i can't believe it but the first thursday of feb marked one full year of freedom for me and my children.. that thursday was the last meeting i ever attended.. we have never looked back and time has just gotten away from me because we are enjoying new experiences and trying to get used to this new life.
i wonder what i should do to celebrate?.
any suggestions?.
I can't believe it but the first thursday of Feb marked one full year of freedom for me and my children.
That thursday was the last meeting I ever attended.
We have never looked back and time has just gotten away from me because we are enjoying new experiences and trying to get used to this new life.
I wonder what I should do to celebrate?
Any suggestions?
Ranchette
my wife has been depressed each time we see our jw friends.
she doesn't want to see them anymore, because it reminds her of what she left behind, and it makes her feel bad.. i've offered to go back to meetings for a while to help her break away.
she never wants to go back, but her guilt and anger make her so uncomfortable around active jw's.....it's really bothering her.. any good books out there on breaking away from controlling organizations, especially concentrating on keeping the friendships but not the allegiance to the organization in question?
Ashi,
Sorry about what's happening here.
But I believe these feelings are normal considering what we have all been through.
I remember feeling just like this.
We all need a circle of friends and a sense of belonging.
We also need to feel that our lives have purpose.
There has been lots of great input so far but I'll add my 2cents anyway.
First there is another MUST read book I have to recomend.
COMBATTING CULT MIND CONTROL by Steven Hassen
Also religion is not the only sourse to meet these needs. There are many other ways to get what you need.It is dangerous to get involved too quickly with another one.
You just freed yourselves so be careful not to become slaves again.
But if you do decide to go with a church I am with Jukie on The Unitarian Unaversalist church.
You are truly free to think and reason for yourself with UU instead of a rigid belief system found in so many religions.You don't even have to believe in God or the Bible.
If there was one in my town I would go there sometimes.
I ended up joining a club.
We have a great time and do lots of volenteer work.
I have had so many new experiences since joining.
You can check with your county extension office to see what is available.
If you have children put them in something extracurricular and it will be good for them plus you will all meet new people.
You could also take some kind of classes your interested in.
In fact that might be a good way for your wife to start branching out into her new and sometimes scary life.
Ranchette
im john, and this is mary.. mary: hi!
he can do whatever he wants, and what he wants is to give you a million dollars, but he cant until you kiss his ass.
me: do you know anyone who kissed hanks ass, left town, and got the million dollars?
I know I did for over 20+ years. I'm so ashamed!!!!
I was raised as a JW.
This is a humorous story but also very powerful!
My husband claims that this story was a turning point for him.
He read it around 1 1/2 years ago for the first time.
Ranchette
the last time i spoke with my mom was the middle of october.
i called her that time.. many of you are familiar with the relationship problems ive had with my parents since i quit going to meetings almost a year ago.
for those of you who arent familiar with the situation, you can do a search by clicking on the paper icon under my name to read up on whats been going on.. anyway things were getting worse and worse and nothing good was coming from our discussions or letters.. since i was the one who called her last, i decided to see how long it would take for my parents to get a hold of me the next time.. my mom even told me in the past that she wanted to limit her association with me.
Stop only when she calls the cops.
LOL Focus!
Ranchette
the last time i spoke with my mom was the middle of october.
i called her that time.. many of you are familiar with the relationship problems ive had with my parents since i quit going to meetings almost a year ago.
for those of you who arent familiar with the situation, you can do a search by clicking on the paper icon under my name to read up on whats been going on.. anyway things were getting worse and worse and nothing good was coming from our discussions or letters.. since i was the one who called her last, i decided to see how long it would take for my parents to get a hold of me the next time.. my mom even told me in the past that she wanted to limit her association with me.
Focus,
I am going to think about this.
Obviously you and I are at opposite ends of the passive aggressive personality spectrum.
One thing you don't know about my mother is she is very nosey and courious and wild horses coulden't stop her from reading all my words.
She may stew for a month or so but she would eventually reply because she's also the type who just has to have the last word.
You may end up being disapointed in me but I will do what I feel comfortable with.I just have to figure out what that is.
