Glad to hear that you have a faithful friend. My husband and I have been married over 35 years-pre JW, JW, now post JW. Through thick and thin it is a blessing to have someone that loves you. Happiness to you both, or in Texas, as we say (well, cowboys do) YEEE-HAAAAAH!!!
Quandry
JoinedPosts by Quandry
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199
Otherwise Engaged...
by LittleToe injust a little breaking news:.
after several years of a great friendship with diane (previously posted as xena) things have started to really come together recently and i've succumbed to making an honest woman of her (or at least as honest as it's possible to make her.
last night (xmas day) i popped the question and she agreed to marry me (i wonder if she knows what she's let herself in for!!!)..
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19
I saw a very old JW in the grocery parking lot today.....
by restrangled inshe was moving slowly, and her back was curved over.
i was leaving in my car and honked my horn....i thought it was my aunt.....she turned........it was my mother!
oh dear god, my heart broke.
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Quandry
I am glad that you had some time with your Mom today.I am sure it made your day as much as her's.
I would like to comment on something you posted. Evidently you are smoking and have been for years. My wish for you is that you could give up this enslaving habit. It is not worth it. According to your info, you are 47 years old. You must be aware of what is happening on the inside of your body due to this terrible noxious habit, even though you may feel little or no effect now.
My mother and father both smoked for years. I saw my father die gasping for breath because he had emphasema that led to pneumonia. He had lost all of the strength he had, and that was alot as he spent years as a tough Marine drill instructor.
Mother is still alive, but must have an inhaler nearby and can barely walk because smoking makes the bones porous. She has aged tremendously because of this habit.
You struggled so hard to get out of enslavement to the WTS, please work just as hard to free yourself of this. You sound like a person who has been through alot but has much inner strength and resolve. You deserve a long life without health problems that smoking brings on. I am rooting for you!!!! You can doo eeet!!!!!
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YOU "THINK" YOU KNOW.....BUT...YOU DON'T KNOW!!
by Terry inthe door to door work is a sham.. the central activity of the watchtower bible and tract society is not spreading their so-called "messege" about the kingdom of jehovah established in the heavens in 1914. that's a load of propaganda.. the door to door activity is feckless in producing converts.
in fact, it is an immense failure of mammoth proportions!.
but, it is a diversion.
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Quandry
No, I didn't know. Thanks for the info.
I didn't even shop Montgomery Ward many times. I went to the second hand store for myself and my little girl. I would sew new lace to the bottom of a second hand dress. I made all her hairbows. I bought second hand toys. My husband had his shoes resoled after walking so much in service.
Why did we this? Because we were admonished to keep our eye simple. Do not get distracted with an education or good job.
We had no money yet gave the CO $50 every time he came. A fortune for us in the 80s. Why? Because of the all important work he did and of course we knew that he got very little money for his enormous sacrifice.
Many years later, we learned that the CO was being provided with an apartment, a new car, much much better than the one we drove, and that all his health insurance needs were cared for--my family had no health insurance--by keeping our lives simple we couldn't afford any.
Yes this did start to make me a tad bit irritated. The CO seemed to have very nice suits and new polished shoes.
I did begin to wonder where the money went. I contented myself that since all monies went to further "the worldwide work" that the WTS knew best where it was needed and that new Kingdom Halls being built in Africa and other depressed places was where it was used.
I always wondered how Assemblies and Conventions could cost so so so much that they always had to ask for more money to cover expenses. Wasn't all work volunteer?
Recently I have found out just how much the WTS has in millions, due to posters on this forum. I didn't know about investments in companies that support war efforts, though. What a contradiction.
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Why do apostates lie about where they get their information?
by slimboyfat init does no good.
i don't understant it - who do they think they're foolin'?.
i have just been listening to the judicual committee that disfellowshipped rick and laverne townsend and it is cringeworthy, to say the least, to listen to them cover-up, distort and outright lie about the sources of their information and the real background to their dissent.
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Quandry
I am willing to admit that I read apostate quotes. Many on this forum. That's how I learned about the UN and pedophiles in the organization. That, however, is not why I no longer go to the Kingdom Hall. I could have lived through the UN thing, even perverts, as I am sure other religious organizations have them.
I was in the organization in 1975. Stay alive until 75 was the motto. But we were chastized because we had looked to dates (supplied by the WTS of course) but I could live through and did live through that.
