Hi Tim, it's nice to meet you! 

Having an understanding spouse is such a huge help!  They can tell us when the jw bs is starting to show again, lol.  I can't tell you the number of times my husband has asked me "is that a jw thing? Cause I don't think that's the way everyone sees it."  Always makes me stop and rethink things through from a non-jw perspective.

I can still hear my mom.  "You can do that if you like, but don't you think it will hurt Jehovah's feelings?"  "What if you stumble someone?"  "How do you think that will make Jehovah feel?"   

I think that freeing ourselves from the burden of guilt we were raised with is one of the best and hardest things to do.  Once I began unloading the guilt, I felt physically lighter!  We don't really know just how heavily it weighs on us until we can get rid of it.

Keep doing the research, and keep reading and posting here.  Before you know it all that guilt will be a thing of the past. 


Misty

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now"
-old Chinese proverb

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of the truth"
-Albert Einstein

“Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” ― Marianne Williamson