LOL about the bonfire thing-
I guess I used the wrong word? basically someone has one of those outdoor fire pits- she always called it a bonfire-
or perhaps, I've been out of the Org too long already and i've started using "wordly" words-
Younglove1999
JoinedPosts by Younglove1999
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17
Interesting-Account Servant uses his own $ to pay bills
by Younglove1999 inabout a month ago we were invited to an old friend from our old congregation to attend a bonfire.
this was before we finally started telling people were weren't going to meetings.
at any rate, my husband was talking to the guy who took over the accounts when my husband left and he was saying that donations have dwindled significantly.
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22
What's running through the grapevine
by forsharry inso i was talking with an girlfriend that i had (actually the only friend i had in 'the truth').
we have recently reconnected, and she's still on the fence as to whether or not to go back into the org.
however, her aunt, an elder's wife and all-around snot rocket, let her know what was going on in the truth (i'm guessing to get her to come back full-time cause 'look at all that's happening, and it's the end!
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Younglove1999
"Muffy" LOL :)
Anyways, interesting about the whole sending home Bethelites thing. I know of a lot of older Bethelites who spent decades at Bethel who have recently been "released" because their services were no longer needed. I found it strange considering that I know of at least 4 recently married young couples who were accepted there permanantly in the past year or two. So apparently, the ones who gave up any sort of "normal" life and career to dedicate their lives to Bethel for centrues, are no longer good enough and have been tossed out with "Jehovah will provide" commetns, while these young ones keep piling in. It's a great idea in my opinion, the older ones have decades of brainwashing from the society and nowhere left to go so will just stick with the Org. no matter what; these young ones are still influential, so lets get em in the door and pound this stuff in their heads and meanwhile they've got the stamina to be our little peons-
man, the FDS are so smart
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ATTN WT MONITORS!! Enforcement Action Needed NOW!!
by Open mind inthere is a disturbing trend in my area that desperately needs attention from headquarters.
congregations are getting together for picnics, parties, "fun nights", etc.
this shocking disregard for theocratic order reached a head recently when what should have been termed a "get together" was flagrantly referred to as "the congregation picnic"!!!
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Younglove1999
our old congregation actually had their last congregation gathering at the local YMCA-
apparently it's owned by the town, but since everyone still thinks of it as the Y, the town kept the sign up and refers to it as such.
My friend who invited me to it (we were in a different hall at that point) had no problem saying "it's at the Y on XYZ street- you should come and bring the new baby!", but apparently decided I wasn't worthy enough to stay friends with simply because I haven't been to a meeting in 8 months. Go figure.
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I'd be in my final year of nursing school if I didn't quit
by Younglove1999 inabout 3 years i decided enough of being "content" with the fact that i had a decent job, if i was going to work, i wanted to do something that i loved.
i've always wanted to get into medicine.
but being that i was 23, married, owned a home, worked full time and never went to college, it wasn't going to work out for me to just enter into college and then proceed onto medical school.
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Younglove1999
thanks everyone-
I am determined at some point to go back and get my degree in nursing-It's strange because before I "woke up", I always had such a dismal outlook of the future which is quite the oxymoron being that I was a JW and had the "hope" of everlasting life! I don't know, I just didn't seem to get excited about anything- just kind of went with the flow not having any structure in my life because why start anything if the new system is going to come- Thankfully my husband had a more balanced view and we started 401K's as soon as we got jobs at the age of 20, bought a house to build equity, etc. But still, the desire to go and try things, explore, etc. always seemed to be stumped by the "teachings" of the WTS- use your free time to study, go out in service, etc. I actually did not look forward to the time where I could work less/retire because then it meant that I had to put more time into something spiritual and if I couldn't, then it would be proposterous of me to devote time to secular things. Now that I don't have that "responsibility" hanging over me, I feel like a whole world of opportunity has opened up for me.
I suddenly have the desire and motivation to try new things- Yoga, going for a walk, starting projects around the house, taking a course, learning a language, traveling, etc. Some of these things, a Witness would argue, are not forbidden in the organization but it was ingrained in my head that if I didn't put spiritual things first, then I couldn't do these other things. So since I wasn't really actively pursing my spiritual goals, I felt I just couldn't go and do something else- hence I actually just became lazy.
kind of like those Saturday or Sunday mornings where you felt like you HAD to sleep in or act sick the whole day if you missed service or meeting- I mean, you couldn't just miss a meeting and then go out for a long run kwim? Now since I've stopped going, we actually get up bright and early and go for long walks, work on projects- it's great.
