In other Maxwell news...

[SPHASH]

They have been known to eat at Chick-Fil-A (you know, because they are owned by Christians and stand firm against the evil gay people) and they sometimes also go to Olive Garden. Most of the time if they eat at restaurants it is the result of one of their followers being generous and footing the bill and/or giving them gift cards. IIRC, Anna spent a birthday on the road and a conference attendee gifted her with an Olive Garden gift card that she later had to use to take her family to dinner. Happy Birthday, Anna! NOT.

They did eat out after they went on that Wildlife Safari for Sarah's birthday. The restaurant with the flying rolls. Yippee! An either Anna or Sarah treated their brothers to Taco Bell this year.

[Mary C Doates]

THE LORD is leading me to buy restaurant gift certificates for the Maxwells. Do you think there are Hooters or Chippendales near where they live? Perhaps a nice Middle Eastern restaurant that serves, say, traditional Yemeni dishes?

[WonderingInWA]

THE LORD is leading me to buy restaurant gift certificates for the Maxwells. Do you think there are Hooters or Chippendales near where they live? Perhaps a nice Middle Eastern restaurant that serves, say, traditional Yemeni dishes?

And belly dancing. Please say there will be some belly dancing.

[johnhugh]

THE LORD is leading me to buy restaurant gift certificates for the Maxwells. Do you think there are Hooters or Chippendales near where they live? Perhaps a nice Middle Eastern restaurant that serves, say, traditional Yemeni dishes?

Save your money, most times that they eat out other people pay. Plus spare a thought for the waiters who get prayed on.

>>>>

The waiter we interacted with remembered us

[WonderingInWA]

Save your money, most times that they eat out other people pay. Plus spare a thought for the waiters who get prayed on.

>>>>

The waiter we interacted with remembered us

Well, and they accosted a waitress once. I don't remember the details, but it was sort-of along the same lines as "do you know where you will go when you die" kind of rhetoric. It was at an Olive Garden, I think. Nice!

[twin2]

And the Maxwells posted about Steve-Os B-day party. It is so shocking I will put it under a spoiler tag:

Door was decorated. Family dinner. Open (practical) gifts. Family Bible time. It was sweet.

[nelliebelle1197]

And the Maxwells posted about Steve-Os B-day party. It is so shocking I will put it under a spoiler tag:

Door was decorated. Family dinner. Open (practical) gifts. Family Bible time. It was sweet.

No, no twin2. That is a "delicious family dinner".

[bananacat]

Ummm...I'm one that only eats half an apple. I usually slice one up with an apple slicer (because I hate biting out of it) and share 1/2 with my 11yo. Also, I half my gum slices because I think a mouthful of gum is kinda gross. I also usually skip dessert, which most people think is crazy, but it's not that I'm watching my diet or anything - I honestly do not have a sweet tooth and if I'm not really hungry, I can't stomach dessert (or anything for that matter). Period. Overly sweet foods do not appeal to me.

That said, I don't portion control on purpose or give my kids miniscule amounts of food - it's just how I roll.

Does anyone actually have dessert on a regular basis? I don't think it counts as "skipping" dessert unless it would otherwise be served. I'm not strict about food or meal timing so I have plenty of snacks and such, but I never have an "official" dessert unless it's part of some event.

[TMS]

On a regular basis, at home? I doubt it. I am referring to eating out with friends, or when we are guests at someone's home, or we have company. In those situations, dessert is usually part of the meal, and 9 times outof 10, I skip it.

[asinglevoice]

Does anyone actually have dessert on a regular basis? I don't think it counts as "skipping" dessert unless it would otherwise be served. I'm not strict about food or meal timing so I have plenty of snacks and such, but I never have an "official" dessert unless it's part of some event.

My grandmother has always served dessert after dinner, but I think that's just how it was when SHE was a kid. Dessert was also a part of the meal when I lived in France - apéritif, appetizer, main course, cheese, dessert.

Definitely not a habit I could sustain regularly on my own, however!

