Yes, but the Truth is so restrictive...!

[BenJepthah]

Having been raised “ in the world” and having chosen the truth. I find that being OBLIGATED to participate in the worlds annual cycle of debt , decoration , and depression is what actually restricts.  Think about it: if people actually liked hanging lights all over their house and putting up a plastic balloon decor only to pay a huge electric bill then they’d find a way to do it all the time.  It’s wasteful, expensive, environmentally destructive and ultimately hollow.  I certainly don’t miss any of it!      There are a whole host of things I could not afford to do with my money if for all these years ( 35 in The truth) Id been wasting my money on inflatable reindeer. 

[Norbro]

2 hours ago, BenJepthah said:

Think about it: if people actually liked hanging lights all over their house and putting up a plastic balloon decor only to pay a huge electric bill then they’d find a way to do it all the time.

There is something to be said for having a pre-set date for a bigger social event, though. Especially when it's an event that everyone concerned intends to participate in. The only thing I miss about xmas is meeting my relatives (esp. cousins) in one place. There is something special about that family chemistry and it can get very funny. It's an easy sacrifice for Jehovah, but I would be lying if I said I didn't miss any of it.

 

I will probably go to my birthcity between Xmas and NYE to meet my cousins outside of the celebrations as they typically stay the whole week. I view this as a positive witness in regard to my relatives because it shows I don't compromise on my faith, yet make  efforts to show that I still care about them. This softened my parents' view on the Truth when I  became a witness years ago, and I'm hoping that someone in the extended family eventually gets interested.

[kejedo]

6 hours ago, BenJepthah said:

 Id been wasting my money on inflatable reindeer. 

And those things are ugly and flimsy. 

 

[Bob]

On 11/26/2019 at 9:28 AM, Qapla said:

I am 67 years old and am frequently told that I do not "look that old".

 

I was raised in the Truth .. I have never smoked, I am not a "drinker", I was never sexually active outside of marriage, I am not a workaholic. Do we have some debt, yes ... but only the kind that is "normal" - we do not spend beyond our means just to "keep up" with others.

 

Over the years I have been able to 

• pioneer
• play in the orchestra when we had one
• travel to other US States when I was single
• Build more KH's than I can remember
• Help build two Assembly Halls
• Work as Warwick during the construction
• Be on the "ground floor" of bringing the video to the Conventions
• Install the video walls at the Convention
• Married a faithful sister and raised 4 daughters ... all still in the Truth - my married daughter is a Reg Pio
• Have a 5 year old granddaughter that "pioneers" with her mother
• and many more things

Does this sound "restrictive" ?

 

I have not

• Been arrested or served time in jail
• used drugs or been addicted
• gotten cancer from tobacco
• had debt collectors hounding me
• had any gambling debts
• been in any fights

Seems to me that my time in the Truth has been filled with all sorts of things that have been neither restrictive nor boring.

This is an excellent point.

 

Now I was raised in the truth, and left when I was a teenager for about ten years. Before coming back, I was a full on worldly man:

 

-Was arrested for driving without a license at the behest of a "friend".

-Nearly had an unwanted child by a woman I wasn't married to and only had a "fling" with.

-Was physically attacked by another person in my trade school out of jealousy

-Was robbed at gunpoint while coming home from work

-Was pressured to have premarital sex because you're "gay" if you're still a virgin after high school..

 

Since getting baptized in 2006:

 

Married my wonderful, God-fearing wife eight years ago

Have friends that I consider closer to me than my blood brother

Understand the Bible. 

No gambling debts or expensive and deadly vices like smoking

Have a hope I never had in the world.

Have an international brotherhood.

 

Some of the fun I have:

 

My wife and I travel together yearly (coming to Florida next year!!)

I enjoy teaching from the platform

Made new friends serving where the need was greater

Traveled to places where none of the brothers knew us and we were treated like family

 

..and more stuff I cannot think about.

 

Being a Witness saved me from the heartache I had in my previous life. 

[pnutts]

On 11/26/2019 at 9:28 AM, Qapla said:

I am 67 years old and am frequently told that I do not "look that old".

Me 3.  In our bdg there are 4 witnesses that are all within 5 months of each other. 2 of us are already 67 - the other 2 - in Feb & March respectively.

[Qapla]

18 minutes ago, pnutts said:

Me 3.  In our bdg there are 4 witnesses that are all within 5 months of each other. 2 of us are already 67 - the other 2 - in Feb & March respectively.

