finally awake

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Posts by finally awake

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  10

  Getting ready to pull up stakes again--have to sign off at the end of the month.

  by humbled in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm starting to pack.

  gotta get out of here by the end of the month.

  i'll loose the internet.. it's stange to pop in and pop out of the lives of others' like this.

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  finally awake

  I wish you all the best, and I hope you can find a way to visit us once in a while - maybe log in from the library in town?
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  26

  Did you feel pushed into pioneering?

  by Xanthippe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i have been replying to letters from a jw friend who suddenly started writing to me after i've been out for nearly 25 years.. i have mentioned things like the poverty that pioneering causes from my own experience, worrying about having enough money to buy food.. i also said that the scrimping would have been worth it if we had been saving to buy a home or go on lovely holidays.. instead we ended up with nothing materially and we were living in a tiny rented flat when we left.. when i think of all the places i wanted to visit with my husband but couldn't because we were pioneering and had no money and now it is too late because my husband has died at the age of 54. we did get to visit some beautiful places but we ran out of time.. what i was trying to say to her was - life's too short.

  stop waiting for the new system, get on with your life.

  stop exhausting yourself in that religion.

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  finally awake

  I don't see how anyone could *not* feel pushed into pioneering. It was shoved down your throat at every.single.meeting that if you weren't pioneering yet, you had better be making plans to start
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  30

  Magotan's Story

  by magotan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi all, i've posted here in crisis a few weeks ago.

  i recently have finally taken the time to write out my entire story.

  i knew i had to come out to my parents and family about everything, my sexuality, and my issues with the jehovah's witnesses.

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  finally awake

  I'd also like to say that I'd be proud to have a son like you. It's not easy to stand up to the prejudice and bigotry, especially coming from the people who are supposed to love you.
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  17

  Fading & Feeling Lost ... Part 2

  by What Now? in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  sorry to keep dragging this on ... but this is really the only place to vent right?

  so basically it's going on 4 months now that we've had zero meeting attendance, and for the last 2 months we have not reported any service time (prior to that, when our service group overseer would send a text asking for our time, we would report 4 hours each, for our "family study").

  in my last post, i talked about how we were having a really difficult time beginning a new life outside the organization.

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  finally awake

  Are you in a large metropolitan area? we are in a very small town in a rural area, so there aren't many options for us. But I think in cities people can be more standoffish and even harder to develop friendships. Maybe that's just my bias though
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  17

  Fading & Feeling Lost ... Part 2

  by What Now? in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  sorry to keep dragging this on ... but this is really the only place to vent right?

  so basically it's going on 4 months now that we've had zero meeting attendance, and for the last 2 months we have not reported any service time (prior to that, when our service group overseer would send a text asking for our time, we would report 4 hours each, for our "family study").

  in my last post, i talked about how we were having a really difficult time beginning a new life outside the organization.

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  finally awake

  I understand your situation - I stayed in for years because I couldn't imagine losing my entire social life. I think the best thing for your family is to keep away from the hall and the people there and focus on making a new life for yourself. Once your oldest starts school, volunteer at his school. We signed our older boys up for Boy Scouts because they were interested and already knew a couple of the boys in the troop who live near us. Keep trying with the classes - many people are socially awkward and have a hard time making new friends, even when you initiate the process.

  I'm sending you a PM
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  32

  Let's Hate on TV

  by Satanus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  perhaps, you're a fan of tv, perhaps, you're not.

  maybe, you like some aspects of it and not others.. my favorite tv hates are 'news', and commercials.

  i always mute the commercials.

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  finally awake

  I could easily live without TV. I love to read and there's the internet for everything else.
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  30

  Magotan's Story

  by magotan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi all, i've posted here in crisis a few weeks ago.

  i recently have finally taken the time to write out my entire story.

  i knew i had to come out to my parents and family about everything, my sexuality, and my issues with the jehovah's witnesses.

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  finally awake

  I am glad you have gotten free. It came at a very high price, and I'm sorry that your family and former associates have been so completely hateful. I hope you continue to move forward and build a happy life. ((hugs))
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  78

  Crazy JW chaperon Stories

  by superman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the jw's must not trust their members or at least don't have too much faith in them when it comes to being alone around member of the opposite sex.

  i can remember one time in particular from when i was a teenager that still makes me laugh today.. when i was younger i used to go out in service on a regular basis during the week when i had summer break.

  one time when i met for service there were only two other people that showed up.

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  finally awake

  I remember one elder who bragged that he wouldn't allow a female coworker to ride in his car unless there was at least one other male along. I thought it was a thinly veiled criticism of my carpooling to work with a man older than my father. It was ridiculous, and I refused to bow to the pressure. It was a great year for me work wise having a chaffeur to drive me around.
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  51

  Former Longtime Elder - Reflections

  by James Jackson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the meetings are getting more boring to me.

  some of the elders during their parts just talk and talk and talk about uninteresting things.

  boring, boring.

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  finally awake

  the hall i used to attend has only one ms under the age of 60. theres only one adult brother under 40 who could be made a ms, and only 2 teen males. slim pickings, and i dont see that changing
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  34

  Who Taught You The Truth(tm) OR Who Counted Time, On You?

  by LoisLane looking for Superman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my mom's lover would bring his handsome youngest son, to our house, and along with my dad, would study with my brother, sister and i. wed 7 pm.. next an elder's wife, who was a regular pioneer and worked part-time, who had a daughter my age, came to our house, after school wed. ruth was the head of the house and wore the pants.

  her husband was part of the 3 men who sat on all judicial committees in our congo and would tell ruth everything, which in turn ruth would tell the sister's.

  ruth was very pious but at the age of 15 gave birth to her only child, and beat on her daughter all the time, never letting her forget what "trouble" her only daughter caused her.

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  finally awake

  A pioneer sister called on us when I was pregnant with our oldest son. We started studying with her husband, and she tagged along, because a lowly woman can't possibly conduct a bible study with a man and his wife. Brother Johnson was an elder, he died shortly after we got baptized. I've heard through the grapevine that Sister Johnson is now confined to a nursing home.