Catcup

I mentioned that I had already made my decision when I started the poll, and after all is said and done, I'm still sticking with my original thought. When the kids were small and we were still in TWI, we were fairly close. But leaving TWI changed all that, and for the past 13 years or so, we have had very limited contact. I am not close at all with the kids or their parents, and have not been for over a decade. When one of the kids got married a few years ago, our family was not invited to the wedding. We were invited to the reception, which was off grounds. I did not go to the reception. Now, I'm invited to the next wedding, which is on grounds. However, I don't care to ever again grace the grounds of TWI with my presence. That place is full of painful memories. It is where I was betrayed by people I trusted. Repeatedly. It is where friends were raped. Repeatedly. Even if I WAS still close with my niece, which I am not, I would not go there for those reasons. And, although TWI is now willing to "welcome" me back on grounds, it's a little lopsided. You see, in their own eyes they are being "charitable" and playing the part of "The Forgiving Father" by allowing a "prodigal son" to come back "home". But hell, that's not even lopsided. It's bass-ackwards. The Way International is no "forgiving father". It is the organization of The Way International and their salaried representatives who committed offenses against me and my family; grievous offenses, which cost us dearly in many ways. For these offenses The Way International never directly admitted their error nor apoligized to me or to my family personally, formally, nor even informally. They simply want to act as if nothing ever happened. And, my family which is still in TWI has also grievously hurt me, my husband, and especially my daughter by shunning us for years. After we left TWI, their hateful correspondence, snide comments, backhanded insinuations, and double entendres long ago made my daughter and I decide we would limit their access to us. These offenses have neither been admitted to us nor apologized for, personally, formally, nor even informally. No one-- neither The Way International nor our family still in TWI--- wants to admit they f*ked up, badmouthed us to our friends, destroyed our reputations, and hurt us even to our faces--without cause. They now want to act as if it never happened. I'm all for acting as if it never happened, AFTER a proper recognition of the pain they caused and an apology for their actions which caused that pain. That I can forgive. My husband is much more willing to ignore their offenses than I am. He plans on attending and will bring a gift. They are his blood relatives, so I understand, and am fine with that. But I will not go, nor will my daughter. Fences need to be mended. And you don't mend fences by ignoring the gaping hole you ripped into the fence. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones once the offence is recognized and apologized for. Otherwise, I am leaving myself open to be hurt again by people who hurt me in the past, who refuse to recognize they have done so. If I were still close to my innie family, I would send a gift. A gift will arrive, regardless. But I will NEVER set foot on the grounds of The Way International again.

Several "surgical strikes" may be in order...

ROTFLMAO!

LOL! Especially if spilled on the likes of TWI "noteables"!

hehhehehehehhe

Yep, that's it-- "a token of my Christian faith and abiding love for you". I can see how LCM would have changed the vows to agree with his new doctrine. I'll stick with the vows I took. They've worked well so far (32+ years).

It used to be "... in token and in pledge of my abiding love for you..." So, if that is NOT what they are saying now, I would interpret it as meaning that LOVE for the other person is no longer a requirement of Way marriage. Only the fact that you have a "heart of believing". I guess you can "believe" whatever you want. Like not honoring what wedding vows should be, and using Old Testament passages out of context to justify lusting after other women after you are bored with your bride.

I never thought I'd ever see the day when the likes of myself would be welcome and invited to be anywhere near the Founder's room on the grounds of The Way International. I've already made up my mind what I intend to do, but I'm interested in your.02. What do you think I should do?

Recently moved from the Cleveland area to Indy. Have a nice big back yard that has nothing in it except seedling trees I planted in the fall. Didn't have enough time before cold weather set in to move my perinneals down here from the old place, so it will now have to wait until spring. Kitten & roomies are renting the old place from us for a bit, so I hope to be able to move all my perinneals down here, and Geek has enough room to put as many veggies out as he pleases. I am looking forward to him planting lots of tomatoes, squash, beans, cukes, and lettuce. I will miss my Cherokee Chief dogwood. Nurtured that one for about 7 years and it is just recently looking fabulous. Will also miss my redbud. Both are probably a bit too large to dig up and take to Indy.

Try this one after shoveling snow or a freezing walk home from the bus stop. Serve in demitasse cups-- too strong and thick for a huge mug: 4 Tbs. of mini chocolate chips per 3 oz. of milk a whiff of cayenne pepper in each cup Bring milk to a steaming simmer over med. heat. Then slowly add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Chocolate will be much thicker than what you are used to seeing. Pour into demitasse cups and add cayenne; stir, and slowly sip... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Try adding just a whiff of cinnamon to that recipe for a real treat.....

Eighty percent, eh? Wonder where they come up with that statistic. They never say, they just make the claim. No scientific backup, no footnotes, just make the claim big enough, loud enough, long enough, people will believe you.

