I guarantee that the CO won't like anyone with tats being approved for field service.
But it seems like you've pretty much decided to take the plunge. I wish you well.
hugs
Joel
joelbear
JoinedPosts by joelbear
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24
TatooGrrl and Her Tats - A Question
by Stephanus inthe mention by tattoogrrl of her tattoos and the discomfort they seem to produce in the r&f around her prompted these questions:.
*would the tats be considered to be a possible stumbling block to those "weak in the faith"?.
*if she gets baptised, will pressure be put on her to have them removed?.
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24
TatooGrrl and Her Tats - A Question
by Stephanus inthe mention by tattoogrrl of her tattoos and the discomfort they seem to produce in the r&f around her prompted these questions:.
*would the tats be considered to be a possible stumbling block to those "weak in the faith"?.
*if she gets baptised, will pressure be put on her to have them removed?.
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joelbear
Hi Tweetie,
Oh my!! John's wife has a tattoo. Pretty amazing. John always did have a little bit of a wild side.
Oh, the Friday nights of long ago I sat with John drinking beer and eating oysters and wings at Hooters or CJ's or one of our many other hang outs. John gazed at the girls. I gazed at John.
And now to think he's hooked up with some tattooed tart.
I have a picture of him in his underwear if you want to see it.
hugs
Joel
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14
How Long Did the Transition Take?
by troubled ini was wondering, for those of you who have left the organization, how long did the transition take?
i mean, how long after you left did you feel up in the air, in turmoil, lost, unsettled?
long long before you felt comfortable with the decision and basically happy with your life?
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joelbear
Hi Troubled,
I can speak only for myself. But my journey to recovery and happiness is ongoing. I started doubting when I was about 20 and was DFed when I was 30, I am now 43. Maybe I am just a slow healer.
More likely, its because the wound keeps getting reopened since all my family are still witnesses.
hugs
Joel
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9
Advice From an MS
by BoozeRunner inreading some posts tonite made me think of some advice i was given by a ms one day.. at the kh one sunday, i had genuinely asked brother g. how he was feeling.
i knew he had health problems and could see he was kind of uncomfortable.
he replied that his blood pressure had been high, and he was feeling the effects of it.. he then went on to explain that he rarely goes into detail because most brothers and sisters dont want to hear a persons problems.
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joelbear
I agree with Amazing.
I think it really changed after 1980. 1975 took a lot out of people.
Before 1975 it was like we were a big family struggling through life together and helping each other out. After that, it just seemed different. I always thought it was just because I grew up and lost my rose colored glasses but maybe not.
hugs
Joel
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5
Adam Resurrected?
by joelbear infriday says adam will be resurrected?
i thought he was the cause of all the trouble the world is in?.
i thought the ultimate test was for a perfect man to decide whether or not they would submit to god's rule?.
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joelbear
Friday says Adam will be resurrected? I thought he was the cause of all the trouble the world is in?
I thought the ultimate test was for a perfect man to decide whether or not they would submit to god's rule?
I am interested in knowing if the Watchtower has changed its teaching on this.
curious hugs
Joel
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40
To Joelbear With Love
by Maximus injoel, i want you to know i can think of no other poster who shows as much humanity, as much compassion and insight as you, particularly when it comes to the human condition.. thank you for sharing yourself and your journey so openly; i'm grateful for that.
you obviously have picked up many helpful tools in your recovery toolkit, and when you not only share them with us but show how to use them, how they can benefit us, we are the richer.. i need not say more, than that you are loved very much.. maximus.
who once in a while learns from joel a leeeetle more than he needed to, but what else is new?
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joelbear
I wouldn't say I don't need this thread. I need all the positive energy I can get and believe me, I am thankful for it.
I will sleep more peacefully tonight having been touched by just these few positive comments.
deeply appreciative hugs
Joel
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49
30 and Out?
by Black Man in30 that seems to put jw's at a cross-roads?
i've known so many who have decided to abandon ship at either the age of 30 or either after 30 years of being baptized.
i fall into the former category.
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joelbear
I was df'ed at 29 years 11 months. Went back to Key West for my birthday the next month.
