Hi all, my name is Leslie but I go by Nikita. I am Mr. Biggs & Quincy's older sis, an old friend of Badwillies and an old friend of Mikepences wife! I have another brother who is very active in JW land and pretty much has nothing to do with me.
I started coming here, when out of the blue I received an email from Mr. Biggs. To my surprise, he informed me that he no longer believed in what the JW's had to teach! He told me about the reasons why he became dissatisfied, like the UN issue for one. He gave me some websites to check out-as I had never heard of the UN situation and that is how I found my way here!
I grew up in Mt. Airy section of Philly, where I attended Wyndmoor congregation first then I moved to one in the Montgomery county area of PA. My parents were of no religious persuasion during my elementary school years. I had friends who were of various ethnicities and religions, but my 2 closest friends were a Jehovah's Witness (we met in 1st grade!) and a Jewish girl I met in 4th grade. My exposure to any kind of church attendance was limited to a Unitarian church a couple of times, the Synagogue more than a few times, a Catholic church, even a Theosophy class! But, although I was friends with the JW at a young age, I don't think I started looking into the religion until I was about 11 or 12. By the time I was 13, I was studying.
It was shortly after I began studying that Biggs and Mom and another brother began studying as well. You can read about Biggs story here:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=24348&site=3
I was baptized the same year I graduated from High School (Phila H.S. for girls '83). In fact, I had to obtain special permission to be absent from graduation because our annual convention was the same week! How stupid and naive I was! Oh well...I tried to pioneer and work part-time, but was yearning to expereince life as a "normal" person.
I had never dated by the time I was 19 and was so un-happy when I was by myself. When a "worldly" guy asked me out, that was the beginnig of my "fall from the JW's". I had great anxiety over life without the good friends I'd come to know but felt like this was the path I must take. I knew what the consequences would be for being baptized and leaving, but I was willing to take that chance! At the time I left, Mom left and my other brothers weren't really "into" it too much, at least not like I was.
I stopped going to the meetings, and ran into some of my friends here and there. Don't recall any of the elders trying to speak with me about my lack of attendance. When I got married, it was to a non-JW in a church. (1988) After that is when I heard that I was DA'd.
Now, I am 37, a stay-at-home mom of one child who I homeschool. I am a Christian, but I try not to be preachy, because I come here to offer my support and recieve it. I appreciate all the different perspectives found here (with the one common denominator of us all having exposure to this religion) and have found myself more challenged in my own growth as a person and a Christian.
Thanks for the welcome!
Leslie aka "Nikita"
Edited by - Nikita on 20 July 2002 22:11:43
