rascal

I am so proud, My 16 yr old daughter and I recieved our promotion to brown belt in karate this week! One step below black! Still a lot of work ahead of us, but a milestone non the less, as this now places us in the catagory of *advanced* students!!! Becoming proficient at martial arts was a dream I set aside when I was young, as unatainable...it is hard to explain.....maybe this is a mid life crisis thing.... I guess that I just needed to have a personal accomplishment ..... something to counter the crushing feelings of failure after realising that I had wasted such an enormous portion of my life. When I started, I was 40 yrs old, had been preggers for like 14 years straight ...lol Needless to say, I was badly overweight, severly asthmatic (5`1 and 190...gasp) and out of shape.....could not do 5 sit ups, a single push up nor kick above the belt if my life depended on it.....the kids used to make fun of me n say...*don`t be by miss cathy during jumpin jacks....man, alla that flyin flab`l knock ya plumb out!*....or, *man, ya gonna register that stuff as a deadly weapon?*...lol One of the kids used to do a hysterical representation of me trying to do techniques with my huge bu tt stickin out....it really WAS funny, lol Anyway, in the three years that I have been studying, we have not seen anyone make it to this level in our school, my instuctor said that we are the first girls in his 25 years of teaching that he has EVER promoted to this rank! There is another lady and her 17 yr old daughter who were promoted with us....it has been so fun for my daughter and I to have mutual friends in persuit of the same goal, friends to study with, to agonise over tests with...to celebrate our victories with... to have such good people placed in our lives....is truly a blessing. My secret dream is to continue to study...maybe get good enough that I could open a karate school someday with an after school program for the kids as an alternative to day care, or going home to an empty house.... I want to thank everyone for your prayers last month, I have had wonderfull things happen since then, due in no small part, I am sure to your heartfelt prayers. Another fun development this month..... I have been given a dream job, with unbelievable benefits, medical/dental insurance for the family, paid vacations etc....hey I have never been much more than a waitress, security guard ...etc...not much over min. wage ever earned.... I love the work, I love the people, hours are perfect....and I am getting paid more than double any salary I have ever recieved in my life. God is good, life is sweet...so much to be gratefull for....my only concern now is to keep all of the balls that I am currently juggeling in the air....

Folks tried to tell me that twi was a cult back in the 70s when I first became involved...I didn`t believe them...The folks in twi were too nice, their enthusiasm too genuine to be questioned....it felt good to be loved....good to be needed by God...good to belong. It wouldn`t suprise me if you won`t hear our voices either. It will take years for you to see the true face of twi....eventually you probably will have abandoned former interests, friends and family...because it will be subtely (and sometimes NOT So subtely) hinted at that they are no longer *spriritual* enough for your new scripturally oriented self. Take notice, do those in your fellowship have any outside interest? Participate in any community activities? Ever visit family members or talk of visiting for the holidays? Have pets? When I was involved, fellowship and twi activities were the only things I cared about....and people in fellowship were the only ones that I loved or cared about....it was a long subtle indoctrination process.....even going in with your eyes wide open, you may not catch on for years.....what a waste When faced with the choice of obey leadership, or loose the fellowship of the other believers....I (and others) obeyed and did some awfull things... twi`s will became synonimous with God`s will, and I felt I could not live without either....that if I left.....satan could and WOULD destroy me....yes THEY taught me that.

JM, there were an astonishing amount of people sucked into twi because of the cute girl or hot guy that they thought were interested in them. Unfortunatly, in the majority of the cases....the sole interest is in getting you involved. The committed wayfers will stop at very little ...it is a mark of their spirituality and quite a feather in their cap if they can bring someone to fellowship....you are GOLD to this girl AND her fellowship...it tells em that they are *right on* n *hot* spiritually. Expect lots of schmoozing and love bombing, from EVERYONE.....untill you make it clear that you are not interested in 100 percent committment...then you become something that they want to scrape off the bottom of their shoe in disgust. Also...you want to see em panic? Just tell em you have been to this web sight. Having been involved for over a decade....I can only WISH that I could do it all over again and RUN in the other direction when invited to my first fellowship....I can never retrieve the lost youth, oportunities, friendships and family that my invovement in twi cost me.

