jmfministry
3 posts - Female, 48 - Palm City, Florida, USA, - Temporarily unemployed - Non-profit Program Director - JMF Ministries - Prayer Network Pages - more about me
Sep 8, 2008
The story of us..............Let's see, where can I start......I came down here to Florida in the late 80', married and divorced my first husband, yet tried to reconcile for many, many years. In the end I have two wonderful boys from that relationship. They are 17 and 14. I finally broke it off with him, and met another man.....moved back to Saginaw, married and have a lovely 12 year old daughter from that marriage. My second husband was an illegal immigrant, and when could not become a citizen through marriage, he left (only 7 weeks after the wedding). My first husband has since disappeared (2005) and although there is indeed a warrant for his arrest, and a suspended driver's license for non-payment of child support, the boys have had no contact with him and Dept.of Revenue cannot find him. My second just received his Masters Degree in communications from Western Ontario University, but cannot find a job (he says) to support his daughter.
Yet, I (as well as my children) will remain Faithful servants, and keep working as hard as need be. We live by "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded" (Luke 12:48)
I tend to do my work for my classes very, very early in the mornings before the kids get up, and that is usually when I check my e-mail. Being that I am overwhelmingly type "A," and abhor boredom, the rigorous schedule with these classes has been wonderful for me. I have always enjoyed the conversations, and always welcome the candid feedback from my Instructors and other students from all over the country.
In closing, I am praying that the Lord will open a door to working with a company that will support both my continuing education and Lutheran Theology studies. I expect that my degree in Communications, supplemented by Theology; will continue to open doors to positions within local Christian Business, and nonprofit community and the Churches, sharing my experiences and life lessons with those that would benefit from them, and the purpose being, “If she can, I can.” I will continue to pray for another quiet Hurricane season so my studies will not be interrupted, and that despite the difficult schedule, will enjoy my Business and Theology courses as much as I have all the previous.
Moreover, despite having a very successful Christian Group Home Day Care in Saginaw for about 3 years, without any moral or financial support from family or the fathers I could not afford to keep my business or my home.....my daughter was born with a birth defect in her kidneys that required major surgery when she was 3 yrs old (she nearly died in June of 1999), and no one in my family was available to help us through this horrific time in our lives. I turned to my Church, and my Faith - this was indeed a life-altering situation.
We ended up losing everything in 1999, and moved back down here to Florida with my mother. Eventually my first husband did end up helping us for about 3 yrs, and we moved to Palm City, Florida. In that it was 1/2 way between my mother in Ft. Lauderdale and my ex, who was in Orlando. My aunt, uncle and Grandmother are still in Michigan, my Dad is in Columbus, OH - my brother and Mom are in Newark, OH. One of my sisters lives in Indiana, and my sister, Diane does live down here in Wellington, Florida. I do not see here as much as I would like, yet we do go there during hurricanes. She is a super busy Mom of teenage twins, and I do regret that we are not "there for each other" as much as I would like.
It was a really difficult transition for our family, but the kids have been blessed. Great teachers, great schools, and we have a pretty nice roof over our heads for now. I ended up with a landlord that has been a God-send. I had been working at our Lutheran Church as an elementary leader, and for the local YMCA for several years, but back in August 2007 I asked the YMCA for a transfer to a program in our county so I could be home by 4:00p in the afternoons (middle-schoolers need more supervision than when they were little!)....they denied my request and would not give me another job because I lacked a degree.
Ssssoooo......at 44 years old, I got fed up and mad, and went back to school. I have spent the past twenty or so years attaining certifications, attending workshops, receiving licenses, however; nothing that would amount to a College Degree. I have found that in each mid-management position that I have held, that despite my performance; I would be overlooked for promotions for those that had indeed finished College [or be denied the opportunity to apply for positions]. Now that my children are older twelve, fourteen and seventeen, their demanding music and performance schedules consume more and more of my time. Yet, as the sole provider in our family, to be the dedicated and efficient parent that I have committed to be, I have found that I need to actually work less than when they were toddlers. After several years in Real Estate Sales & Brokering, new car sales & special financing, as a Christian Group Home Childcare Owner and Director, Elementary youth group director, and then a literacy and mentoring program director for the local YMCA...it has always been a struggle "to keep up" living in South Florida. My sole purpose for enrolling and completing my degree with Phoenix is to “work smarter, not harder”, and as challenging as the process has been, it is not in my personality to accept, “you can’t do that!.”
I currently attend the University of Phoenix full-time, 1/2 way through my sophomore year (with a 3.96 GPA) I work part-time for a local public relations firm, and part-time as an administrator for a national Christian Financial Planners education group. I also spend quite a bit of my time as the Middle School Band Booster President, Public Relations Chair for the local Christian Business Fellowship, Board member for a musicians foundation, Advocate for our district in regards the importance of public school music programs, Environmental issues and do quite a bit of writing for other non-profit music programs. I had applied to the Deaconess program through the ELCA church as well, yet have never been supported by the current pastor or Deacon at our Church. Although it has been almost two years now since I had applied; again, I do not think that they were taking me seriously because I did not already have a College degree.
