Belle

Well that explains everything, Oakspear! :P

It had nothing to do with us IrishEyes. Nothing to do with Morgan either. :)

ROFLMAO!!! Did he have a straight face when he asked for the refund? If it had expired in 2000, I'd say he was a TWIt who didn't need it after saving the world from utter destruction on New Year's Eve. :D

Sudo, I love Scotties! We always have a few show up for earthdog trials and they have zero tolerance for the silliness of the borders. They look at them like they need to grow up! LOL! Does your little feller have an appropriate Scottish name like Sir Winston? ;) I looked at getting a puppy for Vixen, but she has an extremely high prey drive and everything that looks like a rat is treated like a rat right now. :blink: She's not safe around small animals. I think, too, that it's better for me if she's an only child right now so that I can spend the time I need and want to train with her. I'm still trying to figure out the "single life" scheduling time and chores kinda things. So as disappointing as it was to not have a puppy for her, I suppose it was a blessing in disguise. David, they wiggle their way into our hearts, don't they? It's so hard to let them go, even when it's what's best for them. Chef, you didn't know. ;) No biggie. Actually, she's too smart for her own dang good. :) Excie, that tail has come in handy on numerous occasions. :P And not always from hunting. Vixen is officiall known as CH Bever Lea Fox Hollow Vixen and needs only one more leg to add the JE for Junior Earthdog after her name. We go to Hot Lanta in November to try to get that title and a first leg toward her Senior Earthdog title. :) We're also very actively working toward our obedience, agility and Canine Good Citizen titles. Training with her is so much fun and I'd love to make her an alphabet dog .... something like CH Bever Lea Fox Hollow Vixen CD RA OA OAJ ME FDX CGC VX CHIC. :D But I'm gonna need more wall space for that. Uncle Brother Speed, can I have her dinner too?? :P Jim, you have EXCELLENT taste in furry kids! Give Rusty an extra treat for me, please. Signed, Vixen

Brother Speed, can I wait till after she fixes dinner and then make her give it to me? Signed, Vixen

AMEN, Jet! When we close our minds we stop learning and we miss out on getting to know some of the greatest people. :) (although, some people need to be, and are, on ignore to keep my blood pressure at a safe level. ;) )

TheEvan, you and Mark have made some great points and I always enjoy reading Mo's posts. :) I especially like this quote because it says so much about the "power" or lack thereof of SIT as TWI taught it. I can hear some arrogan SOB speak in tongues and have it not do a blasted thing for me, or I can experience the love and compassion of someone who doesn't speak in tongues and it's the latter who shows me the love of God. If some get something out of SIT, then more power to them, but don't judge others because of whether or not they SIT and just because someone does SIT or someone *thinks* that's what they're doing, it doesn't necessarily mean they're born again. I can't tell a faker from the genuine and I suspect that most other people can't either. I know I was never questioned when I was in TWI. :)

Y'all know how spoiled my dog, Vixen, is and how important she is to me. She's my baby, my 3 1/2 year old kid, especially since I may never get to have kids at all. Last night, we went out for the last hoorah potty break for the evening. Vixen always checks the perimeter of the yard for holes that the foxes, armadillos and opossums dig. If I find 'em first, I plug them up and if not completely, at least enough to deter her from trying to get through..... Well....we went into the back yard and she immediately found a small hole that must have been started recently. I noticed her little head starting to go into the hole and yelled, "NO!!!!!" I ran over to try to stop her from bopping through the hole and into the woods, cause it takes forever for her to come back home. The woods are a dog's dream playground! Border Terriers have thick carrot like tails and they're for grabbing and pulling them out of fox holes. I was about to reach down to grab her tail and pull her back through the hole when I heard her yelp like she was in pain. Then her little body went limp. I freaked!! I bent down, started yelling her name and assessing the situation. Her head had gotten stuck between the fence and the ground. The hole wasn't big enough for her and then the boards of the fence were pushing down on her neck so she couldn't pull her head back through. I think it may cut off her oxygen, too. I started digging under her neck and head like a mad woman. Crying and calling her name and getting her to wiggle every few minutes just to make sure she was alive. It seemed like hours, but it was probably actually a pretty short time, I dug and dug and finally she was able to pull her head back through. She walked away from me a little bit, shook off and walked around a minute (I guess to see if everything still worked okay). Then she came over and gave me a kiss and walked to the back door like nothing had happened. Little Sh1+! Scared me to pieces and I realized just how devastated I would be if something happened to her. That scared the dickens out of me!! So my adrenaline level was way past maximum capacity and it took a good hour for me to calm down enough to get to sleep. I'll be patching one awful hole tonight and calling a fence contractor this week. I can't put off getting a new fence any more. Think if I ask them, they'll put a cement moat under the fence to keep the animals from being able to dig holes under it?