 

I'm the only one in my building my age - especially since only my family lives in "my building" - we live in a house on 30 acres

 

1 hour ago, Bob said:

My wife and I travel together yearly (coming to Florida next year!!)

 

Yes, and I am hoping to meet you in person while your'e here

 

 

 

BTW - on the list of things I have been able to do ... when I was talking about this thread with a couple of my daughters they said I should also mention some of the non-JW things I have been able to do.  I have been able to:

• attend some college sports events
• attend some professional sports events
• attend some music concerts
• attend some stage plays
• seen the sun rise on the ocean and set on the  ocean on the same day (well, I guess it technically set on the Gulf)
• seen the sun rise in The Arches National Park and set in Zion National Park on the same day
• been to the Smoky Mountains
• been to the Rocky Mountains
• fished in the Atlantic Ocean
• fished in the Gulf of Mexico
• been down 95 feet in the Atlantic Ocean
• met several "famous" people
• seen the largest collection of restored Studebaker cars in the US

 

I'm sure there are some others ... just can't list them at this moment

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by Qapla

[Bob]

40 minutes ago, Qapla said:

 

I'm the only one in my building my age - especially since only my family lives in "my building" - we live in a house on 30 acres

 

 

Yes, and I am hoping to meet you in person while your'e here

 

 

 

BTW - on the list of things I have been able to do ... when I was talking about this thread with a couple of my daughters they said I should also mention some of the non-JW things I have been able to do.  I have been able to:

• attend some college sports events
• attend some professional sports events
• attend some music concerts
• attend some stage plays
• seen the sun rise on the ocean and set on the  ocean on the same day (well, I guess it technically set on the Gulf)
• seen the sun rise in The Arches National Park and set in Zion National Park on the same day
• been to the Smoky Mountains
• been to the Rocky Mountains
• fished in the Atlantic Ocean
• fished in the Gulf of Mexico
• been down 95 feet in the Atlantic Ocean
• met several "famous" people
• seen the largest collection of restored Studebaker cars in the US

 

I'm sure there are some others ... just can't list them at this moment

 

Speaking of fun stuff, after visiting you in Florida, in 2021 we are planning a cross country road trip to Mt Rushmore, Yellow Stone, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Death Valley, and possibly the Mojave.

 

We are allotting 2 weeks for that trip. So yeah, good, clean fun is still "fun" though the world seeing morally clean entertainment as boring. 

[BenJepthah]

This convo has taken a lovely turn :

    Things by age 50 that I have been able to do as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Travel out of the country ( Mexico and the DR )within this hemisphere. 

         The Dominican Republic was especially great. My wife and I had our luggage lost on the way. <<THIS WAS A BLESSING >> we had both dressed as if for a meeting for the plane trip. We informal witnessed on the way. Since we arrived on Saturday we made arrangements with a concierge to get to the local KH on Sunday. Our estimation of the time of the meeting was nearly perfect. 

     That night we were invited to a party at a private residence with the congregation! For the next two days the friends showed us the country ( including Bethel). Puerta Plata and the Capital!  By late Monday our luggage arrived. 

   Additionally we have traveled to Alaska, Florida, the Dakotas, Colorado, Louisiana, Arizona. Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee ( others). I have taken up hiking : The Superstition Mountains,  Big Cypress, Honey Island swamp. Camped in the Picayune Strand twice. Even Hiked The Arctic. In two years one of my sons ( maybe two) are planning on hiking trails at Mount Fuji 🗻.  My wife and I have also attended the Fastpitch Softball World Series ( highly recommend). I have also enjoyed many plays and concerts .  So much for how restrictive our way of life seems to those outside.

[retroHelen]

When you are young you aren't wise enough to see ways to get on with the Truth so you won't feel restricted but free. You haven't done enough noticing of the World to see the pitfalls. You are naive enough to be taken in by all the glitter of it and not the undercurrents.

 

Our family made much of Christmas and made my Mother's life a misery at first. We all lived in different parts of UK and meeting up together at Xmas was a big thing. So Mother, being a wise person, suggested that as weather can be pretty nasty in December, why not meet up together in late spring holidays as a picnic when the weather is nicer and people are sure to be able to travel without worrying about getting stuck in snow or floods, etc and we can all go out in the fresh air to enjoy games together.

 

She waited until then and put the word out round the country to all our relatives, found a place to all meet up and games to play. Relatives came with picnics and all sorts and it was such a great success, it was far better than Xmas parties with less worry of travel, expense of present swapping/house decorating, just snackfood sharing and playing. Not restrictive at all! Most have died now, so we look forward to doing the same, hopefully with the best of them in the New World.