The end of Times, starts to be very tired

[fix it shop]

18 hours ago, Patience87 said:

Thank you. I am beyond words after thinking about all the things that were maneuvered for my mother, but she is one of the most faithful sisters I know. She was at meeting the day after my father died because she said she wouldn’t rather be anywhere else except in the house of her best friend. I will surely hate to lose her if this system keeps going. But it’s so good to remember all the good things Jehovah does for us. 

If I understood your mom she mention being " in the house of her best friend ". Hard to type when eyes are full of tears .The words are touching ,personal , loving .Such a inner peace ,a warm feeling as she sits and thanks the person that allowed her to come in ,and sit ,I know the one that invited her and all of us ,do you know who that is .     Jehovah

[fix it shop]

On 9/24/2024 at 3:14 PM, Patience87 said:

I feel it as well. Several of our pioneers have had to come off the list, me included. My mental and physical health aren't what it used to be. I cannot tolerate talking to people as well as I used to. I come home after service with my head spinning. I just don't know what it is other than the result of the pandemic. Our congregation meetings are just not the same as before either in terms of attendance. Many times I walk into our hall and there is only 30-40 people in a congregation of over 130 publishers. They are struggling to find brothers to do A/V. My husband never gets a break. Midweek meeting is also difficult for the Life & Ministry overseer. So many cancellations and last-minute juggling. What happened to people being responsible? I've noticed that the younger generation is lacking in this department.

 

OK enough negativity. Time for me to go watch some morning worships or perhaps we will have a GB update. That always encourages me.

I heard having some tea ,then walking around the block and look at what our God have given us ,and those that don't believe him . Flowers ,insects , birds ,air ,wind ,sun ,our God loves to share .      Thank you Jehovah

[Patience87]

23 minutes ago, WD-40 said:

If I understood your mom she mention being " in the house of her best friend ". Hard to type when eyes are full of tears .The words are touching ,personal , loving .Such a inner peace ,a warm feeling as she sits and thanks the person that allowed her to come in ,and sit ,I know the one that invited her and all of us ,do you know who that is .     Jehovah

Yes, her best friend is Jehovah. It is touching, and she has faith that I can only hope to have some day.

[fix it shop]

6 minutes ago, Patience87 said:

Yes, her best friend is Jehovah. It is touching, and she has faith that I can only hope to have some day.

thanks for responding 

[Osprey]

Situation in the world is really going downhill but only in the last few months we had 5 friends that were removed before, now returned to congregation because of that and some other inactive starting to come back to meetings. And we are relatively small congregation... Times that we live in truly are special.

Edited September 26 by Osprey

[BLEmom]

8 hours ago, Katty said:

I don't know this would be helpful. I can share what's helped me be patient.
What's helped me is to just focus on what gives me joy in serving Jehovah in this system and just look forward to the next spiritual event: the next convention, assembly, CO visit, next last Saturday of the month, even. It also helps to have people to regularly get together with and have a meal. I've been trying to focus on things that give us joy in this system of things, no matter how simple that joy might be for now.
I also think it helps to not watch the news or to watch it as little as possible. Having a toddler has really shaped our entertainment choices even further than being a Christian has, because we want our toddler to be innocent of bad things she's not old enough to really be able to rationalize with her understanding of our hope for the future. Therefore, we watch a lot of kid friendly stuff, and, honestly, it really has enhanced my mental health the past couple of months. You realize there is so much going on in the world that you don't really need to know about. There's nothing we can do about it anyway. I mean, yeah, it good to know some current events for the ministry, but my personal opinion is that you don't really need to get into current events too much, because we're preaching the good news of the kingdom, not the bad news of this system of things. 
When it comes to branching out in the ministry, something that's helped me is to try not to stress about it or overthink about it. The best approach is typically to just be a bit more conversational. Take an interest in people, and, at first, you might just wait for obvious cues that it's a good time to give a Witness such as "what are you looking forward to this weekend?" when it's an assembly or convention weekend, or one that's very relevant now: "what are your plans for Christmas?" and as someone with a lot of Witnessing anxiety, I've just had to pray and keep my answers as simple and positive as possible.

