I am 6 days shy of having been laid-off, 8 months ago from what I thought was greener pastures. 8 months ago if you would have told me that things were going to play out like this, I wouldn't believed you but like the old time saying goes: "If you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans." Many know and have heard my stories about teaching in DC Public Schools, especially my adventures of teaching alternative teenagers. The hills and valleys were a learning experience but I never thought that I would ever be laid-off; me, the winner of an Excellence in First Year teaching award. That made me think that I was immune to being laid-off. WRONG! Hardship and gray seasons, knows everyone's name.
So after packing up my classroom after what I thought would be a better school year than the one before, I received a measly severance pay and quickly filed for unemployment. My severance pay covered my September bills and a few of October's but I needed a plan of action to sustain myself. Unemployment was taking their sweet ass time and I had began my search for another job. I wanted to stay in the education field so I applied everywhere that was education-related. No luck. October rolled by and November was knocking, I had not received unemployment nor did I find a job.
I started doing little side hustles and got a little coins here and there but not enough to cover an almost $1000 rent, car note, car insurance, and some other miscellaneous bills. I was running low on food so I decide to apply for food stamps. I continued to wait for some help to pay my bills mainly my rent. My parents really couldn't help me, they had their own affairs to handle. I prayed and prayed, cried, prayed and tried to stay encouraged. Finally a week before Thanksgiving there sitting in my mailbox was a check from the unemployment office that could cover my rent and then some for 2 months (Talk about He may not come when you want Him, but He'll be there right on time).
I was able to hustle and get some of my bills placed in hardship crisis which bought me some time. Daily I would get up pray, read the Bible, and look for jobs. I would do some volunteering here and there, as well as a few side gigs. But I was still coming up short. I received my first eviction notice 15 days before Christmas. (Merry Christmas) I tried to be optimistic on the outside but inside I was a wreck. But always remember the Lord will never leave or forsake you. My rent was paid 6 days before Christmas.
This pattern of stressing and worrying mixed and matched with blessing and favor continued even till now. Since I had some bad experiences with teaching, I decided that maybe I should try and purse something different. My mother had hounded me to go to med school but I knew deep down that it wasn't for me, but I pursed it anyway. I enrolled in a Masters program at Georgetown University School of Medicine to get a glimpse of what the M.D. program would be like. I hated it!! But it did give me something to do to pass time, until it started becoming a burden and stressing me out.
Around the time I started at Georgetown, my food stamps had been reduced to $16 a month and most of my unemployment went to my bills. I had a bad break up with my than boyfriend. I also ran into some legal troubles and that added a new mix to my already complicated existence. Also my relationship with my mother was becoming more and more strained and I had also received my second eviction notice. Things were just not going well. But I still maintained and kept my faith.
Than it happened. I was running myself into the ground. I wasn't eating because I was able to go grocery shopping, the stress of taking 15 credit in a science masters was getting to me, on top of trying to find a job, hustle to pay bills, and then I got sick with no health insurance (Great)! I felt alone, discourage, and forsaken. You try to seek encouragement for your friends, but they can only do so much because they really don't know what you're going through. My parents understood but they are over 350 miles away. So I just broke down one night and the Lord saw and hear my tears. I was a complete wreck.
However in the midst of my trails and tribulations, the Lord has blessed me and kept me. Although it has been very hard I still have a roof over my head. I have gone days even weeks with no food but I still have been fed. I have great connections that have allowed me to take some breaks and go to an opera and a play for free. Everything I needed, the Lord has supplied it. It's May 4, 2011, and I am 6 days away from being unemployed for 8 months but after 215 job applications, 6 odd and end hustle jobs, a lapse in my unemployment, bill collectors, eviction notices, and some headaches, I am 42 days away from starting a new position at a charter school as a middle school science teacher where my salary is $10,000 more than my last job. They are also planning to pay for me to go get my masters in Curriculum and Instruction which will help in my career goals. And remember, those legal problems, God is so good that He had them dismissed from court.
I don't know who I might be talking to or who has endured or going through the same or similar trails. I am not a preacher or a prophet, I am just a witness and believer in the living God. I have a testimony. And although I may not be out of the forest just yet, I know that I have been through too much not to worship Him and trust in Him to carry me all the way. I still get discourage and down. I have cried more tears that I have ever had. But, (and thank God for the but) I know that if you hold on, be patient, and faithful, God will be more than faithful to you. My test, my trails, my struggles, have made me an even stronger Christian and an even stronger man. I have learned invaluable lessons that no textbook could teach or no preacher can preach.
Stay encouraged, have faith, and believe you will overcome. The human race have been overcoming and surviving for centuries. Hold on... You Will be Strong.
Now that's music from the heart.
