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That's my question to Groucho. Geer was a frickin bus driver. What was up with that? What did he ever contribute to "the ministry?" Besides pimping? And making himself out to be some kind of all knowing guru to the guru? Maybe his talent was listening to VP gripe and complain. about the people HE PUT IN CHARGE. Sheesh, talk about dysfunction.......

Exactly, Tom, with lotza Texas limestone, too. :B) My brother and sis-law don't cook, but my husband and one brother do. So they are putting in a fab kitchen for brother and J, as well as an outdoor kitchen/lanai, overlooking Canyon Lake. We'll have to hold a huge party in a year or so when it's all done!

Well, I like HGTV too, but I get frustrated with some of the tackier shows. I love Debbie Travis' Painted House. What she does with paint is truly amazing. Of course, I love color but appreciate monochromatic schemes, but they have to be done right to really work. Most times, they don't, unless a professional designed them. (Ok, I probably sound really snobby, but there is a reason people hire professionals.) Candice Olsen is a fabulous designer. I like her show alot, too. I love antiques and art and it's always fun to incorporate a client's own collections and really showcase them. Lindy, I'm like you and love contemporary art and design but haven't worked on too many projects like that. And as much as I'd love to live in a minimalist loft, it ain't likely to happen for me anytime soon. When we lived in Michigan, we added on to and remodeled a home built in the 1920's that had tons of character and unique architectural detail. We lived there 10 years and I absolutely hated to move away from that house. But lucky for me, my best friend and her husband bought it from us, so now when we go back to visit, we stay at our old house. Pretty cool. She is an artist, and the few changes she has made to the place, have enhanced it's beauty and charm. I love interior design, and have pretty much my whole life. My mom said I was born rearranging the furniture. :D My brother is building a lake house here in Texas, which is exciting to help with. I've never done a second home/lake house before, in the Texas hill country style. So it's way fun. Shoot, I could take design all day long and never get tired of it.

I'm making King Ranch Chicken for supper. Never made this one before, but all the girls at work rave about it. :D Belle, I love the taco soup recipe on the Rotel website. It's easy to throw in the crock pot. I always make cornbread to go with it. The kids love it.

I thought it was a lovely wedding and reception. Our yard looked beautiful with everything blooming. I remember Handel's water music playing over J's boze speakers, at the reception. I remember trying to sleep upstairs with the party still rockin and rolling long into the night. :B) The Monday morning after the wedding, Marty (my boss) picked me up because we had to drive to the KC office that day to work. As we walked through the house back to the kitchen for our obligatory thermos of coffee for the trip, Marty remarked. "Wow. This must have been some wedding!" There were gifts, flowers, wedding stuff everywhere. ;)

One of the good things in the corps, for me, was having a whole closet of clothes, a fabulous wardrobe, at my disposal. ;) All us girls, in the dorms, liked to share clothes, makeup, nail polish, etc. Seriously, I grew up with many brothers, in a large family, and had to share with stinky males all the time. I loved living in the dorm and having other girls around to share stuff with. I had that in college too, but somehow, we were closer in the dorms in the corps. We used to wear each other's stuff all the time, but usually got it back, cleaned, washed, pressed. The sisterhood was good. For me, anyway.

hey coolchef If you just want to read the bible for fun, with no research or serious stuff intended, I love my copy of "The Message." True, you can't use it to get serious about studying, but it's nice to read for the NT. For the Psalms, nothing beats King James.

Happiest of days, to you, my chatty friend!!

Groucho, I actually did lose my cookies pretty shortly after we started killing the chickens. And got put on dining room setup after that, as did the other token female who was on the crew that day. I don't know if you remember that. But it was the SMELL, that got to me, more than anything.

I have the Waydale CD too, somewhere.

You are a good sport, rhino. :wub:

rhino Thank you so much for the loving reproof. I am meek to your words, and yes I will do my penance working an extra shift of bless patrol. I am sure I was thinking more highly of myself than I ought to. Which as we both know is the first step on the road down.

hey radar I am reminded of your "Night That Will Live in Infamy" thread. Is there any way we can pull it up for the newcomers to read?

