(My daughter Leyana)

First off, I’d like to wish all the Fathers out there a Happy Father’s Day. Today is going to be a great day… This afternoon, the family and I will head on over to Leesylvania Park where we’ll probably have a picnic and just relax.  On second thought, going to a park with 3 energetic kids will make it nearly impossible to relax. lol It’s all good though.

People ask me all the time if its tough having kids. My response is always… Absolutely! lol… However, being a parent is the best responsibility I’ve ever had. No matter how demanding it may get, I love all my children to the fullest and I thank God that I’m here to watch & help them grow.

My Son & My Other Daughter: Jerone Jr. & Essence

However it wasn’t always like that. There were times where I had no choice. I couldn’t always be there for them like I wanted to and I wanted to share with you why. I also want to share with you the one word that allows me to have more time with them as I continue to grow my business.

So let’s begin with why I couldn’t be there for them like I wanted to be…

It all started in the military. Back in August of 2002, I received orders that I would be deployed for  6 months to the country of Kuwait. At the time, I didn’t think much about it. I mean this was my obligation and I signed the dotted line. I knew this day would come and I was mentally prepared for it.

However, as the days and weeks went by… the anxiety began to build and I started feeling pressure. The pressure mostly came from the fact that I would have to leave my pregnant wife. She was actually about 5 months pregnant at the time and I really wanted to be there for the entire pregnancy to comfort her and be by her side.

At this point, we already knew we were going to have a boy. My wife didn’t want to be surprised. At first I did, but then I got curious as well. As soon as I found out, I already had a name picked out for him. Of course, I was going to name him after me. lol My wife and I went back and forth about that for weeks. lol

Anyway, as the date got closer, I kept trying to see how I could possibly stay behind and be there for her, but I kept getting denied. I mean don’t get me wrong… I wanted to serve my country and honor was of the utmost importance, but let’s face it…I didn’t want to miss the birth of my first child.

Sadly it was out of my hands. There was nothing I could do. It was either go to War or go to Jail. So in October/November of 2002, I deployed to Kuwait in hopes that I would be able to get some type of Emergency Leave to at least see the birth. After getting denied over and over again, the day finally came…

December 3rd, 2002

This was the day that my son was born… and I missed it.:(

They wouldn’t let me go back. They say the reason was because of the mission, but to be honest…at that time we were in a safe zone and we were pretty much just waiting around for our official orders to do more. Remember the War didn’t actually kick off until March of 2003.

Anyway, missing my son’s birth was detrimental and my morale was pretty low. We were also getting attacked and there were scud missles flying over our head. I wondered if this was it…you know what I mean. However I kept my cool and stayed low.

I went onto miss the first 9 months of my son’s life and basically watch him grow up over the web camera and from pictures that my wife sent me all the time. It was pretty wild…

Ok… Let’s fast forward a little bit to 2005.

So now I’m with another unit out of Germany. I was actually able to bring my wife and my son (now 2 yrs old), which was a plus and we were basically just settling in. Trying to get used to a new country/culture… My wife was pregnant again. (Something about the Spring )

Sidenote: By the way, if you ever get a chance to go to Germany, you really should. There is a lot to see out there and the food is something else.

Anyway… Once again I received orders to go back to Kuwait. Actually it was the same exact camp. This time I was much higher in rank (SGT) and I was sure that I would be able to come back for the pregnancy with no problem. So I sent a blast email to my entire company and let them know that my wife was pregnant. lol. I wanted to give them advanced notice. My superior wasn’t too happy about me sending a blast email to over 100 people in the company, but he didn’t make too much of it and actually congratulated me. A couple months later we found out we were having a daughter. Perfect! The deluxe set.

So in August of 2005… I set out again…. Back in the Hot 128 Degree Desert. (no I’m not exaggerating) and I had to work 14-18 hour days. One of those days I actually worked 22 hours straight, went to bed for 3 hours and turned around and pulled an 18 hour day. It was insane and it sucked, but hey I had to do what I had to do.

As November/December rolled around I actually got to go home. However it would only be for 2 weeks. Hey I would take 2 weeks over 0 any day. I was determined not to miss this birth. So when I got home, my wife and I tried everything to make the baby come. Walking around, drinking tea, eating fruits that were said to make a baby come faster… we did all kinds of things and still….no baby.

My time was running out and I had about 3 days left. Finally we decided to have an induced labor since she was overdue anyway. So therefore, my daughter Essence was born on December 5th, 2005. It was a beautiful site… a little nasty too…lol..but overall it was beautiful to watch her come into the world. The next couple of days I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. My wife was recovering and I was just trying to do as much as possible.

Then on December 9th, 2005…It was time to head back to the Desert. Morale is ok, but I really did not want to go back and leave my wife with 2 children in Germany, where she didn’t really know anyone. (Let’s just say my wife wasn’t a big fan of Germany and I know me leaving played a huge role in that).  So therefore I had to end up watching my daughter grow up over the web camera and through pictures that my wife sent. Not to mention I was missing another 9-10 months of my son’s life as well. He was 3 now and was putting sentences together like no tomorrow. lol

OK… Let’s fast forward to 2008.

By this time, I’m finally out of the military and my is pregnant once more. lol (I know I know…But I have an excuse…It was Spring Time again. lol ) Anyway, this time I had no worries. I was out of the military, I was a civilian and I was working on my business. So when December 30th, 2008 rolled around I was able to see the birth of my 3rd child. We named her Leyana. It was a blessing to see her come into the world.

The awesome thing is that I’ve been home the entire time and haven’t missed a beat. The only thing is…I’m not used to ALL THIS CRYING…SHEESH! lol

3 December Babies. lol 3 Birthdays & Christmas? *sigh*

So that’s my Father’s Day Story and I hope you enjoyed it. If you read this far then I really appreciate it and I hope you have a wonderful Father’s Day. I really gotta get going now, but before I do, I wanted to reveal to you the one word that allows me to spend more time with my family.

That one word is called….Automation. This is what I use everyday in my business. Basically it means to do certain things in your business on auto-pilot. To set up systems that do all the hard work for you while you spend time doing the things you want to do. If you don’t embrace technology and the new and creative ideas/products out here today, then you’ll probably find that you have to spend time doing more of what you don’t want. Unless of course, your Outsourcing…which is another word I use in my business. But we’ll talk about that another time.

Again, have a Happy Father’s Day and if you want to set up an Automation System for your business that gives you more time to do the things you want to do, then you need to check out this Free Video I found that shows you how to set up a profitable system that can be set up in less than 72 hours. Yes…It’s that good. It can be used for any business…even if you don’t have one. Go check it out before they take it down! Here is the link: http://www.jlamarferren.com/presents/automation

To Your Success,

J.Lamar Ferren Sr.

Ps. It’s all about doing what’s most important to you and impacting the life of those you love!

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My son and I Going Fishing at The Quantico Marine Base in Virginia