Unemployed and Broke this Christmas…”You’re not alone!”

With more than 17 million people unemployed and counting, there will be many families who find themselves, “Unemployed and Broke this Christmas.” While you may feel like you’re alone, you’re not!

I’m sure it doesn’t make you feel any better but with the angels of “grace” and “mercy,” watching over you, it will bring the family closer.

Sit down and have a family meeting and discuss the finances with the family honestly. Don’t pretend that things are still “status quo” and everything is still the same, when it’s not. Your children are capable of understanding, if you explain it to them on their level without scaring or frightening them. If you don’t speak to them about what’s happening, they almost always assume the worse.

Remind yourself, first, and then remind them of the things that they have to be grateful for. Here are a few reasons to be grateful to get you started.

1. You were able to get out of bed on your own free will, without medical assistance or equipment.

2. You were able to sleep in your own bed last night, you’re not homeless.

3. All your major organs (heart, liver, kidney, etc,) are still functioning properly.

4. You have clothes to wear and shoes to put on your feet.

5. You can cook breakfast, lunch or dinner in your own kitchen.

6. While you may not have as much food in the cabinets as before, you still have food.

7. You have more time too spend with each other.

8. You remember the real reason to celebrate Christmas and it’s not shopping, shopping, shopping.

9. Your faith in yourself is realized and your faith in God is intensified.

10. As a family, you understand that this situation is only temporary and “This too shall Pass!”

11. You come to understand that your testimony is in the test!

I know how you feel because I’m one of the millions that’s unemployed but not without “faith” and “hope” for a better tomorrow. Don’t give up! Keep searching and sending out those résumés’ and one day in the near future, your name will be called and your phone will ring with a “You’re Hired” on the other end. In the phrase that Adam Clayton Powell made famous, “Keep the Faith, Baby! Keep the Faith!”