Hey dooj, Don't forget to bring your footstool to stand on for the group hug. And Shaz, yes! you have a great way with words. It was the "way tree" instead of the body of Christ. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about my tenure in the Way. I'm not sorry I went into the Way Corps. Geeze, how can I be? when I met my husband there, and we have built a happy life together? with a wonderful family? I so appreciate hearing how others feel about it, because it helps me sort out my own stuff. Sometimes another's perspective can put things in focus for me.

Yeah, tonto. I'm sure it was Nov. of 86. I remember because it coincided with a friend's baby's birth, whose husband had to go to the meeting. :blink: I think the POOP was first read to the corps in March of 86. Pretty sure about that too.

Dooj, he was raised aetheist. No Jewish blood in him. ;)

Pond I thought I made myself pretty clear. But just in case, the answer is: I was young, naive, and wanted to make a difference in people's lives. Husband and I had no idea what we were in for, and how long it would last. We believed in "the ministry." We don't regret what we did, or the lifelong friends we made, and the pretty hysterical and fond memories we have of wild times. But truth be told, hindsight is 20/20 and knowing what I know now, um, 24 years later, I/we would've made a different choice. Does that answer your question?

I think bottom line, one of the big reasons TWI failed so dramatically was that the "needs of the ministry," were always put before individuals. People were expendable. Many of us never got the chance to really develop as "leaders" because we had to fit the precut mold that somebody else fabricated for us. If we attempted to set healthy boundaries, and be honest and realistic about our own individual part in the bigger scheme of things, we got alot of grief. I think a big part of "leadership" is helping bring out the best in others. You know, helping somebody discover their own unique "talent" and then helping them develop that. In TWI, the emphasis was so much on meetings, teachings, classes and keeping that momentum rolling, that there was little room to grow in other aspects of "ministry." It was a very narrow box that we had to squeeze ourselves into. No wonder so many relationships fell apart. Not just marriages only. I mean look what TWI has morphed into..... Tis very sad.

I apologize, Johnny, I thought you were jumping on people. I must be misunderstanding you.

Aw, Top, if I makes any difference I ADMIRE YOU FOR WHAT YOU ENDURED. I mean that with everything in me. It was only by the grace of God, and supportive friends and family, mainly family, that I made it through, myself. Johnny, I appreciate what you are saying, but everybody's experience was different. It's good to respect that, IMHO.

Dmiller, you are welcome. VPW slaughtered that section of scripture in PFAL. And it always bothered me. VP also stunk at teaching the OT, and getting it to fit with the NT, and I remember asking about the "hope of Israel" over and over again and NEVER getting a satisfactory answer. Then, when my husband and I went to Israel with JS, he was working on that book, and he answered my question in about 2 seconds. It was wonderful, because I finally started to understand so much of the OT and how it relates to the bigger scheme of things. Like I said, it was a weakness of TWI. Which leads to any interesting point, I think. VPW was the one who asked JS to get into studying the OT, so he could teach it to the corps. VP knew it was a weak area for himself. He recognized a strength in John, and encouraged him to push himself in that area. I don't think J will mind if I say that. :D It's pretty obvious what his "gift" is.

Maybe it's just me, but all way teachings sound pretty much alike. It doesn't matter who the teacher/writer is, or when it was taught. Even some of the splinter groups who have stuff on the web that I've read/listened to, are the same way. There's no depth, no insight, no answers. It's a like pablum, or baby food, all mashed together, and squished up so you really can't tell WHAT it is.

Toppie, that was AC 79. Kidnapped girl and I were wows together, so I'm sure. Sisex, I must totally agree with you. Tis shameful what these cretins did to people. At least now it's being exposed, for the whole world to see what heartless morons they are.

It's pretty heartbreaking, Belle. :(

Hey Al Nice to see you again! Just because I don't want to list "the Way" on my resume doesn't mean I didn't learn anything valuable. For me, it was 20 years ago. ;) And I've done alot of other stuff since then, that is more pertinent. Just wanted to clear that up. Like diazbro said, it's a personal thing. Yeah, any of us who were branch coord.'s for as long as you and I both were, can run just about any kind of meeting, blind folded and handcuffed. Not to mention doing it on a shoe string.