Watered Garden

Do you walk to school or carry your lunch? WG

Oh, I am so pleased for you! We too looked for a while, tried one, it didn't work out, were involved in a Grace Brethren church we really liked, then moved out of town and lo it came to pass that this same GB church planted a baby church just 8 miles from where we live now, and a pastor there became the pastor of this church, just happened to be the one we liked the most and felt comfortable with! This is our church home now! I'm doing the ladies Bible study; Elizabeth George "A Woman After God's Own Heart" and it is delightful. I just pray the same for you, dear, and I'm so happy for you! WG

I did see a cartoon for a "man-o-gram" one time at work. The patient did not look happy. Jonny, imagine your external genitalia being placed by another's hand on a 1/2 inch thick plastic tray. An identical plastic tray is brought down upon them until they are approximately 1/4 inch thick. You are then told not to move and to hold your breath as the technologist casually saunters behind a screen to click a button and make the x-ray. One time I had a technologist clamp down really really tight on me and then LEAVE THE FREAKIN' room to talk to someone! By the grace of God, she didn't die that day. That was NOT at The James. We are professionals. WG

Scout I am so sorry for your loss.

I worked for almost 9 years for a radiation oncologist who specialized in treating women with breast cancer. Here are some thoughts on those patients: They were the brave, bald women who sat in the waiting room with knitting, embroidery, and books, chatting and laughing through their fears. They were the brave, bald women who sent flowers to the doctor and candy to the therapists when their treatment had ended. They were the brave, bald women who came back with bone mets making them limp, but still smiling and telling jokes. They were the brave, bald women who held onto hope when hope was all they had left. They were the brave, bald women who inspired us all to do better, learn more, be better people, and cure this damn thing. May God hold every one of them, the survivors, and those who did not make it, in the palm of His loving hand. A few minutes of pain is worth a year or two of intense suffering and eventual death. The technologists who do my mammograms are always so apologetic. I tell them, "It's better than bone mets." Anyone in the Columbus, Ohio area, I can highly, highly recommend any of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital's mammography sites. Get your mammogram every year if you are of the appropriate age/risk factors to do so. Trust me. I saw too much to not go get mine. WG

Okay, here's one you may remember. My second year in FLO, I had an old Toyota Celica. The darn thing broke down with frequency, and on this one occasion, it went battery-dead at Limb. It was not an attractive looking car, and since some bigwigs from HQ were coming down the following week, one Saturday morning JM, our noble limb leader, told me to get it started and gone or he would have it towed to a junkyard at my expense. So, I got PJ and JG and I think someone else, may have been DC, and we went and got a battery for it. Got the battery all charged up nicely just to be sure, and drove back to Limb and put in the new battery. Nothing happened. The guys decided to push start it and put me behind the wheel. Out onto Home Road we went, and they pushed away and nothing happened except instead of in the parking lot, it was stalled in the middle of the little bridge. They raised the hood. We all prayed. Sitting behind the wheel in frustration, because NO ONE could figure out what the he11 was going on with this car, (devil spirit possession was even mentioned by one of my frustrated friends), I randomly pushed buttons on the dashboard. Suddenly I had sound from the radio! "HEY PETE!" I yelled. "The radio just came on!" "Try it." he advised me. It started right up and was fine after that. No one was wiggling wires or doing anything other than praying. Two of the guys helping me were fairly knowledgable about mechanics and were stymied. This is the best I can do right now for an anecdote. I do believe God listens to and answers prayer; sometimes He says "no." I don't believe in a magic formula to get His cooperation in whatever I personally may think is best. WG

I had a vacation day that day and was taking my mother-in-law to the hospital, coincidentally the one where I worked. I had to get her a wheelchair and ran to my department, where a coworker told me of the first plane hitting the WTC. I got her situated where she needed to be, ran downstairs to my desk and called home. My husband had been cutting the lawn when a neighbor told him to go inside and turn on his TV. He saw the second plane hit live. He was crying. The next day at work, a physicist in our department, a woman from Iran, angrily informed me that we had gotten exactly what we deserved. Forward to a year later, a few days before 9/11/02, and I'm at work, listening to another secretary the wife of a local firefighter, denounce the plans for a memorial service, stating she wished everyone would forget about and let us get on with our lives. I don't think I'll ever forget or be the same again. WG

