Posts by aunthill

69

Smoker or Non Smoker?

by JH in

jw
friends

do you smoke?.

would you live with a smoker, if you are non smoker?

i wouldn't be able to smell cigarette smoke at home nor in my car.

aunthill

Smoke free and loving it! My husband likes to eat at this one particular sports bar and we come out reeking of cigarette smoke. Ugh!!

I quit smoking to get baptized JW, before it was a DF offense. Quit cold turkey - it was very hard. It is about the only good thing I got out of dubdom. After quitting, I became asthmatic and allergic to all kinds of pollens, odors, perfumes and, yes, cigarette smoke. I read somewhere that it has something to do with the nicotine jolting the adrenal glands, and when one quits, the adrenals take a big sigh of relief and go on strike for several months, years, whatever, and that is when allergies and asthma set in. 30 years later allergies and asthma are much better, thank you, but I still have no wind. I would be one of those people who lug around an oxygen tank everywhere they go if I still smoked. (Double Ugh!!) Thank goodness hubby (never a JW) quit a few years after I did.

I feel sorry anybody who wants to quit smoking and can't. Today they have all these pills and patches to help, but I guess some people still can't kick the habit.

14

Donated Blood Today

by SpunkyChick in

jw
friends

today was yet another step towards my freedom from the cult!

my parents and i donated our first pint of blood!

it felt great.

aunthill

Congratulations, Spunkychick! Donating blood was a BIG step in freedom from the bOrg. Voting is neat, too!

Welcome to the Land of the Free!

Aunthill

53

We've decided to have a baby! (Advice needed)

by StinkyPantz in

jw
friends

i know that many of you gave me the advice to wait until i'm done with school, but what can i say, i'm stubborn .

please share your pre-pregnancy and pregnancy tips that either made things smoother or things you wish you has done to make things easier.

i also want opinions on such things as epidurals, circumcision, nutrition, breast-feeding, money saving tips, etc.

aunthill

Congratulations Stinkypantz!

Having a baby is a lot of fun, a lot of work, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of heartache (but that gets better when they are out of their teens). Then there are grandchildren!

My baby is 31, so I will use my daughter's recent experiences: She had an epidural, which slowed the baby's heartbeat, so she had to have a C-section and that's no fun at all! Baby boy, happy healthy and uncircumcised. However, it seems that a lot of babies these days are experiencing Urinary Tract Infections, which our little David did. And doctors, seeing all too many dollar signs, seem to be into doing this very upleasant test to be sure that urine is not backing up into the ureters (the little tubes that run from the kidney to the bladder, thereby causing very bad kidney problems.) Little David had this test at age 8 months. What they do is catheterize them - without any anesthesia BTW, fill the little bladder to almost bursting with water and look to see what happens after that! Because he is uncircumcised, it was more difficult to catheterize him. Consequently he screamed through the entire procedure, then he had such pain on urinating that he would scream and scream for several days afterward.

As I said, my baby is 31, so when I had my babies disposable diapers were not the rage, same with the epidural. It was brand new 31 yrs ago, and the anesthesologist told me I had to sit still for about 5 minutes after it was administered. I told him I didn't think I could sit still that long when I was ready to deliver (4th baby and all that.) Guess what? He didn't make it in time and I had the baby with no anesthetic! It wasn't that bad - IMO labor is much worse than delivery. (I had diaper service [cloth diapers] and I wonder if maybe the disposable diapers contribute to these UTI's.)

Good luck and happy reading!

I breastfed all my babies. It is really convenient AND a money saver. No getting up in the middle of the night to warm bottles, etc. Just change the diaper and put baby in bed with you. (No, I never worried about "suffocating" the baby - I don't sleep that soundly.)

31

What are the rules the WTS pharisees have burdended JWs with?

by berylblue in

jw
friends

in another thread, mini questioned why the wts does not see that the gb and elders are like the pharisees.

what do you all think are the "rules" jws have been given that smack of pharisaical (is that a word?

