He's Been Faithful
I never shared the rest of the story about what happened in the days after I lost my job.I have moved on, but seeing the pain that some of you are feeling I need to share. A loss of a job, is similar to other life changing events. Even though your head is OK, your body reacts to it in strange ways. There is a grieving process that you go though. I went through it and about mid-October I was in full blown depression. My father in law who is a retired PA advised me to not even seriously look for work for three months. He said I had to let my body relax and get my health in better shape. So I did.
When I came home that day , after losing my job, I called Vocational rehab. I made a few calls to my pastor, my sister and some friends. Everyone was in shock. I didn't call my dad right away, because I wasn't sure how he would react. I didn't want him charging up there with a cane. Matt came home to see if I was OK. I was fixing something to eat because I had a one o'clock class to go to. I was determined that this wasn't going to get me down. That God has the situation under control. My nephew came and picked me up for school, we had a class together. I told him, he was quiet. He just looked after me to see if I was OK. Sharon called me back, she told me who to see at workforce to file for unemployment. She said they are listeners of yours and will help you through the process. They did, I was ashamed, people would stare at me in the stores, some actually asked me what happened. Some were told I quit and others that I had retired. What happened to me is done everyday in corporate America. Its called downsizing.
The next day I got up and went to workforce which is also where vocational rehab is located. I filed my claim. It became clear when she did the formula to calculate my unemployment why they let me go. Money. I was making too much of it. I was 52 years old. I had never been unemployed since September of 1977. I was 19 when I started working as a babysitter for a midwife and then went to radio.
I began to look at job possibilities and reality set in in November. This was not going to be easy. I didn't have a college degree. I am visually impaired and I am over 50. When I would fill out stuff online for jobs, it came back I didn't suit their needs at this time. What they saw was an older person looking for work, they figured that I didn't know computers. Most people in this age group aren't all that computer savvy. I am. My husband is a geek and he shows me things to do. Some I figure out myself. I got called about interviews. Most of the time, people think you want too much money.Maybe you just want to get out of the house. You can get underemployment as well. I couldn't drive, the job had to be the same schedule at the same place. A lot of jobs want you to travel. I was up the creek. Then I got a really serious interview, which went well, but I didn't have the healthcare background they wanted. The last interview I went on, I knew they weren't going to offer me a job, it was a fact-finding mission. I came home and cried. I had to give my radio dream to God. It was hard, because that's all I EVER wanted to do. I remember one morning I was watching Joyce Meyer about half asleep and she was talking about her voice and she said something that was strictly for me, that God was going to use my voice to "spread the gospel to the nations". I don't know how or when. I just going through the process. As I gave my dream over to God I began to heal. I poured out my heart to Him about how it hurt to lose that job, how humiliated I was by the situation and the Lord said, "They did me the same way". Wow, I wasn't physically beaten, I had been verbally abused , I wasn't hung on a cross. So I just kept my mouth shut.
Since I had no job prospects I went ahead and filed for disability benefits. When you file for disability, your unemployment stops. We had some rough months. God used my dad and Matt's dad to help us. As well as a few other people. What got me about that some actually asked me if I needed anything. DUH!!! I wasn't working. I really had to walk by faith then. My disability was approved in record time.
Disability is 70% of your income, we had struggles last summer. God was faithful though. I tried to find some part time work to supplement my disability. I asked everyone I knew and no one came up with anything. Nothing. It takes me a while to get things so I told the Lord I wouldn't worry about money as long as he supplied the income that came into the house. You have to adjust, but God is faithful. Hopefully I want to work again, but as for now I am in God's hands.
When I came home that day , after losing my job, I called Vocational rehab. I made a few calls to my pastor, my sister and some friends. Everyone was in shock. I didn't call my dad right away, because I wasn't sure how he would react. I didn't want him charging up there with a cane. Matt came home to see if I was OK. I was fixing something to eat because I had a one o'clock class to go to. I was determined that this wasn't going to get me down. That God has the situation under control. My nephew came and picked me up for school, we had a class together. I told him, he was quiet. He just looked after me to see if I was OK. Sharon called me back, she told me who to see at workforce to file for unemployment. She said they are listeners of yours and will help you through the process. They did, I was ashamed, people would stare at me in the stores, some actually asked me what happened. Some were told I quit and others that I had retired. What happened to me is done everyday in corporate America. Its called downsizing.
The next day I got up and went to workforce which is also where vocational rehab is located. I filed my claim. It became clear when she did the formula to calculate my unemployment why they let me go. Money. I was making too much of it. I was 52 years old. I had never been unemployed since September of 1977. I was 19 when I started working as a babysitter for a midwife and then went to radio.
I began to look at job possibilities and reality set in in November. This was not going to be easy. I didn't have a college degree. I am visually impaired and I am over 50. When I would fill out stuff online for jobs, it came back I didn't suit their needs at this time. What they saw was an older person looking for work, they figured that I didn't know computers. Most people in this age group aren't all that computer savvy. I am. My husband is a geek and he shows me things to do. Some I figure out myself. I got called about interviews. Most of the time, people think you want too much money.Maybe you just want to get out of the house. You can get underemployment as well. I couldn't drive, the job had to be the same schedule at the same place. A lot of jobs want you to travel. I was up the creek. Then I got a really serious interview, which went well, but I didn't have the healthcare background they wanted. The last interview I went on, I knew they weren't going to offer me a job, it was a fact-finding mission. I came home and cried. I had to give my radio dream to God. It was hard, because that's all I EVER wanted to do. I remember one morning I was watching Joyce Meyer about half asleep and she was talking about her voice and she said something that was strictly for me, that God was going to use my voice to "spread the gospel to the nations". I don't know how or when. I just going through the process. As I gave my dream over to God I began to heal. I poured out my heart to Him about how it hurt to lose that job, how humiliated I was by the situation and the Lord said, "They did me the same way". Wow, I wasn't physically beaten, I had been verbally abused , I wasn't hung on a cross. So I just kept my mouth shut.
Since I had no job prospects I went ahead and filed for disability benefits. When you file for disability, your unemployment stops. We had some rough months. God used my dad and Matt's dad to help us. As well as a few other people. What got me about that some actually asked me if I needed anything. DUH!!! I wasn't working. I really had to walk by faith then. My disability was approved in record time.
Disability is 70% of your income, we had struggles last summer. God was faithful though. I tried to find some part time work to supplement my disability. I asked everyone I knew and no one came up with anything. Nothing. It takes me a while to get things so I told the Lord I wouldn't worry about money as long as he supplied the income that came into the house. You have to adjust, but God is faithful. Hopefully I want to work again, but as for now I am in God's hands.
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