i have noticed a lot of newbies lately.
(i also noticed that after being absent for a year happy1975 is making a return visit.).
so, if you are a brand spanking newbie, post here and tell us a little about your interests, your state, your new direction in life, your favorite things, whatever you want to say---this is your thread.. .
Welcome, take me higher.
I don't know how to change a picture, etc. I am sure some on this forum can tell you.
Sounds like you've been able to successfully navigate through life without shunning from your parents. Good for you! So glad, also, that you did the research on the history of the JWs, and are able to let the guilt go. I so wish I had done that over thirty years ago. I have no more guilt either, but want my thirty years back!
cant really go into the whole story, but yesterday we bured my.
17 yr old nephew....just reminds me of how important family is.... http://www.abc17news.com/news.php?id=4324.
any fights, squabbles..arent important!.
So sorry to hear about this. So young....
i helped her move out this weekend so i must be a masochist too...so on top of losing every friend in my life...i have now lost my wife...and yes i asked her to leave on more than one occasion this year...we have argued for nearly five years about wt crap...nothing i could ever say would make her question anything!!!!
it was beyond frustrating...then this spring when i somehow disassociated myself and even lost my parents i knew i would never have a normal marriage no matter what...all i wanted was a normal marriage with mutual friends...that is off the table as long as she is a jw...but why could i not accept it???
why could i not shut up???
Oompa
I am sorry things are as they are. It was devastating to go through all the stuff we were confronted with when we found out the real truth about the organization. My parents hated JWs so I had little use for them. They are both gone now...wouldn't I love to spend just one day with them and let them know that I no longer have any association with the JWs. But that opportunity is gone forever.
One thing I have now found out...you can't go back. You MUST make some goals...then strive without wavering to accomplish them. I was 53 when I left....not easy to start fresh. One goal I made was to get a degree. I will graduate in one more year. I must work full time, so can only take two classes at a time. You must find something to strive for, be it sharpen up your business skills, get your career on a new track, education, etc.
I know how it is, also, to have no retirement, as I also "knew" I wasn't going to have to retire or die in "this system." Well, of course, that was a load of $#*t too.
There are many good things ahead for you. Don't allow JWs to have another minute of your time and life by looking back, or grabbing for a bottle. Be the person you decide you want to be. You chart the course, now.
hi.
my wife and myself are active witnesses.. before i go into great depth about our past and what brings me here, i would like to make sure i am posting this in the right section.. i'm a little technologically retarded so please bear with me.. .
twisty.
It has been a very rough time in the last few weeks, with many tears and outbursts of anger.
Yes, most of us know all too well the feelings associated with finding out about the background of Russell and realizing that the emphasis is on the Faithful and Discreet Slave to just about the exclusion of all else.
My husband and I were "in" over thirty years. He was an elder for twenty. It is devastating, but also liberating to delve into things that you have a right to know but that the WTS would like to hide. Most damaging of all is the organization's own history. Yet as a Witness you must not read about it. The WTS has "done al the research for you" and feeds you only what it wants you to know.
So glad you and your wife are together and there for each other. You are young and can start to formulate your own goals for yourselves. How about college? It wasn't encouraged from the WTS but I am here to tell you that knowledge is liberating. I am 59 and will graduate after a few more classes. Even though I don't envision a new career at my age, I have loved everything that I have learned (degree in History) and feel that it has enriched my life. You and your wife could also explore new hobbies, travel, etc.
Please, though, tread carefully if your job is dependent upon your identity as a JW. Your personal business is just that. Don't volunteer too much information. Honesty doesn't mean that you have to tell everything.
"Better to have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned."
there are a couple of public laundry facilities i pass by every day on my way to and from work.
on the occassions i have to take my bed comforter down to the big machines, i always see the magazines sitting around.
i'm thinking of making a bi-weekly stop at these places to add a note to each magazine.. i noticed on this forum someone suggested using a marker to write jwfacts.com, or some such thing.
Don't they leave the magazines free for the public? I, representing the public, pick them up, decide I don't want them, and throw them away.
well, it's been a while... haven't been on the forum much lately.
with ali's last health scare, it has been a little overwhelming to keep up with everything.... ali continues to improve, in fact, her heart has improved so much that her cardiologist wants to document her case and publish it.
he has never seen someone improve so quickly.
Glad to hear things are going well. I am sure everyone needed a much needed break!
i have noticed a lot of newbies lately.
(i also noticed that after being absent for a year happy1975 is making a return visit.).
so, if you are a brand spanking newbie, post here and tell us a little about your interests, your state, your new direction in life, your favorite things, whatever you want to say---this is your thread.. .
bttt
i have noticed a lot of newbies lately.
(i also noticed that after being absent for a year happy1975 is making a return visit.).
so, if you are a brand spanking newbie, post here and tell us a little about your interests, your state, your new direction in life, your favorite things, whatever you want to say---this is your thread.. .
I don't know how I missed this hello to newbies because I always carefully look for them. Perhaps it is the fact that I am 59, work full time, and am taking two college courses each semester in an effort to get my degree....which at this rate I will have in one more year, when I am 60...happy birthday to me!
Welcome, and by now there are other new ones....we don't ever want to overlook any of you...all of you have taken the first courageous steps toward freedom and self-determination. It doesn't matter how young or old you are, YOU CAN DO IT! For those who must stay in for family reasons, we understand...you can come here and vent.
For those who have lost their loved ones to the WTS mentality, a special hug. Know that we feel for you greatly, and please come to this forum and feel that you can unburden yourself among those who care for you.
A quote I love; "Better to have questions you can't answer, than answers you can't question."
i have been reading countless heartbreaking accounts on this site of children of jehovah's witnesses being "disfellowshipped" and shunned by entire families, their congregations, basicly everyone they have ever known for simply questioning their parent's religion!!.
some have been tossed out of family homes to live in cars!!!
this is not christian.
What? Not shunned until 18? I beg to differ.
My daughter was 16 when she was told she was filth in God's eyes for very little-just normal teen stuff, and then disfellowshipped. Her 15 year old friend was disfellowshipped after being berated and humiliated by five "shepherds" who wrote her "sins" on large papers and affixed them to the wall during her JC (her parents told my husband and I) so that she could sit and view them while they were verbally abusing her. I hope she is still alive, as there was concern that she might do harm to herself. I don't know how she is now because we had enough and quit going back for more.
i was a third generation witness, a ministerial servant twice in my life, a failed pioneer (i only made it six months).
when the article about higher education come out, my family finally decided it was okay for me to get a two year degree.
and that enabled me to provide for myself--before that is was impossible.
Welcome, Londo.
So sorry that you've lost your friend. Otherwise, welcome to being able to think for yourself, and getting out of the JW's grip.
I might also add that you express yourself in writing very well.
