Posts by chicken little

8

My sons first real birthday celebration...

by Jack Burton in

so my youngest son turned 5 today.

this was our first real party for one of our children.

we always did what i expect alot of us witnesses did, have a "special day" party...just not calling it a birthday.

chicken little

So glad you had a great day for your son. We stopped 2 years ago..our son was 6 at the time. Our grown children never had birthdays...so the first one to come around was our oldest sons 25th birthday...we suprised him when he came by with a cake with candles on...I was in such a hurry to hide it I put it back in the fridge with the candles on as he came in. I burnt a big hole in the top of the inside fridge!!! Our little boy then told a sister when she came by.....mummy burnt the fridge with......, birthday cake. Her face was a picture!

We had a pirate birthday party for our little boy and our son and daughter and boyfriend travelled 4 hours to be there so as not to miss the fun....they had as much fun as the little kids....poor deprived things. we also had special days when we were in...but it is not the same.

I never got it when witnesses had no problem saying happy anniversary and lots of presents, yet to say happy birthday for ones own child was a sin.

Enjoy..that is what I say now. Just had a lovely bunch of flowers and chocs for Mums day delivered...

16

Did you get sick after you went to an assembly ?

by greenhornet in

i always did.

it was like clock work a few days after.

bang sore throat sometime fever etc..

chicken little

300 went down with stomach problems when the "clever brother" in charge of catering did not know how to handle warm meat for the lunch. Circuit assemblies meant sore throats. District conventions....usually hyperthermia....outside in freezing cold stadiums all day.

Post traumatic stress disorder when reality hits in after the convention.

Twitching, spasms when the next location is announced...anyone had those?

53

Long term effects of Armageddon images

by Lady Lee in

someone i know is having a hard time with anxiety attacks.

she hasn't been a jw since a teen.

recently she has started seeing a therapist.

chicken little

I am way too late in anwsering..but I have just read this thread. I stayed a witness when my family left in 1975. I was 14 and my younger brother 12. He went on to become a biker/rocker...hard lifestyle...tough people. He is a lovely guy though and eventually got his life sorted out. He is now 47 and just last year when I told him I was stopping as a witness, he explained he still had nightmares from the pictures in the old paradise book. That is over 35 years ago for him and he was out all that time....so I know those images have a deep down effect...they are not like comics/videos with violence...we truly believed as a child this was going to happen to all our friends and family who were not witnesses.

Chicken little

14

UP ALL NIGHT!!!!......AGAIN!!!!!!!!

by Warlock in

jw
friends

this time, i'm sick.. i can't sleep, and i don't want to have a drink.. i think i have the flu.. i just hope it's not the oink!.

warlock .

.

chicken little

Poor little bunny....check our youtube under man flu...great british comedian....taking the p... with you guys and the flu.

Get better soon...I suffer from insomnia so I sympathize.

Chiken little

33

From 'Everlasting Life' to just a few more years. How did you handle the realisation that you WOULD die?

by nicolaou in

the thing is, a lot of us thought we'd never die.

do you comprehend what a truly massive mind-fuck that is?

when i was embroiled in doubts and knew i was heading 'out of the truth' i remember waves of nausea hitting me.

chicken little

I never believed I would live forever.........why me? I felt less worthy than many of the billions that lived a life of extreme poverty without any means of changing it. I lived in relative plenty, I have had a good life...I am now 49 and I have seen my children grow up and also have a good life. Why should I want more? I use to study with people and tell them all about the paradise, yet deep down inside I just did not believe it.

We live our life now...it is often unfair and difficult. There is no way around that except dying. I prefer the reality of life to the pie in the sky dream.

67

How do you feel when you see groups of Jehovah's Witnesses in the ministry?

by nicolaou in

regret, anger, frustration?

how about sadness, sorrow, sympathy, understanding, even compassion!.

it can be quite confusing at times, especially if some of those witnesses were your friends.

chicken little

The song ...those were the days my friend...come to mind. I want to wake them up but usually just smile and walk on by.

16

Beautiful Day~How will you spend it?

by StAnn in

jw
friends

today the weather in sw ohio is gorgeous.

breezy, low 80's, lots of sunshine.

the kids and i ate breakfast on the patio.

chicken little

I have had a Carpe Diem day...here in scandanavia we have had the hottest and sunniest April on record. So today we grilled outside with the kids, drank white wine on the terrace and just lapped it up....so lovely with all the spring flowers coming out and the apple trees just about to burst out in blossom. Enjoy life while you can everyone it is so wonderful.

44

What I do know is that there is peace to be found and there love to be had, after the organisation

by LIftsong in

my mother became a jw when i was six months old so i was brought up within the confines of the organisation.

i left properly in my early twenties and i am now 43 so a good 22 years of life, post being a witness have i travelled and documented thus far.

mine was a typical experience of a child in the congregation and i was busy doing my best to be a little adult as the child within slowly fell asleep.

chicken little

Lovely words.

49

Need advice, they are trying to suck me in!

by Searchinggal in

jw
friends

i am hoping you can help me.

i have a very dear friend of over 20 years, who was brought up jw.

our children are friends and we have vacationed and been like sisters all these years.

chicken little

I know my friends that are still in really miss me....I also know that they do sometimes cross the line and come over and go for coffee, to the movies or out shopping with me...I view all of this as positive and I dont give up on them as long as we keep the mutual respect...no discussions on jw stuff. Who knows what may happen?

49

Need advice, they are trying to suck me in!

by Searchinggal in

jw
friends

i am hoping you can help me.

i have a very dear friend of over 20 years, who was brought up jw.

our children are friends and we have vacationed and been like sisters all these years.

chicken little

Hej searchinggirl,

No easy anwser to this one. Mutual respect is just about the only way to make a go of it. You both express your desire to maintain a friendship, but there would have to be "rules", no discussing of religion or bringing it into the conversation to make the other person feel uncomfortable. My dear friend stopped as a witness 14 years before I did. I wanted to keep her as a friend and I did. She was fantastic and NEVER expressed critic of my beliefs. I in return never gave her a guilt trip, we kept to our friendship through thick and thin. She was overjoyed two years ago when I told her I was leaving the JWs for good.

So ask your friend straight out if she wants to continue the friendship on those terms. If the anwser is no, then I dont see any other way than for you both to part for the time being. When you have "studied" as you have for eight months you are well on your way to having the witness mindset imprinted on your lifestyle...that is not healthy and if you keep being exposed to it you will find yourself in a very uncomfortable place, as you even now are experiencing.

Hope you can keep your friend, I know how you feel. Now I am out I have 2 friends I try to keep contact with. I do not respond to any information about the meetings , mags, assemblies etc, other than saying I hope they had a nice time. I then change the subject to something else, family, work, food anything. I also make sure I talk about how happy I am and busy (I do a lot of volunteer work now). I hope you can try this and see if it works for you.

Kind regards

Chicken little