[Muriel]

My grandmother has always served dessert after dinner, but I think that's just how it was when SHE was a kid. Dessert was also a part of the meal when I lived in France - apéritif, appetizer, main course, cheese, dessert.

Definitely not a habit I could sustain regularly on my own, however!

Yes dessert is always part of our meals in France, on weekdays we have appetizer (crudités in summer, soup in winter), main course and dessert, which is mostly a fruit. We only eat the whole thing: apéritif, appetizer, main course, cheese, dessert for Sunday dinner. Dessert is often a fruit tart with what fruit is in season as the moment.

Our meals seems heavy, but we don't snack so at mealtime we are pretty hungry !

[Flossie]

OK, I don't know much about this bunch, but when I looked at the photo titled "Our faithful lettuce chopper" I was a bit scared. She's looking straight at the camera with a very strange smile on her face, and the hand holding the knife is moving so fast that it's blurred. I got visions of her chopping madly away, with each chop representing something she hates about her life, then some dofus pops and with a camera and yells 'Smile!'

Does this girl normally smile that way? It looked to me like a combination of a fake smile trying to subdue a grimace, with some 'God I hate my life' thrown in. I covered up everything below the eyes, and then I saw that her eyes didn't seem to have happiness in them. To me her eyes seemed strained, like she was under a lot of stress.

[singsingsing]

Yeah, they all always smile that way, but especially Sarah.

[ILoveJellybeans]

The forced smile but with sad or stressed out eyes is the typical fundie smile. It is the way the Maxwells always smile, their pictures are so staged we have yet to see real emotion from them.

Im sure Sarah is secretly fantasizing about chopping up Steve like she is doing with that salad. Theres not much about her life that she can actually like. She is 31 years old, never married, never had a boyfriend or girlfriend, has no friends, not allowed to watch TV or listen to music, has no job, no hobbies, no social life, and lives with her boring controlling parents in the house fun goes to die.

[WonderingInWA]

Sarah is using a pizza cutter to chop the lettuce. Not a bad idea, of course, but maybe they don't let her handle knives lest she go postal with one. Just sayin'...

[sparkles]

Even Sarah's apron has a bible quote on it. A freaking apron.

[twin2]

Even Sarah's apron has a bible quote on it. A freaking apron.

Didn't even notice it, but does not surprise me in the least. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if each sheet of toilet paper had a Bible verse on it.

Look at the calendar in the background on that pic. Looks like a family calendar, appears to be a pic of Steve-o and Terrified with the big LOVE written on it. They can't just have a calendar of puppies or views of the world like every other family.

[WonderingInWA]

Didn't even notice it, but does not surprise me in the least. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if each sheet of toilet paper had a Bible verse on it.

Wiping their asses with Bible verses! LOLOL!

[OkToBeTakei]

Wiping their asses with Bible verses! LOLOL!

Deu 23:12-14 KJV Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: [v. 13] And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: [v. 14] For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.

That's the Maxwell equivalent of go, wipe, flush, wash your hands. I reckon. :lol:

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Ha. I was just thinking "surely there's some Bible verse that would be appropriate?" and then OkToBeTakei delivers! :lol: Awesome.

[Triplet3]

Does anyone actually have dessert on a regular basis? I don't think it counts as "skipping" dessert unless it would otherwise be served. I'm not strict about food or meal timing so I have plenty of snacks and such, but I never have an "official" dessert unless it's part of some event.

At my parents' house we always had pudding (dessert). On weekdays it was usually just a yoghurt or something, but at the weekend we'd have proper puddings like fruit crumble. It would be, and still is, absolutely unthinkable to us not to have pudding following the traditional Sunday roast! Now I've moved out and live with my husband we usually either don't have dessert during the week or have yoghurts etc., but we always go round to my parents' for dinner on Sunday when we're not away so we get a proper pudding then. To me a 'normal' everyday dinner is two courses - main and pudding. Or main, pudding and fruit.