Ranchette
west st. paul: shots fired at jehovah's witnesses hall .
west st. paul police are looking for suspects who shot three holes into windows at a jehovah's witnesses hall last week.
people in the building heard shots about 8:30 p.m. wednesday and saw a midsize newer car with a rounded body speed away, west st. paul police chief terry cook said.
Nathan,
I was thinking the same thing which is why I have come to the conclusion this was probably a childish prank not really motivated by much anger.
If real anger was the intent you would think they would choose something more damaging than a couple of holes in a window from a BB gun.
Ranchette
the last time i spoke with my mom was the middle of october.
i called her that time.. many of you are familiar with the relationship problems ive had with my parents since i quit going to meetings almost a year ago.
for those of you who arent familiar with the situation, you can do a search by clicking on the paper icon under my name to read up on whats been going on.. anyway things were getting worse and worse and nothing good was coming from our discussions or letters.. since i was the one who called her last, i decided to see how long it would take for my parents to get a hold of me the next time.. my mom even told me in the past that she wanted to limit her association with me.
Focus,
Thanks for your ideas.
I am very intrigued by you suggested approach. I plan to study it closer and see if I can find a way to make it mine.
I wonder what you think of me writing a letter with these questions with my comments to her possible answers?
I had already been considering confronting her on this again through a letter because of the comments from other posters so far.
I'm thinking I could get the point across without upsetting myself unduly through a letter.
Plus I could share it with you and the results.
Ranchette
remember how we were taught that if we kept our homes, yards and cars clean it would bring honor to jehovah and serve as a witness to our neighbors?.
we really thought people would look at our freshly mowed lawn and they would think, "those people must represent the true god jehovah?".
those people never connected god to any of those things!.
LOL RDH!
Here is an example of what I'm talking about.
*** w87 11/1 16-17 Are You Remaining Clean in Every Respect? ***
How can we stand out as different from the world if we settle for the world’s low standards? Would not a dirty home or a slovenly place of worship cause ‘the word of God to be spoken of abusively’? (Titus 2:5) But when we practice good personal hygiene, pick up litter at convention sites, assist in Kingdom Hall maintenance, and keep our homes—even the humblest abode—neat and clean,we bring glory to God
These kinds of statements were meant to cause us to believe the world is dirty and JWs stand out as different and clean bringing glory to God to all those who look on.
This is self-rightious crap! JWs do not have a monopoly on cleanliness as they would have us to believe.
Ranchette
i'm wondering how many of you took a while to gather up the courage to dispose of your cupboard loads of watchtowers and awakes, that you'd stored away for........safe keeping????.
we probably hung on to ours for a few months and then we burned them.
there was a tinge of apprehension about it, but it was generally a very satisfying activity.
If it weren’t for my husband holding me back my house would be
"litter-ature" free.
I was so angry when I first came to my senses and I wanted to celebrate the 4th of July with a huge bonfire with WT literature as the fuel to celebrate my freedom.
He wouldn't let me!
He said we would regret it when we wanted to do research to expose their teachings.
I was all for getting rid of everything except for WT CD library.
We ended up keeping all the books and one copy each of all the mags.
we had.
I thoroughly enjoyed throwing all my cassette tapes and the rest of the mags. in a box that sat on the deck that got rained before being hauled to the trash.
Ranchette
the last time i spoke with my mom was the middle of october.
i called her that time.. many of you are familiar with the relationship problems ive had with my parents since i quit going to meetings almost a year ago.
for those of you who arent familiar with the situation, you can do a search by clicking on the paper icon under my name to read up on whats been going on.. anyway things were getting worse and worse and nothing good was coming from our discussions or letters.. since i was the one who called her last, i decided to see how long it would take for my parents to get a hold of me the next time.. my mom even told me in the past that she wanted to limit her association with me.
LDH,
Well,Okay I was avoiding conflict so I take it back.
According to what your saying I was playing a game.I was trying to spare her feelings as well as my own.
Believe it or not I have come out of my shell compared to what I used to be but dealing with mom is hard.
Probably because of the emotions involved.
Ranchette
