My name is Amber Joy Shuford-Montney, but all my friends and family call me AJ. I am a 39-year-old woman with 4 biological children. My oldest son is David. At the time of pregnancy, I was not ready to be a mom and my mother always wanted a son, so my mother...
For starters, God you know what I don’t even know where to begin, so I will start from here; my mother and I didn’t have a good relationship. I didn’t feel supported or most of the time even loved. But truth be told, life isn’t always the best...
I’m a mother of 3 and a caretaker to my husband who has a type of terminal cancer. Life got real difficult right around 2013 when my husband was diagnosed with cancer. I had a job set up at a doctors office, instead of me being able to go to work to help out my...
It’s June 2022 and I’m Krystal, 29 years of age, mother of 6 and separated. Personally selected by God to elevate at an unbelievable rate, I Krystal was once someone who allowed her mistakes, hardships and failures mold her into a useless ball of clay....
“Just call her Honesty” (in her words) I relocated to Battle Creek for more opportunities. I learned about the Co-op from my sister who was already a member. After attending a monthly networking meeting I joined because I wanted to be a bigger part of the...
I came here from a small town in Ohio as a server in a country diner, but I wasn’t happy doing that. I wanted more for myself more money, real benefits, I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck. I wanted a career, something I loved to do and could move...
Sometimes nothing makes sense, why am I here, who do I make a difference to, will my kids love me? I wonder if I am a good mom or if I can ever fix this. I’ve made major mistakes, the one thing I have ever known or the only thing that ever made sense to me was...
I was once a woman. A free woman. A happy woman. A live each day, love my life, embrace my future, woman. I was once a Lover. A hopeless lover. A consumed lover. A swept away with passion, can’t believe my good fortune, believing in magic, lover. Then I...
I have an enemy. Well, okay, she is really more of a “frenemy”. We have been friends for a very long time. Although I have tried to release myself from her, especially when I feel the pain and rejection of her words and negative thoughts, she is my oldest friend, she...
Such a seemingly simple question…but is it really? I was recently in class and we were asked to go around and state our name and where we were from in an effort to get to know one another. As I waited for my turn, I thought how silly this exercise was…Does where I am...
