Watered Garden

REAL men change poopy diapers whenever needed. Real men get out the vacuum cleaner whenever needed. Real men stay with their wives in the ER all day long, having taken off work to come home to take care of her. Real men put their wives and families way above a piddling little imitation ministry. WG

Boy, when I look back, there was so much stuff taught that was degrading that I just didn't catch. In the old Christian Family & Sex class, the triangle? God speaks to Abraham, Abraham speaks to Sarah. Sarah speaks to Abraham, and Abraham goes to God for both of them!. (emphasis was VPW's). He describes it as a triangle, but there's only two sides; Sarah doesn't go to God on her own. She speaks to Abraham and he speaks to God on her behalf. I honestly thought for a while that married women weren't supposed to pray. But I couldn't stop myself. There is an actual, blatant contradiction of that in the next generation that changes the course of Biblical history. Rebecaa, Sarah's daughter-in-law, is pregnant with twins and having a difficult time of it. She herself goes to God and asks for help and understanding. And He tells her the younger shall serve the older. Anyways, how such a blatant lie or to be generous mistake never got corrected is beyond me. Or maybe it's my misunderstanding. But I had to take that class many times, and I heard it over and over, the wife goes to the husband and the husband goes to God for both of them. Sure am glad God doesn't view women the same way those jerks did. WG

Our tiny town, the heart of the state, has a very nice fireworks display. They have a 4 day festival in the little park, with bands, kiddie rides and fair food. Deep fried Cheesecake, anyone? They take up collections throughout the year to help fund this. The fireworks display Saturday night was amazing! It went on for over half an hour, huge beautiful fireworks. My son, his fiancee and our wonderful grandson accompanied us. Friday night my husband and I had gone to hear the Drifters, the town festival's star attraction this year! Of course on the 3rd we watched Red, White and Boom! - on television in the safety and air conditioning of our sunroom! Half a million people in downtown Columbus is a guarantee of mischief, IMO. No home grown fireworks in our area, though . Otherwise, I'd have fried green tomatoes in the back 2 acres, I'm afraid. It's way dry here, too. WG

"If you like to talk to tomatoes, If a squash can make you smile..." (Veggie Tales theme song) Grandson and I sing this in the car somtimes, along with "Our God is an awesome God! He reigns from heaven above With wisdom, power, and love! Our God is an awesome God!" Songs like this teach kids about God too. I want my grandson to think and speak of God with a smile and a song and joy. He is an energetic little guy who loves Sunday School and got to participate in a VBS program at church called Avalanche Ranch which I heartily recommend to anyone with preschool through 5th grade kids whose neighborhood church is using this program. I think I learned more than most of the kiddie-winkies. WG

I would just teach them about God's love and that God made everything they see and loves them very much. Last fall I was keeping my grandson overnight. There was an incredibly beautiful harvest moon hanging in the eastern sky. I brought him to the window to look at it. He was amazed. He said, "Wow, Wow, Wow!" I asked him, "Who made the moon?" "YEE-SUS!" He replied with joy, and went to phone his mom. "Mommie, mommie, I saw the harvest moon, and Yee-sus made it!" He learned that in Sunday school. Kids don't need wooden spoonss when they're little. They need to know God loves them, God made everything and will always be there for them. Check out some Veggie Tales. They are fun and kids like them. I thank God my precious grandson was never near TWI. WG

Interestingly enough, the pastor where we go to church taught on this same subject, out of Eph 5. He emphasized three things, at least two of which have been mentioned here. 1) Believers are ALL supposed to SUBMIT ONE TO ANOTHER! 2) Wives are to submit to THEIR OWN HUSBANDS, not every male who comes down the pike. Men who think women are supposed to be treated as slaves are dispicable. 3) Husbands are to love their wives AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH. That's a lotta love. It involves a tremendous amount of sacrifice. Christ gave His life for the church. The husband should be willing to lay down his life for his wife. The way I look at it, Jesus Christ, because of His love and His sacrifice, is worthy of the respect of the church. Therefore, husbands are to love their wives and sacrifice for them such that they are WORTHY of their wife's respect. That whole passage is two-fold. One sentence will refer to the marriage relationship, the next to the relationship between Christ and the church. No part of TWI's attitude toward women measures up to this chapter of Ephesians. In practice, they were a lot closer to Taliban. Good for JohnIam and Mr. Garden and other men who practice Godly husbandship rather than TWI's. And shame on the men who do or did not and the women who let them! WG

How this happens is that it is included in anti-terrorism legislation. Canada has a similar law. Any clergyman who speaks against homosexuality in his Sunday morning sermon is a domestic terrorist and can be arrested and his church is closed down. Members of my family found this when they visited Prince Edward Island a couple years ago, and there was an article a few months back in the news about a similar situation in another provice. I do agree that it's mainly aimed at getting conservative Christians to shut up and stay shut up. I can see that we may have a similar law in this country someday, unfortunately. It would be unconstitutonal as can be, but I don't think that would bother those who put more private interpretation on the Constitution than VPW did on the Bible. WG