) burdening and/or hypocricy?.

aunthill

Back in the 70's you couldn't buy a skirt that was longer than about mid-thigh. Then the fashion mavens came out with long, ankle length skirts. I thought how great! Now I can buy some long, modest skirts to wear to the KH, NOT! Some "brother" got up at a Circuit Assembly and said how we shouldn't be wearing long skirts because it was a "fad" and Jehovah's "clean" people were not to get caught up in fads! Like rocketman said, it was never in print but it became a rule.

At another circuit assembly, late 70's early 80's, a brother stated from the platform that the friends couldn't hold skating parties for their kids because what if someone got hurt? Or even worse, what if someone got in an accident on the drive to or from the skating rink? Then the person who organized the party would be blood guilty!

How many families were broken up by brothers telling couples how they could or could not have sex? I guess they never read Song of Solomon - or maybe they thought all those references to belly, thighs and breasts were "symbolic"!

I could go on and on, but I'll let somebody else vent now.

11

How does Church Compare with Kingdom Hall?

by stevieb1 in

jw
friends

this is for ex-jw's attending church..... how were your first impressions of a church as compared to your association at the kingdom hall?.

how long was it after you left the wt before attending church?.

were you at first reticent about starting to attend church?.

aunthill

Stevie, or do you prefer Steven?

I am surprised there haven't been a lot of posts to this thread.

I was not raised a JW but converted at age 24 - for 24 long years. I sent my DA letter in July of '94. Hard to believe I've been out almost 10 years. My daughter had been more ready to leave than I was, so she started going to a non-denominational "Christian" church (I will call this Church #1) first. I finally went with her one day, probably 2 years after my DA, and what a shock! It is a very large church for the area I live in, of about 1.5 million, currently getting around 4,000 people between 3 weekend services, (over 15,000 for Easter services), it is the church I am currently attending. They actually had *gasp* a band on the stage and people singing "praise" songs to a peppy, almost rock'n'roll beat. It was all very strange, scary and uncomfortable for me because of the brainwashing of the JWs. (I knew I couldn't go back to the stale, ritulalistic church I had been raised in, because there was nothing there for me.) I attended there sporadically, mostly when my daughter thought there was a sermon I would be interested in, or a special program (Christmas - horrors!) Some time later I went with a friend to her Pentecostal church (Church #2) (speaking in tongues, jumping around, etc.) which scared me to death, but I kept going back, and finally accepted Jesus as my personal savior at that church. Eventually my husband, who had never been a JW, decided he wanted to go to church, so we went back to Church #1 and we have been going there for about 1 1/2 yrs now.

The people at both churches were kind and non-judgemental. That is not to say that they condone immorality, taking drugs, or anything like that. The pastors at both churches have had sermons on difficult subjects, such as abortion, living together, etc. In fact, most of the members of those churches never, or in a few cases, on rare occasions, drink alcohol. Church #1, being such a large church, has many ministries - to the homeless; a food pantry for those in need; a ministry of volunteers who fix single mothers' cars. In fact, besides fixing her car, the church has given my daughter two cars over the years. They have wonderful ministries for the junior high and high school kids, as well as Sunday School and nursery service for the younger ones - so that they are not bored to tears like my kids were, and getting whacked for squirming (shame to me!)

At the kingdom hall I rarely encountered a loving attitude. It was not forthcoming from the platform - all they taught was judgement, condemnation and shunning. I worked full time, had 3 kids and and unbelieving husband, yet they wanted me out in service 3 hours every Saturday and at 5 meetings weekly. I felt so alone and guilty because I couldn't live up to their demands. At church, both #1 & #2, I don't feel guilty if I miss a Sunday - but the trouble is, I get so much from church that I hate to miss! I actually look forward to "church." Certainly a different feeling from dreading to go to the kingdom hall!

Concerned mama, if you have never been in a kingdom hall and experienced the judgemental, condeming attitudes described above, you are a very lucky person! And yes, I do feel love from the people at church, it is the love of Christ for humanity, his love for the lost and searching. As for my personal "church" friends, yes, there is definitely love and compassion flowing from them, not only to me but to people in general.

I hope this helps.

