LETTING GO of Alcoholic working moms in the workplace, or giving them hope?

Letting Go of Alcoholic working moms in the workplace, or giving them hope? Giving them a second chance in life

I can clearly remember Rina from a few years back– She was one of our best managers, and she headed one of the more aggressive divisions in our company. It was truly a blessing having her help our team reach its targets and its Key Performance Indicators.

Before Holy Week on that year, Rina had been habitually absent on a Monday. She was constantly having money handling problems. She also confided to her colleagues her marriage was on the rocks due to a third party. I can slowly notice her lack of judgement affecting her work, but I tried to motivate her to be positive and gave her one of our biggest projects in order to somehow inspire her.

The day for the big project came, I can clearly remember that it was a Monday, and our Swedish clients flew in just to participate in this project. I was personally so excited to get this contract, I stayed up for so many late nights discussing this endlessly with my team. I had arrived so early at work to make sure everything was ready by 9 AM.

This was it! The Swedish had arrived, but Rina did not show up! Nor did she call her team nor tell them where to find the presentation– she BLEW IT! Our whole team was embarrassed, we all wanted to kill her that very Monday morning. (Grrr…)

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”- Hebrews 12:11

I had an inkling beforehand that she was having already problems with alcohol. We do not tolerate alcoholism in our company, and my verdict on the matter was that she really needed to leave– She had created such a bad image for our company, and had lost a potentially big client. I was going to fire her ASAP, we all wanted to throw her out of the gates of our office, myself included.

Before reacting to the situation and doing anything, I sat down and prayed in my head:”LORD PLEASE TAKE CHARGE.”– Four powerful words I pray when I need His guidance.

Rina came to work the next morning knowing that I was going to fire her. All the papers to fire her for her gross negligence was already on my table, and all I had to do was serve it to her. Believe me, I was dying to do it.

“For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” – 2 Corinthians 6:2

But when Rina sat down, I stared at her with my HR Manager and I told her, “Rina I want to help you, will you allow me to help you?”

I held her hand and I prayed for her, she was crying so hard and acknowledged she needed help badly. I called up her husband and asked him to visit my office… To cut the long story short, I personally brought Rina, together with her husband to the facility to treat her alcohol problem. By God’s grace, the company was able to support her treatment and provided moral and spiritual support to her husband and children as well. The other managers tried to fill in her post while she was gone, and her team was also very supportive for her recovery…

Rina has since finished her program for alcoholics, and I take pride to share that she has been sober for a few years now. She now heads a Christian Alcoholic Anonymous in her community, and was able to help more than 30 alcoholic females mend their broken wings and heal their hurts in their families. Rina is back in her old job, and she is doing much better than ever before. Armed with a strong faith and her desire to help other working moms face their problems and fears by finding solutions. Not through bottles of beer, Tanduay, or other liquor, instead she has found herself and her faith in God. Which saved her and her family.

After Rina graduated from the facility, she went to the local office of the Swedish client we have lost, she explained how her being alcoholic and her irresponsible behavior made the company lose the contract. She spoke from the heart- Not only as a leader, but as a very responsible and committed leader of our team. She knew she needed to rectify a mistake that caused several employees to lose their jobs. WHAT AN AMAZING GOD WE HAVE… My Swedish client called me and told me they are giving our contract back. They never imagined that we would give hope to an employee who made us lose a contract and embarrass us…

God truly works in ways we can never imagine, He uses failures in our lives to make us all stronger and be better mothers or daughters so we can inspire more people, especially in the work place. God never gave up on all of us, in fact, He died on the cross to save us from our sins…

This is the very reason I did not give up on Rina, because I knew if I gave up on her, nobody else would have helped her and given her a good job to support the education of her 2 children, and her sick mother. When God closes the door, He opens the window to allow us to trust in Him and follow his ways, even in our hurts and pains (Especially when we want to give up and feel the world on our shoulders)

I dedicate this blog to Rina (Name withheld until she give her testimony in a few months in her church and she will share her story PINKYSHARES), to all sober working moms trying to heal their hurts and mend their broken wings, I SALUTE YOU. EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE– YOU ARE TRULY heroes in your own ways touching the lives of other troubled alcoholic dependent working moms…

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…” -Philippians 4:13

Alcoholism is certainly serious, but it’s also manageable. People with this condition can get the medical and psychological support they need to change their drinking patterns and their lives, and that work can start right now. By reaching out for care, people with alcoholism can get better. If you or anyone you know wants to stop drinking, there is help.

Start by talking to your family members or health care providers.

Some centers for alcohol decency in the Philippines:

• Penuel Home
• Glorious Hope Foundation
• Seagulls Flight Foundation

To God be all the praise and glory

(working mom blog)