They stay because of new attempts like this one to try to refresh an old concept--give them something--anything--to keep them from engaging real life. It's only repackaged crap like this and the fear of leaving the only social support network thet know that tethers them to this dead horse.

I just love the irony............

!!! C[_]

The aforementioned information that was applied to many brains across the world has been recalled. The information has been proven to be fundamentally defective. Application and ingestion has been discovered to be harmful and even toxic. Do not apply or take internally under any circumstances. Keep out of reach of children. If accidentally ingested, immediately flush with the light of day and several gallons of Greasespotcafe "foglifter" brand, strong, black coffee, straight from the forums. Follow with a liberal application of free thought.

My personal experience with VPW? Two very, very different people. While in residence in 1975, I discovered my sister had suddenly been sent home from the WOW field. My parents had to go pick her up. She was silent the entire trip home from S.Carolina to Indiana. Cried for weeks, would not eat, could not sleep. Parents called me wondering what happened, and what to do for her-- she wouldn't tell them what happened. I figured I'd ask VP personally, since he would be at Emporia, and had just visited my sister prior to her being sent home. The conversation between "Me & VP"? Very terse, curt. I asked him what happened to her on the field, since she was so vibrant and happy when my parents had visited several weeks before. "She just couldn't handle the WOW field" was the sharp reply. Very intimidating. I found out what actually happened to her only after leaving TWI several decades later. VPW had behaved in a very sexually inappropriate way towards my 17 year old virgin sister. No wonder VP didn't want to talk about it. Fast forward to 1981. Marital problems and problems with state leadership in IL. I had been approaching state leadership about problems my husband had with drinking. At the time, Geek wasn't owning up to his problem and was saying I had an "aversion" to alcohol. State leadership took his side. Long story short, at what was supposed to be a Thanksgiving dinner for the Corps in IL, I was singled out by the Limb leader and area leaders and and blamed for "ruining" Geek's ministry. Geek was embarassed cuz I stared at him the whoie time, and he knew the truth. I got up in the middle of the meeting, told them "F*** you. I don't want anything to do with you or your ministry" and I walked out. Geek walked out with me and apologized all the way home. We ceased going to any local or state functions for TWI, and sent our ABS straight to HQ, bypassing the state. We went to HQ a couple months later for a research meeting and while there I made an appointment with VPW to discuss our problems with each other and with the State leadership in IL. While recounting the Thanksgiving incident and describing all the things the Limb leader was accusing me of in this Thanksgiving "ambush", before I could finish, VPW said "Aw, honey, I woulda said 'F*** you' and walked out!" I burst into tears. VPW looked at Geek and said, "What's the matter with her?" With great pride, Geek said, "Sir, that's exactly what she did!" VPW laughed and said "That's my girl!" After kicking Geek's behind and giving him some directives, VPW built us a fire in his study, told us to stay there as long as we wanted, and was off to a meeting. Then, VPW called the limb coordinator of IL and told him to meet him in Rome City. The limb coordinator got a good @$$ kicking there, and nearly lost his job. Those two incidents comprise the most important personal contact I ever had with VPW and illustrate how he could be cruel and cold on one hand, and warm and responsive on the other. I think it is also why you get polarized views regarding VPW. Some people only saw the "warm fuzzy" side to VPW (I'm talking emotionally here) and so vehemently defend him. Other people only saw the cruel side, and vehemently condemn him. I saw both. He could be patient, loving, understanding, and kind, when he wanted to be. But he could also be calculating and cold. He used people for his own pleasure, not considering the damage that he might be doing to them, and the repurcussions to those women for the rest of their lives. You will find many incidents of both nice and nasty when it comes to VPW. He could help repair marriages and mend hearts. He could also dash them to pieces, and did, frequently.

The W@ll@ces make it a practice of lying or witholding the truth whenever it serves their purposes. J0:)sephine remained silent in a meeting when M@rk made an accusation against me she knew to be false. However, for her to contradict him in this meeting would have exposed a serious communication flaw between them, so despite me staring at her and waiting for her to speak up, she refused to look at me and remained silent while her husband's false accusations flew. So typical of their behavior. So typical of TWI. Yeah, real quality folks doing a quality job for their god.

For all you folks who don’t believe this site is being watched: I rarely if ever, post here anymore. I post so infrequently that most of you may not even recognize my handle. But within 2 hours of posting this thread, we got a phone call from the executor of the estate. Hmmmm. Beddy, Beddy interestink. Coinkydink? I think not. Fer cryin' out loud, XXXX, I DID say you took "excellent care" of her. As far as what it was supposed to read? There were a lot more things in there about her accomplishments, and definitely no (gag) "WaySpeak" or references to TWI. If you could read what her actual ccomplishments were, using the wayphrase "virtuous woman" would have been redundant. I thank you for your condolences. The anniversary issue of the obit sounds like a good idea.

