i have received the most beautiful cards & pictures, poems, tea,ornaments & such lovely compliments from each & every one of you.. i was going to write those i didnt send cards to ...but there was so many ,i really couldnt.
my heart was filled as i read each & every one of them.
as you all know i lost my hubby,& 3 kids in death, one daughter to the wt & grand-children.. as i read all of them i couldnt help thinking of job---he lost lots -but regained more.
I agree the cards have been so beautiful and varied. There hasn't been one card that even looks anything like any other! My son is here every few days and sees the card basket on the table, and always remarks on them. I want to thank all of you too!
hugs,
Annie
dear friends.... "happy tuesday!
" well the saga continues!
i thought we had seen the last of the elders last friday night as most have you are familiar with the story.
" How is it you can disfellowship us because you say Christmas is pagan, when the wedding rings you are both wearing are pagan? The calendar you use is pagan, candles, hearts, wreaths?? Have you read the article on the Pinatas?? The Society acknowledges the Pinata is pagan as well, but it is to be considered a conscience matter, even though it is still used in religious practices in Mexico to this day! If you say one is wrong and pagan, you have to say they all are!" Then my husband said, "Honey, you know its because it the policy of the Watchtower to call Christmas pagan".....The elders both stood there and said.."W e l l............" They had no reply but wwweeelllll.
WAY TO GO, Lady Liberty and Black Pearl!!
I was so impressed that you had the chance to say everything that you did and let it sink into their thick heads. Perhaps they will each personally go home and think about these things in the days to come, and have it sink down into their hearts!
The elders MUST be hearing these same types of things worldwide, and it HAS to be having an impact on some of them! Plus, they are seeing members of their own congregations, leaving in disgust and disappointment at the WTS twisted teachings. I chose to write a letter to explain my departure and to most likely be in a long list of other letters from JWs that were DAing themselves due to the lies they have been told. I cannot even imagine the size of THAT pile, LOL! (I was far too nervous to face them back then too).
hugs to you both,
Annie
what kind of birds do you feed?
i have had a wonderful variety this day at my backyard feeders.
i enjoy them.. pileated woodpecker.. downey woodpecker.. cardinal.. red-breasted nuthatches.. white breasted nuthatches.. junkos.
Nowadays, I see Bald eagles around here on a regular basis.
That is AMAZING! I have heard there were some around this area (between PA and NY) but I have yet to see one! I can't imagine how excited I would be if one flew into my range of vision! The prettiest wild bird I have ever seen was a small white owl along the roadside in a tree in WVa. I must have sat there 20 minutes just watching him from the car until everyone wanted to get home and I had to leave.
He was SO beautiful.
this friday, we're having a pot luck at work before we all go on holidays for a week.
i hate pot luck, especially when it's at work.
i gave my wife heck for throwing out that open package of crackers that was sitting on top of the microwave for the last couple of months.
I agree with those that voted for cocktail meatballs. I often used to bring those. I also (for BBQs and baby showers, etc) used to place a slice of pickle, a square of cheddar cheese, a black olive, a green olive and a square of monterey Jack cheese on a long plastic party toothpick or a wooden skewer. The usually went over pretty well.
Eight years last October. I wrote a DA letter.
what kind of birds do you feed?
i have had a wonderful variety this day at my backyard feeders.
i enjoy them.. pileated woodpecker.. downey woodpecker.. cardinal.. red-breasted nuthatches.. white breasted nuthatches.. junkos.
I had to laugh at your opening post Jeff! Every one of the birds you mentioned are at our two feeders all the time.....and yesterday a big mourning dove LANDED on our birdfeeder shaped like a lighthouse. It looked so funny being so much bigger than all the other birds on it. We have had four mourning doves and three cardinals that never seem to leave the yard. Both varieties of woodpeckers are there first thing in the AM and stick close by the porch all day long.
We also have (UGH) starlings that have really messed up both our front and back porches (I wanna tell ya they REALLY mess it up) and we have lots of goldfiches and purple finches around all the time too. The feeders get so busy at certain times that I wonder how they don't have accidents flying in and out the way they do! We may have to put up a flight pattern and make announcements like an air controller to keep them from banging heads with each other, haha!
hugs,
Annie
as witlesses, you always hear about christmas in a negative light.
all the running around to get gifts that will be returned the day after, the bills that come in january, the drinking and driving, and all the energy "wasted" on christmas lights and the headaches they get listening to christmas carols all day.. there is a good side of christmas, independent of the religious aspect of it.
i remember when i was little, i most looked forward to the gifts.
There is a good side of Christmas, independent of the religious aspect of it.
Okay, I can list all the great stuff about Christmas and leave out the religious aspect (If I MUST, LOL!).
A few of us gather at my son's house on Christmas Eve, we eat snacks chips and dips and holiday dessert breads, cakes and assorted goodies that everyone has brought. We all trim the freshly cut tree with old and antique ornaments that my mother gave him before she died, and we usually watch a Christmas movie on TV or DVD. Most often there are frequent visits from friends, other relatives and neighbors, popping in and out throughout the evening. I end up putting my grandson's stocking on the fireplace mantel just before I turn in (hoping he won't wake up while I am doing it!) I can't TELL you how much I always look forward to this night.
