i have dozens of suits.
i still buy them .
i wear ties sometimes too.
Sapphy's comment made me laugh and brought back memories or searching the mall for skirts long enough to be considered modest for meetings and assemblies.
The skirt had to cover your knees when you sat down. My mom always made me wear nylons. Heels were always practical. All of these fashion "rules" I do not follow anymore.
I wear suits to work now, but since I am a woman, they would not be appropriate for meetings.
i know of a couple of elders that regularly went out in the ministry throughout the week.
no matter which street they were on, they always seemed to be near the same spot.
someone here talked about the michael jackson moonwalk.
I would always team up with a girlfriend and then we would drive around town and leave magazines at laundry mats.
for me it is the smugness.
it's their inability and refusal to admit they are wrong....ever...even in the face of irrefutable evidence.
isn't pride a sin?
Its the over confidence in their extreme ignorance. I recall, with much shame, how I was so smug when people would want to debate me. I thought I was SO smart.
I look back and I am embarrassed for myself. I realised that I knew nothing and took pride in something empty. To this day, I loathe being made a fool. Its one of the reasons I have become a rabid reader.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9k4wjvmhi.
bro "elder" took his family to disneyland.
the first day, he did not want them to go on this "demonic" ride.
This is one of the best rides at Disneyland (sorry - off subject)!
I will tell you that as an 8 year old, with an elder father and pioneer mom, they had no problem with us kids going on this ride. But I did know a family in our hall that was not allowed to watch the Wizard of Oz because there was a witch in the movie. I felt sorry for them.
"one of the bible study was listening and singing the song by jason mraz titled lucky with the chorus going like this;.
quote.
'i'm lucky i'm in love with my best friend.. lucky to have been where i have been.. lucky to be coming home again.. lucky we're in love in every way.. lucky to have stayed where we have stayed.. lucky to be coming home someday..'.
I am from California and grew up in the 80's, so "oh my gawd" was a part of my lexicon. It was used so often, you did not even know you said it. One time, I was at a JW friends house as a kid, I was not even aware that I said it and I got a death stare from my friends mom. I was baffled until she told me what I said. Even then, I was not sure what did wrong.
In the last year, I think I said "damn it" at my parents house, and my dad told me not to use that word.
thoughts?.
The biggest change for me was the absolute relief from fear and anxiety I had while I was a JW. You never knew when and elder might call and pull you into the back room for some "crime", the fear of Theocratic School stage fright, fear of demons possesion from reading the horoscope in the back of a fashion magazine, or the constant cloud of Armagedon over your head.
They are only the "happiest people in the world" cause half the members are on prozac. I speak from experience.
Now, anxiety free, all my evenings open, no un educated elders to counsel/intimidate me .
i loathed giving talks and doing meeting parts.
i dreaded all assignments.
i was intelligent enough and always did a good job, but all my jw life (born in to mid-30's) i enjoyed giving talks about as much as a visit to the dentist.. i am sure that 90% of all jw's similarly dislike it.
I was just thinking about this the other day, and I was wondering how any of the preparation and stress amounted to any sort of benefit in field service.
I remember my last talk very vividly. After I got back to my seat, the elder ripped my talk to shreds infront of everyone. (this was the time they still gave "counsel".) Shortly after I went to the elders and removed my self from the "school". I did not even know I could so that and it was a HUGE relief for me since I suffered terribly from anxiety of giving talks.
(How does working on "gestures" HELP AT ALL in the ministry? Hey, look at me....I am talking at the door out in service holding a magazine in one had and moving my other hand in a circle at the same time !)
My only thought of why they still do this practice is to fill time in the meeting since the content is so bland that they have to break it up to keep peoples attention.
what a great way to divide the sheep and goats, both within and outside the great flock!
jehovah has given us new light.
.
I have a red/maroon one with gold leaf pages.
Funny story how I got it.
I had a bad habit of bitting my nails as a 8 year old. Nothing would get me to stop. My mom thought it would be a great idea for her to wrap a gift and place it on my dresser in my bedroom, so that everytime I wanted to bite my nails, I would look at the gift and be incetivised to stop. The deal was after I stopped biting my nails and they healed, I could open the gift. I looked at the gift for what seemed like weeks!!!! Was it a Barbie? A My Little Pony?
Finally my nails were healed and my mom gave me the okay to open the gift I had been coveting for weeks ! Whatt could it be??? Yes, you may have guessed already, a maroon bible with gold leaf pages. Just what ever 8 year old wants and desires. I started biting my nails again immediately.
so after the annual meeting, on sunday, the elders want to talk with my family.
i do not like this one bit.
perhaps i am being exposed.
I was over 18 when the elders called a family meeting to ask if I still wanted to be a witness. I don't think they cared that I was an adult, my parents were still asked to be present. Remember they only have power that YOU give them. I wish you the best.
there's a lot.
.
one that i just don't understand is that no one should hold hands during a prayer.. where the hell do they come up with these rules??
Its been a while, but when I was a kid, the speakers could only wear white shirts with their suits. Color was to distracting. Also, nail polish could only be a shade of red or pink. I had a friend that was counseled for green polish.
