ms. rosalyn jackson

Ms. Rosalyn V. Jackson is the Co-Lead for YDH's Helping Women & Children in Crisis Advocacy Project.

Following is the featured Destiny Spotlight interview provided in our October 2021 newsletter.

Ms. Rosalyn V. Jackson says that her destiny is already laid out; already written in The Book because it is part of God’s plan. While I may not have known what it was or how it would look, rest assured God knew. Everything I have gone through was part of my destiny and through it all, God was for me and with me, and He gets the glory.

The world would be a much better place if people would show love, understanding, and acceptance. I’ve encountered and overcome many obstacles in my life and had many paths that moved me towards my
destiny. I consider obstacles part of my destiny. I’ve been in abusive relationships, I’ve lost jobs, and I was homeless for four years. I have been a full time daycare teacher while working a second job in the hospitality industry. (I love Sunday School and I miss teaching.) I also worked in scientific research as an Animal Care Technician. When I was living in the homeless shelter, we had to attend a faith based program on Sundays. I only attended because it was a requirement. I was not interested because I had lost faith. It felt like I had lost my way. However, as I participated in Bible Study and parenting groups, I learned a lot about myself and the many life skills I needed. It made me a better person. I currently work in the hospitality industry as a
professional bartender. While this is not my long term plan it is my current path. The hospitality industry has me meeting a lot of people. It allows me to minister to some of my customers as I network, and make
connections. I get to meet people where they are and enjoy bringing God to the forefront and into the conversation. My life’s situations have taught me that God put me in storms so He could get closer to me by
drawing me closer to Him.

My spiritual gifting is ministering to children and single mothers. In fact, in January 2022, I’m planning to get my undergraduate degree in Social Work. I’m understanding and forgiving; I’m not perfect and I make
mistakes. I’m not just a serious church girl. I can be stern, but I can also be silly and fun. I am creative, and enjoy making gift baskets that make people happy. I’m gratified by helping mothers and especially fathers
nurture and uplift their children. Children need their fathers to do more than just provide for them financially. Children need their fathers’ presence in their lives. Men spending family time with their children and
showing respect for their mothers is valuable. I tell fathers, “It doesn’t cost anything to spend time with your children, and that’s what they need most.” It helps build character especially in our young men.

I am a proud single parent of twin boys. I always plan out their time and days as well as my own because idle time is the devils playground. For us to be successful, it takes self-discipline, self-sacrifice, and keeping to a routine schedule. In fact, my flexible working schedule creates opportunities for me to parent my boys, allowing me time to nurture and care for them in a way I couldn’t when I worked a pre-set, full time schedule.

For anyone who has lost their way or is discouraged, I would say life is like Mother Nature, awesome yet ever changing. You can count on life to be as predictable as the changing seasons and you can also count on life to be unpredictable as storms and tornadoes. However, all of God’s creation is beautiful and sometimes we have to experience the wilderness before experiencing the mountain top rewards. I would advise go back to talking to God to get clarity. Assessing our behavior is a key step to moving from where we are to where we need to be. Ask yourself, “What part did I play that resulted in my current situation?” You don’t want to be in bondage or a victim of poor decision-making. All actions have consequences. We need God’s insight to show us how we contributed to what happened to us and how we can prevent it from happening again. Because in the end, all the glory belongs to Him.