Hey Southern Gentleman! I hope you're still around. I'm originally from Mississippi and that's where about 90% of my family still lives. :) I'm a Bulldog and mostly visit Jackson, Madison, Canton and Starkville. I'm sorry to hear about the destruction your area is facing. And I'm so glad to hear that y'all are taking care of each other and yes, there is a lot of unconditional love out there and thank God for all the people who DO like to give and help with nothing expected in return. :) I hope to see you around some more. We'll help you here with any posting things you need help with. Crown & Diet Coke it is!

Shellon's thread about telling the truth brought back memories of betrayal and frustration in TWI. I wondered, many times, if WC were taught how to twist and manipulate people's words to get them to do what you wanted. I would tell someone the truth only to have my words twisted or ignored and then make me look like the dishonest and evil person to others. Especially when if I was concerned about something - they would treat me like I was overreacting because of what said person told them. What I really can't stand is telling someone "A" and them continually hearing "B" no matter how many times I say "A" or how many different ways I say "A". Then hearing that they've told other people that I've continually told them "B" or that I'm a liar ....... Well, that #1's me off to no end! My ex, our HFC, the local WC and me were in a "meeting" about our failure to be good little assistant coordinators. We had told our HFC numerous times over the previous TWO YEARS that we wanted a break and didn't want to be HFC's anymore. She continually ignored us. Then when we're sitting in the meeting she says she had no idea we weren't happy being assistants. :o BOLD FACE LIE, ANGELA! Furthermore, she would go out of town frequently and tell us to do "A" with the abundant sharing and then tell someone else to do "B" with the abundant sharing. She would tell two or three people to teach and lead the meetings so that it was totally chaotic when she would go out of town. I told one gal that I had gone on the internet to look up the lawsuit and that rosie and all were included and implicated. I told her it looked like the BOD and Ramona were just as guilty as craig. (NOTICE I just said THE INTERNET - I actually first looked it up on an online newspaper). This gal runs to our HFC and says I'm visiting anti-TWI websites. So.....here we are back in a confrontation again and I'm told again not to go on the internet to look up stuff about TWI. I explained that I had NOT gone to any anti-TWI website and that I looked up the article on the online newspaper because they didn't give us a copy to look at in the meeting and that we were only read the article or parts of it. I was called a liar because I had supposedly told this gal that I went to anti-TWI sites. So, that's how I found WayDale. B) Don't tell me NOT to do something when there's no viable reason why I shouldn't. I am usually pretty good at making myself perfectly clear and I try to be gracious about it, but even so, I STILL run into people outside of TWI who try to justify themselves by twisting my words. I think that's probably one of the main things that can really get my blood boiling. Can you tell? ;) How bout y'all?

And then throw in the fact that they're using Bible verses primarily to support their argument which holds absolutely no weight with those who don't necessarily believe that the Bible is "God breathed" and the "perfect" word and will of God. :) I'm just really have a great time learning about all these different religions, cultures and history. Thanks y'all!!

Isn't "no one can really prove they're born again" the same thing as saying, "If you don't speak in tongues, you're not born again?" Maybe not in the logical, normal thinking person's vernacular, but, as with most things TWI... they DO mean the same thing as I was taught them. My ex and I got into a fight about how "blessed" my parents were because of all the Biblical principle they operate and he (being the little lcm/moneyhands that he is) said that we didn't know that those blessing didn't come from the devil because my parents don't speak in tongues. Maybe it's because of when I got in (1993) but I remember it being "common knowledge" that someone who didn't speak in tongues was most likely NOT born again and it behooved us to assume that they weren't.

Very nice, Roy. :)

Too much legalism and too little grace Required Tithing Invasion of Privacy and Running my Personal Live Spiritual Abuse or Physical Abuse Neglect by Leadership and Believers Elitism of the WC and the Trustees Abuse by the WC martindale Doctrine Those are my reasons. I voted for the Legalism just because it seems to embody most of the other reasons, but I would have chosen "all of the above" if it had been an option.

Happy Birthday, Catcup!!! I hope it's absolutely wondermous!!!!

:huh: What do you mean, Shellon? :huh: I don't see any derailment of your thread. Since only three people have posted since the last time you posted (and seemed to be fine with the thread), it appears as though you're mad at me, Irish Eyes or Morgan. Would you please explain who "someone" is and how you feel it got twisted?

I had a neighbor who would catch the cats in a wire cage and spray 'em down with the water hose before letting them go free again. The only cats who would come into his yard were the new cats in the neighborhood. :-) He had some beautiful trees, delicious fruit trees and some of the prettiest birds would visit his yard.

Shellon, when I hit "reply" and the new window pops up for me to reply, I just delete all the quoted stuff, so the only thing that gets sent is my e-mail/PM/message. If I do want to keep part of the previous PM, I just don't delete that part and put it in quotes like in a post here on the boards. Hopefully that will help. :)

How Fun!!! Sounds like she's settling in just fine. :) That's just awesome!! Thanks for letting us know, Mom. It's great to hear about this new curve in the river of life.