WOW! That is AWESOME! Thank you so much for posting this, Cindy!. WG

It was a huge relief to me to be uot of TWI and not have to go witnessing with someone I didn't know well, who would inevitably criticize my every word. It was a relief not to have some class to sell. I think people are smarter than TWI realized and could see a mile away that we didn't give a rat's behind about THEM, just their money and their body in a classroom. When I was first involved, say the first three to four years, I was on fire, not for the classes, but for God. I would pray for people or talk to them about the Bible and God and all without mentioning TWI and they would be helped soemtimes too. I remember when I was living in Charleston SC and I went to this dentist who was a Baptist with 6-7 children. He respected our knowledge and faith, but didn't want to come to TWI meetings. This was fine; I respected him right back. A lot of times if he had an issue he would call us and ask for prayer, including once after we left SC when he stuck himself with a drill while filling a tooth on a gay patient and was afraid he might contract AIDS (this was in the early 90's when we didn't know much about the disease). However, whilel we were in SC, my branch leader's wife (NOT 2Life who could've cared less) jumped on me about not talking to people who didn't want the class. I told her I thought the Bible said to spread the gospel not a class. Nowadays, I go to a great church, and I don't particularly promote the church. My trust level is just starting to get rebuilt and I'm just now beginning to want to read the Bible again. It's been 11 years. But I have no problem talking about my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. WG

We got a face melting from a little .... on the left coast one time because we flew to the ROA on a Master Card and were in debt because of it. "And WHO are YOU," asked his little wife, "that YOU should fly to the Rock, when the rest of us drove?" I thought "I'm the one with the job and the plastic, baby, that's who I am." The main reason, however, was that we only had a week and with me newly diabetic it wouldn't have been healthy to drive straight through without stopping except for gas and potty breaks. In fact, that was the ROA 1995, the last one, and we spent about 80% of our time with family, NOT listening to the latest rants of LCM, not even that much on campus. 'Course I didn't mention that right then. Because we were in debt, my husband was dropped from University of Life and ordered to send any classes he had back to HQ immediately. We lugged them around for a while, and then threw them out. We had paid for them, for pete's sake, and they weren't exactly offering to buy them back. Then, another evil deed, was brought to life, this one committed by me. I had written the wrong month on the date line of an ABS check. Here was yet more proof of my spiritual filthiness. When he thrust it at me, I simply started to change the date, and was screamed at yet again, for my spiritual sloppiness. "OH NO! You don't change the date on a check to TWI! Everything you submit to GOD"S ministry must be perfect!" We were then told because of our debt, we would not be permitted to attend the Word in Business conference, for which we had already registered. I immediately requested a refund of our registration. This did not sit well with the Man of God for the area, either. He howled about that for a while, too. What a moneygrubber I was and how unconcerned I was about spiritual matters, just wanted more material things. Yes I would get my filthy lucre back, and it was obvious that that was all I cared about. Good grief, he bytches us out because we are in debt and then dirties himself when I ask for our money back so I can make an extra credit card payment! We were not given a plan of recovery, simply told we would be watched closely from then on and we had better get out of debt NOW! Of course the irony is that we were REQUIRED to attend the ROA that year. It would have been unthinkable not to, according to our leadership. We didn't have any money to pay cash for airplant tickets. (His in-laws apparently had money they were willing to send them for stuff). This little man and his wife lived very well and she didn't work, so I doubt it was all his earnings. But that was none of our business, even though every dime we earned and what we did with it was theirs. Only our twig coordinators, one of whom was first cousin to DM, were witness. This was, Mr. M***er informed us, our confrontation in front of the congregation, most of whom were waiting upstairs for more festivities, but I'm sure could hear every righteous word that issued forth from between the lips of this self righteous little jerk. I'm sure several of them were shaking in their shoes, wondering if they were next. We left and never once discussed the matter. I was terrified, because I was already diabetic, and I knew that I knew that I knew that I knew that if I were declared mark and avoid I would die. I'm sure my husband was outraged over this intrusion into his business, and looking back, we should have talked about it, and left right then. It amazes me to look over these posts and see the violent screaming criticism and condemnation offered, but there was never any restoration, never any "Here, let me help you figure out how to get out of debt. (or whatever the screamfest regarded) I've had a little bit of experience with this myself and here's what helped me." Of couse hindsight is always 20/20, but I wish one of us had gotten up and said "***k you, you little ....ant!" so Mr. D**** M**ner, if you are one of the waybots who monitors GSC, here's my toast to you: You are one of the most inadequate, dispicable people I have ever met. You have the external genitalia of a mosquito. You know less about God than you know about life on Pluto. You are a prime example of the stupidity, hubris, and ego that typified TWI in the prime of the LCM era. May God have mercy on you for the pain you poured on God's people while teaching them lies about their Heavenly Father. WG