People start to reexamine their lives at 30 and most people have gotten their wild youth behind them.
hugs
Joel
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8
Is this a paradox, or what?
by Mulan inmany of you know that i have a good friend, who is still a dub, and her husband is an elder.
they both talk to us, and i see her all the time, and talk to her everyday.
she called this morning to tell me about the dinner they had last night with some old friends.
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joelbear
Hi all,
I agree that the very concept of "we are god's people but we're imperfect so our lives are basically as screwed up as everyone else's"
is one of the very wackiest think modes engaged in by the JWs.My mother used to call me with all the stories of the pregnant teenagers, the separated and divorced, the drug addicted, on and on and when I would comment on it, she would say, well, we are still imperfect.
Well, I agree we are imperfect, in fact, I believe perfection is a myth and that the hope for perfection is extremely dangerous.
But I also feel for people whose lives are soooooo screwed up and likely to stay that way since they are just sitting there waiting for god to fix everything. This is what angers me so much about You Know's posts about the end being just next month, or in just a few weeks. It takes away the incentive to move on to a better way of living now.
The organization certainly attracts people with all sorts of problems. I think a lot of them are attracted to it because it means they don't have to really work on themselves and their real problems. Instead this is replaced with the much more nominal acts of meeting attendance and field service. These continually are put forth as the way to prove you are good and for many they are easier than doing the really hard work on themselves.
hugs
Joel
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116
most embarrasing thing ever at a meeting ...
by alliwannadoislive inhey ... i'm just getting into the swing of this great 'apostasy' thing right ... ?
... i thought y'all out there might well have a story or two to tell, so ... plz tell me tell me tell me about the most embarrasing thing you ever saw at a meeting ...
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joelbear
Lets see,
There was the time I was working the sound system and the record player cord got stuck under the turntable and the music sounded like something out of the Outer Limits.
Or the time I completely forgot I was doing the sound and was talking to another brother in the back of the hall and the elder on stage had to tell me to go start the final song, which I had to find the right record, get it on the player and put the needle arm in the right place all while everyone was waiting.
Or the time my mother and I couldn't stop laughing while giving a presentation on the stage and the brother said, Hmmm, I guess that's one way you could do it.
Or the time when I was pioneering and one brand new sister's kid wet her pants on the corner of the neighborhood.
Or the time I was going door to door with an annointed brother and he told the householder he would make great fertilizer after armageddon.
Or the time my friend Julie Zeitz (who could cross one eye while staring straight at you) got me completely cracked up while I was the Watchtower reader.
And yes, believe it or not, I was assigned the talk from the youth book on masturbation and homosexuality. Guess they wanted an expert on the subject.
yucking hugs
Joel
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10
Life On Other Planets
by Black Man inthe society has taken stabs at it in the past only to double-talk the issue to death and insert their own prograndized spin on it.
i remember one article encouraged peeps to not look for life on other planets, but instead try to draw close to extra-terrestrials that want to draw close to us (jehovah, jesus, faithful angels) or either imply at the end of one publication that jehovah has a purpose for the universe but that the earth will always be special because this is where his name/right to rule was vindicated.
btw, hit up www.space.com.
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joelbear
I always thought it odd that if there was a creator that he didn't put life on all the planets in the solar system. Also, why not populate a billion planets all at once and show that the one's that stayed loyal to him did the best instead of putting all your eggs in one basket. At the very least you could have created more than one man at a time. Why not just fill the earth to begin with?
Also, doesn't the fact that 2/3 of the angels stayed loyal to god prove his universal sovereignty in itself. Always seemed odd that the issue would be left up to humans when angels were much more powerful beings and also had been around a lot longer.
I personally think life is rare which is why it should be highly highly valued. By life, I mean all life, not just human life. I think humans are terribly humancentric. The only life that is important is human life.
I have a theory that once a planet's life has any one life form that evolves to the point that it can manipulate the ecosystem of the planet, that eventually that life form will destroy life on the planet and the planet will have to start over again.
Thus, I don't believe intelligent life ever evolves to the point that it can manage intergalactic space travel, which I really think is probably physically impossible anyway.
There is life out there somewhere but the human race will never meet up with it so we better learn to cherish the precious gift of life we have here on the earth before we muck it up completely.
environmentally safe hugs
Joel