Apostolic Friends Forum

I really need prayer.

Some prolonged trials are taking their toll. seven years is a long time.

Part of it has been economic in nature. Like many middle -aged men, I've had to start over in an attempt to reinvent myself. I have 4 semesters of graduate school left. Now I'm facing issues that could disrupt my continuing in school. Yet if I do not finish, there is no hope. What a mess.

About a year ago, at the insistence of a sibling, I was forced to sell the home and property of my late mother where I had been living rent free since 2010. We thus had to move in with my 84 year old dad about 40 miles away, This made my commute to work an hour instead of 15 minutes, for a whipping 10 dollars an hour. This screwed up my after school care for my kids as well and has now left me essentially unemployed. I'm living off of my student loan money, which was never my intention. All of this because I have a 53 year old "older" sister (14 months older than me) who has never grown up and decided she wanted money to go check our Colorado. She has blown through the money and is now returning home penniless. This is the 3rd time she as done something like this and my dad bails her out every time. To be fair, the other two times she actually moved out of state for good jobs, but let the first sign of trouble cause her to return home, at daddy's expense. She always lives with our dad in between these ventures. She pays no rent, buys no toiletries, pays no utility bills, has 7 cats that my dad spends 100 dollars a month for food on. Yet, she does little cooking and cleaning for my dad. On the other hand, my family and I pay the light and gas bill and buy food and toiletries., as well as cook for my dad.

She is one of the most self-centered people I know. Now she is returning, and as you might have guessed, wants me and my family gone. She has no conception how her dumb decisions have turned our lives upside-down. I was dumb to let her twist my arm into selling before I finished school in 2009. She simply does not understand the pressures of a family, nor does she care.

Thanks for hearing my rant. I'm tired of this garbage. It makes my life and ministry ineffective. Sadly, all I have gotten from the Apostolic churches is shunning and accusations of bringing curses into my life for "not giving sufficiently". These people have zero clue how to minister to hurting people by way of encouragement and moral support.