Finally learned how to live the REAL real life (page 3)

Designer Stubble

Thanks for sharing your beautiful success story...and what a magnificent quote indeed. Congrats on living your lives.

KateWild

Welcome FH,

Thank you for your story. It's great you all came out together. So no disscussion at all? Nothing? Are you sure your husband did not subtly discourage meetings? Something, anything?

Kate xx

stuckinarut2

Yes, as I have said before in another thread, I have heard one elder say many times:

"anyone who leaves 'the truth' always has an unhappy and problematic life"

So it's just not possible that you can be happy now as an ex witness.... (Hehe)

Fernando

Welcome and congratulations forest heathen.

XkhanX

Once I took the blinders off, I saw the world was not awful. People are basically kind. For all the bad in the world ... there is just as much good.

it is so true. We can testify to this statement. Life is short. Make good use of it by using all our talents for the greater good. If there is a God, he will be happy N proud of you.

forest heathen

Oh wow! I am so overwhelmed by all your warm welcomes. Thank you!

I don't think I've ever been given such an amazing welcome before. I can tell I am going to love it here!

To Lisa Rose - I will pass along to my son your thanks. He was always community and service oriented and is so proud to serve. His father and grandfather were both in the Army and he is glad to follow in their foot steps. (My husband had just gotten out when we married).

To ExWhyZee- No one really tried checking up on our MIA status. It was the oddest thing. We've run into a couple of families over the years, and the conversations have been sort of like this:

Them - Oh hi! It's be so long since we've seen you. How are you.

Us - We're fine. How are you?

Them - Great. Are you attending at another congregation now? (Never mind the hubby's beard and my Yin Yang or OM or Pentacle necklaces.)

Us - No.

Them - Well, good seeing you. We've go to be going.

Us- Nice seeing you too. Bye.

I did have a "brother" FB friend me. It was fine, for months, and then he and my daughter in law got into a debate over military service on one of my wall postings. He quickly unfriended me. I do have several ex-JW friends from previous congregations.

To Will-be-Apostate - I don't want to get in trouble for advertising or posting commercial sites. However, I think I am okay in telling you the name of the series is Dreamers Forest. My pen name is Joelle Martin. If you google those together you should get my website. If you have any trouble send me a private message. My books went out of print last year when my publisher went under. It was a small press and didn't withstand under the economic troubles. They were in print for about six years. I am now writing adult romance and hope to be published again. In the meantime, I have made my books available on Kindle, so you can still read them. I am considering using a popular print on demand source to get them available in paperback again too.

To Too Tired2Care - my current job takes me away from home a lot so I don't watch much TV. My son and daughter in law like GOT. I've not watched it. I do love medieval and renaissance stuff. I've been to Ren Faires. I dress up as an elf (ears, cloak, and all) for book signings and Trick or Treating. But when it comes to TV I am more of a BBC person. I love Doctor Who, Father Ted, Red Dwarf, Primeval, and Torchwood.

To Designer Stubble - I know you!!!! And you know me ... as Forest Girl.

To KateWild - You made me stop and think. But really no. We didn't discuss going or not going back to meetings. I guess the closest thing to "discussion" was on a few Sundays, when we first began fading, we would have a conversation that went something like this:

Hubby - Maybe we should go to the meeting.

Me - Do you want to? Should I iron something?

Hubby - We should. But I do need to mow, change the car oil, or some other excuse. Or else, I don't really feel well.

Me - Yeah, there really is a lot around here I need to catch up on too. Or else, me either I didn't sleep well.

And then we would both drop it and stay home. Very quickly even this kind of conversation ended. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that hubby and I even discussed what made each of us not go back.

~ Forest Heathen

flowerfreaks2

Welcome.

Finally learned how to live the REAL real life