Posts by joyfulfader

36

JW CHILDREN GET PRESENTS ALL THROUGH THE YEAR. REALLY?????

by NAVYTOWN in

is it really true that jw children get gifts 'all through the year', not just for christmas and birthdays like non- jw kids?

as stingy as most jws are, i find that very hard to believe.

plus the childhood magic of christmas and birthdays is totally absent in jw households.

joyfulfader

Nope. No presents all the time but I had/have the most fantastic mother that gave me her time. She took me to art galleries, symphonies, pottery classes and libraries. No presents can or could ever be better than that. JW or not she is the best mom a girl could have.

As a single, younger widowed woman it is hard to do that with my own child but when I see things she would like I buy them. For her bday this year she told me she could think of nothing she wanted because she was completely happy with her life. Made my heart smile.

36

Prepare for meetings??

by Jen1 in

do you prepare for meetings?

if i go i spend a few minutes underlinging my books/watchtower.. i have noticed that those who do the micks especially notice when your stuff is not underlined, and comments are made after the meeting, not so gentle hints, about study and preperation!

in other words i am being told off, its usually the ones who are highly critical of everything i do, sometimes their whole family seems to be straining to see if my stuff is underlined, i know this because i heard the daughter to family wisper her watchtower is not underlined!.

joyfulfader

I went through phases. Study a lot. Never study. (More of the latter since it's all regurgitated as has been mentioned). I remember the highly priveleged pioneer daughter of an elder underlining the following weeks lesson rather than listening to the present one. I found it comical. It's all about appearances.

34

Did you think Dinosaurs were destroyed in the Flood?

by LoisLane looking for Superman in

in our jw bible, they placed a friendly dinosaur on the inside front cover on the old time map of the middle east.. you look at that, and see where the placement to where the garden of eden is and that was the image i got in my mind.

dinosaurs lived, but were too big to save in the flood, and besides they had outlived their purpose of fertilizing the earth.

i feel stupid for the thinking i had when i was 'in'.. is that how you 'thought' when you were 'in'?.

joyfulfader

I never believed dinosaurs were in the garden of Eden even as a born in. I always figured they were part of an earlier creative day with each creative day being of an indefinite amount of time. Perhaps I was a bad witness kid for believing that but when u live near the Smithsonian and see the museum of natural history it's kind of ridiculous to think they were on earth for a biblical flood.

45

is all religon crap?

by thesaint in

jw
friends

like jw are crap is there any religon dat is atally conneced to god?.

joyfulfader

I have been thinking on this subject quite a bit mainly because I realized recently that even as a jw for 39 yrs I had never had faith or really believed in a god. I think that just as humans are hardwired to be homosexual or heterosexual there is a sort of hardwiring for spirituality. I think religion is a construct for those hardwired to believe in a god and each of those persons gravitates toward a religion or belief system. I think a religion, whether it is an actual denomination or not, is needed by most of the people hardwired that way so to them religion isn't crap, it's a fulfillment of their hardwiring. I think the rest of us hardwired to doubt lean more towards religion being crap. These are my initial musings. Many probably won't agree with me but I as is noted on this board pro god people and no god people both feel very passionately about their belief systems and way of living. Religion is not all things to all people.

15

"You need to witness to her about Christmas"

by DS211 in

well thats what my wife said when my grandma stopped by for a visit and invited us to hang out with them christmas eve.

after she left, my wife said i needed to witness to her and remind her that we do nkt celebrate it and that it is the worst holiday to celebrate (actually halloween is lol).

i felt this wasnt the time to argue so i decided to tell her i would look into that.

joyfulfader

My great grandmother always invited us over for dinner Christmas eve. We always went for dinner but my dad requested no gifts. We received gifts in non Christmas paper a couple of weeks later a visit or 2 after the holidays. It's like we met in the middle. We shared precious family time while respecting each other's beliefs. They didn't force Christmas on us and we didn't insist on keeping our distance. I say "we" since it was my family but it was my dad's decision and he was PO at the time. Maybe it can be discussed to be a time of family spending time together and not focus on the holiday aspect.

9

How many inactive/DF JWs do You think know TTATT?

by BU2B in

jw
friends

so many have faded away for various reasons, or get df and stop attending meetings and go on with their lives.

i wonder how many of them have researched that the org may not be the truth, and how many go on believing it, but just mve on with their lives because they feel they are inadequate, cant live up to the standards, etc and feel they will be destroyed in armadeddon.

they physically free themselves but mentally are slaves.

joyfulfader

My siblings faded long before me and have lived as typical "worldly" people. Their fades were not precipitatated by traumatic events to open their eyes to the insane hypocrisy and lies like mine was. I can't say anything at all anti JW to the one (she runs to my dad who is never going to leave) and the other still thinks it is The Truth but would take a blood transfusion. Both haven't had anything to do with the org for many years and celebrate holidays but are still of the basic cult mind. Was a sad revelation to me. Continues to be so. In fact all df'd persons I have had contact with are still mentally in and speak of going back at some point. Most inactives as well. Sad.

18

Did you feel nervous before/while giving talks?

by likeabird in

jw
friends

the subject of feeling nervous came up in sfpw recent thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/268270/2/im-curious-when-you-were-asked-to-do-a-demo-for-a-service-meeting-part-how-did-the-request-make-you-feel#.uqgz_0nd13b.

it reminded me of a sister i knew.

you always knew when you got to the meeting if she had a talk that night.

joyfulfader

I never got nervous and was informed over and over that not being nervous was a sign I was relying on myself and not Jehovah. A most undesirable trait...but that didn't stop them from asking me up to half way through the bible reading to fill in. As a woman that meant finding an equally not nervous hh. I had my go to girls. I have to say the org did help my public speaking.

28

Governing Body member Sam Heard at our Assembly

by problemaddict in

nice enough gentleman.

the parts were pretty watered down.

mom asks him if he is ready.....did he clean off all the dirt?

joyfulfader

I could not sit through one more assembly. I hope I would not have laughed at the killing part even if I was still in. I remember hearing experiences or anectodal comments when i was still "in" that disturbed me and I wouldn't laugh or clap. There is nothing funny about billions dying. No JW puts a face to those individual 7 billion. They don't picture their niece or nephew or the sweet neighbor who brings soup when they are under the weather bloodied and massacred by a "loving" god. All witnesses see is a mass of Satan worshipping pagans who deserve to die enmass. There is no individualism or emotional connection to the actual people they expect to be destroyed.

74

Kingdom Hall Weddings - November Kingdom Ministry

by BluesBrother in

if this has already been posted up - then i missed it.. this question box left me .

.

joyfulfader

I remember sitting through an almost 90 min wedding talk. There was whispering and fidgeting and bewildered looks all around. It was tortuous. Plus we were all starved by reception time but it was a potluck type dinner so it was delayed. Happily I do believe their marriage did work out.

66

My brother died yesterday

by satinka in

jw
friends

"albert" was 55 years old, and the fifth-born of seven children.

i am the second oldest and babysat him often while he was growing up --- and while i was still at home.. yesterday, albert was out taking his usual morning stroll around his small town, when he collapsed on the sidewalk.

the doctors said it was a heart attack.

joyfulfader

I am truly sorry for your loss Satinka.