Being a life long sci fi fan....I find that really exciting. There will be much growth in technology in order to accomplish this....that will benefit us all. Living near an area that thrives off of the space industry...I know that it will mean a lot of jobs and prosperity for a lot of people. I feel like it will constitute growth, the alternative is stagnation.

(((((Pawtucket)))))))) We are so very sorry for your loss. Mark and Cathy

Happy Birthday dear pawtucket!

I understand a little better, thanks Galen, that makes good sense. I talked with Mark, I was mistaken, it was about 75 dollars extra he put on the payment...anyway, he paid down the principle quickly, so that we didn`t have to pay so much on interest...

Another avenue that I have found for picking up guitars that are reasonable, are the swap and shop adds, and our local pawn shop. It would be better if you could find a friend that plays to go with you and test it out. I would recomend paying a little more and buy something that you will enjoy for many years, rather than a bargain that you will be dissatisfied with in 6 months when your skill improves.....

Be carefull with the rental property rout....Man we had three, and it was a non stop nightmare.....either we had tennants that trashed the place, requiring much money and time to repair....or we had folks that knew the system ....in alabama, it takes almost 6 months to evict someone by the time you go through the legal manuverings.....in the meantime...any payments were coming out of our pockets..... Then there was the nice tennant who`s son was diagnosed with a deadly ailment...she lost her job spending her days at the hospitals trying to save her boy.....How are ya gonna throw out a lady like that??? Anyway, we were usually paying those payments ourselves on the rentals....three houses and it was killing us....plus the weeks of work...and tons of money that it would take to restore them to livable condition after drug dealers trashed em. You cannot always identify bad tennants either....we had a sweet little old lady with nothing on her records rent one of our houses......only to never set foot in it....she turned it over to four teenaged sons for their party pad.....omg, and we had no legal recourse whatsoever.....neighbors called us from the first night telling us of the drug activity and constant police presence needed...they were furious ...and I don`t blame em....but there wasn`t a THING we could do. Steve, we may very well be nuts but we have a house and no mortgage.....My husband has lost a staggering amount of money on investments....I say, no thanks....I will keep my piece of paid for realstate...this I cannot lose.... not to the vagaries of the markets.....nor if something were to happen to Mark and he were unable to work.... As far as the extra 50 a month...it was on a 15 year note....We put an extra thousand or two in at the beginning....Mark showed me that with each payment only a few dollars were going to the loan...everything else was going to pay the interest.....the earlier you pay down your principle, the sooner you are actually paying on what you borrowed, rather than just interest. In the early years, Mark would put every extra cent on the mortgage....I would get so mad, because we lived on such a tight budget....one christmas, he had a couple of thousand dollars extra, n I thought...GREAT, we can really buy the kids some gifts this years...(most years all I could afford was piddly stuff that I ahd managed to pick up at yard sales throughout the year)not to mention family members.....I was apoplectic when he wanted to put it on the mortgage.....untill, he whipped out his calculator and showed that if we put that 2000 down now....what it would do to the principle....it would take a couple of years off of the payments.....I agreed...and it was a meager christmas.....but guess what? the kids didn`t know it....n now that the house is paid for and they are older...though we still have to hunt for the bargains......but because we are carefull, we can afford to do the things that we like and have the means to get what we want....great stuff....dirtbikes n go carts...horses etc....without going into debt...... they don`t remember the lean years.

Dunno Galen, no house payments after 8 years verses a 30 yr mortgage ... sure money was tight....but by adding only 50 dollars a month to our payment, it paid a 15 yr loan in 8. It made a lot of sense....For our family, that simply meant no fast food or movies when the kids were little....now with no mortgage, we have the money to pay cash for the big toys n extras.... If you pay down that principle quickly, you save tens of thousands of dollars on a mortgage , and eliminate many may years of payments....