My hubby, myself and my grandson spent the night (what's left of it, haha) and open our gifts in the morning. Depending on the weather, we either go out to eat breakfast at a restaurant or my son and grandson make a big bacon-and-egg breakfast and then we begin our Scrabble Marathon. Whoever is around gets to play. We then have a turkey dinner that we all help prepare. The kitchen is a very busy area! There are ALWAYS a few extra faces there at the table, those who are less fortunate or have no one to spend the day with. I know of two that will be there this year, at my son's invitation.
I am hoping to get out (between snowstorms) to get all the ingredients for several recipes I have been collecting for months, and get busy baking and freezing for the Big Day. Hubby and I have volunteered to supply the turkey and a few side dishes. I LOVE that we can all just put all our cares and problems away for a few days, and just focus on having a great time and enjoying each other the very best we can.
Having raised our grandson since he was five months old, and him not having a Christmas until he was eleven....I am SO thankful that this Holiday has worked out so nicely for him to have such pleasant memories of as he moves into adulthood. (He is an excellent Scrabble player and really enjoys our family marathons LOL!) He is now nineteen.
hugs,
Annie
we are all familiar with the fall of the "iron curtain", precipitated as it may have been by reagan's plea to "tear down this wall".. while we ponder the fate of this ugly religion, i wonder if we have missed a likely outcome.
the governing body is already separated.
from the legal and administrative functions of the organization - at least in theory.
I must say I really enjoyed your post Sir82! The "fame and power" aspect most certainly seems to be a blanket they have covered themselves with! I don't see this being tossed away any time soon.
think that all these points also applied to the former Soviet Union and its leadership's lust for power. In the end, they just couldn't affordthe whole thing and naively assumed that they had more popular appeal than was real ( a mistake the Watchtower could easily make, as
well).
It's the legal front that is most critical in defeating the Watchtower Society. Developing new - and deep - liabilities could force their
hand, even with all their unsold real estate. I have consistently said that Circuit Overseers should be viewed as a legal liability that link
Bethel, Inc with local congregations.
Whether folks in Watchtowerland want to admit it or not----their self-designation of the "clean and pure religion" that is supposedly devoid of all those "nasty and unseemly characteristics attributed to the dreaded and evil Christendom", are rampant in their own backyard. Too many others KNOW about how the WTS operates to make it as easily for them to pooh-pooh these things any longer.
As Martha Stewart likes to say, "IT"S A GOOD THING!"
i was watching oprah today and a thought crossed my mind... based on the recent sexual assault case in sa at her school, and her reaction to that situation, this is obviously an issue close to her heart, so wouldn't her show be a perfect forum for an expose on the jw/pedophilia issue?
PRINCESS DAISY BOO- Hello, Mr. Flipper here. Someone on good authority about 5 months ago told me that Oprah has some Jehovah's Witnesses working in the production crew or some kind of control department in her show . So, I think this has been attempted , from what I was told, but because of the "witness employees" she might get a sudden burst of sensitivity about her employees and not go to the" child abuse in the JW religion card " for a possible show . Did anybody else here this on the board ? I am curious ? Peace out, Mr. Flipper
Yes, I heard this too. A number of years ago when I had been involved in a letter writing campaign through the Silentlambs, there had been some contact made by leaving letters to her staff on the appropriate part on her show's website, and there was NO response on their part for "program suggestions" and why we felt it should be addressed. We did hear later (not from her) that there were some conflicts between JW staff members (and program producers) concerning this topic. Maybe if enough people keep pushing this....it may just get the attention it deserves.
he uses terms like: .
~ its okay if you dont recognize gods sovergnty .
~ its okay , you dont know better, if you knew what i knew then you wouldnt (celebrate xmas) lol .. i told him i knew what he knew, and its irrelevant, havent gotten to the fact they can play with pinatas because they dont mean the same thing they used to.
Hello Goodness Gracious!
You wrote:
the fact they can play with Pinata’s because they don’t mean the same thing they used to.
~ The truth don’t change
You might want to turn the tables non this rationalization business JWs like to use, and bring up the fact that normal people that celebrate Christmas in a traditional way, are being held to or following the things (religious based) that some ancient culture used to do for their Sun god or other deities. When we put up a tree or hang lights or decorations.....not ONCE does the reverent worship of a celtic god come to mind, etc. It IS about light and love and the total JOY of what WE hold as Christmas in OUR hearts.
Half of the time, JWs will dig far down into encyclopdias and haughtily show "LOOK-see HERE" to prove THEIR lame points.....when WE didn't know about this in the first place? Is the typical family TODAY obeying some ancient god they have never heard of or did not KNOW this ever WAS considered part of worship TO it? No, of course not......but they will try and make us think so. It is so stupid and far-reaching!
hugs,
Annie