OM, I was being sarcastic. Raising revenue means raising taxes. That means more money out of the average American pocket for special interest groups and FOH's. Now I'm not gonna get into it with you here, either. And I don't give a rat's nose for whom you vote, either. WG

Why bother? Some people probably St. William of Clinton was the antichrist, and some probably thought he was the second coming. Not that big a deal and I am not trying to start something with you. So please don't try to start something with me. WG

Vote for Hillary! She will put a stop to it immediately! Hillary hates taxes, she is just aware that the government needs additional revenue. WG

Can anyone post for these lovelorn folks the lyrics of "The Pina Colada Song"? Lessee, now, I've been married for 30 years to a wonderful man. Looking back, the first thing I noticed about him was his industry. Mr. Garden was always doing something. He worked hard, in the garden at FLO, at the industrial laundry where he was a supervisor at 19, everywhere. He was frugal but not stingy. I think he was shocked when I told him this was the first thing I noticed about him. Second was his unfailing kindness. His compassion. His intelligence. His love of God. His sense of humor. And yeah, all the physical stuff too. That said, Tom Strange is on the money. You be you. Be happy. Have something to say besides "live long and prosper." (that last was my opinion, but others may think it's perfect). WG

Oh, please! WG

I can't believe anyone in his right mind would compare Ronald Reagan to Adolf Hitler. Let's keep in mind that people who DIDN'T love RR didn't have to worry about the Gestapo tapping on their door in the middle of the night, and that The Gipper accomplished what he did for our economy legally, without killing off a people, invading and assimilating Canada, Mexico, Greenland, and South America. War boosts economy. Maybe that was part of the reason for Germany's econonimc recovery? I don't know, and don't care. RR was a great man. Hitler was an unworthy cur who should've been put down long before he murdered millions. Mike, that comparison just sucks like an open chest wound. How dare you? WG

I'm not gonna go back through this whole thread to find out if someone posted this, so my apologies if I am restating what has already been noted by another poster. It has nothing to do with ideology, religion, or body count. Israel is a DEMOCRACY. It is not ruled by a sheik, a dictator, or a royal. That, IMO, and I do stay away from the political stuff because I'm normally not into that, is why the USA supports Israel. So why did the Most Exceedingly Great and Mighty, Most Perfectly Perfected and Flawlessly Flawless Man of God VPW deride the Holocaust, say the 6 million never died, etc? Because he was an idiot and a fool. Oh, and what if it had been some Christian group that was rounded up and loaded into box cars, trundled off to the camps and starved, beaten, hanged, shot, and otherwise executed, say, for the crime of being a Methodist or something? What outrages me about the whole damn Hitler thing is that the entire world should have risen up as one and stomped this guy into powder before he ever got the gas chambers operational. Wrong side? Right side, not soon enough. WG

Omygosh, Skyrider, I remember that soo well. We were FWC and on some stupid corps night hookup or something He says, with great venom and total, absolute, complete contempt: THERE'S NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU WHO IS WORTHY OF THE PRIVILEGE OF CARRYING MY JOCK STRAP!" All I could think was "Well thank God for small favors! Who the he11'd WANT to?" Wish I'd said it out loud; would've saved me a lot of grief in the long run. WG