I'm blabbing now- but it's nice to know I have my future to do what I want to do without having to feel guilty. I'm going to spend my retirement/free time MY own way and you know what? The future finally looks good.
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Interesting-Account Servant uses his own $ to pay bills
by Younglove1999 inabout a month ago we were invited to an old friend from our old congregation to attend a bonfire.
this was before we finally started telling people were weren't going to meetings.
at any rate, my husband was talking to the guy who took over the accounts when my husband left and he was saying that donations have dwindled significantly.
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Younglove1999
About a month ago we were invited to an old friend from our old congregation to attend a bonfire. This was before we finally started telling people were weren't going to meetings.
At any rate, my husband was talking to the guy who took over the accounts when my husband left and he was saying that donations have dwindled significantly. In fact, it got so bad that he called the electric company the day they were planning to shut off power at the kingdom hall and gave them his own credit card info to pay the $300 bill because he knew there was a meeting that night and didn't want it to get canceled. That was 3 months ago and there are still no funds to reimburse this guy. Apparently, he's not the first brother to fork over money to cover bills for the hall this past year. However, the worldwide preaching work box nets about $2,000 a month which they have to mail directly to the Society. And will the society help this congregation who needs help to cover bills? Hell no. They're on their own. All they can do is have "friendly reminder" parts at the meeting asking the brothers and sisters to donate to the KH fund.
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14
I'd be in my final year of nursing school if I didn't quit
by Younglove1999 inabout 3 years i decided enough of being "content" with the fact that i had a decent job, if i was going to work, i wanted to do something that i loved.
i've always wanted to get into medicine.
but being that i was 23, married, owned a home, worked full time and never went to college, it wasn't going to work out for me to just enter into college and then proceed onto medical school.
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Younglove1999
About 3 years I decided enough of being "content" with the fact that I had a decent job, if I was going to work, i wanted to do something that I loved.
I've always wanted to get into medicine. But being that I was 23, married, owned a home, worked full time and never went to college, it wasn't going to work out for me to just enter into college and then proceed onto medical school. Plus, I was a JW, who would do that?
Well, I finally got the guts to enroll into the community college into their Associate Registered Nurse program. The whole thing would take 3-4 years and I would end up graduating with my Associates degree and with a license to be a registered nurse. It was something I wanted to do, and since the school was in the same town as my job, my boss was willing to work with me and give me flex hours so that I could attend a class in the middle of the work day- etc. I didn't have any classes on meeting nights and as long as i stuck with the schedule I could handle school, work and spiritual things. I should mention that at this time I wasn't handling my spirtual things anyways, but hey the time was always there to work on it-now I just had to be more "strict" since my time would be more used up with school.
I had no problem in school and at work. I was making the deans list and very very proud of the fact that I passed Anatomy and Physiology at the top of the class, that my English Professor said I was an awesome write and had so much potential, etc. etc. etc. Work was great, my boss was so impressed that I could juggle things.
My spiritual growth was still stagnent as it had always been. Except now the "blame" was because of school and work. Funny how that morphed. After a year I realized that I was putting all my energy into school and nothing into the organization and felt guilty. I shouldn't do this for the next 3 years because what if armageddon comes and I'm in the middle of mid-terms? i was doing so well at school though! and it was only 3 years! But the "guilt" got the best of me and reluctantly I quit school. And no my service time did not improve, my personal study did not progress- spritually, nothing changed. I just now had free time to watch TV-
I've since been promoted at work and enjoy my new responsiblities and love the company I work for, but to this day I can't watch a medical show without getting a pang in my heart. I want to work in that field! I could have been done by now.
I had so much potential. Right now with a new baby and a new home, I just can't juggle going back to school right now.
My goal someday is to go back and not only become a nurse, but to become a Midwife-
I just wanted to share my story because I'm feeling melancholy about the things I missed out because of the stupid JW "reasoning".
thanks-
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1st post
by bbdodger inhey everyone... i'm so happy that a forum like this exists.
it makes me feel like i'm not the only one.
even my mother, who has been disfellowshipped for nearly 20 years still calls sites and literature like this "apostate".