[YPestis]

You know, we speculate that the Maxwell children are unhappy, especially poor Sarah, but can she really be upset when she doesn't even know what the world can offer her? I was reading Nothing to Envy, a book narrating the stories of North Korean defectors who fled their homeland. All led, by Western standards, very spartan and impoverished lives. Yet, because they were kept ignorant of the outside world, they all believed the government who told they have "nothing to envy" as they live in a "socialist paradise". Indeed, up until the 1990s famine (which killed 2 million), many thought the rest of the world clamored to live in North Korea (especially those long suffering South Koreans!). None felt that their lives were unhappy as long as they had very basic needs met (i.e food, shelter, clothing).

The Maxwell's children kind of reminds me of those North Koreans, indoctrinated to worship a false idol who promise them eternal bliss while keeping them in a prison. It's no coincidence that the rest of the world considers the intense politicization in North Korea as "indoctrination" and describes the idolization of the Kims as a "cult of personality". There are ample similarities between what Steve Maxwell does and what the Kims do to their people.

Does Sarah understand her predicament? Does she realize how natural her life is as compared to the rest of society? Or does she believe that everyone is secretly jealous of her life? In the past, she's mentioned driving by the local public school and feeling sorry for those poor children while "rejoicing" in her homeschooled childhood. She also smugly reported how some girls at the dentist office once expressed envy at the fact she was a SAHD. The only discontent she's ever expressed is in her single state but she doesn't make the connection that her lifestyle is the reason for her state, not God's will.

The North Koreans who fled their homes did so only after a famine forced many to look elsewhere for food. It seems the only way to overcome such intense brainwashing is when people are forced to suffer severe deprivation. Not deprivation of items like hobbies and reading materials or even nonsibling friendships.

The Maxwell children live comparatively comfortable lives. Humanity have endured far worse before breaking out of their circumstances. I think Steve will have to start doing something truly horrific before his children will see him for who he really is. Humans are naturally inclined to accept their circumstances, and brainwashed ones even more so. I have little hope that the Maxwell children will leave their cult on their own. Steve will probably need to pass away before anyone starts shaking off the brainwashing.

[sparkles]

I think that Sarah sees herself as quite blessed in comparison us non-fundie types. She's had it pounded into her head that the world is evil and its people are sinners whose lives are joyless and empty with Jesus, hence her feeling sorry for us. It's probably only within the framework of the Cult of Steve that she understands her predicament. A woman her age should have been married long ago with a growing family, and she is NOT. It's the one thing she's been bred for and it ain't happening, nor does it appear likely that it will happen soon either. I think it was in a birthday post a couple of years ago when it appeared she was lamenting her fate, which resulted in a deluge of sympthetic posts from blog readers. A day or so after, Sarah posted a clarification (prompted, no doubt, by Steve) in which she claimed she was misunderstood, that she was truly HAPPY to be serving Jesus in any way she could, and if she remained unmarried, that would be just peachy. She knows full well something's rotten in the state of Kansas.

I doubt any of the Maxwell spawn, or at least the women, will ever break free. I don't think they'd know how to function. When Steve kicks, they'll look to Nathan or Christopher to carry on as headship. It would take some serious deprogramming for them to do otherwise.

[Mary C Doates]

Sarah and the older Maxwells did at least have some exposure to more conventional social interactions and experiences before Steve became a paranoid religious megalomaniac found THE LORD. I wonder if they don't occasionally look back on those days and wonder how differently their lives could have turned out.

Of course, Steve has probably brainwashed taught them that they were on a fast track to HELL and DEATH until he showed them the "correct" path, so any fond nostalgia would result in a quick trip to the prayer closet.

[Flossie]

...who in the hell celebrates wedding anniversaries in 6 month increments?

In one of my call center stints there was a new bride that was complaining vociferously about how she had to work on her three month anniversary. She said that she and her husband had agreed to celebrate every three month anniversary to avoid having their marriage become 'routine'. Here it was, their first three month anniversary and she couldn't get the night off. Luckily for her, our manager was a complete ass who enjoyed watching the attractive employees and she was visually attractive. Her personality was that of an entitled child who had always gotten by on her looks, but that wasn't a problem for our manager. He immediately promised to pull strings to get her off for the night, and was rewarded with a smile of gratitude.