Jewel

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Posts by Jewel

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  41

  Inactive, yet shunned!

  by TimothyT in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my dad (49) (who was an elder for 10 year and hasnt been to the meetings now since april when i stopped going) sent a message to a younger unbaptised brother (19) in my congregation to see if they would like to get together and jam on their guitars.

  the younger brother responded that he would like to but since my dad hasnt been to the meetings in a long time he feels its innapropriate.. needless to say my dad was a little pi**ed but at the same time he cant understand how he is also now being shunned despite the fact that he isnt even disfellowshipped.

  why do these people show such conditional love when jesus taught the absolute opposite?.

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  Jewel

  OK, this seems to work on our desktop.

  In 1977 I made the decision to go on to college. My dearest friend in the congregation told me that if I did, she would "mark" me. She wasn't the only one...instant pariah. I hadn't broken a single Biblical rule. I was a very good Witness girl. But I was definitely marked.

  I made some really wonderful friends in college and I often thought about the scriptures where Jesus was asked how to identify the true religion and his answer was, basically, "they love one another". (Not going to drag my NWT out to look up the exact wording). I thought that if that was the ultimate benchmark, the Witnesses weren't "it".
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  41

  Inactive, yet shunned!

  by TimothyT in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my dad (49) (who was an elder for 10 year and hasnt been to the meetings now since april when i stopped going) sent a message to a younger unbaptised brother (19) in my congregation to see if they would like to get together and jam on their guitars.

  the younger brother responded that he would like to but since my dad hasnt been to the meetings in a long time he feels its innapropriate.. needless to say my dad was a little pi**ed but at the same time he cant understand how he is also now being shunned despite the fact that he isnt even disfellowshipped.

  why do these people show such conditional love when jesus taught the absolute opposite?.

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  Jewel
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  28

  I want your Christmas traditions!

  by watersprout in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have deceided that this year i would like (if you will indulge me) lots of different traditions from lots of different countries and cultures.... so what have you got??.

  i also want to hear what makes your christmas super special... what do you do to make up for all those lost years.. babysprout really believes in santa... all the kids in her class have been telling her he isn't real.

  i mean what is this, a class full of dubbies??

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  Jewel

  My son keeps bees (2 hives). I showed him that we could set a family up with a beehive in his name for one of his gifts. His response, "Are you CRAZY! I want stuff." Sigh...sometimes my kids are wonderful human beings. Sometimes they're just teenagers.

  Jewel-who might ask for this for Christmas myself, instead.
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  23

  Does anyone here homeschool their children?

  by PaintedToeNail in

  1. social
  2. family

  i homeschool my son, he has just been accepted into the local community college in the dual-enrollment program.

  he scored higher than average for english and slightly above average on math.

  i don't homeschool because of the 'worldly' kids at the school.

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  Jewel

  We homeschooled...our oldest went to Kindergarten and two months of first grade-the younger two were homeschooled all the way through.

  Now: Oldest daughter is an honor student working toward her BS in law enforcement. She also has a full-time, management job in retail. Middle daughter is a senior (also honor student) at a private university working on a double major in Environmental Biology and Chemistry. She is president of the science department's Web of Life club. My youngest (son) is a sophomore (also straight A's) working on a double major in Physics and Engineering. He also assistant-teaches a chilren's karate class and just earned his black belt.

  Our biggest equipment investment was a telescope (binocular). I always said the sciences were easy to teach...they're all around us, all the time.

  Socialization: Kids do need to be socialized and I've seen homeschoolers make mistakes here. Should they treat everyone respectfully? Yes. Should they expect everyone to treat them respectfully? No. Should you try to teat others fairly? Yes. Is life always fair? No. Should you be responsible and accept responsibility for your behavior? Yes. Will trying to do the right thing always be rewarded? Not always, but in the long run it will make your life easier and more successful.

  We had tons of fun and learned a lot of things together. I wouldn't change that history with my kids for the world.
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  10

  Just a Bumper Sticker Thought

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  Jewel

  Or...It's my husband's bumper sticker. Worked for our first Christmas tree 27 years ago!
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  10

  Just a Bumper Sticker Thought

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  Jewel

  Hey, I like that. Suppose if I drove around with that on my bumper I'd be moved from d'assoc. to d'fellowshipped after all these years?
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  28

  I want your Christmas traditions!

  by watersprout in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have deceided that this year i would like (if you will indulge me) lots of different traditions from lots of different countries and cultures.... so what have you got??.

  i also want to hear what makes your christmas super special... what do you do to make up for all those lost years.. babysprout really believes in santa... all the kids in her class have been telling her he isn't real.

  i mean what is this, a class full of dubbies??

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  Jewel

  I made an advent tree out of 3/4 in plywood...simple pine tree shape about 2 ft high. We stained the top part green and the trunk brown. I pounded in 25 brads scattered across the tree part with one at the top. We put it up on December 1 and hang a little ornament everday until Christmas Day when a shiny brass snowflake gets hung on the top one. My kids loved this when they were little and kept scrupulous track of whose turn it was to put on the day's ornament. They still make sure we get it out.

