Posts by Theburstbubble

41

Disfellowshipped for celebrating Xmas?

by Theburstbubble in

i could really do with some advice on what's acceptable when you leave.

we have left of our own accord about 6 months ago.

we didn't celebrate xmas this year but have just celebrated my daughters birthday.. a friend of mine who is still a witness told me that an elder had approached her and asked if we had celebrated xmas and that if we did it was a df offence as is classed as apostasy!

Theburstbubble

Hi Everyone,

I could really do with some advice on what's acceptable when you leave. We have left of our own accord about 6 months ago. We didn't celebrate Xmas this year but have just celebrated my daughters birthday.

A friend of mine who is still a witness told me that an elder had approached her and asked if we had celebrated Xmas and that if we did it was a DF offence as is classed as apostasy! Is this true? Has anyone been DF for this? What's an appropriate timeframe to be able to start to celebrate the holidays? I was thinking a year anyway, but do any ex-elders have a definitive answer on this?

Thanks

26

Looking back,"That was crazy, moment"

by MarkofCane in

i got baptized later in life.

i was around 21, i had left and went out into the world should of listen to my gut back then, but instead i disowned myself and came back into the fold.

before i could get baptized, the elder who studied with me said i needed to get rid of everything that was contaminated by this world: music, books & clothing,everything.

Theburstbubble

Oh yeah I forgot about the playing songs backwards thing, It was a big deal in the '80's wasn't it?? If you play any song backwards it sounds crazy! The whole second hand stuff is engrained in me though as I still won't really buy anything second hand lol! Madness...

7

My son's and I's first Valentines Day, Friendship day celebration since our awakening!!

by Khaleesi in

so this weekend will be my first time celebrating friendship day since stop celebrating due to being a jw for years.

the most exciting part for me and makes me very happy is finally to have my son participate and be involved in normal activities at school with classmates.

no longer will i allow him to be ostracized at school due to the wt "cult's" ridiculous reasoning why some things are not okay to participate while others are okay.

Theburstbubble

Well done! It's like a breath of fresh air isn't it? It takes time whilst the fog clears, but when it does it's a beautiful experience. Enjoy starting to live again!

12

Life is good...

by Theburstbubble in

evening all, a few of you may remember my turmoil in leaving the wt well i'm happy to say i've finally moved on.

we celebrated our daughters birthday for the first time ever with a few close friends and it was magical.

our daughter loved it!

Theburstbubble

Evening all, a few of you may remember my turmoil in leaving the WT well I'm happy to say I've finally moved on. We celebrated our daughters birthday for the first time ever with a few close friends and it was magical. Our daughter loved it! I was so pleased.

Some extra happiness has also been that our best friends within the congregation have decided to leave too!

Life is on the up! Thanks for all of your words of encouragement as they really have helped as has this forum. It's been very therapeutic. I just wish others who are still trapped within the religion could wake up too.

18

Nice moment today

by Theburstbubble in

so it's been a few months since i last went to a meeting but i've still had lots of guilty feelings about leaving, such as am i doing the right thing, thinking about friends and family, where do i go from here etc etc.

but i think once you stop believing you can't go back.. anyway, today i had a very nice experience.

my daughter had been to nursery today and when she got home i asked her what she had done and she excitedly told me they had been doing pumpkins.

Theburstbubble

It was really lovely. We have bonfire night coming up soon too (I'm in the UK) and I can't wait to see her little face when we go to a firework display. There's so many lovely family things to do now and lots of memories to make together. When you're a witness, you kid yourself that the children don't miss out, but when you leave you realise the poor things really do! So I'm just happy to be coming out of the other side now 😀

18

Nice moment today

by Theburstbubble in

so it's been a few months since i last went to a meeting but i've still had lots of guilty feelings about leaving, such as am i doing the right thing, thinking about friends and family, where do i go from here etc etc.

but i think once you stop believing you can't go back.. anyway, today i had a very nice experience.

my daughter had been to nursery today and when she got home i asked her what she had done and she excitedly told me they had been doing pumpkins.

