MerryMagdalene

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Posts by MerryMagdalene

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  14

  The Lessons of Life - Share your "feel good" websites

  by Sirona in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  which websites do you visit to give you an emotional boost?

  i like the following sites: .

  one way or another, life will teach you its lessons.

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  MerryMagdalene

  One of my "feel good" sites is www.llewellynandjuliana.com and, yes, I find there are lessons to be drawn from every aspect of life, that it's all one great big long learning process, and I also feel that every gift brings a new challenge and every challenge carries a gift for those willing to unwrap it and those who don't mind (or even actually like) surprises
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  34

  How do you handle JWs interacting with your children?

  by Nosferatu in

  1. social
  2. family

  this has been on my mind lately.

  i'll probably end up having kids in the near future, and i would not want my mother preaching to my children.. so, i must ask, how do you handle your jw relatives who try to preach to your children?

  how do you deal with a "gift" like my book of bs?

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  MerryMagdalene

  Devil's Advocate,

  I agree with the points you make, but my daughter is only 3 so we don't talk about religion at all. We have far more important things to talk about and do! I don't want her mind warped by anything dogmatic, so until she is of an age to be questioning, reasoning, and curious about such things we're keeping it a non-issue, which is why I won't allow unsupervised visits with her JW Grammy (even though I dearly love my mom) and no Bible Story Book, no Great Teacher Book, no meetings!!! When she is old enough I will do my best to make sure the TRUTH about JW religion (among others) will KEEP HER FREE
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  4

  exhausted

  by MerryMagdalene in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  then, not having mailed it yet, i received a letter from my mom, also very loving, encouraging me to return, but telling me she will no longer have contact with me personally.

  if i want to drop my daughter (who is only 3) off at her house for unsupervised visits and write letters in my daughter's name to keep her updated, that will be fine.

  and she would also like me to bring my girl to the kh.

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  MerryMagdalene

  Thanks so much for your encouraging and caring responses, HappyDad, IForget, and kls. It means a lot and it helps a lot. I bless you all with all my heart

  PS-- in reviewing my letter yet again and refining it, I have decided to go ahead and send it so she will know what boundaries I am setting for the well-being of my daughter and why. Here's hoping for the best!
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  26

  Who the hell is Dr. H.O.Phillips????

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  book:insight on the scriptures (wtb&ts)

  volume 1, page 632/633

  subject: diseases and treatment

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  MerryMagdalene

  Went to the Journal of the American Medical Association and did a search for any letters or articles contributed by H.O. Phillips from 1966 to the present and came up with 0.
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  16

  Heaven, where is it?

  by JH in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  how would you explain what and where heaven is?

  and, do you expect to go to heaven when you die?

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  MerryMagdalene

  When I was much much younger and way too presumptuous for my own good, my mom would push me on my swing and I would say, "Higher...higher...higher. I'm going to kick a hole in the sky and see God." Come to think of it, I seemed to be quite fixated on seeing God at that point in my life. I have my Granddad's old Bible and the inside covers are full of drawings with conversation bubbles showing an argument between two "sisters" giving a "talk" which basically goes: "I can see God." "No you can't." (over and over) It seems my spiritual questing has continued on along a similar pattern to that.

  Oops. No meaningful contibution to your thread here. Sorry.
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  34

  How do you handle JWs interacting with your children?

  by Nosferatu in

  1. social
  2. family

  this has been on my mind lately.

  i'll probably end up having kids in the near future, and i would not want my mother preaching to my children.. so, i must ask, how do you handle your jw relatives who try to preach to your children?

  how do you deal with a "gift" like my book of bs?

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  MerryMagdalene

  Ouch!

  This is a huge issue for me right now. Just got a letter from my wonderful, loving, heartbroken JW (of 62 years) mom informing me that the time has come (I was DFed several years ago, probably close to 8 now) that she will no longer have any more personal contact with me since my daughter is now old enough, in Grammy's eyes, to stay with her (minus me) for longer and longer periods of time. She dearly wants me to start bringing the little one to Sunday meetings and dropping her off for visits.

  So I just finished writing the hardest letter of my life telling her why I will not be bringing my 3 year-old to meetings nor to stay at Grammy's house. But I did assure her that when my baby has reached the age of being able to question and reason logically on such matters, she will be free to go to meetings if she so chooses and will also be introduced to the basics of ALL the religions of which I am aware. Until then I will be raising her as simply, naturally, intelligently, and lovingly as I can. And I made sure to tell her that she is always welcome to call, write, or come see my daughter at my house ANY time.

  I love my mom but my daughter's well-being comes first!!!
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  22

  Fault in human DNA strand?

  by El blanko in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi there - i'm sorry if this is off topic slightly, but i need information.. i am not learned in this area of science and wondered if it is true that there is a fault within human dna that science assumes is the reason we break down and die and are unable to explain.. forgive my ignorance here.

  this question spins off from a conversation i had this afternoon with an ex-jw who wishes to get back to the kingdom hall and was using this argument to present his ideas to me.

  i told him that i was not aware of this particular area of study but would look into it for him.. i am assuming that he read this in an awake article maybe?.

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  MerryMagdalene

  That was it... thanks, Terry.
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  8

  Were there any colourful characters in your congregation?

  by badboy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ?

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  MerryMagdalene

  When I was a kid there was this amazing man, an inventor and a genius, who lived in the local mental hospital because he couldn't handle the particulars of ordinary daily life very well and had problems with severe depression. My mother brought him to Sunday meetings a few times. During the WT study they called on him once, maybe twice, but couldn't handle his extremely intelligent, dead-on facts that disagreed with their pseudo-science and pseudo-logic, so they blushed, stammered, and refused to call on him again. He didn't like being ignored so he would stand up until they acknowledged him, or would just interject a comment freely, even during the public talk. I don't think he attended for very long. I don't know if that was his decision or if they told my mom not to bring him in again. I loved that guy.
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  22

  Were you illegally disfellowshipped?

  by hubert in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  based on "official" bible based doctrine, were you "illegally disfellowshipped?

  i have been reading many threads on disfellowsipping, and it makes me wonder if there were many who were disassociated, or thrown out of the org.

  for reasons other than what the watchtower officially teaches?

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  MerryMagdalene

  Read Matthew 18:15-17 then tell me if anyone had this protocol, supposedly established by Jesus, followed when they were DFed. It sure wasn't what they did with me... I got 1 "visit" only, not 3, was asked to DA myself and, when I wrote a letter declining to do so, they DFed me behind my back and I have no idea what the official "grounds" or charges were.
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  61

  favourite games to play as a child during boring meetings

  by Surfacing in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my parents were both very strict, and i wasn't allowed any toys at the hall.

  my rations included a copy of my book of bible stories, and a pen and note pad.

  my parents were strict to the point of not allowing me to draw pictures, i had to "take notes".

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  MerryMagdalene

  A couple friends of mine did used their KH time wisely, making up ongoing episodes of a Star Trek inspired serial starring the more prominent or otherwise noticeable members of the congregation. They would tell me their stories afterward while socializing and I couldn't wait for the next installment. I thought it was absolutely hilarious yet was a little anxious beneath my laughter because it felt so blasphemous (sort of the way I felt the first time I saw Monty Python's Life of Brian)