Since losing all of our child support immediately following the devastating Hurricane season down here in 2004 & 2005, life has really been a struggle. The current economic atmosphere has really made for our "normal" financial challenges to turn into something much more critical. My oldest has been accepted at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, MI (for his senior year in high school - 88% scholarship, I am still responsible for $4K more), and although I have always been extremely convicted to keep the children in the same schools, with the same friends, and same music programs, this Fall is looking like time to make changes again. I recently had a "health scare" with a mammogram and a cervical polypectomy (PTL, all came back just fine), yet again, was enough to make me re-think our priorities.
There has been a major problem with my Pell Grant disbursements and we are over $5K in debt to our landlord (which will now consume all of my income tax refund in Feb. 2009 to pay back; not including the rest of this year that will get behind), and with a cut in hours at both part-time jobs, am not able to pay for basic utilities and food.....AND thanks to Tropical Storm Fay, our van has been damaged beyond repair due to water (and not covered under the insurance because Martin County was never declared a disaster area by FEMA).
Additional "contract work" for public relations is very slow, and the clients I have been working with are even slower in paying for work completed. Florida is not a welfare state, and is horrible at enforcing court-ordered child support, I am not too sure we are going to be able to stay down here. Yet, am kind of "stuck" at the moment, having to depend on the State of Florida for health care with Nicole's (my daughter) kidney condition, and the required meds for Anthony's (my middle son) ADD. If I make too much, I lose their insurance. If I accept any positions less than $50K per year down here, I cannot afford their insurance (let alone any for myself).
Yet, I (as well as my children) will remain Faithful servants, and keep working as hard as need be. We live by "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded" (Luke 12:48)
Since starting with the University of Phoenix, in combination with years of amateur experience in reporting and writing, I had been working with several clients that were looking for fair, balanced public relations to communicate their events, programs and missions to the local community. My favorites are the nonprofit music programs (you can see my work at: www.yourhub.com - Stuart, Florida - search, Jeannie Ferrara).
I tend to do my work for my classes very, very early in the mornings before the kids get up, and that is usually when I check my e-mail. Being that I am overwhelmingly type "A," and abhor boredom, the rigorous schedule with these classes has been wonderful for me. I have always enjoyed the conversations, and always welcome the candid feedback from my Instructors and other students from all over the country.
In closing, I am praying that the Lord will open a door to working with a company that will support both my continuing education and Lutheran Theology studies. I expect that my degree in Communications, supplemented by Theology; will continue to open doors to positions within local Christian Business, and nonprofit community and the Churches, sharing my experiences and life lessons with those that would benefit from them, and the purpose being, “If she can, I can.” I will continue to pray for another quiet Hurricane season so my studies will not be interrupted, and that despite the difficult schedule, will enjoy my Business and Theology courses as much as I have all the previous.
I give you my word, I will keep you all updated as to not interupt the work that I have been doing for you. We are still waiting for miracles (Nasia) and I do know that the Lord has done wonders with "loaves and fishes" for us in the past.
South Florida is extrememly expensive, yet under the guise of the non-custodial parent assisting, I enrolled all three kids in public school here. We have lived here for over seven [7 yrs], although I am not quite sure how. Just after the hurricanes, I lost all child support and took a full-time job that barely made enough to pay the basics....and did not qualify for assistance. After attempting to work this way for almost two years, I could not seem to actually ever "catch-up". I lost my job the beginning of August 2007 when I asked for a transfer to a school program in my county [could not pay all the travel expenses and car repairs with no raise in pay]. Thus.....I enrolled in school to get a degree.....basic necessities are piling up, and it is a full-time job to apply at all the different local agencies. With less than $100 per week in cash and Food Stamps that do not get deposited, the Work Force Agency here is not providing any guidance. I am really beginning to wonder......are there any local foundations that I might apply for personal grants so we can get through this difficult time and I can indeed finish school and keep my kids in school here? The unemployment rate here is rising as fast as the foreclosure rate.
Sep 9, 2007
I am a single, Christian Mom of three children. We have been here, in Palm City; this small suburban community on the central/southeastern coast of Florida for just over seven [7] years. My children had previously attended a small Lutheran school in Michigan in previous years, despite the "battles" that they face in public school, all three [3] have thrived.
I am a former Christian Child Care provider that specialized in assisting "welfare-to-work" families/programs. Since my daughter's near fatal illness and subsequent surgery, we had to close the Day Care, and relocate to Florida. Since her health has steadily improved, I became very involved with my local Lutheran Church and the YMCA as a program director that served some sixty [60] or so families with a literacy/mentoring program that was a partnership between the Florida Alliance of YMCA's and the Volunteer Florida foundation.
I have successfully been a "cog" in the work of the Lord in providing quality programming to our community through church-sponsored programs and community-wide Associations.
I am no one special, and yes; have too admittedly fallen prey to the system to which I have counseled so many other young families to in the past. My saving grace, is that I know that it is all for a reason, and that valuable lessons are being learned in the process. Yet, it does indeed take a village to raise a child, and during any one of my children's next performances, I will indeed shed a tear or two, and remember that.
