Many people here don't really know me. I guess it's because I really only post occasionally. I try not to get involved in the controversial topics or discussions, thus making me one of the unknowns.
Some of the friends I've made here have left for one reason or another. But, I think the time has come for me to say goodbye to the board for now.
I've posted last week that my Mom suffered a stroke which left her paralyzed on her left side. I got a couple of reply's to that post which I appreciate very much and I am very thankful to the couple of people who showed their concern.
My Mom is currently in a rehabilitation hospital. It's like she got old overnight. It just sucks seeing her this way. My Mom is still a JW and has been a JW for years. But, she was the type of woman who wouldn't hesitate to tell elders, even Circuit Servants that they were full of shit.
Before I go, I just want to tell whoever is interested a little about myself. I just turned 41 years old. I went into the "truth" when I was about 5 years old. So obviously, It wasn't my choice. But, I've come to realize that growing up a JW made me who I am today. I went through my period of being strong in the truth, but like so many others, when i reached adulthood, I saw through all their bullshit and left. I met my beautiful wife in the Kingdom Hall. I've been married to the same woman going on 22 years.
We were very young when we got married. She was 18 and I was 19. We eloped because the congregation was against our marriage. The elders didn't know we were married for about a month. It finally came out because they followed us one day and saw us going into a hotel room. They called us in front of a judicial committee and basically made up their minds to disfellowship us for fornication before we even got there. I asked them if it was a crime to sleep with my own wife, and pulled out our LEGAL marriage licence. You should have seen the look on their faces. It was priceless. Of course, they couldn't disfellowship us. But, they did tell us that our marriage wouldn't last because we didn't have Jehovah's blessing. Well, 22 years later, I'm still married to the same wonderful woman. Oh...and by the way, I didn't HAVE to marry my wife..if you know what I mean. She wasn't pregnant or anything like that. We married because (gasp) we loved each other.
We've suffered together through feast and famine (mostly famine ). We started with NOTHING. But at least we can say that everything we have today, we got together and worked at getting it. Life hasn't been easy. We both were JW when we were very young and we both made the decision to leave the Religion. Have we found another religion? We've tried several other Christian denominations, but our experience has found that they are pretty much all the same. We've raised 2 beautiful children. Our oldest daughter started College last fall, and our son is a Senior in High School. I don't think we did too badly considering we didn't have "Jehovah's Blessing" when we got married. The funny part is that we both feel that we've made it this far BECAUSE of God's blessing. God has always been good to us. He has protected us and our children, and I still pray that he continues to take care of us.
But, my Mom is my last link to the Religion. I think it's time to put all this JW stuff behind us and not look back. I feel like I've gotten to know so many of you through your posts. Some post's I've enjoyed, some pissed me off at the time. But, I could never bring myself to post more. I just felt like maybe I just didn't belong here.
Anyway, I hope that each and every one of you find happiness in life.
All my best,
El Kabong.