That was absolutely beautiful! Our youth group at our parent church did a skit very similar to this on a foreign outreach mission. Because no one there spoke English, they had placards around their necks with the word for a temptation (drugs, alcohol, sexual improprietry, etc) around their neck. It was somewhat different in that the girl did not know the Lord before she began to be tempted by these things, which seemed exciting at first, then as in this dance-skit, beat the heck out of her. When the actor portraying Jesus stepped up, they all fell to the ground. Their audiences loved it. Thanks for posting the link. Ignore smart-donkey remarks. PS Bumpy I think an apology is in order. WG

Darn you guys are so much smarter than me! Waysider, it was indeed socialist living! One 3rd year FLO even kept some of my jewelry, a couple of silver and turquoise bracelets that my dad gave me mom when they were courting, locked up in her car in plain sight. She was outraged when I told her to get her keys RIGHT NOW and we would go get them. She simply didn't understand that I would object to them being hers as much as mine. I was raised to be a good steward of everything I owned, not get in debt, but have the best I could afford. As a WOW and later as a FLO, I was virtually preyed upon. I had a nice set of dishes FLO wanted to use; they were getting distributed throughout all the apartments. I collected them, and mildly mentioned I would like them to stay together in the one apartment where I lived. The stuff hit the fan! I was selfish, self-centered and unloving! I loved my freakin' Franciscan Desert Rose dishes more than my brothers and sisters! Oh the shame of it all! So I boxed them up, put them in the basement, and took them back to my parents' house over Christmas (OH NO, HO-HO) break. Unfortunately, it sometimes seemed to me that the heartiest proponents of socialist living were then ones who worked little, had little, and wanted what those of us who worked and earned had. Of course, that's socialism for you! WG

I will always remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard she had been killed in a car wreck in Paris, just as I will always remember where I was and what I was doing when JFK was murdered and on 9/11. I think the appeal of Princess Diana was not just her beauty and style, but her humanity. After the breakup of her marriage and indeed, even before, she was quite honest about her bulemia and the stresses she endured. She was refreshingly different from the rest of the royals, who "keep a stiff upper lip." Not to be totally unfair to Her Majesty & Co., they go back a long long way with their traditions. Remember, she is the head of the Church of England, defender of the faith, etc etc on and on, and most of these traditions have been rooted and grounded for several centuries. There was a huge contrast between her mothering skills with Princes William and Harry and those of the Queen herself, whose chkildren were essentially raised by nannies and their father the Duke of Edinburgh, an interesting character to say the least. Her Majesty was busy being queen, travelling the world to review her empire and so on. There was a newsfilm aired one time of her getting off a train after a few months away, and her little son, Princie Charles, about 4 or 5 at the time, runs to her. She looks down at him, pats his little head as if he were a spaniel, and turns away to the officials there to officially greet her. Contrast that with Diana, flying down a runway, arms flung wide and a huge grin on her face to greet her sons after an absence. This is the way the queen was raised, duty, duty, duty, duty, and then some more duty. This is the way she raised her children. Diana, on the other hand, raised her boys to serve and love. They have turned out quite differently, I think. I also think Prince Charles saw at least some of the light, and became more nurturing than he was ever nurtured. Anyway, to paraphrase Shakespeare: "The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft enterred with their bones. So let it be with every royal." Life is hard. They tried. God bless them. WG

I think that would be a huge mistake. The history of GSC is important. There are archived threads, such as the one on Child Abuse in TWI, that are invaluable to those who are new here and are seeking information. Those of us who have contributed to important threads such as that, or such as the one on doctrinal errors in PFAL, or Research Geek's top 10, would simply end up posting them over again. WG

Way to go, Likeaneagle! WG

He performed his responsibilities admirably. WG

Our premarital counselling consisted of the limb leader telling us he wanted to be sure the best man did what he was supposed to do. There was a long list of the responsibilities of the best man and he had been burdened with making sure these were carried out for other couples, and was sick to death of it. So it was all about him, not us. After 30 years, I'd said we did okay without him (he and his then-wife were divorced only a few years and two kids later. WG