Lost Time

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 6/12/2012 at 11:13 AM, JavaJane said:

I was involved in twi from about the age of 12. I was in for 23 years before I left. That is more than half my life when I look back and do the math.

It's a lot of lost time. I never got a degree. I have never owned a house. I have maybe seven years of credit history.

I'm doing OK. I started my own business last year doing what I love and I am showing a profit for this year as of last week.

But I have regrets about that time I wasted. I could have been much further in my career if I wasn't involved in twi. I gave up doing what I am doing now because the hours for a caterer/chef don't work well with class schedules and ministry events and fellowship times. I never went to culinary school like I wanted.

But I am doing my best to make up for lost time now.

How do you deal with the regrets without getting bitter?

Edited for auto correct auto misspellings

JJ, I have a Mental Health Specialist who helps me.

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 6/15/2012 at 10:33 AM, newlife said:

Great topic.....thanks! When I left TWI I had a part time job and I would come home to this rocking chair and rock and think about my life.

I was devistated, completely. I felt like the best years were lost...the years where people developed their careers, had families.

I was out WOW, Doing classes, running a fellowship. Before I went into TWI I wanted to be a music teacher. After TWI, I didn't get a degree, but I had opportunities to teach some lessons, even directed a choir for a period of time and played for a short time in a band. Two years ago I ended doing music totally just because I felt it was time to do that.

I had always wanted to write a book since HS...and of course that never happened in TWI. Last summer, I wrote my first small novel and I have just continued to write. I have a mentor now, a university professor, and I am writing plays. Who Knew? Certainly not I. But, I'm loving this new area of interest. It's like a hobby for me.

I only know that I had to let go of the past, let go of what might have been, and just reach for the future, even though I had no idea what the future was suppose to look like.

We "get" each other. We know the wounds, the hurts and this is a great place for healing. We can talk about whatever we want to talk about, get support, love and acceptance.

I wish you well in your journey of life.....it's worth it.

NL, great post!!  Thanks!!

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 6/15/2012 at 8:50 PM, JavaJane said:

Isn't it great we have a place where people get us? Thank God for the GSC.

JJ, amen!

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 6/18/2012 at 4:48 PM, GeorgeStGeorge said:

I can't say that I really "lost time" with TWI, at least in the sense that other posters have described it. I don't regret the time I spent as a Twig Leader; and I was able to refuse every invitation to join the Corps or go WOW. I just didn't see them as part of my life trajectory. I finished my PhD and worked in industry for 28 years. (I now work for a small chemical research firm.) I married later in life than most (41); but that was due to my inability to choose, more than anything TWi did. In fact, I met my (now, ex-)wife while we were both in TWI.

Lost money? That's another story, though I honestly don't begrudge giving thousands of dollars in ABS. God's taken pretty good care of me.

George

George, great post!!  I don't feel I lost a lot of time in TWI either.  I did what I wanted to do; I went to college, and then joined the Navy.  I don't regret giving my ABS to TWI; God really has taken care of me.

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 6/23/2012 at 10:54 PM, Kit Sober said:

A dear friend said that Holy Spirit showed him his life like a 100-year football game, and therefore (he is late 60's) he is still in the 3rd quarter and the 4th quarter is where most of the major plays are made. So it should be with us. I am 66, went deaf, lost my husband, went deaf, am pretty close to destitute but the 23+ years I spent in twi, although they were "prime" years are receding in their proportion of my life the longer I live. I don't know if I will have a 100-year life which my friend is expecting (He comes from a long-lived family), but my dad and his brother lived into their 90s and late 80's, respectively, and my mom's side had some good long lived people there as well, so I am thinking I still may have time for a touchdown or two.

I know I am responsible for living the best I can in the moments I have right now, and that the weight of the sins of unforgiveness, bitterness, and regret are too heavy to bear.

God has not forsaken me and I still have hope and trust God for His kindness and protection, His care and concern. I am so very very thankful that God got me out of twi. WIthout Greasespot Cafe (and WayDale and Transchat) even though I was kicked out of twi I still might be kicking myself for my spiritual weakness which caused me to be "marked and avoided"!!! But because of God's mercy and kindness and the work of all the kindhearted people who have shared their/your life stories, I have been able to keep growing with the Lord and in my life with the Holy Spirit, but it definitely requires leaving bitterness etc. behind.

Kit, yes!!  Thanks for posting!!!