Aunthill

48

Can you eat blood now?

by Brummie in

i have no trouble with transfusions to save peoples lives but recently we went to a wedding and one of my little lads had been up to the buffet and come back with a plate of food, on it was little circles of black pudding (blood sausage), he didnt know what it was (i have never brought it home so he hasnt seen it before) but just threw it on his plate anyway.

while he wasnt looking i took it off and threw it away!

couldnt bring myself to let him eat it and i still couldnt eat it because of the background in jws.

aunthill

I donated blood on a regular basis, until I realized I was constantly wiped-out. Now I am on the list for emergency situations only. I could take a blood transfusion, but to eat any of those "tasty" delicacies - I don't think so! The gag reflex comes into play here, too.

Aunthill

40

Were You Successful In The Ministry?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know of very few people that helped bring people in the "truth".

even those who concentrated on their own families usually realize that their children do not want the "truth".

most publishers were disorganized with regard to their return visits and house-to-house records.

aunthill

Not a total washout - I had a Bible Study that did get baptized early in my JW career but it was downhill after that! For years I was considered "weak" and my kids and I were "marked" as a bad associates for that reason. Course, my kids couldn't have cared less - they hated going door-to-door as much as I did.

It's so-o-o-o good not to have to do that anymore!

28

Insight into Death ?

by Brummie in

this is not intended to be a morbid post but because of the nature of the topic i guess it is anyway!

have you ever heard of a long time terminally ill person who could live a few years more yet seem to know that they were going to die in the next couple of days?

my grandfather called my cousin into his room a few years ago and told her that his funeral was happening before his eyes, he could see it, he died that night.. anyway, back to the original ?, have you heard of similar things?

aunthill

((((((Brummie)))))

What you are going through is so hard. I think it depends on the person and how in tune they are with the spiritual whether they are aware or not.

My Dad had two heart attacks and was hospitalized in the town where he lived. He always said that if he had to go to the hospital in the "city" he would die. Well, he had to go to the "city" for the bypass surgery he needed and sure enough, he died. But, the day he had the surgery was my daughter's birthday, so, trying to be encouraging (even though I had a premonition that he was going to die) I told him he couldn't die on her birthday. The surgery was a success, but he never woke up, and he lived for two more days. On the evening before he died, I told him it was OK for him to go and he died about 4 the next morning. He knew years before what the circumstances around his death would be, and, he didn't say, but I know he knew he was not coming out of that hospital.

My mother was a different story. She had a heart attack and was in the hospital for a month. Her kidneys and liver were failing, and her lungs were in bad shape because of smoking so many years. Because of these things, they couldn't operate because they feared the operation would kill her. So the doctor sent her home to die. The morning of the day she died, she asked the hospice nurse "When am I going to get out of this bed!" So she had no clue.

Even though it has been years since my parents died, my friend has just gone through it with her mother, and it brings it all back. Know that we are all thinking of you right now.

49

Do You Consider Yourself A Stronger Person Since Your Eyes Have Opened?

by minimus in

jw
friends

since you've learned the truth about the "truth", do you feel emotionally, mentally and spiritually stronger?

aunthill

Hi, Loveroftruth,

Yes, God does speak to us in different ways. Personally I think you did the right thing by calling your son and keeping it short.

In answer, Minimum, yes, yes and yes.

167

Was There Ever A Circuit Overseer That You Couldn't Stand?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know this has been discussed before but i think a fresh thread on this will be enjoyable.

aunthill

Brother Brown, back in the 70's. Told us how reading Readers Digest was a big time waster (I was under the misapprehension we were supposed to keep up on worldly events, and found Readers Digest a painless way to do that - didn't have time to read the paper every day). He also went on a rant about how women shouldn't wear trousers with a zipper in the front, because we don't have the proper "plumbing!" No matter that it's a heck of a lot easier to reach!

I liked Misterfeldt, too. Again, back in the 70's he emphasized reading the Bible, if you didn't have time for anything else (WT, bookstudy book, etc.) READ THE BIBLE - emphasized that about 3 times one service meeting. Seemed to be a reasonable man. Another I liked was Paul Sakela, very down to earth.

Lost track after that, there seemed to be a different one every time one came around.