Be a voice for the voiceless!

Please consider helping the unheard voices of 2 children. This is a very serious, emergency situation! I have exhausted every other resource I have. I’m sending out my war cry in hopes that my tribe will hear and come to help. Our children are the future. We must stand up for them and fight for them. I’m on the ground, I’m in the heat of the battle, I’m in need of backup. I cannot share every single detail here, but if you want to read more of what is going on, a more detailed description is below. 

In 2011, my husband and father of my 2 children, was granted the divorce he desired. I was awarded custody of my 2 children, as he desired to return to single life. I cared for my children, for several years, with no child support or even communication with their father. After having my 3rd child, I pressured him to start helping out. He came up with a “plan to help”. He told me...“bring the kids to me, and me and my wife we will help you till you get back on your feet.” I took them to him, in good faith that he truly wanted to help. Unbeknownst to me, he went behind my back and requested an emergency custody order, granting him custody. His grounds for gaining this order was that I pulled my son out of kindergarten, to bring him to his dad, and I was causing the children irreparable harm. I was only notified of this when he refused to let me speak to my children and told me I could not come get them, because he had custody. He told me I could call his lawyer if I had any questions. Upon speaking with his lawyer, I was notified that I could not have my children and if I attempted to come pick them up, I would be arrested for kidnapping. Over the last couple years, I’ve chosen to keep things as amiable as possible and not fuss in court. It’s just not good for the children. Fighting in court hurts children!!! Every time my children come for visitation, they tell me the horror stories of their living situation. They cry and beg me to do something and to not take them back. The children and myself have begged their father to let them come back and live with me, he refuses. If they even cry or show sadness when they return from my home, they are punished and spoken harshly to, to “get over it”. I had the children for Christmas break. The day before I was supposed to return them, we lost power and had freezing rain. I notified their father that I would not be able to drive them on the date we had set. He told me he was notifying his lawyer and got very belligerent. This stressed me out to the point I ended up in the ER with a severe migraine. The day I left to return them, he refused to send travel funds, as is court ordered. My 14 yr old was having a full blown panic attack. A couple days before we left, my daughter had cut her arms up, because of severe emotional distress. I discovered this while I was driving them back. I knew, in that moment, that I had to do something to help my children. They were crying out for help. At the same time, I was completely stressed out and not feeling well. I have several autoimmune disorders which makes me immunocompromised. I have to be very careful with everything I do. I was under so much stress that my immune system was very weak and I needed to rest. Their father refused to send me the funds to get the children to him, so I made arrangements to go where I could rest and figure out what to do. When I didn’t return them, their father threatened to get the law involved. I tried reasoning with him and explaining how upset the children were. He refused to hear anything I had to say. He proceeded to get an emergency court order, go to my home in Pennsylvania, with the police, and cause even greater distress. He had requested an order to terminate my parenting time. The police told me I had to take the children to him immediately, or I would be arrested. My children were so sick and crying for me to help them or find someone else to help. From Jan 15 - July 16, I did not see my children and every call between us was supervised by their father. Even though my parenting time was suspended, I still have rights as a parent. One of those rights is to speak to my children, unhindered. He denies me and my babies, that simple right. Here’s where things get hairy. Our current custody order is in the jurisdiction of a TN court. Their father moved to GA, several yrs ago. When he filed a motion of contempt against me, he filed it in TN. TN could hear the contempt case, but they do not have legal jurisdiction to modify the current custody order. The case has to be moved to GA. The judge agreed that he did not have jurisdiction to modify a custody order, and therefore, the temporary order that suspended my parenting time was no longer in effect. At that point and time, I should have been able to see my children. Their father agreed to let me see them, in a parking lot, for 30 min, as long as he held my car keys. He told the judge he wanted supervised visitation and I am not to be trusted. I met with several lawyers who all told me that the original order stands and he is in direct violation of the order. His lawyer has advised him that he isn’t and he doesn’t have to let me see the kids. So, he refuses to let me see them. All these years, I could have drug him into court for all the times he broke the custody order. I didn’t! I’ve always done my best to bend over backwards to appease his wishes. Anybody that has overheard my phone conversations with him, knows how horrible he treats me. In spite of everything, I kept things civil, FOR THE CHILDREN!!! Anybody, with any sense, can see what is happening here. Two little angels have been ripped away from their mother. No matter how sick I’ve been, I’ve done everything in my power, to be the best mom I can be. Anybody, in my circle, would attest to that. Now, I am a danger to them and need supervised visitation. At this time, the case needs to be transferred to GA and he needs to be held accountable. However, that takes lots of money. I have fought with myself about making one of these. My pride says no! When it comes to the children, I have to put my pride aside and do what needs to be done. There are two little humans who deserve the right to have their voices heard. They deserve the right to have their basic human needs met. They deserve the right to be able to express their human emotions and not live in a constant state of fight or flight. They deserve to be treated like the little humans they are. This has been going on for years. He threatens my children and makes them feel completely hopeless. For anybody that has children and is attentive to the basic needs of children, you understand what a toxic situation this is for children. I am very sick and struggling to survive. I have several autoimmune conditions that I fight, daily. We desperately need your help. This is a dire situation and my children need deliverance. We need a miracle! It looks like we have all the odds stacked against us. I HATE being vulnerable and sharing my struggles. One thing I have had to learn, whether I like it or not, God intended for us to live in community. As much as I don’t want to burden anybody with my mess, I desperately need a community right now. The few who are in my circle know that these are my very real circumstances and have seen me go through this, for years. It has become too heavy to bear alone, I need more hands.