Watered Garden

I'm not talented to put a e-card on here, but I hope you know this happy birthday wish is from the bottom of my heart. All the best to you, every day and always! Watered Garden

Was that when the built the auditorium?

The last three years we were involved with TWI, there were many times I thought of suicide and even mentioned it. It just made my husband and son angry with me. My son would always ask me "how do you think that makes ME feel?" We were on razor's edge with our leadership. Everything I thought said or did was wrong, and I was told so unendingly. I had been diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes, irrevocable proof of my sinfulness and unworthiness, because obviously I had done something to cause this to happen to me. My son was totally hateful and rebellious and flatly refused to listen, remember, obey, or do anything other than exactly what pleased him at any given moment. I was so convinced that I was responsible for the mess we were in, my husband's lack of a decent job for the first year we were out there, my son's rotten attitude, and my illness, that I felt they would both be better off without my miserable existence. My husband could have the MOG's and WOG's who ran Everett find him a wife who would standly boldly and fearlessly upon the Present Truth and be the kind of mother our son needed. TWI would rejoice because they would have gotten rid of one more empty wineskin. I couldn't decide whether to stop taking insulin or take a whole bottle at once. I even got out my dad's old .22 rifle, and found that I could place the barrel in my mouth and reach the trigger. I had figured that I could do this in the bathtub for minimum mess to clean up. But I never even tried. Why? I had a mother and a beloved aunt alive back in Ohio who would be absolutely devastated if I died, especially like that. And I just knew that God would not be pleased. Jesus didn't die for me so I could kill myself. I hung onto that thought for years. It was love that stopped my hand, and love that healed my mind and heart. God had something better in mind for me than TWI, grief, pain, and hopelessness. WG

Fellow Laborers, ah, yes, the meetings. We met for the "morning fellowship" ran to the big tree and back, ate our extreeeemely healthful and highly nutritious familia together, then off to work. Met at Limb for supper, had teaching on Tuesday, but otherwise worked our butts off until about 9:45 PM, had another brief meeting, drove back to Delaware for twig at 10:00 or 10:30 or so. I generally slept through twig. I worked in Columbus, and it is no surprise to remember that on our Saturday afternoons off, I generally took a nap. We lived in townhouse apartments on the north end of Delaware, Ohio. I distinctly remember this one roommate I had, blonde through and through, who had acquired some stylish shoes with wooden soles. One afternoon, noting I was napping upstairs, she ran up the uncarpeted wooden stairs in her wooden shoes to shut my door so I would have some quiet. Sounded like the Budweiser Clydesdales! We were six to a 3 bedroom apartment and 2 to a bedroom, unless you lived with a higher up or coordinator who got their own room then there were 3 in one bedroom, but it was luxury compared to what the WC had to live in. Many found their individualism threatened on a daily basis. We were monitored so closely. I got reproved once by a LC (JM) because I don't like outdoor sports and didn't want to go skate on the frozen creek that ran through the limb property. Why wasn't I out there? I should be enjoying myself with my friends. What was wrong with me that I didn't want to participate? (Truth is, I still hate winter but will play in snow only for my grandson, who is 3). How ridiculous can one get?

I married the kindest, gentlest man I ever met. We were in TWI in Ohio Fellow Laborers. I had come off the WOW field after a rough year. He was funny, warm, kind...I ran into some legalism in FLO and one morning I came to his door, rang the doorbell, and when he answered I just put my head on his shoulder and cried, said thanks I feel better and went back to the apt when I lived. He could rescue anyone's houseplant that was dying. The year after we were married and were living in Athens, OH, this couple got in trouble with the anal retentive 7th WC who was our BL, and they were told not to come to twig until they did whatever it was he wanted. He was being his usual hardhearted self, so we invited them over for dinner and just talked to them in a kind and reasonable way. They were comforted and everything was okay. He told them they could come to our twig anytime. That's the way my hero lives his life. Eph 4:32.

The last three years were the hardest for us. We were grilled about everything! Our TC's wife even told me I wasn't sexy enough and gave me some really sleazy night things to wear, which my husband thought were ugly. Our son was to rebellious, and needed to be thrashed daily. Then they decided I didn't love our son enough, or maybe I didn't show him enough. I was required to do six things every day to show my son I loved him, then call her and tell her what they were. Woke him up in time for school Fixed his breakfast Packed his lunch Greeted with a hug and a kiss when he came home from school. Presented the cookies I had baked for him that day. Decorated Happy Household Holiday tree ornaments together. Yada Yada Yada. Of course very little of this was good enough for her. Never mind I also worked part time. A couple months after this little furor, the little Ba***ard branch leader said to me out of a clear blue sky, "Now see how much better things are when you and your husband are likeminded?" I smiled sweetly and agreed, "Yes, they are certainly much better." I to this day have NO idea what someone told him to make him say that. We only had one problem with our marriage and that was that we were in TWI. Things did get much better when we left that bunch of morons behind. From about 1993-94 onward, there was no love, no tenderness, no concern for the individual. There was only legalism.

