time, my mom invites her JW friends from out of town also to stay for the week, which means, of course that I can't see my Uncle - and of course she calls and asks my son to come over & visit my uncle & their friends. He's 16 now, old enough to make the decision himself. He said NO!! if MOM wasn't welcome, then HE wasn't welcome and he refused to go. She tried 3 or 4 different times to get him to come over - he wouldn't go. Instead, we had our own BBQ/Party yesterday with my husband's family and our kids - it was a blast!!
I feel bad for my mom because I know it hurt her feelings - my son means a lot to her. But the truth is, they've been using malipulative tactics all along to get their way, while I have been honest and taken their punches to try and make things easeir for my son.
Anyways - I just had to share this because for the first time since I left the JW's -
I CAME OUT ON TOP!!!!
And I didn't have to be the bad guy - YES!!! It felt SO GOOD!!!!!
YOU DON'T GET TO MANIPULATE MY FAMILY ANY MORE - THEY HAVE SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU!!!
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29
"What is your ultimate goal?"
by SEAKEN2001 ini follow the threads on legal questions with interest because somewhere inside me is this voice yelling at me to get back at those bastards that lied to me and my family and all the other good people i have come to know here and abroad.
i too carry a lot of anger with me from my experience as a witness.
however, another poster raised the question "what is your ultimate goal?
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Dawn
Seaken:
It sounds to me like you have two goals that need to be addressed separately.
First - You want to be free of the JW's but your life is pretty entangled, not just family wise but your career also - is that correct? Reaching goals can be more easily achieved with a lot of small steps instead of one large one. You probably have a lot of experience now in your line of work - could it be an asset in another company? Perhaps the first step is to take an inventory of your business knowledge and what you could put on a resume. Could you start moving in a direction away from this business so that your job would not be jeopardized if you were DF'd in the future? That would be a real stress reducer for you.
Second - your family. That's a hard one and Mulan is right, it may take years and patience. But again, it doesn't have to be done all at once. I would take Mulan's advice about pointing out things - being subtle - don't make anyone defensive right now.
You may not be able to reach these goals immediately - but once you have a plan and start moving in small steps you will feel better - you'll see a light at the end of the tunnel.
One more piece of advice - you don't have to do this all alone - with your own strength. The JW's a very good at placing themselves between us and Jesus. When I left the JW's I had no relationship with Jesus and did not even consider leaning on him for guidance and help. It just wasn't something I did as a JW - I always looked to the society. It was quite a few years later that I finally realized that Jesus was there for me and could give me strength and guidance if I just asked for it. I didn't need the society, church, anyone to contact him for me - just my own prayer. So pray to him and ask him to give you some strength during this time. I'll pray for you also - my heart really goes out to you, but I really do think you will feel better once you have your "plan" and start to implement it.
Also - don't underestimate the help that a therapist can give. It is sometimes really helpful to express your fears and situation to someone who can give you an unbiased opinion and help you get grounded - especially for a JW who has had their mind molded for so long by the organization.
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38
Your Volunteer Work?
by Valis inwell, some here think that all we do is sit around a post naughty pics and do no charitable or volunteer work.
i thought we could see who does what for their respective communities.
valis= free computer support dallas shakespeare festival + on the wing again bird sanctuary/rescue, photopgraphic web hosting services for the bob marley festival of dallas, am about to start w/the down's syndrome guild of dallas doing web support and event work/soliciting charitable donations from companies, and my teaching that means working many hours unpaid to help my students personally/educationally.
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Dawn
I volunteer with the National Missing & Exploited Children's Foundation. I also help with outreach functions put on through my new church. Right now we're getting ready for the "Family Olympics" - it's a lot of fun - a 3 day event where kids participate in sports events & fun events (like 3 legged races, balloon throwing contests, pie eating contests, baseball throws, etc). I also volunteered as a clasroom helper for my daughter's preschool and help in the Sunday school once a month.
Definately don't do enough - but I really enjoy what I do now. And it's helping kids - which means a lot to me.
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17
one day in service
by happy man in.
today i was out in service, met sveral nice peopel who like to here about god news from the bibel,i was reding from luk 21, and showing them what will happend, and that jehova can solve our problems.i think here in matrealistik sweden we have a bigg los of spirutal sings, evrything here is about money, and young peopel dont like this so much, they want a new order, some have gone to this proclaim the streets movment, it is a anarkistic movment.. so i must say the messege from bibel is radher the same, a bigg dissaster, and then a new order.. but i dont think as the gov body that only jw are saved,i am more i touch widh rutherfords talk,million who now live will never die.. never forget that the bibel say, we are not judges,it is jesus who have this power,think gb has forgett this thing.. greatings from the north.
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Dawn
Awwwww Krap!! Where's my Swedish to English dictionary???
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Ozzie's Weekend Poll #7
by ozziepost ini'm sorry that due to "technical difficulties', last weekend's poll did not appear, but thanks to all those who enquired about why it was not posted.
glad you're enjoying them!
so, time to put your feet up, so to speak, and have some fun with this weekend's poll.
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Dawn
Was already out by then.
I definately caught onto that change - and just thought THANK YOU GOD FOR GETTING ME OUT!!!