For those who want to shop in bulk, but cannot use it fast enough....those counter vaccume sealers are fabulous, many things like shredded cheese we buy in 5 lb bags and freeze. Food stays fresh an amazingly long time...less spoilage. On the home mortagage thing...we got a 15 yr loan, and by adding a mear 50 dollars a month, plus an occasional extra bit....we paid it off in EIGHT! It was worth the scrimping those eight years to pay down the principle quickly. We also buy used cars to avoid the high insurance rates required when financing a newer car...not to mention saving on the interest and payments... Oh, n wwjl, is absolutely correct, she brought out those little toys from fast food restuarants to the delight of my little ones....they plsyed for hours peacefully, thus buying us some apreciated *quiet* time...lol thanks, I`d forgotten about that :-) They still have most of them, a special gift in their minds.

(((ex)))you paid a heavy price .... Damn, sounds like a new thread topic.

Yeah, they OWE God ...they OWE me ... When they pay their dues to God and he forgives them, great!.....same deal with me...if they pay their dues owed to me, I personally will forgive them....untill they pay their debt...they ain`t getting no stinkin reciept.

If you want to save money, lol don`t HAVE kids, they are an ever present money drain....course personally, I can`t think of anything BETTER to spend on, nor greater investment for our money and our love:-) To have the money to do the things we like, we shop at warehouse places like Sams... We watch the sale adds....when there are sales on meat we buy 50 pounds and put it in the extra freezer. Tuna....when it is on sale....50 cans... Shampoo is on sale...we buy the shelf out... All clothes we buy are usually garage sale items....2nd hand stores.. Rarely do we pay retail for things....unless it is a birthday or something. The kiddoes earn their own money but refuse to spend it at the store....they know with a little dilligance that they can find the item they want at a yard sale for a fraction the cost, or they watch the papers for sales....they also peruse the swap n shop sights and mags.... My older kids buy their big ticket items like paintball guns n computers games off of ebay. Oh, and we usually all try to pick the same activity so that there isn`t a lot of gas burned running to different games and practices....for instance, we all do karate together....but if one kid wants to do a different activity...we find a car pool...like I have a friend that will take my daughter to piano lessons with her daughter if I just bring her out to the hiway....my daughter in return, babysits for the lady at a highly discounted rate.... When my daughter wanted to participate in shakespere at the college, another Mom picked her up on the way into town, and I in return watched her younger children so that she and her daughter could focus on the production....thus saving 100s of dollars in gas during the month of preparation ...pre planning saves a lot of money.

There are certainly worse things than being raised by a parent who adores you, even if you lose that beloved parent early...they gave you love, they gave you life....I don`t see that as selfish. Heck my grandmother was adopted by an elderly childless couple....probably close to the age of the woman mentioned....she was doted upon, a blessing to be cherished... There is something to be said for more *mature* parents...they have their heads aon alot better than many couples when they start their family. I have seen many married couples that treat their kiddoes like burdens.....two parents isn`t the magical key to childhood happiness. My Mom did a pretty damn good job by herself when my Dad left.

Rabid because I point out that your assumptions are wrong about adoption? Come on.... In my experience, and that of our friends, adoption accross cultural barriers has worked well. There are honorable people who do it for honorable reasons..... You accused these people of buying babies, again, I am pointing out that in the case of our family, and our friends, that is not true............. I would further add that Cool Waters WAS adopted into the a family of the same cultural back ground as herself, and her life was hell....so that idea of same culture, didn`t help her a bit........... Disagreement does not constitute rabid.

My Dad didn`t buy a baby mj, there were many armed services personel stationed over in Korea... many friends of my Dad`s who`s hearts were moved by the abject poverty and stigma that the orphans grew up in....moved to adopt even when they had never previously considered it....little girls espescially, there is no future for them there, nobody wants them. When my step sis was 5 yrs old...her father told her brother to take her into town n *lose* her...they did the same thing to her older sister a couple of years before....a police man found her crying....this is not an uncommon occurance, as only the sons have value over there. My step sister was given a wonderfull life full of endless possibilities, and she in return was a wonderfull blessing, cherished by my Dad and his wife.....It has been a win win situation. Don`t think you oughtta be slamming adoption whether it be in country or out, or cross racial or ethnic barriers mj....My Dad`s family as well as the many other service families that opened their hearts and homes to these destitue children around the world, are living proof of the joys and benefits to be had by both the adoptee and adopters.