Every morning in Fellow Laborers we met in the coordinator's basement for prayer, manifestations, announcements and a fun run down Hills-Miller road about 5:30 AM as I recall. One morning, our illustrious coordinator overslept. We sat and happily chatted, making a good deal of noise, for about 15 minutes, or until we awoke His Majesty, who then charged downstairs and threw a hissy fit because we were so noisy and woke him up. A couple weeks later, His Majesty once again overslept. We sat in total silence until he came downstairs. This time he screamed at us for NOT waking him up. This time, the limb coordinator screamed at us for being so unloving to not wake hiim! Damned if you do damned if you don't. WG

When we lived in WA the method of execution was death by hanging. This one fella deliberately gained 200+ lb, getting up to well over 300 lb, then played the "cruel and unusual" card because the chances were pretty good his head would get snapped off his neck like a melon off a vine from the weight of his body. However, WA about the time his date with the devil was drawing nigh, instituted lethal injection. So they nailed him anyway. Forget what he did, but it was pretty awful. wG

Perhaps you would feel better if you went right back to that store, found that clerk, and told her how extremely rude and disrespectful she has been. She will not always be slender, young, and beautiful. Bettter yet, tell her supervisor what happened. WG

"passed around like a bong at a hippie fest" ???!!! my how descriptive you can be! Oh yeah, and I guess I wasn't spiritual enough. "Spiritual enough" my a$$! that woman couldn't even pray for someone to be healed of a freakin' headache, I had to do it. No WC, no Adv Class, just loving God and loving people. How heavy duty is THAT? WG

I think it was much more commonplace for those "in the know" to be promiscuous than us peons could possibley imagine, or recognize when it was under our noses. Here's something I remembered just the other day: I was a WOW in 1974-75 in Ft. Worth, TX. my roommate was SB a 4th WC on her interim year who of course was outraged that she had to live with a humble peon who wasn't even an Advanced Class grad, and in fact tried to get me to leave the field simply because she couldn't stand to look at me. in the middle of the year, we got word we were getting two lightbearers. One was a 5th WC guy. Ch***** H**** R**, and the other was an author who had written a book about TWI a couple years back. My roommate got all excited. The guy was a favorite of hers. In the past, we had sent the guys to stay in the apartment of the two guys who were in our WOW family, B**** and Em****. Now, all of a sudden, both the lightbearers are staying in our apartment, a two bedroom one bath job, furnished, and certainly not very big, with a full size bed in each bedroom. "E**** is sleeping with you in your bed, and "B****" is sleeping with me in mine." I was informed. Righteous little thing that I was, I threw a fit. "You know that's wrong, Dr. Wierwille said not to have sex on the field at training. And I am not sharing my bed with a stranger, I'll sleep on the sofa or the floor and she can have my bed all to herself. Or I'll get a motel room for a night, I can afford it.!" I couldn't believe she was engineering this, and I couldn't believe she thought I was so stupid I didn't catch on. Sounds from her bedroom would have been much more audible from the sofa in the living room. However, by dint of many threats and curses, she prevailed, and came out at night all bundled up in flannel jammies to round up her bedmate and drag him off to bed. I could not believe that (a) she thought I was stupid enough to believe her when she said they were just friends and no sex would be involved, (b) she had enough gall to do that in the first place, and © the woman with whom I had to share my bed snored like a f-ing HARLEY! I will give her credit, she did not try to drag me into the crap she was involved in, and when I was invited to apply for WC 6 by VP himself, she discouraged me. I like to think she knew what would happen if I went in to the WC as I had already caught his eye while I was a WOW. But SHHHEEEESH!! WG

With the initiation and Indian turnip thing, I gotta second Linda Z. My husband was in it as a teen at summer camp or the Adv. Class or something. When he told me about it he laughed uproariously. Thank God no one ever tried that on me. I would have spit out a string of cusswords hotter than the "wafer." No sense of humor for things that hurt people. Guess I'm just not spiritual enough.

Thanks, all. Bow, I'm not trying to trash the lady, just get some others' insights and opinions. I suspect at least some of my irritation is just personal. I did find a website where I could read an exerpt from "Jesus the One and Only" and it was really well written. The workbook on Paul is also a bit cumbersome and asks very personal questions, so I just leave those blank in case someone takes a peek.

Could easily be she's a much better writer than speaker. Or maybe it's just the Greek comment. This is the first I've actually heard/read/seen of her. At least she ain't Rosie-brier.

Belle, I think part of my problem with her is she throws around Greek like holy water! She actually said on the last one I attended (I don't go every Wed night, just when I can't get out of it) something along the lines of "Of course not many of you will understand this, but the Greek word is.....". I thought "Well, exegeckomai to you, honey." It was very condescending and it reminded me of someone who used to arrogantly say, "Oh, you don't think I know the Bible?" when of course he thought he knew more Bible than God. And of course some of her teaching is even weirder than TWI, at least to me. She did a session on the fruit of the spirit last night that was pretty good, even though I disagreed with part of it. She has an annoying accent, too, but I won't go there. It probably wouldn't bother me if she didn't. We did a Christmas program in choir at the other church called "Jesus the One and Only" that was just too cool. It was from a class she taught by the same name. This is only reason I started going in the first place. The one upcoming a couple weeks on "gifts of the spirit" will probably make me giggle or gag or both. If I attend....probably not. WG

HB from WG!

