Belle

Got It, Shellon! :)-->

Gotcha, Mr. H. ;)--> Thanks! I didn't realize that was who you were referring to. JT, they have already started pulling out the "old" videos and trying to remind people of "the good old days". The only problem is there aren't really many people left who were around in "the good old days" and it means absolutely nothing to them. Things aren't like "the good old days", but they seem to think if they talk about them enough people will start thinking they are.

Okay, thanks! I guess I should have shut down and restarted before asking. ;)-->

WTF??

Tattoos and sex during menstruation are WRONG???? How many hail mary's do you have to say to get forgiveness??? Can I just send a check to TWI? :D--> Seriously, I haven't had time to delve into the link, but it is very interesting and I know many gay people who make TWIts look 100 times worse than the evil mongrels that they are. AND I'm glad they have a church here that they can go to who accepts and loves them for who they are and not whatever lifestyle choices they make.

I was chatting with a wonderful GSpot last night and how my family is ecstatic to have me back 100%. My grandmother said that even when I was there, I wasn't there when I was in TWI and married to my ex. My Mom says I act more like myself now that I'm out and divorced. Steve Hassan calls it the authentic self. I realize I changed so much during my involvement with TWI: - My hair color b/c my ex didn't like it - I became quieter because it wasn't lady like to snort and laugh out loud - I quit drinking because I would be courting devil spirits - I quit spending money on things I would have liked to because we were giving it all to TWI or it seemed selfish - I quit my hobbies because it was selfish and taking away from the work of the ministry[/b] - I quit voicing my opinion because the husband is the head of the household - I quit talking to my friends because I have no friends when it comes to The Word - I quit giving people the benefit of the doubt and being nice to them because they were Word Rejectors or just idiots because they didn't believe what I did - I had to quit looking at or even talking to guys because my ex was insanely jealous - I gained so much weight because of my misery and probably to help ward off the jealousy fights - I tried to give up my desire to have kids and a family - I had to limit my time with my true family because they weren't in TWI and my mom was rebellious and a bad influence on me - I had to find humor and fun in things other than what I was accustomed to - I was basically expected to become a stepford wife in TWIt's sense of the word Now, I have my self esteem back, I can be open and honest with friends and family, I don't worry about not living up to someone's standards, I don't have a compulsive fear about keeping my house spotless, I laugh out loud and sneeze as loud as I want to, I talk to and make friends with people if I want to, I'm so much more easy to get along with and I really, genuinely like people and find things good in just about everyone I meet. I'm not a nervous wreck and I don't waste time judging people or worrying about them judging me. I can enjoy my family fully and I basque in the glow of their unconditional love and freely apologize for how much I hurt them during my TWIt years. I really and truly feel like I'm back to the person I was before getting involved with TWI and trying to be the TWIt wife I was expected to be. It's like 2 totally different people when I look back at it. I'm wiser and more willing and able to speak up when things are wrong, but I'm the same carefree, fun-loving girl I was before TWIt. Anyone else feel like this? Those who were raised in TWI, your personality was largely formed during your time in TWI if you were in it for most of your life. Do you feel like you've changed since leaving or do you think your authentic self has stayed the same?

Mr. H, I just think you totally ROCK! Thanks for posting here and hopefully I'll see you in chat sometime soon!

:(--> But Five fat figgity froggies is so much more fun to say!! :(--> :D--> :D--> :D-->

One hand. Two ducks. Three squawking geese. Four limerick oysters. Five corpulent porpoises. Five fat figgity froggies.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!! Here's to a great one! Since it's 2005 - does this mean we're really locked in to the GRACE Administration for this year?? :D--> Here's to grace-full living!

Janet Evanovich and Sue Grafton write great short stories that are hilarious and about women PI's. If you and Goey like to talk on the phone, you could chat with him while you're waiting. I've done that and it definitely makes the time fly. I enjoy people watching and sometimes listening to their conversations trying to guess where they're from. If you're into kids, mom's love to talk about their kids. For some reason, they take to me and I play with them while chatting with Mom. Whatever you do, I'm sure it will be just a blip in time as you get to spend some good quality time with your sweetie! ;)-->

????? Mr. H. Who/what is that??

VL, I hope you don't stay gone too long. I enjoy your posts. :)-->

In TWI that was a question that could get you M&A, the correct version of that question for TWIts was "What would PAUL do?" or "What would LCM do?" Personally, I just think "What would be the best way to handle this situation?" and I don't have any t-shirts that say that. ;)-->

Pretty pathetic the steps they will go to in order to "expose" someone for being "evil", isn't it? Ironic, I think. They used illegal means to find out something I did. But that's a story for another day.

I think the return will be kewl, but I'm not pining away waiting for it and I honestly don't spend much time thinking about it. It's going to happen when it's going to happen. In the meantime I'm enjoying my life (for the most part) and enjoying my family and everyday things so much that I don't look for it or try to recognize things that might fulfill prophecy - too many have done that and been wrong. The world isn't perfect and it will be nice when all the yucky stuff goes away, but I just don't foresee it happening in my time. If it does - kewl - but I'm not holding my breath.

