I guess I have been away for a while and missed what was going on - but I have to weigh in and give my support to Simon. This site was a HUGE help to me in opening my eyes. It has been several years now that I have been free of the JWs and I owe much of it to this site and to you Simon for the time you put into providing this resource. My best wishes to you and my deepest gratitude.
Posts by Dawn
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3
Gotta love ya Simon
by Junction-Guy inyou must have the patience of job, i don't see how in the world you kept this site up as long as you have.
you have provided a much needed service to decent people looking to escape the jw cult.
you have been insulted, threatened, and everything else.
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6
Thrust into the middle again
by Dawn ini have been very lucky over the past few years to have a good relationship with my mom (she's a long time faithful jw and i'm a long time df'd person) and avoid any contact with the rest of the jw world.
unfortunately, this has all rapidly changed in the past several weeks.
my mom was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness and has only a short time to live.
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Dawn
Hi all. I have been very lucky over the past few years to have a good relationship with my mom (she's a long time faithful JW and I'm a long time DF'd person) and avoid any contact with the rest of the JW world.
Unfortunately, this has all rapidly changed in the past several weeks. My mom was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness and has only a short time to live. I am her primary caretaker and spend a lot of time with her now. Which puts me right smack dab in the middle of many JW group gatherings as they all come to meet her at her house, hospital, etc.
Some are very kind and sincere - others are not so nice. So - I was wondering if any of you have been through these types of situations and if you could share your stories with me. It would help to hear what you have encountered and how you dealt with it. I'd like to avoid as much confrontation as I can for the sake of my mother - so she can die in peace and dignity. But I know there will be some times when I will need to set ground rules with the rest of my JW family and some of her friends so I'm not walked all over - being DF'd you know, I don't really count in their eyes .
I may not get a chance to log back on for a day or so as I'm at the hospital a lot, but will really appreciate your comments. Thanks
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23
What's Wrong With Children's Sports?
by compound complex ingreetings, friends:.
this weekend i helped a friend - a professional photographer - with his photo shoot of nearly 200 little leaguers.
i was apprehensive beforehand as the paperwork (my job) can easily go wrong and i hate crowds.. well, everything went well and i discovered two things: .
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Dawn
My son played sports from 1st grade through high school. What I noticed is that the kids involved in sports early on have parents that are very involved in their lives (they have to be to get them to practices and games). Hence - he bonded early on with kids who had good stable families.
In high school kids had to sign an agreement to be randomly drug tested in order to play sports - if you were caught with drugs or alcohol you were out for the entire year. It was enough incentive for my son to keep him clean and sober because he loved sports so much
4 of these boys he played with have become long term life friends - he's rooming with them in college now - And they're all doing well.
I think sports can be very positive IF they are not forced on the child (as some parents do).
I wish I had been allowed to play sports when I was younger. I grew up thinking I wasn't very good at anything athletic - come to find out, it was only because I had never had the chance to try. I took up dance and soft ball as an adult and found out I actually had an athletic gift - wish I could have used it more when I was younger. But then I would have missed out on all that productive field service
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5
Sometimes the "worst thing" turns out to be the "best thing"
by Dawn inhi all - it's been a while since i've gotten a chance to sign on and visit you all.
nice to be back.
i wanted to share a story with you - maybe it will help some that are just getting out and going through a rough time.. a good friend of mine came to me today - he and his wife are expecting their first child and just found out it has down's syndrome.
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Dawn
Hi all - it's been a while since I've gotten a chance to sign on and visit you all. Nice to be back. I wanted to share a story with you - maybe it will help some that are just getting out and going through a rough time.
A good friend of mine came to me today - he and his wife are expecting their first child and just found out it has Down's Syndrome. They have decided to keep the baby. So as we were talking I told him my story about the worst thing being the best thing.
When I was 19 years old I found out I was pregnant. I just knew it was the end of my world. I was the "good JW" growing up but got into some trouble around 17-18 years old and thus ended up pregnant. I had just moved 2000 miles away from my home to Houston TX, was working a barely above minimum wage job with no medical benefits, didn't qualify for State aid because I was a new resident, and was living with my brother (an elder) who I knew would kick me out when he found out. Not to mention - I would get DF'd and loose all my friends and family - you know the drill.
I knew I could abort and noone would know. But I decided not to. (No judgment on anyone who has made a different choice - this was just the choice I made and my story -that's all).
As it turns out - I DID get kicked out and things were pretty tough for a long time. But...I made it. My son is now 22 years old and I look back and realize that what I thought was the worse thing was really the best thing that ever happened to me. If that had not happened I would still be in the JW hold, still miserable, and still going nowhere.
Instead, I ended up going back to college, got my degree. Met a great man that I would never have dated if I'd been a JW (for god's sakes he had a beard and carried a gun!) - we've been together 18 years now and have another beautiful little girl. My baby boy grew up and is now in college studying to be an Engineer.
But the best thing of all is that I am now free. It took a long time to get over the guilt and move on - but I eventually did. Now I have holidays with the family, freedom to research what I want and believe what I want. No fear of "getting caught" if I decide to go out to a bar with my girlfriends or go to an R rated movie, or for heaven's sake visit another Church!!!! No fear of being hauled in before the elders for questioning things. Being free is the greatest gift I ever got.
