JWs Give Up on Me

The Jehovah's Witness I've been having Bible study with every week for the last 27 months just came by and broke up with me. They knew at the beginning everything about me as far as what I believe, and I told them up front I wasn't interested in becoming a JW. Last time they were here one of them asked me why I kept letting them come over to my house if I didn't believe what they were teaching. "I was hoping eventually y'all would get saved," I told him.
Seventeen members of the local Kingdom Hall came to study at my house over the last two years. Several times they left saying they'd have to research a subject and get back to me. They rarely got back to me on it. I told him this afternoon it had been my intent to keep the Bible verses in the context of what they were saying, and to keep them in line with what the Bible as a whole has to say. I don't believe it contradicts itself but you can take a verse out of context and build an entire religion on it.
We parted as friends and I believe the guy who came by every week, Keith (who always brought someone else with him) respects my viewpoint and knowledge of the Bible, but he also feels his time will be better spent elsewhere. I did take a few hours out of one of his afternoons every week, until they gave up on me today...

A Day in the Life, Wednesday, July 11, 2012

9:42 a.m. – Feed and water cats. That encompasses four feed bowls and four water bowls, half upstairs and half downstairs. Four cats eat a lot. One of them weighs 25 pounds, okay, 24 ½. I generally check their food three times a day and change the water twice.

10:20 – Brush teeth. Finally found a good dentist. I wanna keep her happy…

10:30 – Shave.

10:45 – Shower and get ready, finish packing, head to church and help load van. Kelly and I are going on a mission trip today along with about 20 other folks from the church. One of our former members, Rodney Mileski, is now a church planter in Carmel, a suburb of Indianapolis just on the north/northeast side of town, and we're going to work with him. Of course Indy is about a 110-mile drive north of us. I’ll drive the new church van, along with luggage and equipment. I'll also be pulling a trailer for the first time in 31 years, and only the second time I've done that. John Borengasser, our minister of music and administration, will be driving the new mini-bus. Neither are brand new, just new to us…

12:57 – Head for Carmel. Stop in Seymour, the home of John Cougar Mellencamp, because the bus is running hot. Pit stop at a service station/mini-mart there, make a few phone calls to seek help and advice. Dan Fidler tells us to idle the bus and let it cool off, then don’t drive as fast. If it gets over 58 mph it begins heating up. So the second half of the trip on I-65 to Indy is a lot slower than the first half.

Check into hotel about 4 p.m. We’re at the Staybridge Inn and Suites in Fishers, right next to Carmel. Got a good rate on the rooms there.

Along with a free breakfast, the hotel also serves a free dinner between 4 and 7 in the evenings (during the week, not on weekends). First night is burgers cooked out in the hotel’s courtyard, and they are delicious.

After dinner, went to the park we’ll be working out of all week, Meadowlark Park near downtown Carmel. We’re told to canvas the neighborhood and promote the “VBS in the Park” we’ll be doing for the next three mornings. We can’t knock on apartment doors but we can approach people who are outside. Dick Zuberer, my Sunday School teacher at church who I’ll be rooming with, is with me as well as 17-year-old Rebecca Woolsey, who probably kept people from yelling at us with her presence. Truth is though, the people are very polite and friendly, and one woman tells us she’s living with her sister, who has four kids that probably need to be in the Bible School. That contact might yet pan out for Rodney, but those kids were not at the VBS. We walked a very busy bike/hiking trail which led downtown, and talked with several people along the way…

Our room would be Grand Central Station at the hotel, the meeting place for devotionals in the morning and lunches two or three days during the week, plus other meetings. We went to a nearby Meijer and picked up some groceries, loading up the fridge and buying some pork I would cook the next morning for lunch that day. Got 48 bottles of water for 6 bucks. They lasted about two days and we had to go back for more later in the week. Also had soft drinks in the fridge. One night our door got knocked on about 25 times, but it was hot up there, and we were all tired and thirsty…

Stayed up till about 1:30 talking and fellowshipping with Dick, which would be about average for our bedtime. Set the wake-up call for 6:45, he took the couch in the living room and let me have the kingsize bed. I didn’t argue with him about that…

Just Hurt

Lay down on the living room couch,
Try to think of somewhere to go.
Before you know it the lights are out,
No longer aware how time goes by so slow.
You're asleep don't you know?
You keep thinking that someday,
Someone's gonna love you anyway
Despite all your faults.
You're not surprised when no one calls.
Just hurt.
Maybe you should get a phone.
Don't think it would matter though
You've always been alone.
And quiet.
When people say that you don't think they're right.
They're just not listening,
Or just not at peace.
But still they act happy - at least.
You're not Robert Redford
Nor are you an actor.
Your eyes aren't blue.
If you dream you dream of love - and someone new.
And you know you just can't win - you'll only lose.
You just hurt.
Just hurt.

Copyright 1977 by Randy Hartley