Confronting evil is the loving thing to do.... which might be true if that confronting wasn't done at 100 decibles and with 2 gallons of spit

HOLY CARP BATMAN!!! He DID say photographic memory was not normal and people with it were courting devil spirits! That little b@stard! Shaz, my ex pretty much has a photographic memory and can be pretty cold and detached emotionally.

ex, I'll contribute, too. Just pt me where to send the dough. :D-->

You did, Mr. H. :D--> They were probably jealous that he a) got a new car and b) had a mom who loved him enough and had enough money to do that for him. My parents aren't hurting for money, but they worked very hard to be where they are today. I don't ask them for money (ok, I have, but only in dire circumstances) and they don't throw money at me. My daddy is very frugal with his money and does not believe in spoiling his kids. HOWEVER, he also believes that renting when you could be buying is foolish and has disagreed with other non-policy policies of TWI. He paid the closing costs for my ex and I so that we could buy a house. He also paid for us to fly to see them and various vacation expenses so that we could spend time with them, knowing we couldn't go if we had to pay for the whole thing ourselves. Spoiled? I don't think so. I think it's a loving family and an awesome daddy who will do anything he can to get to spend time with his daughter and son-in-law. Why am I rattling on about this? I caught flak for it on a regular basis and now that I'm divorced it's completely thrown in my face. I think TWI is intimidated by people who are successful and openly disagree with TWI. I think they are jealous of the genuine, close relationships and families that they can't have because of all the fear that is so ingrained in their organization. There's no way you can eradicate that without getting rid of the entire old guard and starting from scratch.

I'll bet that after seeing how they dumped THEIR responsibility to take care of Mrs. W on the W kids that many full time ministers upped their "need basis" and others started stashing money away, but it's probably too little too late unless they have hefty inheritances coming their way. If their parents were in TWI, then they definitely don't. They will never come clean about their sins because that would require admitting that they did something wrong, didn't do the right thing and are less than perfect. We all know that TWIt leadership is perfect, so far as we're told and it's not up for debate. I'm looking forward to watching them debate it with God. ;)-->

sky, he would be welcome, but they would ever so lovingly "correct" his vocabulary with the biggest smile on their face. If he gives enough money and/or signs up for the new class, then he may get away with calling it "twig" for at least a few weeks. I also spoke with an innie very briefly recently who said that I had no idea how nice things were in "this day and time". If they're still speaking with loaded language and using "this day and time" - then they really haven't changed. They just painted the outside of that whited sepulchre again and hope no one notices the stench.

My wounds are still healing over this one. I tried to tell my husband what I had learned and even tried to get him to read "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" but he refused and took it from me and threw it away. He begged me not to destroy our marriage because he knew that if I left TWI that it would be over between us. That should have clued me in that some group of people was more important to him than I was, but I stayed, kept my mouth shut and tried to open his eyes a little at a time. For 3 years I did this. I was secretive because I had to be. I was firm and resolved in some decisions because I had to be (like buying a house, getting a dog, giving only 10% instead of the 18% we were giving, etc). I lied to him because I didn't want to have any more fights and I wanted him to wake up and for things to be right again. When I did leave TWI things went downhill rather quickly. He was getting coached even more about living with a contentious woman and how I was on this site and posting and poisoning my mind. I'm bitter and nevermind all that cr@p they have on that site. (Yeah, nevermind that IT'S TRUE!) I should be flattered that they have spent so much time trying to track me down and prove that I've been doing something, but it's really just pathetic, imo. And if this is how Godly men and women act then I don't want to be Godly. They feed my ex all the lies he needs to stay blinded. I know he's been on here and read a lot of the things on the site, but he still believes TWI is right and that they can do no wrong. It's beyond me how they can justify all the things they've done to destroy lives and how someone can, knowing how evil the group is, remain loyal to a pseudo-ministry founded on lies and theft. Sorry, this is a real sore spot for me. My ex has not one person left in his life who genuinely loves and cares for him. No one to share his victories and failures with. No one to hear about a good day or a bad day. He quit talking to his family on the advice of the man who married us because his dad was "entertaining major devil spirits" if he wasn't already possessed. The man is so alone, so bitter and so hurt. He blames me and I can't say that I blame him for thinking that. If I was as blinded by the lies and deception of TWI, I would think the same thing. :(--> It breaks my heart. It really does.

My memory sucks, but I think it's from too many drugs in college. :D--> LOL! Seriously, I can remember formulas and other math-related things and I can remember names really well, but I could not - for the life of me - remember verses and those d*mn definitions, especially after craig added 10 paragraphs to each one.

And we thought they were making us into better men and women of God..... It's a classic exmple of not being able to see the forest for the trees and being too stubborn to listen to family members when they expressed their concerns. --> :(--> --> :(-->