Looking in on this again, I realize there was absolutely nothing Biblical about this decree. People gave Paul gifts because they loved him. The saints took care of each other when one had a need. We are to do good unto all men, the Word tells us, but especially to the household of faith. The household of faith was not TWI, not the WC, not the BOT, not the MOGFODAT. It was Christians, period. Now some on either side, the giver and the recipient, have undoubtedly abused this no end., but we're human. However, in decreeing no gifts, His Majesty King Craig was flat out contradicting the Bible, and depriving both those who wished to give of the blessing of giving, and those who needed to receive a blessing also. What a false prophet! What a lying minister! WG

From my many hours of watching CSI and Law and Order: It is illegal for the cops to ask a minor chld ANYTHING without a parent in the same room listening. Those guys were WAY out of line. If they ask your son again, I would strongly suggest you instruct him to reply, "Let's go to my house and you can talk to me with my mom there." Or "Could you please call my mom to come down here and talk to you?" I'm not sure if it's true that they could get in trouble for knowing and not telling. What if the young thuglets beat the snot out of them for telling? They probably should stay away from that store for a while, especially if the local gendarmes are watching closely. WG

And that road (SR 29) is a shortcut to hell. From the PFAL session where VPW stated that "all of the women in the kingdom belonged to the king" to "Principles of a Believing (Believer's?) Family" TWI has taught that women were placed upon earth by God to serve men, and their two chief responsibilities are to keep their mouths shut and their legs open. My least fond memories are of LCM's rants blaming wives for turning their husbands away from himself and his wonderful truths by their "itchy-bytchy comments" and that men needed to get their wives in line. A lot of women have posted here that TWI persuaded their husbands to leave them, saying they were possessed or some such nonsense. Only the women who were on the inside of their perverted little world had any power, and heaven knows what or who they had to do to get it. WG

Was Jim Milne involved in any of those meetings, or had he been kicked to the curb by then? WG

Thank God I don't have to see and listen to that junk any more! I could only stomach about 30 seconds of that garbage! Who dresses these fools? Homer Simpson has better taste. In the brief few seconds I listened I didn't hear anything about God. No surprise, really. As long as these guys think THEY have all the power, they won't give much credit where credit is due. YEEECCHHHHH!! WG

I haven't owned a Pilot, but I can say that I think honda cars and SUVs are safe, reliable, convenient and good looking. We loved our CR-V;used to travel with the labrador retreiver and cocker spaniel all the time. We let the back seats down and had plenty of room for luggage and lab. The Civic we owned probably saved my life in a wreck. You might also want to look at the boxy Element. While on fight glance it resembles a box on wheels, it is extremely versatile and you can pack a lot of stuff in it with the back seats folded away or removed altogether. Happy Hunting! WG

That is just so meaningless. I don't think they were teaching kids to love and trust God at all, rather the opposite. I mean, if LCM or WC or PM or the people who ran the childrens' programs were God's personal representatives, what kind of God is He? Also I want to amend my previous post. A wooden spoon was a weapon of azz destruction! WG

Exxie, That would be the irony or all ironies now wouldn't it? CFF becomes the new TWI? Still wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. WG

GJ, When you think of how much money your mom had to acquire from "spiritual partners" to be in FWC, a couple dozen eggs from the abundance of chickens that were clucking in that yard doesn't seem like a whole lot, now does it? And I think every abuse and neglect kids suffered was a huge, enormous, gigantic deal! I remember once we had an assignment from Mrs. WC (F), to write a lesson plan teaching God's Word to children. If we worked with the young'ns, that was the age group you had to make a lesson for. I was taking care of 13-19 month old babies. Think of a 30-minute lesson plan which has to include a specific Scripture verse for them to memorize! They can't friggin' TALK! They can't read, and their retemory skills are not that hot, either. They are poopin' in diapers, for Pete's sake! And you want them to stand up and spout off Ephesians 6:1, 2, and 3??:????? How lame is that? I don't remember what I wrote, but it came back with a F and blistering note: "You have not shown me you know ANYTHING about teacing God's Word to children". Well, kiss my grits! BTW, my six weeks or so with the little ones, I never carried a spoon. I was a LOT bigger than they were, so I didn't think I needed a weapon of mass destruction to get them to behave. I would get behind them, put my hands over theirs, we would pick up a toy to be put away, and I would walk them on my knees to the toy shelf, put it on there, and then congratulate them on a good job. They were so precious. I remember one little red-haired guy who clung to me constantly, and another kid, 13 months old, who was placed in shoes and weaned on the first day of residence. He cried ALL the time. I was just dazed, what are these people thinking? What kind of organization forces parents to do that to their little ones? Our church just finished VBS and it was such a breath of fresh air. Our children were treated with love, kindness, humor, and respect. I mean, if we can't love them up and have fun with them, how can we possibly expect them to learn to love God? On the last night, one little guy got one word wrong in a Bible verse he was asked to recite. Do you think he was screamed at, smote with mighty blows, cursed as being possessed? Do you think his parents were reamed for not teaching him better? OH HECK NO! A THOUSAND TIMES NO! He was congratulated and it was completely ignored. (It was a word like and or the or something, but he never would have been embarrassed in public by anyone anyway.) Jesus said referred to children that it would be better to have a millstone hung on your neck and be cast into the depths of the sea than to offend one of these little ones. I can't imagine why it was so important to disobey the Lord on this in FWC. WG

Have a happy one!