I don't know if the above will be too helpful for everyone. After all, a lot of people have far worse problems than I do at this point in time, but I can share advice that I really took to heart from our current Circuit overseer: He compared time to a submarine which has water tight compartments, so that the water in one chamber would not leak into the others. Sometimes it helps to take life in "day tight compartments" and he continued with the thought that if you don't think you can handle weeks or months or years more of a particular situation can you take a day? and just focus on today. Then the next day, just focus on today. I'm training myself in my view of time is to try to limit whatever anxiety or dread I might feel to today's events, but to look towards beyond today for things I look forward to or want to plan for. 

In the talk at last nights meeting, the brother brought out Matt 6 where Jesus said never to be anxious about tomorrow. The way the brother broke it down was really neat. He even mentioned that we can’t get ready for work tomorrow, today so no point in worrying about it. 
No point losing sleep about something that we think will happen tomorrow because we are usually wrong. 
NEVER be anxious about tomorrow…it’s a good reminder 

[Tortuga]

14 minutes ago, BLEmom said:

In the talk at last nights meeting, the brother brought out Matt 6 where Jesus said never to be anxious about tomorrow.

I like the Study Note for that scripture.

[Pionner_who]

On 25/09/2024 at 08:13, Matthies said:

Estou pessoalmente sentindo um cansaço semelhante. Decidi parar de focar na profecia por um tempo, o que me manteve com a mentalidade de "quase no fim". A nova campanha de pregação mostrou resultados promissores, o que é muito encorajador. Agora, concentro-me principalmente nos meus estudos bíblicos, isso ajuda a tirar minha mente das coisas. Quanto às pessoas ao meu redor, tenho visto algum desânimo para o serviço de campo, sou o servo responsável por organizar o território na minha congregação local e tenho muitos amigos em outras congregações que têm a mesma tarefa. A maioria de nós está percebendo uma diminuição na quantidade de território trabalhado em comparação aos anos anteriores. 

 

No momento, estou lendo ''faith on the march'' de AH Macmillian. Seus comentários sobre a decepção e o desânimo em relação às promessas não cumpridas em 1914 ajudaram a tentar manter meus olhos no trabalho, em vez da data ou do tempo restante. Macmillian infelizmente aprendeu isso da maneira mais difícil. Ao lê-lo, lembrei-me de Mateus 10:23, onde Jesus nos diz que nosso trabalho não estará concluído quando ele voltar para julgar o mundo (Mateus 10:15), tento compartilhar a mesma perspectiva com irmãos e irmãs que vivenciam emoções semelhantes. 

Does your brother have this book in PDF? If so, could you please send it to me?

[BLEmom]

Another way to focus on positive things is to make a goal and start working towards it. Along with another couple, we have started discussing ways we can move to Spain or Portugal and help an English congregation there. We all find it invigorating to discuss. We are working on ways to earn income online so we can all qualify for a visa. So far it’s all talk 😂.  But we are seriously researching and we discuss every time we are together.  This started about a month or so ago. There’s another couple we all know who are going to Spain in December to check things out so we have plans to get together with them too to see what they find out. 
The point is that whether we make it there or not, we have all been enlivened talking and working towards the goal.  Finding something fun to talk about helps alleviate the monotony of this system of things. 
 

Btw, @Sofia where in Portugal do you live?  Looks like we will be there in March! 🤭

Edited September 27 by BLEmom

[fix it shop]

How excited  to help a Cong , expanding your horizon  and meet more of your extended family !  Yea !