^_^ Awww shucks, thanks, y'all. I was tickled pink to have the Rascal Tribe make the time to come visit with me. Mr. Rascal is such a good sport! He gladly humored Rascal and me talking 100 miles a minute. :P The kids wore Vixen out and she's happily snoozing on her bed in the living room. She performed lots of tricks and managed to find some way to obey three commands at once so she could partake of all the treats they were doling out for her. :P Rascal has THE BEST children and I really enjoy spending time with all of them! They all gave me hugs and thanks and that made my whole day! Outofdafog, thank you very much! That's so sweet. I hope it was Tara-like hospitality even though there were no mint juleps and my house is about 1/100th the size of Tara. ;) Chef, I would love to meet you and the Missus. :) Please do let me know when you're going to be here!

Hi Lilbit! Did I welcome you to Gspot?? I'm sorry if I didn't. I love, Love, LOVE CSI!! Especially Gil Grissom!! ;) I think you have a good point, but I think that most TV shows like Dr. Phil and CSI focus on the more radical and most "irregular' cults than the more "normal appearing" cults. It would be nice to see them focus on a cult like TWI where people function fully normally (apparently) in society, but are emotionally, spiritually and physically abused like we were. There are a lot of different angles and examples that could be used, but since we are so close to "normal" it's not really newsworthy to them. Hopefully we'll be able to change that sometime soon. :)

What really bothers me is telling someone the truth only to have my words twisted or ignored and then having me look like the dishonest and evil person to others. Especially when I'm concerned about something and they think I'm overreacting because of what said person has told them. I pretty much always tell the truth. Like Rascal, I may lie by omission, but usually it's to save someone from worry (like not telling my mom I lost my two front teeth in a car crash), or to save myself from trouble...telling the cop I don't know how fast I was driving.... :D I'm not perfect, but I do try really hard and I don't say things about people that I wouldn't say to their face, or that I haven't already said to their face. I've learned from my ex good ways to tell the truth without hurting someone's feelings. When I'd ask him if these jeans make my butt look big, he'd say, "I really like the way the blue skirt you had on first looks on you. It's much more flattering." Things like that.... "Does this new chicken dish taste as bad to you as it does to me?" "Well......I like the Greek Chicken dish much better. ^_^ We don't really have to have this one again, but it was fun to try it." Those kinds of things I can handle and I appreciate the honesty and the forethought to be honest while still considering my feelings. What I can't stand is telling someone "A" and them continually hearing "B" no matter how many times I say "A" or how many different ways I say "A". Then hearing that they've told other people that I've continually told them "B" or that I'm a liar and they're #1'd at me....... Well, that #1's me off to no end! <_<

Closed? I think that's an understatement. :D They had taught us the height of paranoia regarding sharing anything about TWI with those "outside the household". Someone had to prove themselves "worthy" aka "a pushover" before they would be allowed into the secret society of TWI. When people would be asking questions and we, as good little wayfers were "working with them" to try to get them into the class (nevermind really trying to help them), would give them "just enough information' to make them want more.... That's what we were told to do. Then if they kept asking questions we were to invite them to fellowship and to quit answering their questions. We were instructed to tell them that the answers to that were "in the class". Don't really help people; don't loan your books to them; surely don't let them see your syllabus for any of the classes. Be careful about how much you share with them because they may not be "mature enough" to "receive" the greatness of what you're sharing.... Sometimes we'd be instructed to tell them that they need to have a good foundation in "the word" before they could really delve into the answers to the particular question they had. Then there was the whole "don't cast your pearls before swine" witnessing standard. If someone didn't have a job, a car, teeth or money to abs with, then don't waste your time with them. We were to target upper middle class only. The rich were too steeped into the word and love of money and the poor wouldn't appreciate the greatness of the word, they were just looking for a free ride. OMG! Amazing how much knowledge we had about people we had never met!! I can't believe I was that secretive, arrogant and exclusive. :o :(

David, thanks for your input. Perhaps Penguin has the same experiences you have had. :) I didn't. I never "felt it" nor was I ever "inspired" not even in my private prayer life. Maybe it's because of when I got in (TWI II - 1993), maybe it's because all the love and truly good people were gone by then...who knows. *shrug* I'm glad we can all talk here despite our differences of opinions and beliefs. Socks, I never heard "enablements" or "abilities", but doesn't using those terms make null and void vee pee's grape cluster analogy of the "manifestation" of the spirit being one thing as opposed to different "gifts" of the spirit. He taught, and all of TWI consequently, that there was one spirit and nine manifestations - not gifts. Which is where, I think, allan's confusion comes from. The Evan and Mark, I agree. And, Mark, you said what I was trying to say, but your post makes much more sense. :) ....and I'm not Catholic, so I don't think that's it. ;)

I thought it was Prince Albert in the can? We'd call the meat dept. at the grocery store and ask if they had pig's feet.... When they would say "yes" (we WERE in Mississippi :D ) We'd tell them to wear shoes and no one would know. Just look at how much fun caller ID has taken from the younger generation.