Well, my father and his wife adopted a 6 year old girl when he was in Korea. She was damn glad to escape the poverty and orphanage. She is now a happily married adult with her second child on the way....yeah there were bumps in the road, but she is damn apreciative that some one chose to take a chance and make the effort to adopt across cultural/ race lines....so I don`t think that your one shoe fits all mj.

Wafer, 41 IS a far cry from 57, you just keep on trying girl! I had my last child at 39, and Mark was 45, (that puts us at 57 and 63 when our youngest turnes 18) and I feel that we are definatly much better parents than we were in our 20s and 30s with our older kiddoes. My friend had her last one at 48, as a matter of fact she had had so many miscarrages, she figured that this too would end ...completely expecting to lose it....so she didn`t tell anyone till 6 weeks before the baby was due. As far as the 57 yr old lady, personally, I think that she is nuts, (She undoubtedly will think so too when she starts trying to raise twins at any age)....but I look at my parents in their 70s, they are very healthy and active, up till last year my Dad was running in marathons, they have invited my teen down to Orlando to finish high school...they`d love to do the whole parenting gig....they have the energy and enthusiasm to do it very well indeed, I would say that they would have made excellent parents at any age. I think that we have changed as a society, medical advances have got us staying younger and living longer....if this lady wants to do this, well, there are worse things than growing up with a single parent who adores you.... I won`t condemn her choice. p.s. Chock Norris is 61, he and his wife have 3yr old twins....Sometimes we ar better parents when we are older.

Radar, your instincts are good....that is the true mindset of any good parent....We are designed to function that way.... Even the brute animals have better parenting skills than we did in twi :-( Did you guys hear about the teaching vp did when they thought the commies might take over the usa? I was told that he said (in synopsis) that you ... (the corpes) were responsible to carry the word to the next generation...and if that meant sacraficing your kids, in order to stay alive...it was your duty before God to do so....that should`ve raised so many alarm bells...and that it didn`t raises alarm bells now.

That was the whole twi mindset though wasn`t it? Nothing was more important than our knowledge of the scripture....no, not even our children...(who funny nuff, were biblically declared to be a GIFT from God)....Sounds like idolotry in the extreme to me.

I think that sky has it right, the *fruit* exhibited by this ministry who claimed to know the *biblelikeithadn`tbeenknownsincethefirstcentury* shows that apparenty, the *knowledge* sure wasn`t a very effective aid to people in becoming siritual....matter fact...many folks, the more scriptures supposedly mastered, the further they decended into spiritual degredation and whoredom..... Furthermore, I feel that in my case, as in many, the knowledge puffed up n made us so arrogant that tone either couldn`t hear, or was able to effectively ignore the voice of God. We assuaged our conscience by making ourselves believe that *studying* was going to be the key to spritual growth......one look at the results, I believe exhibits the falacy of that attiude........ Personally, I think that all of that studying became a distraction from our real responsibilities, as well as justified in our minds, the spiritual inadequacies so that we didn`t have to make the tough decisions and efforts to change. Scriptures, imo are a tool to point us in the right direction....to achieving our own personal walk and growth with God..never inteded to be an end all be all in and of itself.

No *guilting* detected, thanks George....but I do feel that I must (politely) disagree with you. To me, they appear to require us not only to *rebuke* the offender, but are quite specific about the offender repenting and asking, before it says we are to forgive. The people mentioned by Geek in the beginning of this thread have in NO way met the minimal requirements listed for forgiveness to be granted by God, much less ourselves.... Seems kind of arrogant to say yeah well God expects that (repentance and asking) but WE don`t need to....lets all just be nice..... I think that it is set up this way for a reason...and that it is a mistake for one to bypass the first two requirements listed concerning forgiveness.

Thanks Evan, those were the scriptures that I had asked about before getting buried..... It would appear that there are conditions upon forgoveness.....I am not saying that it means you cannot do so if it suits you.....but I question whether it is right to condemn folks who don`t want to as unspiritual...rage filled etc.....

ok, forgiveness is a gift... if someone points at me (not you socks) an says *ya gotta do it or ya ain`t spurtchal* it then becomes extortion.....no?