I was even on a Bible study and had a recently outdated LIVE FOREVER book, that said that the people who were in Sodom and Gomorrah would/would not be ressurected (I forget which) and the other person with me had a never version saying the opposite. Horrors!!! But I lived through that.
I also read for myself the inside cover of the Awake magazine which for many years was instilling confidence in me (it said so) that the generation that was alive and able to discern what was happening in 1914 would not pass off the scene before Armageddon came.
Then it said that it was instilling confidence in me that the ones who were merely alive (meaning babies, perhaps) when 1914 came would not pass off the earthly scene until God had made the earth a cleansed paradise.
Then, in 1995, they shattered this confidence by stating that generation could have several different meanings, and could mean "the ones that see the events start to happen."
But that is not even the reason that I no longer attend the K Hall and am probably viewed as apostate by many, although not df'd.
It is because ruthless bullies took my sixteen year old child into a back room at the Hall and for over two hours tried to force her to admit to fornication because the chairman had made up a scenario that she had done this, even though he told my husband there was no accusation of such. She was lied to, humiliated, and berated until after midnight. She was called a liar because she would not admit to something she did not do. Finally, they made her read a scripture that she was filth in God's eyes, and would burn in the fire with the devil and his angels. They told her she was disfellowshipped, and if she was still disfellowshipped when Armageddon comes that she could take some comfort in knowing that God can read hearts.
Can you imagine the effect this had on her? How many nights we were up with her, telling her that she deserved to live when she said that she wanted to die because these men had told her that even God had no love for her? That they treated a precious child that Jesus died for as unwanted garbage?
When we complained to everyone, all the way to New York, we were written a pathetic letter that these men had "learned a lesson" and that now a division was being rent because we were not friends with them (of course we were the ones causing the division)
What I cannot stomach is the lack of love and the overriding concern for image on the part of the WTS. So yes, I began to do investigations, and especially enjoyed the "Watchtower quotes" site. I am sure you are aware that these are quotes from the pages of WT magazines over the years. Very informative.
So yep, count me in as one who reads apostate quotes. Thanks for asking.
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Thinking of getting reinstated? Read my story.
by Jez ina lot has happened to me since march.
i have learned so much.
i hesitated to put this out in jwd, but i now think that if it helps one person, it will have been worth it.
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Quandry
I am so glad that I was able to read your post. I was not on the forum when you originally wrote it, so never had the opportunity of reading your story. You are articulate, eloquent and skillful at writing. I know that when it comes from the heart, deep down, it comes with much pain. But I hope that your sharing it has taken some of the burden of holding it in away.
It seems that even though the "scarlet letter" can be taken off the chest, the imprint is still there and the congregation still sees the outline and treats you accordingly.
One would think that an organization that prides itself on being Godly in love in imitation of God and Jesus would want to expend itself in helping to keep sheep within the fold, not view them as "rotten fruit" worthy only of the garbage bin, constantly reminding them of the precarious state they hold dangling above the can of refuse.
Well, rest assured that Jesus does view us as worthy since he died for us, and calls us precious.
I hope that you have put your writing skills to good work. Have you completed your education? Sounds like you would have an easy degree in English-either Writing or Literature!!!!
Great to get to know you from your post. Hugs to you.
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I need HELP and ADVICE. PLEASE HELP ME PLEASE READ
by theyoungone in6 months ago i was d'fd and i am right now confused as to what i want to do cuse i can put my letter in for reinstatement now but i just dont know if that would be the best desicion for me.
one side of me says go back to the jw org and do all that i can in the org so that i can make it to the paradise.
but then one side says just do what u want to do til u die.
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Quandry
Welcome to the forum. And next, SLOW DOWN!!!!
I started studying with JWs in 1973 when I was twenty years old. I was in a hurry, because the end was sooooooo close. My Bible study conductor told me this system only had about two more years. She was referring to 1975. I am sure you were not born then, but have probably heard about all the hubbub over 1975. The saying was, STAY ALIVE TILL 75!!!
Well, I didn't understand all that was going on, and why some people were upset because the end did not come. It didn't bother me, because of course it had to be soon, as the inside cover of the Awake magazine said they were trying to instill confidence in me that the generation of people who were at an age of understanding in 1914 would not die before the big A. Later, the Awake said that those who were alive in 1914, meaning possible babies, would not die before Armageddon. Later, of course, in 1995, they said, "Ooops-generation can mean something different." So, you see, I think you have time. Armageddon is always "near."
