Hey friends and brothers. Several requests here. Sorry for the length First, for my daughter and for her house to sell. She has suffered from mental illness for much of her life (she was born with a genetic syndrome - Smith Lemli Opitz). And she did okay with that for much of her life, went to college for two years and received an AA degree (she's now 32) but she still has had struggles. She married then divorced a man who was abusive (mentally and physical) to her. She had to call the police in 2020 and he requested a divorce at a hearing. So they are divorced (she has two children, now 7 and 6). She was unable to care for them well for the first couple of years after the divorce, suffering severe depression and child services were called a couple of times. We had to do a massive cleaning of her house on 3 different occasions. I can't even describe what it was like (she lived 45 minutes away so we didn't go there much) - food ground into the floor; crayons all over the walls; stains; crap everywhere - I can't describe. No judgment here. About 1 1/2 years ago a therapist said that her kids should live with us so that the wouldn't be placed in foster care by human services. We live in a 2 BR / 1 BR house apartment - which we rented after we sold our house and moved to downtown Bham to work among the homeless and poor with a small, fledgling ministry focused on that (it is a great work for us; we touch a lot of people; but it's a super hard work - many who assist us burn out - dealing with extraordinary suffering, abuse, drug abuse, mental illness among those we seek to assist). My two grandkids moved in with us in May of last year and then she did a few months late (5 of us in a 2 BR/1BA lol! It's been an adventure but crazy). Her dead beat former husband has not paid any of what he was supposed to in the divorce settlement (no child support nor the mortgage on the house which he was supposed to do after it was awarded to her). In fact, he's been arrested multiple times since then and hasn't seen his kids for 3 years (this is a good thing except for the negative impact on my grandchildren). We've been paying the mortgage on the house for 2 1/2 years. We've spent time off and on trying to get her house ready for sale. It took a gargantuan effort. I painted several rooms; installed sod on her front lawn; had to replace a damaged garage door; install new carpet; and a massive dumpster haul - filled up a 15x8x4 dumpster! We finally got it up for sale a couple of weeks ago. (through all that we've had a ton of car trouble. I replaced a water pump, radiator fan, coolant reservoir on one car; tuneup and other repairs on her car - I do all this on my own to save money given other expenses). We really need it to sell soon. She should get a good profit but much will go to us (about half) as our support in our work from one one major donor is running out in November due to unforseen circumstances and hopefully after the sale we will be able to bridge this to get us through the fall / winter and I will be looking for new work through this time. Also appreciate prayers for my son, Winston (age 35). He has had a decent job with Shipt here in B'ham, AL - some of you may be aware of that grocery delivery company. He actually was the 9th hire in 2014, just a few months after it started, and later became director of operations but then shifted over to the tech side which interested him more (he's now the longest standing employee - in fact, he's been there longer than anyone, including the entrepeneur who started it then sold it a few years ago), he went back to school and just finished a degree in Computer Science and now is entering the Air National Guard Reserves - Intelligence Division - something he's long had an interest in and will retain his job at Shipt after he finishes training. But this will be a 6 month commitment - bootcamp for 6 weeks and classroom for 5 months all in Texas. But he will be away from his wife and daughter (age 4) who will remain here. Also, my daughter's two children have had significant issues dealing with the trauma of the divorce (as well as the abuse they witnessed in the home - especially my 7 year old grandson who also has ADHD - we witness the severe effects all that has had on him). My daughter is almost incapable of working other than 10-15 hrs a week and we are the de-facto parents (in our 60s! The energy level needed is crazy). My daughter is also seeking disability this fall (she had been unable to before that for various reasons). So, prayers for us for the house to sell; for my work situation to work out; for my daughter and her struggles; for my grandkids living with us; for my son and his family and his entrance into the ANG Reserves; and for us as grandparents to have the energy and wisdom to help our grandkids adjust to their life. This life can get really insane at times. WTH? (excuse my language there- I've cussed more the past 5 years than the prior 15!) Thanks for letting me share this. Peace and blessings.
Good grief man. You need a winning lottery ticket…. God wouldn’t give you the burden if he didn’t believe you could handle it but I’m sure it still feels like this lol
Df I just randomly scrolled down and checked this out, I consider you a friend, how’s everything going now a couple months later ? What about a go fund me page ? Perhaps raise some cash for all your expenses ?
Just an update. We finally got our daughter's house sold. It was frantic. A week before closing we got word of a lien on the house for nearly $40,000 that would have significantly eaten into the profit. I think I spoke to 6 different attorneys over 3 days and wrote letters to the execs of the company that put the lien on the house. It was a from a car purchased by her former husband that was repossessed. However, the lien was put on the house after it was legally awarded to here and her husband was divested of all interest. Thankfully, we were able to get the company to take the lien off the house. Though we had the legal high ground, they could have fought it and it would have taken 90 days to a year (which would have been a huge problem and we'd have had to cancel the contract and pay more!). Thankfully, two attorneys helped us free of charge - with advice and even writing a lien release, sending it to the attorney who put the lien on, and the company did the right thing to release it. Whew. At any rate - that was a big bridge crossing and escaped getting eaten by any gators on that. Now the next two bridge crossings: looking for work and supplemental income, seeking a slightly larger living space, and also working on our daughter getting disability. Very much appreciate the thoughts and prayers.