About Linda Ranson JacobsMy Personal Testimony
I have always loved the Lord – from my earliest memories, the church and His people filled my life. As a child, I pictured myself as a Christian wife, serving the Lord and raising God-fearing children. I never believed in divorce. However, after seventeen years of marriage, my husband walked out and left me to raise our two children on my own. At the time, I was sure my dreams of serving the Lord had been destroyed by this divorce. But slowly, God revealed to me that my journey with Him had not ended. He used my most devastating experiences of a divorce and the death of another spouse to grow me and draw me closer to Him. And through the journey of raising my children on my own, the Lord gave me the gift to speak and encourage single parents. I made a lot of mistakes along the way. There was virtually nothing back in the eighties to help people parenting alone. I try to encourage single parents and give them guidelines so they won’t make the same mistake many of us divorcing in the seventies and eighties made. Now there are many resources, programs and counseling for divorcing, grieving and others walking the single parent journey. Much of what is available, though, is not Christ centered or Biblically based. I hope to encourage single parents and walk alongside them and help them to understand they are not alone. I have also spent many years working with children that have challenging behaviors. I ran a therapeutic child care where a majority of the children were diagnosed with a behavior disorder or had severe emotional wounds. While society and even churches disregard these children, the Lord showed me that His love is the same for every child. Over the years, He has developed a deep understanding in me of how to work with and accommodate these children. And He has blessed me with an incredible intuitiveness to see into the heart of hurting children and know how to best serve them. After my own children were grown (and yes they are God-fearing young adults), I began to search for an avenue to encourage single parents and also help the hurting child. To me, it seemed the local church looked at single parent ministries as a burden rather than an opportunity to impact the Kingdom. I was called to many churches around Oklahoma, Texas and other states to speak to single parents. During this time, I could not find any particular denomination or organization that supported single parent families. In 2002, I was called to North Carolina to develop DivorceCare for Kids (www.dc4k.org) for Church Initiative. DC4K is a program for churches to assist them in ministering to children with divorced parents. I have seen the immense impact on so many children devastated by divorce. Many of them have challenging behaviors due to emotional wounds. But, once they find Christ and feel the loving arms of a church family reaching out to them, they find hope. The Lord has been gracious, as many of my writings have appeared in various publications. He has blessed me with a wonderful family. I continue to serve him using the musical abilities He bestowed on my when I was a little girl. Following are some of the larger works I have written. Also there are some research projects I have been involved with and was blessed to be able to contribute. WRITER AND DEVELOPER DivorceCare for Kids, DC4K, Creator and developer 13-week interactive curriculum for churches to use with children whose parents have divorced. Developed the Leadership Manual, content for the children’s video dramas, the interactive read aloud storybook, children’s activity/workbook, the 2 hour video-based training DVD, the interactive hand held puppet, the flip chart and the large Feelings poster. H.E.R.O.E.S. CARE Project (Homefront Enabling Relationships, Opportunities and Empowerment through Support) Launched in Missouri beginning with a H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Weekend in High Ridge, MO for service members and their families beginning the process of reintegration. Supported by the U.S. Department of Defense in conjunction with Operation Homefront, Stephens Ministry, Given An Hour and the U. S. Military.
DivoreCare for Kids, DC4K, Advanced Training Manual Developed an Advanced Training Manual concentrating on assisting lay leaders and church ministers in successfully accommodating children of divorce with challenging behaviors. The Dawning of a New Day: Caring for Children with Mental Health Issues A video training written by Linda and developed in conjunction with the University of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. This is used as a training tool for foster care parents, child-care facilities, child welfare workers, single parents and child-care licensing staff. Brain Smart Management Commissioned by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Oklahoma Child Care Association and Dr. Becky Bailey to write a forty-hour training course based on Dr. Bailey’s brain research and her “Conscious Discipline” manual. (http://www.consciousdiscipline.come) Directors and Administrators Advanced Training Commissioned by the Oklahoma Child Care Association and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to write a forty-hour training program that included mental health issues in group care for directors and administrators. “Shattered Lives .... Building Hope for the Child of Divorce” A video training written by Linda and produced in conjunction with the University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. The video is now housed at the Center for Early Childhood Professional Development in Moore, Oklahoma. “Shattered Lives and Broken Dreams” A ten-hour training course for Tulsa Technology School developed for teachers, school counselors, child-care staff and faith-based communities to understand the child of divorce. Program Development for School-Age After School Classes Published by the University of Oklahoma’s College of Continuing Education A training manual and training guide for use in the public school and private child-care programs for out of school time situations. RESEARCH EXPERIENCE H.E.R.O.E.S. CARE Project (Homefront Enabling Relationships, Opportunities and Empowerment through Support) A cooperative effort between Operation Homefront, Stephen Ministries, and the American Armed Forces lead by Dr. Paul Wang Lead the children and teen team and contributed to the development of the H.E.R.O.E.S CARE Project workbook Served on the Research Team for Children and Teen Program Assisted a group of chaplains, mental health professionals, and Naval officers to create a national support program for service members, their families, and communities during pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment. Models of Inclusion, Including Emotional and Behavioral Issues In Child Care In 2001 the Broken Arrow Clubhouse, owned and operated by Linda Ranson Jacobs became part of a national research project from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. The research project chose the Broken Arrow Clubhouse out of 104 programs nationwide to research. The Clubhouse program was then listed in the top five in the nation for successfully including children with emotional and behavioral issues in a group care context. The research team has written a detailed report so other communities can replicate this model program. Linda also contributed to the writing of the manual, “Setting the Pace: Model Inclusive Child Care Centers Serving Families of Children with Emotional or Behavioral Challenges” Email: [email protected] |