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Younglove1999
at my father in law's funeral 7 years ago the brothers wanted a table put up right next to the entrance and decorate it with tracts and brochures-
my husband got to the kingdom hall early and moved the table next to the baby's room in the back corner of the hall- even though we were in the organizaton at the time and had just gotten reinstated, we both thought it was just insane to try to "preach" during a funeral.
oh and someone later moved the table back- *rolls eyes*
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1st post
by bbdodger inhey everyone... i'm so happy that a forum like this exists.
it makes me feel like i'm not the only one.
even my mother, who has been disfellowshipped for nearly 20 years still calls sites and literature like this "apostate".
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Younglove1999
wow... it's amazing how fast this board moves! I can't keep up!!!
Even though I haven't been active since I was 10 years old, EVERYTHING I'm reading rings true for me. I relate to every single posting I've read so far, because I was a very bright child who was very observant.
I haven't talked to the JWS in my family for nearly 20 years, it's so sad that their god doesn't want families to stay together. My God wants families to be together. The only contact I've had with any of them are letters they have written, telling me that I'm worldly. To know that if I died, my funeral would NOT be attended because it would not be officiated by a "Brother" is disheartening, to say the least.
I remember so much of my life during that time, because everything I did (even as a child) revolved around the activities of the faith. It may be easy to write off someone who hasn't attended a meeting in so long, but I assure you that the memories and the feelings, guilt, frustration, thoughts are just as fresh now as they were then.
I know, I can barely keep up with all the posts as well and I want to read everything! it's sad that those letters from family have to be sent to you- I cannot fathom ever doing that to my child/loved one. One of the red flags that came up prior to my official decision to leave (8 months ago) was attending the funeral of my husband's uncle. Uncle "Jack" was an awesome guy! So nice, funny, and just full of love. Uncle Jack had a long history with JW's- both his brothers (my father in law and my husband other uncle) were baptized since the late 60's. Uncle Jack never got baptized but had a deep respect for the Bible- he carried his Holy Bible with him all the time and appreciated having spiritual discussions with the JW's- he went to memorials, some assemblies, frequented meetings off and on, and knew MANY JW's over the course of 30 something years. When Uncle Jack passed away, not ONE single JW showed up at his funeral except my husband and I. Why? It was held at the Lutheran church because the rest of the family who weren't JW's were Lutheran and we all know the option to have his funeral in a KH wasn't there because he never got baptized. My husband's aunt (Jack's sister) and Jack were really close and ALOT of her Lutheran friends who barely knew Jack were there to offer support- where were the JW's? No where to be found. Since Uncle Jack was deaf, we hired an interpreter for the funeral who turned out to be a JW. She only interpreted one Eulogy by a cousin and the rest of the service she refused to interpret because it was pagan in her words! I saw that many deaf were upset to not know what was going on and I was tempted to go up there and interpret myself (since I knew sign language), but I didn't want my husband who was engrossed in the service (side note, we left that service more encouraged than some JW service by the way), that he had no idea of the commotion between the deaf and the interpreter and I didn't think he needed to be bothered with it. I was also afraid at the time that the interpreter would turn me in. Foolish I know, but most of you know that "fear". My husband and I later discussed the service that day and were needless to say quite disgusted that not ONE single JW's who knew Jack for all these years showed up. anyways, I'm hijacking your thread- welcome
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I couldn't skip a discussion of Sept KM Question Box
by OnTheWayOut inwith comparing what other experts have to say, just as the witnesses did?".
"well, what have you found wrong with the nwt?".
' without comparing and .
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Younglove1999
wow- interesting!
I was kind of hoping my mom would bring it up today when she came by to babysit- come to fiind out she missed last nights meeting....and the past 3 weeks worth of meetings-
I'm just dying for someone to mention it to me-
I was thinking about how true it is that once we're baptized, any sort of "thinking" is practicaly prohibted. So what the FDS is telling me is that what I learned at the age of 12 is finite. I should no longer have any other questions, there's no more room for me to grow and no reason for me to expound on my thoughts and beliefs. Interesting...
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The Effect of Losing Elders
by metatron inlosing elders in the us puts the organization into quite a dilemma.
they hate large congregations.
but can't split without enough appointed local 'enforcers'.
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Younglove1999
"Hey, no problem. Just more real estate for me in paradise."
My stomach just turned-
that reminds me of when older ones thought it was cute of a young kid in our hall who once said, after seeing his mother get yelled at out in the ministry, "well that person is going to die!" Yes- we want our 4 year olds to think/talk like that-