So now I look back and realize that the day I thought the "worst thing" that could ever happen to me was on my shoulders - it turned out to be the "best thing" that ever happened to me.
I am sure that for my friend - in years to come he will look back and say "well - this wasn't the path I wanted to begin with, but it turned out pretty good after all"
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51
Racism has reared its ugly head
by dinah inhello folks.
seriously need to vent.. my daughter had a boyfriend who broke up with her today because her parents don't want him seeing a half-black girl.
he said his parents screamed at him all night.
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Dawn
I'm sorry Dinah - people can be so stupid!
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20
Pioneer brother carjacked and shot dead in New Jersey - where r the angels?
by truthseeker ini heard this from a friend who attended a meeting last week.. .
the speaker said that two months ago he heard of a pioneer brother in new jersey who was carjacked and shot dead after he tried to run away.. anyone confirm this?.
i always shuddered when i heard of witnesses being killed in unnatural ways, especially while out on the ministry - where the hell were the angels flying in midheaven when he needed them?.
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Dawn
When I was in junior high my friend's sister was raped and murdered while out in field service. It happens. It's sad - but it happens. That's why I never would go in service or on rv's by myself.
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20
Pioneer brother carjacked and shot dead in New Jersey - where r the angels?
by truthseeker ini heard this from a friend who attended a meeting last week.. .
the speaker said that two months ago he heard of a pioneer brother in new jersey who was carjacked and shot dead after he tried to run away.. anyone confirm this?.
i always shuddered when i heard of witnesses being killed in unnatural ways, especially while out on the ministry - where the hell were the angels flying in midheaven when he needed them?.
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Dawn
When I was in junior high my friend's sister was raped and murdered while out in field service. It happens. It's sad - but it happens. That's why I never would go in service or on rv's by myself.
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77
So...I got duped today!
by lovelylil ini am one of those people who always gives money to those who ask me on the street.
the reason is because there was a time when i was a kid that my siblings and i needed to beg on the street for food money because mom and dad were both addicts.. anyway, i was on my way into walmart and a lady stopped me and asked if i could give her a few dollars ($5 to be exact) so that she could pick up a prescription for some medicine.
she explained that she and her kids have been sick with bronchitis and although the kids were better she was not and had run out of money until her check came on the first of the month.. i can also sympethize with having to wait for government checks to buy what you need having grown up on state welfare programs and i reasoned that $5 is nothing for me and my husband because combined we bring in over six figures a year income.
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Dawn
I'm with you - in the end, doing a really good thing (even if you get duped from time to time) is worth it.
I give when I feel drawn to. Once I was in a nail salon getting a manicure when an old man came in trying to sell some old used vhs tapes - he said he needed money for his medicine. Most people ignored him. I asked him if I could look through his collection, then picked out an old John Wayne movie (for hubbie) and gave him $20. He was so happy that he started to cry. I don't know if it was the $20 or if it was just that someone talked to him and was nice to him - either way, I got more out of giving that $20 than he did - it made me feel so good to make someone that happy.
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10
Can you be grateful for the lives of your kids but not grateful to god
by jambon1 inthis may or may not make sense.. i am an atheist.
i have issues with there not being a creator because of the beuty of life and especially my children.
but, for me, their are just to many negative things about 'creation' to be 100% about this belief.
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Dawn
Good post. I believe it is fine to just be greatful. Period.
I am a christian and I believe in God, but I don't think that everyone has to believe like me in order to be blessed and be greatful for what they have.
Has everything good in my life come from God? Or has some of it, good and bad, been "just life" - I don't know. I think that it's ok to just accept that life is life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad - but I'm greatful for the good.
So what does my belief in God give me? Basically, a strength that I draw from in that I talk to him every morning, tell him what I'm greatful for, and ask for help in the areas that I need it. I've found comfort from praying to him when things were really bad, like the death of my brother. I can't explain it in words, but when I pray in those really dire moments, it's like I am hugged by compassion of some sort. The pain is still there, but it's bearable. Maybe that's what it is all about. We just live life - life happens - and he helps us through it if we need it and ask. And if we don't believe in God - there are others that are there to help us - friends, family. For most of us we are fortunate to have at least one person to be there us.
Anyways - bottom line. I think it's ok to just be greatful when life is good.
Another rambling, I know - but just my thoughts.
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39
Did you get a little pressured to get baptized young?
by outofthebox inwe saw an elder the other night trying to convince a couple of kids that they were ready to be unbaptized publishers.
and then he went and added that he was baptized very young and they should too.
so, these two kids were feeling the pressure.
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Dawn
Yes - and got baptized at 13.
That being said - today (being 40 something) if my young daughter wanted to be baptized as a Christian I would not stand in her way. Because that choice is between her and God. The problem with the JW's is the baptism is a contract of types that is more than what is between the child and God. They step in and enforce a whole bunch of rules and punisment for baptized people and they put themselves between the person and God. I would definately step in (if I were still a witness) and not let my child get baptized until they were an adult.
Thank God I am out of that crazy cult!