As to the fact that your family may shun you if you do not get back in, that is something to take into consideration. It is a most unloving and scarring thing for a young person to endure, and could last the rest of your life, because there is no time limit to their "punishment."
Since you became baptized because you love God and want to please him, and do have a conscience, you know what is right and wrong. The very fact that you came and confessed shows that. That you should have been shown loving concern and help from those who should have had your best interests at heart and were not is the shameful thing. This being said though, if you do love God and Jesus you will want to do what is morally upright, with or without elders looking at your every move.
I do not go to a Kingdom Hall, as I feel that the WTBTS is governed by unloving men who-yes-did associate themselves with the UN, and care more about their image than they do people. This does not mean I now go out practicing sin because I do know right from wrong as outlined in the Bible.
Hope this helps, and remember, use your time to good advantage whether in or out. GET AN EDUCATION. CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE, AND CARE ABOUT YOUR FUTURE, BECAUSE YOU DO HAVE ONE.
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Hello..need help...I'm on the brink of :(
by crazito inshort story:.
never had a real religious formation until i met the witness in my teenage years.. not everything has been bad but most of my friends there and exwife have been cheaters, liars and hypocrites.... i called it quits this year as i could no longer swallow their truth.
i remarried a supposedly "christian" 23 yr old woman that has shown me how bad things are 'out here'.... regarding her i have a question... those of you that continue to uphold bible's principles and love for our dear creator please advise on the following situation:.
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Quandry
She says she needs "time alone" but I think you are the one who needs time alone. Loneliness is not cured by trying to "save someone from a poor country and a bullying boyfriend. It is a recipe for further loneliness.
Why not take some time to get to know yourself and what kind of person you are really looking for? Try meeting people in person-through your workmates and friends, by volunteering in a hospital or charitable organization. Have as your goal making friends. Friendship can and often does blossom into love by getting to know the person.
What is the rush? If you were buying a new car you would undoubtably look at consumer reports, take test drives, etc. instead of settling on just anything. This is a mate we are talking about here. You need someone compatable, not the next one who takes a bit of interest in you.
You need time to build your self esteem, also, probably. I'm sure it has been a blow to you that your "friends" and wife that were witnesses were less than sterling examples. Perhaps take some college courses or Tech school training to build you up.
You deserve better than you are giving yourself!!!!
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I got the phone call. WARNING, DEPRESSING!
by Schism inwell,my dad called last night, crying.
he says armageddon's about to start and he doesn't want to lose me.
he said i either need to become a good jw and go to the meetings, or he will have to distance himself from me so that he won't be so attached to me when the big a hits.
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Quandry
I am with the poster who said this could have been him one year ago. This would have been my stance before, also. I have a child. If you have never had a child you cannot know the incredible love and responsibility you feel toward it.
Please be patient with dad. He is totally indoctrinated and sounds sincere.
I go with the advice to ask a question. In a nice way. Not confrontational like the Jehovah is mean to kill babies thing. How about the change in generation thing? This means you will have to do some advance research. Tell dad that you are willing to examine your religion just like he wants you to, and now you want to know something. Why did the WTS write for years that the generation that was alive and at an age of understanding would not die before the big A, then change it to people that were at least born and babies at 1914 would not pass away, then oops, we didn't understand the generation thing. They quietly changed the message on the inside cover of Awake magazines to reflect their changes without letting anyone know. Who are the Nethinim and how will they take over if no annointed are left on the earth? How will they get their spiritual light if they are not annointed?
It does no good to argue with dad. Hopefully you can at least agree to disagree without a fight going on every time he sees you. Don't forget humor can often diffuse an angry confrontation also.
Poor dad. He does love you and feels desperate. Give him time.
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From my tiny cabin in Vt. to each of you.. Merry Christmas.....
by Cabin in the woods inhttp://www.asilentnightmovie.com/
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Quandry
Thanks so much. I'll bet your tiny cabin in Vermont looks just lovely and peaceful also today.I love to see pictures of snow. Here in southern Texas it doesn't snow. Thanks again for thinking of us with this stirring tribute to Christmas.
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lost
by depressed injust wondering if anyone else feels the same way.. i've been out of the organization for about 4 years, but i still love jehovah and jesus, and i want to serve them the right way.
does anyone here feel a great sense of religious confusion now that you are not attending meetings?.
at the moment, i feel miserable, since i'm going through a divorce.
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Quandry
Welcome, Maverick, to the forum!!!!!