Theburstbubble

So it's been a few months since I last went to a meeting but I've still had lots of guilty feelings about leaving, such as am I doing the right thing, thinking about friends and family, where do I go from here etc etc. But I think once you stop believing you can't go back.

Anyway, today I had a very nice experience. My daughter had been to nursery today and when she got home I asked her what she had done and she excitedly told me they had been doing pumpkins. It was so nice just to share her enjoyment! Much nicer than having to have a chat about it being wrong and then maybe having to talk to the nursery and make a big deal about it. It might sound like a small thing but it made me smile and feels like a step in the right direction 😊

23

Getting the Urge!

by Theburstbubble in

jw
friends

evening folks, so as some of you may know we have recently decided to leave the witnesses and can see it for the man made organisation it is.

so, why do i get the urge to go back and feel guilty for not being there!

it's like my mind is telling me to be logical about it all but then something keeps pulling me back.. don't get me wrong i really want to break free from it all and i'm resisting the urge to go back as i have been miserable in the truth for a long time as i've known it's not right and want to do the best by my daughter.

Theburstbubble

Thanks everyone. @ Godzoo and Orphan Crew

I think you are right these guilty feelings are because I'm still associating witnesses and so I feel guilty. We've not gone to the meetings for a couple of months so people just think we are struggling rather than stopped going.

I definitely agree about the comfort zone too. It's always hard stepping into uncharted waters so to speak. I just need to stay strong.

@lisarose thanks for the link. I read it and it was very good.

@doc you are right, I definitely need to rewire my brain! I've got 37 years of brainwashing to undo

23

Getting the Urge!

by Theburstbubble in

jw
friends

evening folks, so as some of you may know we have recently decided to leave the witnesses and can see it for the man made organisation it is.

so, why do i get the urge to go back and feel guilty for not being there!

it's like my mind is telling me to be logical about it all but then something keeps pulling me back.. don't get me wrong i really want to break free from it all and i'm resisting the urge to go back as i have been miserable in the truth for a long time as i've known it's not right and want to do the best by my daughter.

Theburstbubble

Thanks Wisdomfrombelow. My daughter is 3 years old and she became the game changer for me. I've been raised a JW from birth so I think my brain is still partly engaged into the JW thinking. I guess it takes time but I was hoping to feel relieved and happy. not looking over my shoulder with rosy coloured spectacles.

23

Getting the Urge!

by Theburstbubble in

jw
friends

evening folks, so as some of you may know we have recently decided to leave the witnesses and can see it for the man made organisation it is.

so, why do i get the urge to go back and feel guilty for not being there!

it's like my mind is telling me to be logical about it all but then something keeps pulling me back.. don't get me wrong i really want to break free from it all and i'm resisting the urge to go back as i have been miserable in the truth for a long time as i've known it's not right and want to do the best by my daughter.

Theburstbubble

Evening folks, so as some of you may know we have recently decided to leave the witnesses and can see it for the man made organisation it is.

So, why do I get the urge to go back and feel guilty for not being there! It's like my mind is telling me to be logical about it all but then something keeps pulling me back.

Don't get me wrong I really want to break free from it all and I'm resisting the urge to go back as I have been miserable in the truth for a long time as I've known it's not right and want to do the best by my daughter.

Has anyone else feel the same when they left?

40

Sister attendants not able to give directions to a brother..Misogyny

by Theburstbubble in

at our recent rc i was advised by a sister who was an attendant that they have been advised not to be able to give brothers directions as this should be dealt with by the brothers.

apparently at the pre-convention attendants meeting, the sisters were asked to stay behind.

this was when they were given the news that the brothers should deal with brothers.

Theburstbubble

@OneEyed.Joe

Yes they can be attendants (with brothers of course) at entrance ways etc to give information but not sure what their purpose is now though.