Gypsy Sam

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Posts by Gypsy Sam

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  53

  Do you make your own soup?

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  greetings, soup lovers:.

  i have a huge kitchen at my disposal (not my own); vegetables, cans of this and that and spices are scattered about, prepared to go into a cauldron of minestrone i started a few days ago.

  i'm preparing ahead so as to freeze the leftovers to heat up later at home over my hotplate.. nothing like a 6-burner gas range to simmer over!.

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  Gypsy Sam

  Vegan lentil is our standard as my teen is vegan and I'm vegetarian. We are trying butternut squash next.

  Stand for Pure Worship, we have a local restaurant that makes incredible crab bisque. The recipe is secret.
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  19

  Dubs & Halloween

  by Nathan Natas in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

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  Gypsy Sam

  A inactive JW posted the first photo. Her family is a mix of still in, disfellowshipped, inactive but sleeping with new boyfriend yet divorced from hubby, Pioneer sibling, former elder, convicted pedofile uncle etc. (No one shuns anyone either) Tried to see if she knew TTATT a couple months ago...didn't at that time...maybe now?

  It's our first everything this year!
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  86

  A House Divided Against Itself Falls-Luke 11:17

  by Stand for Pure Worship in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  that text reminds me of one of a handful of problems peculiar to the ex-jw community.

  second only to the wild beast's internal divisions, is the divided makeup of the ex-jw populace.

  you know the one thing that indicates jehovah's blessing upon the worldwide association of kingdom proclaimers, is not only the continued success of the preaching work, but along with it the unity and love amongst the brothers and sisters.

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  Gypsy Sam

  I'm actually quite relieved I can have friends with differing viewpoints on all kinds of topics now. I have a better sense of purpose and feel free to pursue truly helping my community. It was scary last winter, when I was still investigating all the misquotes in WT and misuse of statistics and not wanting to accept I could have been so wrong in my belief system. I went to CA, spent time hiking, praying and enjoying my own company. I came back, gave "the truth" a fair chance and made the Memorial our last meeting.

  Freedom feels good; you can get used to it.

  "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle

  Repeat often when making new friends with open minds :) works for me.
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  22

  Bible printing, a loss of money for the WTS

  by oppostate in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  so i brought this up in another thread... but i think it needs its own discussion.. having had one of the new grey leatherette and silver edged bibles with the new appendixes in my hand.

  i immediately thought of all the custom covered nwt bibles you see some publishers sporting at meetings.

  also the fact that the co's and wives who'd been given one had to turn it back in seemed very off-putting.. .

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  Gypsy Sam

  I missed this thread, too. One more way for WT to encourage some to feel even more superior. Glad we are fading and being left alone.
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  5

  Family Traditions, have you started new ones since leaving the jw's ?

  by man in black in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/10/09/creating-a-positive-family-culture-the-importance-of-establishing-family-traditions/.

  .

  raising two boys in the jw religion, family traditions that were passed down from generation to generation were thrown away because they were attached to a holiday, birthday, or some other "forbidden" thing.. traditions associated with assembies, book studies, etc, were nice, but they never seemed quite genuine to me.. eventually the boys grew up, and learned how to make their own decisions.. but still after all these years, my wife and i still feel a certain amount of pain because of what they missed.. and now with both of them in their 20's, starting from scratch with passed down, heartfelt family traditions,,, this is a really neat experience.. the above article talks about how important traditions are for helping develop family togetherness.. how do you feel about developing traditions with your family now that the influence of the wt society is no longer hanging over your head ?.

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  Gypsy Sam

  I'm actually working on that. It's just my teen and me that are "out", so we did a trip for her "first" birthday and are now reconnecting with extended non-jw family we never knew growing up. They are very welcoming, but we all live spread out around the U.S., so not sure what to do about holidays Yet.

  I would like to start having parties again...that's the one thing I miss...working on it with new friends, but it would be nice to meet up with some ex-JW's that are not bitter, just moving on, and start something during holiday season for those that may be displaced.
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  15

  Need some good thoughts....

  by diana netherton in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it's been a tough year for me so far.

  my grammy passed away in june and i haven't grieved her properly.

  it was a jw funeral and that wasn't the platform to do that.

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  Gypsy Sam

  I feel your pain. Getting back to building your own life, when you thought you were building a future with someone can be daunting at first.

  It helped me to throw myself into exercise, long drives with great music, to towns I hadn't yet explored. It took time and some therapy as I left an abusive ex husband but happiness is a choice and grief is a process, as the saying somewhat goes. You deserve to be happy.

  I can only speak from personal experience and that of close, personal friends, but a guy who can carry on a long term affair like that doesn't seem to usually change. They get away with whatever they can as long as they are able and become so skillful at lying along the way, how can we know when they are being genuine?

  Maybe trying different teas would help with the afternoon slump? Writing a letter to him that you DON'T send helped me, too.
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  33

  Gran is dying.

  by LouBelle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my dear granny hasn't been feeling well for some time and has had a problem keeping anything down.

  she had lost a lot of weight and gone for many tests.

  those tests came back and on friday we were told she has cancer of the pancreas.

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  Gypsy Sam

  I'm sorry to hear you're dealing with someone close to you in pain. You've had a lot of stress this year. You're making the end as pleasant as possible and that mean a lot to someone.
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  60

  Hear Ye!!!Hear Ye!! WONDERFUL GOOD NEWS!!!!

  by mouthy in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my jw daughter called me this afternoon!!!!!

  !i am just over the moon.

  her hubby not a jw has cancer & was operated on today!!!!.

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  Gypsy Sam

  Nice to read, Grace. Very happy for you.
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  7

  From Prison to Prosperity - new JW.org video

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofo9xmhis5c.

  let no one say witnesses don't catch people at their most vulnerable, or use love bombing.. .

  cedars.

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  Gypsy Sam

  This is the kind of story/marketing/promotional piece that makes me second guess myself, which hasn't really happened once I learned TTATT.

  They used a good looking man from a downtrodden existence that now has a better life, trying to treat his wife right And appealing social settings are depicted. (the get together's were a regular part of my life growing up, but I don't see that too much anymore, unless you into fit the "perfect" nuclear family mold)

  The I remind myself that if these two have children, what will they do when a child doesn't feel the way they do about "the truth"? Or, what if one of the people they've so inncoently welcomed into their home turns out to be a pedofile and abuses Their child...or the wife starts to have questions and no longer believes.

  It is easy to Make "the truth" sound appealing to the downtrodden. If only people wouldn't blindly believe and would research a new religion like they would a new car or electronics purchase.
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  5

  Miss my brother, but I just had to send this email to him.

  by HayDay in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  thanks for getting back to me.. i know you may be simply following bible counsel because it answers questions in ways that are emotionally pleasing and require no verification.

  people in the bible days could not comprehend their relationship to the physical world so they invented their own explanations.

  these explanations tended to be simple, and some were harmful, resulting in religious dogma, which now for example serve as the grounds for you ending our relationship?.

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  Gypsy Sam

  Great job! I'm working on an email to my family. Useful points.

  The third paragraph should use accept, not except. ;)