Jessie Davis's mom stopped by the house because she hadn't heard from her daughter in a couple days. She found the house ransacked and the 2-year-old boy there alone. When she asked him where his mommy was, he said "Mommie's in the rug." He had apparently been alone for perhaps as long as a day and a night, no one is sure. It was the grandmother who called 911, not the little boy, but he has been extensively interviewed. He is staying with Grandma, I believe (thank God). Last night on NBCi4 Columbus, OH it was stated that the dad has three children by three women, one of whom is Jessie of course. The daughter she is carrying is also his. The police and FBI (I think is now involved) are calling in some special sonar equipment to look for her. This is so eerily like the Lacy Peterson case. I too heard the guy, who is a Canton, Ohio police officer, stating his innocence. His house has been extensively searched and items removed. There's a rumor they found some of the bedding, but I'm not sure, will check. Unfortunately, who would better know how to commit the perfect crime? WG

Me too. WG

Actually I took the seminar, "Answers in Genesis" taught by Dr. Ken Ham whose baby this museum is. It made quite a bit of sense to me. I think "Evolution is science and therefiore has to be the truth" is every bit as much a knee-jerk reaction as anything else. WG

Shifra, As you recall, we were in FWC with you for three months (the first time for you, the only-one-time-thank God for us), and our son was about 11, I think. He had a god-awful life for several years after that. A lot of this is that when we went to Washington State they were much harder on him. D**id Mi**ner wanted to have him stoned and deeply regretted to us that he couldn't do it. K**hy R**ko screamed at him for eating a piece of cheesecake too quickly and then having the audacity to ask for more (it was only a sliver and she had plenty). And I? Oh, I was a scared little mouse with diabetes newly diagnosed as a result of MY sin, and knew for a certainty that if this child did not listen, remember and obey without question first time every time, I was going to die as a result of my disobedience in not controlling (or maybe throwing out) my son. In the long run, we were commanded to take him down to Pike Place, the big open market in downtown Seattle, and throw him out of the car, drive away, and never give him another thought. We did not. They told us we couldn't come back until we did, we said hasta la vista. My son's course from then on was difficult. Problems at school, sleazy friends, and once he hit 15, girl and girl and more girls. He graduated with about a 1.7 GPA and he is a very smart kid. He did join the Navy, got married, had a child, got divorced, and is finally beginning to find himself, with the help of his fiancee. We are beginning to forge a new relationship, with caution on all our parts. But as Belle pointed out there is a huge need to belong, to have a family. He is a smart, sweet, charming young man. I pray he will do well. He is seeking God on his own. He told me a few weeks back that he had faked it all through TWI, hating every minute of it. When we moved back to Ohio we went to an American Baptist Church, and he said he faked it all through that, too. But now, he said, I need God in my life for real and I'm really beginning to get it. I really want to know Him personally. WG

I didn't necessarily think it was "cute" when my grandson used the F-bomb. I am pretty sure I know where he learned it and it wasn't from me. Unfortunately, culture and language have changed in the past generation or two, and not for the better. Much worse language that what has been discussed here is commonplace in our society, e.g. certain popular "styles" of "music" where sexual intercourse is loudly described. and not in medical terminology, either. The uncensored versions are everywhere. One evening my dog and I were going for a walk and on a very nice street in the town where we formerly lived, there were 4-5 young teenage "men" messing around with a car, and the stereo was blasting some "rap" "song" wherein the "rapper" (?) was discussing in very vulgar terms one of his body parts best left undiscussed in any location other than a doctor's office. It could be heard for at least a block. I was ready to vomit by the time I was out of earshot. Walk through the corridors of any suburban or urban high school. Then wonder where little brother and little sister are learning such awful language. My grandson learns it from other kids at preschool and unfortunately at least one of his parents. (who didn't learn it from me, either!) WG

I am still finding out who/what I am. And I am still finding things within myself that I thought I had gotten rid of. I have been very fortunate to become involved in a church I really like with a pastor whose simple Biblical teachings are excellent. There is research involved and often a Greek word or two, but it's unpretentious and the points made are points you can do something with. Probably one of my greatest fears, though, is that if I find my true self, she'll be a real bytch and I won't like her. WG

My grandson was riding along peacefully in the back of my car in his little car seat, babbling to himself (he's got a slight speech problem we're working on), and I couldn't understand a word he was saying, wasn't really paying attention, until out of the blue and clear as a bell, I hear "F***!" "What did you just say?" I asked. "Nuthin'" was his reply. "Well, don't say that again!" I admonished.

We will be close to the Shenandoah Parkway, and most importantly, of course, a couple nice wineries and breweries! There are other places to stay besides a Day's Inn, but this is one trip where we'd rather spend less on lodgings and more on everything else, especially the wine if it's good. :) I'll letcha know how it turns out first of next week! WG