Hello all, I am new to the site. Please forgive my first post being a prayer request. I just wanted to share a very trying time in my life that started November 15, 2024. I work in Information Technology, have been for over 20yrs. I love the field as it has provided me with much joy and personal growth. My hobby is also computer based and to tell you the truth, my hobby is what started my journey into the Information Technology field which began in the mid 1980's.
It has always taken me a little longer when trying to learn or commit things to memory which has caused me quite a bit of stress over the years as working in IT is very memory intensive. But I did not let that stop me from jumping in with both feet and making that my life long career. My career has been quite rocky and I have had many positions over the years, so many that I began to doubt myself and my abilities. It got to the point that when I was able to finally land a new job, I started expecting to lose that job in a short amount of time, even when trying my hardest to be successful. This would cause my self esteem to plummet. This vicious cycle would continue thru most of my career finally causing me to feel that I was incapable of holding a full time position and, believe it or not, feeling that something was actually wrong, mentally.
I actually even pursued disability believing something had to be wrong with my ability to concentrate and focus on the job at hand. But, that course of action, would fail every time. And to make matters worse, I was forced to relocate and move in with my parents during this time as I was unsure of a course of action. This is where my self esteem hit rock bottom. But, luckily, my parents had raised me in a loving and spiritual household where God was always part of my life, even if I had forgotten.
I knew the only one person who could turn things around for me was someone I had known all my life. I just needed to renew my relationship with him and ask him for help and of course, I did. Not long after re-igniting my relationship with God did things start to get better. I was able to secure a new position which allowed me to move into a place of my own. Unfortunately, this would be a temporary move as three months after starting my new position, they laid the entire IT staff off. And, if that was not bad enough, my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and passed away 30 days after the diagnosis. My mother passing caused me to strengthen my relationship with the Lord. A short time later, I moved back in with my father. My mother was his world, and besides, he was an old country boy raised in West Virginia and not very comfortable with life in a modern setting.
After moving in, I was able to help him with things he was not comfortable with such as incorporating computer into your daily life. We were able to work together and live life in a simple kind of way. And helping him gave me a renewed purpose in life and a renewed sense of purpose. Fast forward to 2022. I finally, after several months of looking, was able to land a new job locally. This would not last as it was a new company, spreading out from Texas, which would not be able to survive and shut down after only three months. But, the Lord was watching and blessed me with another position close to home. This new position would turn out to be a blessing as I excelled in this role. I loved the work and they loved me. The work allowed me to sharpen my skills and grow as an engineer. I was with them for over two years. I allowed myself to be recruited away by a new position offering higher level of work and a higher salary. I felt this was a good move as I wanted to better myself and provide more for my family. I was laid off after only three months due to a "poor" economy.
So, now I have been aggressively searching since the end of 2024 and I am feeling very forsaken as the last year was extremely difficult. I have had a couple of possibilities but due a new president being elected and his policies and talks of tariffs, many overseas companies are having second thoughts in hiring new talent. This has caused me to lose two potential offers of employment and have a much more difficult job search. And then, just recently, my father passed in August of 2024 and because of that, I have been having an extremely difficult time of keeping myself in a positive frame of mind. My wife, while going to school to become a nurse, has taken on a second full time job to try and keep us afloat. And only because of our faith, have we been able to survive for this long.
I am hoping that due to the new year, things will improve. I am still aggressively searching for a new position and praying to our heavenly father that he hears our cries for help. Again, please forgive me for pouring my heart out to this forum.....I am hoping for prayer warriors on this site to say a prayer or two for my family in the hopes of a blessing coming our way.
Thanks to all my brothers and sisters in Christ and God bless.
It has always taken me a little longer when trying to learn or commit things to memory which has caused me quite a bit of stress over the years as working in IT is very memory intensive. But I did not let that stop me from jumping in with both feet and making that my life long career. My career has been quite rocky and I have had many positions over the years, so many that I began to doubt myself and my abilities. It got to the point that when I was able to finally land a new job, I started expecting to lose that job in a short amount of time, even when trying my hardest to be successful. This would cause my self esteem to plummet. This vicious cycle would continue thru most of my career finally causing me to feel that I was incapable of holding a full time position and, believe it or not, feeling that something was actually wrong, mentally.
I actually even pursued disability believing something had to be wrong with my ability to concentrate and focus on the job at hand. But, that course of action, would fail every time. And to make matters worse, I was forced to relocate and move in with my parents during this time as I was unsure of a course of action. This is where my self esteem hit rock bottom. But, luckily, my parents had raised me in a loving and spiritual household where God was always part of my life, even if I had forgotten.
I knew the only one person who could turn things around for me was someone I had known all my life. I just needed to renew my relationship with him and ask him for help and of course, I did. Not long after re-igniting my relationship with God did things start to get better. I was able to secure a new position which allowed me to move into a place of my own. Unfortunately, this would be a temporary move as three months after starting my new position, they laid the entire IT staff off. And, if that was not bad enough, my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and passed away 30 days after the diagnosis. My mother passing caused me to strengthen my relationship with the Lord. A short time later, I moved back in with my father. My mother was his world, and besides, he was an old country boy raised in West Virginia and not very comfortable with life in a modern setting.
After moving in, I was able to help him with things he was not comfortable with such as incorporating computer into your daily life. We were able to work together and live life in a simple kind of way. And helping him gave me a renewed purpose in life and a renewed sense of purpose. Fast forward to 2022. I finally, after several months of looking, was able to land a new job locally. This would not last as it was a new company, spreading out from Texas, which would not be able to survive and shut down after only three months. But, the Lord was watching and blessed me with another position close to home. This new position would turn out to be a blessing as I excelled in this role. I loved the work and they loved me. The work allowed me to sharpen my skills and grow as an engineer. I was with them for over two years. I allowed myself to be recruited away by a new position offering higher level of work and a higher salary. I felt this was a good move as I wanted to better myself and provide more for my family. I was laid off after only three months due to a "poor" economy.
So, now I have been aggressively searching since the end of 2024 and I am feeling very forsaken as the last year was extremely difficult. I have had a couple of possibilities but due a new president being elected and his policies and talks of tariffs, many overseas companies are having second thoughts in hiring new talent. This has caused me to lose two potential offers of employment and have a much more difficult job search. And then, just recently, my father passed in August of 2024 and because of that, I have been having an extremely difficult time of keeping myself in a positive frame of mind. My wife, while going to school to become a nurse, has taken on a second full time job to try and keep us afloat. And only because of our faith, have we been able to survive for this long.
I am hoping that due to the new year, things will improve. I am still aggressively searching for a new position and praying to our heavenly father that he hears our cries for help. Again, please forgive me for pouring my heart out to this forum.....I am hoping for prayer warriors on this site to say a prayer or two for my family in the hopes of a blessing coming our way.
Thanks to all my brothers and sisters in Christ and God bless.
.
