Hi Everyone. Answer to prayer countdown...

by Stumpy 205 Replies latest jw friends

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  yodastar

  Stumpy, you bought tears to my eyes when reading your last post. Wow, its life changing for you and your wife but please don't feel guilty though but I understand the very strong emotions involved and it literally took me years to reconcile my thoughts. I still have a spiritual belief though not focused on a religion per say ( more universal energy for me ) and you will work through this. Like I said my thoughts are with you over the coming months. Don't be embarrassed or awkward, I'm sure you will come up with plausible reason if you do step down, shoot sorry - don't mean to know about your world but you will figure it and you and your wife sound strong enough to sort it.

  Thanks for the link, yep that sort of prayer answering is a fantasy but the gullible will eat it up. take care friend. Cheers
• 

  DesirousOfChange

  May I suggest you proceed slowly.

  DO NOT discuss your doubts and your awakening of TTATT to ANYONE who is a JW. You CANNOT TRUST anyone right now, and that is esp your fellow Elders. Your best friend may "turn you in" thinking they can "save you" -- snatch you out of the fire.

  I know of an Elder who turned in his Shepherding the Flock book and all of his TMS records to the COBE and said "I need a break". That was his last time in a Kingdom Hall. He & his wife never tried to explain anything. They never agreed to meet with Elders. They just took a break and are "waiting on Jehovah". STFU and move on!

  Good luck,

  Doc
  
• 

  smiddy

  Stumpy

  That is great news about your wife slowly coming around .Don Cameron`s book "Captives Of A Concept" is an excellent easy to read expose` of the foundations Jehovah Witness religion is built on .Don is an ex elder , and it can be downloaded for just a few dollars , I would recommend it for both you and your wife .

  Take care , we wish you both well on your journey to spiritual freedom .

  smiddy
• 

  disposable hero of hypocrisy

  Aww stumpy, consider you guys hugged! What a moving thread. I've said it before and no doubt again, we need an apostayearbook!
• 

  fastJehu

  @ Pete

  Here the link to the April video:
  
  tv-jw-org APRIL
• 

  EdenOne

  Stumpy, a heartfelt hug for you and your wife.

  One thing you shouldn't do is to make decisions in a rush at this moment. You and your wife should calmly devise a strategy on what to do and how to do it. Once you learn that the Jehovah's Witnesses don't have "the truth", you must figure out what to do with that information. You must ask yourselves what are you willing to lose by leaving. If you still believe in God at the end of this process (many end up losing their faith, and I can assure you there's nothing tragic with it) you should be willing to re-evaluate what God wants, what is God, and if he's really there to begin with. One thing I did was to look back into my life as a believer and consider if all the things I used to credit Jehovah for in my personal life couldn't have an explanation that didn't require a supernatural intervention.

  For the time being, you and your wife should indulge in your thirst for information. Read, read, read. Educate yourselves, because that will only reinforce your conviction that "the truth" is something that the Watchtower doesn't possess, and that they are just another false religion. This will also strenghten you both to resist the emotional pull / guilt trip to return. Make no mistake, it's a very very powerful pull, and some begin to rationalize that they can live with their doubts, or stay because of the social aspects of the life as a Witness, or that the Watchtower isn't so bad, because they're only "imperfect men".

  The more you educate yourselves, the more you'll realize the monstruosity of this life-sucking cult, and the less inclined you'll become to stay in it, because God has nothing to do with it.

  And, as DoC said, DON'T DISCUSS THIS WITH ANYONE, TRUST NO ONE, even your dearest friend. When the "cult mode" kicks in, the Witness is conditioned to respond by defending 'mother' at all cost. Beware!

  Eden
• 

  Freesoul

  Hi Stumpy

  Welcome to you and your wife from another fellow Aussie,

  I faded successful 25 years ago, there is life after the watchtower, a really good one.

  Take care
• 

  KateWild

  Thanks for the update Stumpy.....sorry youre both feeling so emotional at the moment. I was very emotional too when the penny dropped. Both me and my adult daughter woke up the same time around two years ago.

  Building our lives has been challenging and sometimes lonely.

  I hope you manage to leave with your dignity in tact.

  Kate xx
• 

  Oubliette

  Mrs. Stumpy: "I want it to be the truth so badly, but... NO... I don't believe it is anymore. How can it be?"

  We all wanted that, but it isn't.

  You have an emotional time ahead of you, but you are both very fortunate in that you have each other. Most of us were not so lucky.

  Deciding to live an honest, authentic life is hard, but it's real, and that is exciting.
  

  Welcome to the rest of your life!

  Oubliette
  
• 

  dubstepped

  I feel for ya Stumpy, and Mrs. Stumpy. I've been on an emotional rollercoaster for some time now. Getting to your question to your wife about whether or not JW's have "the truth", I think that the organization sets themselves up for failure right there. By labeling what you have as "the truth", you had better bring it, and they don't. They have "some truths", but not "THE TRUTH" as they claim. As long as you blindly believe whatever they present as the one and only truth, as most do, never questioning, you are fine. It is when you open those eyes and start noticing things that things really get hard. I honestly think that if we could discuss openly the truths that we find that contradicted "THE TRUTH", and that if the organization as a whole had the humility to say that they really don't know on this or that instead of trying to predict things or read into things, then maybe someday I could find a place in the organization. But I can't sit there and listen to people spread hurtful untruths at the meetings, all the while claiming them as "THE TRUTH", and espousing such vitriol to others in the world simply because they don't believe the exact same way. Beliefs are mere thoughts, not the measure of who a person truly is. It reflects more as to what that person was taught than who they are.

  I was recently reading "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle, and although I don't agree with all of it, he really speaks to the difference between the ego and who we really are. He gets into organized religion and the "collective ego" that it breeds, wherein all involved identify so much with their thoughts and belief structures that they simply cannot discuss openly any challenges to those structures because it is really questioning who they are at that point, which they cannot handle. THAT is the JW organization as a whole, all about thoughts and uniformity and identification with such, not open minded seekers of truth that are allowed to be who they are individually within the structure of the organization. When I lurked here I always thought that those calling us "The Borg" was so fitting. It is a tough place to be once you wake up. For now I just don't have a place where I fit in entirely, and I finally feel like that's okay, because I get to be me, not some robot version of me.

  Just remember, anything you decide today isn't permanent. Life is a filmstrip, not a snapshot. One moment doesn't necessarily define you. You'll go through stages of grief with this like anything else. You just lost something HUGE in your life. I'm not sure you ever get over it, you will learn how to manage those feelings better though, and time heals a lot of wounds. You don't have to decide anything today, just take your time and leave it in Jehovah's hands if you still have faith in Him, or leave it in the hands of time.