  We fill the stockings on Christmas Eve, but we don't open any stocking stuff until New Years morning. There is a TON of stuff for Christmas morning so holding off on the stocking things stretches things out a bit and made New Year's fun for them even when they were too young to make it to midnight.

  We found a tiny song sparrow nest and put a glittery bird ornament in it, a glass pickle and a walnut that we decorated with glitter. Each of the kids hangs one of these on the tree at the very end and the rest of us look for it...there are traditional stories associated with each of these.

  My husband reads Clement Moore's "Night Before Christmas" every Christmas Eve. Last year they were 22, 20 and 18 and when I asked, they said they still wanted Dad to do it. This year my oldest will have her own place and I'm giving her a copy of the book as a housewarming present.

  Everybody gets new jammies on Chrismas Eve. They get wrapped an put under the tree early in the season so there are presents under the tree for decoration. Each child had a Christmas collection from the time they were little, too. The girls get a new piece for their Christmas villlages and my son collects nutcrackers so he gets one of those. They go under the tree and are opened on Christmas Eve, too.

  We put the tree up and decorate it the day after Thanksgiving.

  We make it a point to watch Christmas Vacation and Love Actually sometime during the season...a little non-traditional!
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  10

  Just a Bumper Sticker Thought

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  Jewel

  I was trying to post on another thread and every time I hit "submit" nothing showed up. I was "testing" to see if it was the thread, my computer, whatever. Turns out it must have been the thread because my test came through when I tried it here.

  Love the bumper sticker by the way. Wonder if they've got one that says "God made me a pagan"....though it loses some of it's irony that way!
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  25

  Embarrassed As A Witness

  by EmptyInside in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  even as a witness,i was uncomfortable talking about everything we believed.

  i remember working with my brother out and service and he found an interested person.

  my brother was sharing information out of the bible teach book.

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  Jewel

  HATED service in areas where schoolmates lived. Never was comfortable explaining why we didn't celebrate birthdays...that always seemed like pretty thin reasoning even when I was trying to be a good Witness girl. My sister and I had a thing when we went out in service together where we would mimic knocking on the door without making any actual contact with the surface. We'd fake knock, wait a minute, fake knock, wait, shrug and move on. I don't remember discussing it with each other, or who did it first. Of course, one time we were in the country and as we started back to the car in the lane, the elder driving leaned out the driver's window and yelled, "Put some magazines in the door!" We turned around and sweat blood as we opened up the screen door and stuffed a couple in.

  Short answer: Yes, a hundred times a day in hundred different ways.
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  85

  Hello--new to the witnesses...and you

  by LKM in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just wanted to introduce myself.

  i went to the kh for the first time 2 weeks ago...and will go again tomorrow.

  i don't believe anything witnessy...(i was raised in the assembly of god church and now the closest thing i "do" with religion is yoga or sometimes the buddhist temple).... but the man i'm in love with is a df'd jw (we've been together for 6 years).... and he wants to get reinstated just to talk to his family again (i can assure you he does not believe it).... and he wants his family to accept me because we are about to get married... so, i'm going to meetings...its very interesting, but only because it shows me more about how he was raised.

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  Jewel

  No clue what that was all about....

  LKM-

  My first impulse is to tell you to RUN in the opposite direction. My second is to point out a few things you might not have thought through.

  The inactive/faded line is really difficult to walk under the best of circumstances (speaking from MUCH experience). I would say it will be nearly impossible in your situation. You will, essentially, have a spy in your home for the rest of your life. I know that sounds horrible, but the ex-wife and congregation will definitely put your bf's son in this position, especially if his (boyfriends) loyalty to the religion is in any doubt.

  Keep the following in mind-

  You will not be able to sleep together without marriage (even if you honestly just sleep) at any time when his son is with him. I can't even see him getting reinstated if you slept over in a separate room. The ex-wife will ask the little boy about this. She will tell the elders.

  You will have to give up all holidays for the rest of your life. The jig will be up if his son sees that you have a Christmas tree, birthday cards, a carved pumpkin, left-over Thanksgiving turkey, a Mother's Day card, Fourth of July sparklers, Valentines, shamrocks, discussions about voting, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin'Eve on TV, or a chocolate bunny EVER.

  If you have any children, or you have children together, read that last paragraph a couple of times. Then realize that you kids would have to give all of that up plus: having any close school friends, Halloween parties, Christmas concerts, playing sports or in band, coloring Santa pictures, homecoming dances, pep rallies, 4-H, Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, or dates. The congregation would monitor what you let your kids read, what movies or TV you let them watch and what you let them wear.

  For that matter, the congregation will monitor what YOU read, what movies (say good-by to R-ratings) or TV YOU watch, and what YOU wear.

  What that little boy needs is to see the joy (and sorrow) that can be had in a life that is rich, complicated, and, most importantly, honest. That's what you and his father could give him that will be completely absent from his life if you try to live falsely.

  Jewel....apologising for the weirdness in my posting (?!?)