The Ladies' Bible Study at our church is studying a class by a woman named Beth Moore on the life of Paul the Apostle. I wondered if any of you Spots had ever taken a class/seminar by this individual, and if so, what you thought of it/her. She seems to have quite a bit of a women's "ministry." The other women think she is wonderful, but she kind of gets on my nerves for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. Thanks. WG

Yeah, I know. Too bad.

There was a young teacher, graduate of that school Up North, who was talking to her young charges about football. Since she was a bit north of God's Country, she confidently asked, "How many of you youngsters are Michigan fans?" All the hands in the room went up, save one little boy. "And how many of you are Buckeye fans?" she queried. The little boy proudly raised his hand. "Why, how in the world can you be a Buckeye fan? You don't even live in Ohio!" She scoffed. "Well," answered the young scholar, "My mom is a Buckeye fan, and my dad is a Buckeye fan. So I guess that makes me a Buckeye fan, too." "How stupid can you get!" the teacher sneered. "If your mother was a moron and your father was an idiot, what would that make you?" Promptly the lad replied, .......................... A MICHIGAN FAN! C'mon, Greasy, at least you could play Beautiful Ohio if we win. I'm sure lots of folks would sigh with nostalgia! WG

Here in Cols. All the folks who live in the campus area need to haul them couches on their porches inside, so's they won't catch on fire! Is this as big a deal for Michigan as it is for OSU? I've heard that the Michigan vs. Michigan State game is much more of a rivalry to michiganders. Here when you say "The Game" everyone knows which game you are talking about. GreasyTech, if the Buckeyes win, you gotta change the music, okay? Maybe Carmen Ohio? WG

Bow, you're one in a million! If you had been around, my mom would have received excellent care. Most of the aides seemed to have little if any training. It was the saddest place I've ever seen outside of New Knoxville. This one elderly lady in a wheelchair wanted to spend time with me so desperately. She had been a professor at Ohio Wesleyan for many years and had a son in California who could care less. She died about a month after my mom. I was so sad that I was so completely torn up by my own grief that I couldn't help her. She was very intelligent and though her body was giving out, her mind was still sharp and she knew how awful it was for her, but was helpless and unloved at the end. For years, when I drove by that place, I'd turn my face the other way. Now I live in a different town. If the time ever comes I would need one of those places, I think I'll inject an entire bottle of insulin instead. WG

All Sweater-Man here in Cols says about Michigan, is "OOOO, they're GOOD!" Next November (18th I think) should be one heckofa game! GO BUCKS GO BUCKS GO BUCKS!!!!!!!

My mother died in a nursing home. It was recommended by my family doctor, who was on the board, and I think a part owner, which I didn't know at the time. She was there a week and a half. The ratio of staff:patient in the evenings was about 1:25. The ones who were there were 1 real nurse and several helpers or aides, who didn't give a rat's behind about their job. My mother had a colostomy, the bag was full to bursting. I went and routed out the aide who was supposed to take care of her, and this young lady informed me that she would change the bag as soon as she had her cigarette break and called her boyfriend. Thirty minutes later, she was nowhere to be found. I found the one real nurse and offered to change the bag myself, given the proper equipment. While I was desperately trying to arrange for home care for my mom (I HAD to work), I came in to see my mom, who begged me to let her die. I told her I would get her home in the next couple of days. She died at 1:00 AM that very night. They wash all the patients' robes, clothing etc together in big laundry loads. They took my mom's wedding ring and the diamond ring my dad gave her for some anniversary or other and put them in the medication cart because they had no safe. Their main policy seemed to be benign neglect. I had asked for physical therapy for her and got nada. The doctor himself told me she would die in a couple of weeks and he didn't really want to do anything to save her or make her more comfortable. The morning after she died, when I had been up all night, he refused to write me a scrip for something to help me sleep. Needless to say I never saw the bastard again. This nursing home is very well thought of in the city where we used to live. The doctor is not, but I didn't know that then. As a result of all this grief, I view nursing homes as a place to send an old or sick or both person to die. The way around the money is to make sure the "patient" or "victim" owns no property. My husband's stepfather has it all set up that should he predecease my mother-in-law, the house they live in immediately becomes the property of his son, so that she will have to go to a nursing home, and his estate won't pay a dime as it all goes to his son. Needlesss to say, we don't like him very much for that, not that he cares. My husband's grandmother lived in a little nursing home for years. One roommate she had tried to kill her. I don't think very much of nursing homes.

I have a pretty good memory of people having bake sales and car washes to raise money to send in to help pay for the VPW WOW Auditorium. They were quite successful at it, and were lovingly begged to stop after a while. Here's a thought from someone who's been out long enough to realize how dumb she was - we shoulda had bake sales and car washes and so on to raise money for local stuff and kept our mouths shut about it. WG

"Tremendou." I forgot about that one. How about perfectly perfected and flawlessly flawless? or Glorious? Jesus is all of those. TWI worships themselves, not the Lord. That's probably why they have to keep telling themselves they are wonderful. WG