I apologize in advance for the Xs, but I want to respect her privacy. But this very accomplished person many years ago showed me the obituary she had written herself, and told me that she had expressed her wishes to her son, the executor of her estate, to have it sent to the local newspaper upon her death. Instead, this is what I found: XXXXX age XX has fallen asleep and is awaiting the return of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She was born XXXXX [on] xxxxx, xxxx in XXXXXX XX to XXXXXand XXXXX. While she resided in XXXXX for most of her life, she moved to the XXXXXXX area to be with her son XXXX and his family in 2001. Most recently, she was a resident at XXXXX Assisted Living community in XXXXXX. XXXXXX was active in the Boy Scouts of America, and received the Silver Fawn award in 1974 for her outstanding service to Scouting and the community. She was a lifetime member of the XXXXX Naturalists Association and attended fellowships with The Way International ministry. She is preceded in death by her husband XXXXXXXX. XXXXX loved God. She will be remembered with praise for her constant willingness to help others and for her humor and strong will. She was a virtuous woman who took great pride in the family she loved. Surviving are her children, XXXXX and XXXXX, XXXX XXX and XXXXXXXX, XXXX and XXXX XXXX, XXXX and XXXX XXXX, and XXXXX and XXXXX XXXXX, eleven grand children and nine great-grand children. There will a private family memorial at historic XXXXXX Cemetery in XXXXXX XXXX. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of XXXXX XXXXXX to the Boy Scouts of America, XXXXX XXXXXX Council, PO Box XXXX, XXXXXXX XX XXXXXand/or Hospice of XXXXX, XXX XXXXXX. Sentiments and memories can be sent via email to XXXXXl@yahoo.com ; via mail to XXXX XXXXXX., XXXXX. While her son took excellent care of her and oversaw her affairs as she grew more feeble with age, her wishes as expressed to me many years ago, were not honored. I don't like putting this here, because this is so private, but I was severely disappointed (to put it mildly-- my stomach is still upset). It breaks my heart.

Thanks, you guys! We celebrated at Lola's in Cleveland. Nice place, good food, even better company. No disrespect to the Diner, of course :) GSC is always great for comfort food.....

I've tried the plain variety by the same brand, sometimes sold at Trader Joe's. I haven't tried the stuff with added flavorings, but I am really loving the plain yogurt. The taste is TOTALLY different from Dannon or Yoplait plain varieties-- vastly more flavorful. I put my own "toppings" in it-- sliced fresh bananas, strawberries, melon, raspberries, and/or blueberries, and a handful of walnuts.---YUM!

He worked briefly either for Orkin or Terminix while here in NE Ohio. How do I know? I ran into one of his NON-TWI victims at school. Several years back, in one of my psychology classes, I had a study buddy-- a non TWI type, not religious, just going back to med school. We were discussing narcissism and sociopaths, and he told me he had just been fired by one. He said he had a really bad experience where he worked, which motivated him to go back to school and finish his education. My study friend had worked for an extermination company and felt the manager exhibited sociopathic and narcissistic qualities. When he began describing his behavior and some of the pressure tactics and terminology the guy used, it sounded all too famiar. And then when he began calling his manager "Mark," it was downright eerie. I asked him what Mark's last name was and he said "Wallace." Then I asked him to describe him physically to me, and it was in fact the Mark Wallace from TWI. My buddy remembered he also coordinated some religious group in Cleveland. I asked if it was The Way, and he said, "Yeah, that's it!" Wallace evidently was just as abusive to his underlings in the exterminating company as he was in TWI. Changing jobs and occupations doesn't change the decay and corruption on the inside. It's something he can't hide. It will follow him wherever he goes. I'm sure Wallace got a "kick" out of working for an exterminating company, seeing as his "job" in TWI was to "exterminate vermin" from the "household." I can just see him now, swelling with "spiritual pride" in the ironies. The guy leaves a wake of destruction behind him wherever he goes.

This has been my approach with people as well. People understand it better if I frame it this way: I was involved in a religious organization for over twenty years, invested a lot of time, energy, and money into trying to fix something that was going bad, and I eventually left it when I felt it was becoming cult-like and abusive. That, they understand. What I have found in talking to folks, is that most people do not think they are vulnerable to being seduced by a cult. They think they are too smart to fall for a ruse, and they have stereotypical ideas of what a cult should be like and what a cult member should be like. They think there is something fundamentally different between themselves and someone who would "fall" for a cult. Or that a cult would be filled with glassy-eyed robotic people who are cookie-cutter images of each other and behave in a stereotypical and immediately identifiable fashion. When they voice those views, I tell them that their specific mindset makes them especially vulnerable to being seduced. Their stereotypical ideas ensure they will never see it coming when it does. THAT raises some eyebrows and then they are willing to listen. It certainly shook up my social psychology class and was backed up by the professor.