The Year of Our Baptism in the Cult.
My JW Husband, who had convinced me that JW had the Truth and that they were God's People, and I were baptized at a motel swimming pool in Mountain View, Arkansas. We had a couple, the wife of which claimed to be of the 144,000, babysit our little boy, and we went down there to get baptized. At that time, at the Circuit assemblies, they had the baptism on Saturday Morning, and most JWs did not go on Saturday Morning for that reason. (they changed that without telling anybody after a few years) So that morning, September 9, 1976, was a big day in which I recieved a lot of attention; hugs from sisters, congratulations, etc., and it was somwhat like getting married again; I was for the moment a Celebrity.
Soon after that, my unstable JW husband started getting sick, and they did find an ulcer in his stomach. I took the bull by the horns, and started cooking for him, paying attention to his diet, which he hated, but the next x-rays did not show the ulcer. I am telling you this, because in between this, he had a few job losses, and he blamed me for that. Then, his brother came down from Wisconsin, and that was made us end up back in Milwaukee. He promised that if we went up there, he would give us the money to get back. I was not aware that my JW husband's family did not keep their promises to each other, but that was what happened. I had to call my dad and get the money to get back to Arkansas, where we did have a house yet, and still lived in it.
When we got back down there, we had a lot of problems, and first of all, the gas was off, and the house was cold. Our son was three years old, and of course his dad did not want to live there anymore, because he was cold too. I was the woman, who had no influence on the situation, according to the elders, and all our new jw friends, so I had to do what he wanted to do, which was move back in with his aunt and sick uncle. We did that, and all of a sudden he wanted to move back to Milwaukee. My mom had just died, and so I had money which of course he was going to help me spend.
The people in Arkansas thought we were welching out on our bills, the elders thought we were wanting to get out of "the truth", and this was really bothering me, for I was sick with a kidney infection which was to last a few more years and culminate in two major surgeries, but life went on, and we ended up back in Milwaukeed again, and nothing was the same; he had no job, and the congregation was no help, but that was the first of the gossip, and the stuff that I was to go through.
I thank God for all these experiences now, but at that time it was not so nice.
Soon after that, my unstable JW husband started getting sick, and they did find an ulcer in his stomach. I took the bull by the horns, and started cooking for him, paying attention to his diet, which he hated, but the next x-rays did not show the ulcer. I am telling you this, because in between this, he had a few job losses, and he blamed me for that. Then, his brother came down from Wisconsin, and that was made us end up back in Milwaukee. He promised that if we went up there, he would give us the money to get back. I was not aware that my JW husband's family did not keep their promises to each other, but that was what happened. I had to call my dad and get the money to get back to Arkansas, where we did have a house yet, and still lived in it.
When we got back down there, we had a lot of problems, and first of all, the gas was off, and the house was cold. Our son was three years old, and of course his dad did not want to live there anymore, because he was cold too. I was the woman, who had no influence on the situation, according to the elders, and all our new jw friends, so I had to do what he wanted to do, which was move back in with his aunt and sick uncle. We did that, and all of a sudden he wanted to move back to Milwaukee. My mom had just died, and so I had money which of course he was going to help me spend.
The people in Arkansas thought we were welching out on our bills, the elders thought we were wanting to get out of "the truth", and this was really bothering me, for I was sick with a kidney infection which was to last a few more years and culminate in two major surgeries, but life went on, and we ended up back in Milwaukeed again, and nothing was the same; he had no job, and the congregation was no help, but that was the first of the gossip, and the stuff that I was to go through.
I thank God for all these experiences now, but at that time it was not so nice.
posted by Claudia Barlow | 12:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home