[kejedo]

Dear Christian Family, I am also quite distressed with these trying times. Can't imagine what else could be breaking down. So glad I have an ongoing Bible Student. I will call her today. Her next study is Sunday pm. Hope you can make the best of this day. Hope someone has a good call, starts a study, or is in a service group.  Warm greetings, ys

[Sofia]

10 hours ago, BLEmom said:

Btw, @Sofia where in Portugal do you live?  Looks like we will be there in March! 🤭

Great news!

we live by the sea 40 km north Lisbon in Ericeira village. Photo taken today:

[Sofia]

Im so tired of this wicked system

I want it to be over FAST.

but I have so many Bible Students and so many who are starting to study that keeps me busy 

Time flies by faster if we are busy 

[Violin]

31 minutes ago, Sofia said:

Great news!

we live by the sea 40 km north Lisbon in Ericeira village. Photo taken today:

My husband's cousin and Uncle live there! His parents are in Lisbon. We visited 10 years ago when our children were three, one and three months.

[fix it shop]

On 9/24/2024 at 1:18 PM, Andress said:

Dear all

I just want to start a discussion on this topic to hear whether it is unique to where I live or if it’s a feeling that everyone is experiencing right now (and if so, something that is of utmost importance for our angels and Jehovah to help us with).

Since the pandemic and all the misery happening in the world (climate issues, a slowing economy, insecurity, etc.), I feel like the wind has been taken out of my sails a bit, and I almost feel like my energy is depleted. I serve as an elder, pioneer, and am part of the hospital committee. My wife is a pioneer, and my two boys are as well. Personally, we have no problems—we have jobs, everyone is healthy, etc. But it feels like the atmosphere and joy at the meetings, and among the friends, hasn’t fully returned. Perhaps many were hoping too much for the end, which hasn’t come despite everything, and we’re now in a sort of "waiting period."

I get the sense that this applies to many congregations in Northern Europe (our region). Is it the same in other parts of the world? If not, how do you maintain energy and joy ?

how is field service going, Any diffrence in your territory last years ?

On a serious  note , yes we are affected in our area  , field service is small , letter writing  is smaller , meeting attendance  is lower ( covid is here , again .) Friends dealing with serious illnesses ( cancer , dementia, depression,  old age , cost of living ( runaway inflation ). Crazy weather ,fires ,hurricanes, even though we are affected we try to stick closer ,share more ,study more , 

Lighten up our load  ( material things , our job , refocusing our priorities  ) and overworked elders  , shortage of brothers . We still limp along , doing what we can , making do with what we have .

 

[ChrisW]

Doesn't Jehovah know and see what we need? The talk this morning on jw.org by bro. Dellinger was very encouraging.  I've got saved.  I know I'll need it again.  But @Sofiai agree time does fly when you are busy.  I'm happy for your studies. 🙂💜

[fix it shop]

1 hour ago, WD-40 said:

On a serious  note , yes we are affected in our area  , field service is small , letter writing  is smaller , meeting attendance  is lower ( covid is here , again .) Friends dealing with serious illnesses ( cancer , dementia, depression,  old age , cost of living ( runaway inflation ). Crazy weather ,fires ,hurricanes, even though we are affected we try to stick closer ,share more ,study more , 

Lighten up our load  ( material things , our job , refocusing our priorities  ) and overworked elders  , shortage of brothers . We still limp along , doing what we can , making do with what we have .

 

Add on note : when was the last time you have given your elder ,his wife a card showing your appreciation for there hard work ,sacrifice , patience to both of them ? They don't have a normal lives at times like we do ( at times have to leave dinner at the table because phone call , late meetings after meetings,  brother holding information in confidence ,although wish he can unload some ,ultra stress when there somthing in Cong is blocking Holy Spirit ) Somthing to consider. Jehovah always consider those that Sheppard his sheep ,sometimes a silly sheep .

[Tortuga]

11 minutes ago, WD-40 said:

Add on note : when was the last time you have given your elder ,his wife a card showing your appreciation for there hard work ,sacrifice , patience to both of them ? They don't have a normal lives at times like we do ( at times have to leave dinner at the table because phone call , late meetings after meetings,  brother holding information in confidence ,although wish he can unload some ,ultra stress when there somthing in Cong is blocking Holy Spirit ) Somthing to consider. Jehovah always consider those that Sheppard his sheep ,sometimes a silly sheep .

Those are very thoughtful comments Wes, thank you for posting them.