MOORHEAD — The crown sitting atop Minnesota’s newest Mother of the Year, as bestowed by American Mothers Inc., is by no means always sparkling and perfectly positioned. But Jenessa Fillipi won’t let that stop her from ardently seeking the will of the one whose crown perpetually gleams: Jesus Christ.
“When I became a mom, there was a lot of stretching of every aspect of myself that I never knew was going to be stretched,” Fillipi says of early motherhood, admitting her patience sometimes wore thin as she strove to help her “little humans” manage their emotions.
Now that her four children, ages 9 to 19, are more amenable, she offers herself—and others—a little grace. “We’re growing into this reality,” she says of a thriving family life. “It has been eye-opening as I evolve as a wife, mother, co-worker, and daughter of the king.”
Executive director of Down Home ministry, which provides furniture for homes for those emerging from homelessness, Fillipi will represent her state on April 27 at the AMI National Mothers Convention in Omaha, Nebraska, where the 2024 national Mother of the Year will be selected and named. The organization has been honoring mothers since 1935 to recognize their positive impact in their homes and communities.
Her Christian faith began forming in Florian, Minnesota, where her family’s Polish heritage was emphasized. “Faith was very much a part of who we were as a whole community, and having those traditions were part of our routine.”
But for a time in adolescence, she says, she fell into the trap of poor decisions. Fillipi credits her parish priest with having helped turn her around through the book, “Hinds’ Feet on High Places,” and a picture of Jesus. “That was very formative and set the course for my prayer life.”
Fillipi attended college at Minnesota State University Moorhead, got involved in the campus Newman Center, and, her sophomore year, became a NET minister, traveling for a year with other young adults to reach young people with the message of Jesus’ hope, cementing her growing desire to seek God’s will at every step, including marriage.
‘Full of faith’
“I don’t know how I ended up with her,” says her husband, Jake, co-founder, recalling their meeting in college. “What I remember was that she was full of faith, and still is. She strives so hard to be on top of it all. I admire that about her.”
Her mother, Charlene Kuznia, another co-founder, says Jenessa’s sincere smile reveals her beautiful spirit. “She invites you into her life, and she’s genuinely interested in what you have to say. She invests herself in people and has a very sensitive heart.”
Kuznia was privileged to watch the butterfly emerge. During her only daughter’s teen years, she says, the two would sometimes clash—especially sharing the bathroom mirror every morning.
“Sometimes, as a mother, you really don’t know if you’re doing anything right, and sometimes they’re totally ticked off at you,” Kuznia says of raising three children. “Many mornings, it was a very quiet ride to school.”
But after Jenessa left for college, she says, a transformation began. “I love how we try to do things for our children, but then later, they can open your eyes to even bigger things.”
Admittedly, she says, she and her husband, Larry, were concerned about Jenessa taking a hiatus from studies. But her time with NET proved pivotal. “Sometimes,” Kuznia acknowledges, “the angels among you end up being your own children.”
A divine partnership
In 2017, when Fillipi, a school counselor, started feeling a pull to reach others in the wider community, Kuznia, a longtime banker of 40 years, began having several serious health issues, which turned out to be a rare blood cancer along with kidney failure. This forced her to quit the job she loved. “I was dead inside,” she says. “I’d been praying for some time to God, asking for help. I had nothing left in me.”
In October of that year, Fillipi approached her mother to join in her vision, giving her renewed focus. “Everything was so divine,” Kuznia says, recognizing God’s answer to her prayers hidden within the proposal.
Though Kuznia played a more prominent role in Down Home initially, Fillipi eventually left her counseling job of 15 years to step in full time. “I’ve been watching it all and staying alongside Jenessa ever since,” she says. “I’m not the one to be in front. But I can be that support angel; the one that will be the anchor for her.”
Kuznia says her daughter deserves the recent honor, and she’s satisfied with simply being mother of the Mother of the Year. “I’m proud of her, how she’s raising her children and how she handles a lot of situations. She definitely has a gift.”
These days, Kuznia views those long-ago years spent sharing the bathroom mirror differently. “She’d look at me with this mad look, put in a ponytail, and leave,” Kuznia says, chuckling. “And here we are now, working alongside each other. We had totally different careers that I never would have dreamed we could bring together.”
A bed to sleep in
Jenessa says her vocation as a mother helped her heart see others—especially struggling mothers, many of whom are striving to stabilize while trying to secure housing and other essentials, “not to mention the thousands in our community sleeping on the floor every night.”
It was through hearing students speak of not having a bed that moved Jenessa’s heart. “Some either don’t have the funds to purchase a mattress or the money to transport it, or the power to get it up to a third-floor apartment,” she continues, noting that the majority of Down Home recipients are single mothers with children.
Entering the lives of others at a very vulnerable stage has been humbling, she says. “We start building rapport, and oftentimes different parts of their stories will start to be shared, including the barriers they’ve faced, whether domestic violence, loss of a job, or an apartment fire. There are all sorts of reasons they became homeless.”
As the staff works to creatively bring life to the homes, with furniture, décor, and other amenities, they keep the dignity of the human person at the fore. And when the “reveal” happens—they’re closing in on their 168th—they invite the community to join them in becoming part of that success story.
“The things that come out of the children’s mouths are overwhelming at times,” Fillipi says, like, “Mom, we finally have a table to eat at!”
Follow-up includes a Christmas event, birthday packages, and other “touchpoints,” with staff praying every morning, and inviting others to join them, at 9:16 a.m., using Luke 9:16, the Biblical miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, as inspiration.
“As we continue to be ‘boots on the ground’ for the Lord, we’re also calling our community to be part of that,” Fillipi says.
Though Down Home is about those it serves, she says, it blends into her family life, exhibiting the importance of service. Displaying inspiring words and religious objects throughout their home keeps the message prominent. “I want my kids to see I’m filling my time in ways that build and grow my relationship with the Lord, so I can equip others for the journey ahead.”
Recently, Fillipi experienced a moment of reward when she prepared a family meal and added candlelight, which instigated discussion. “We don’t always need to have a holiday on the calendar in order to light up a room for our meal and have some intentional conversation.”
These are moments she cherishes and hopes others can experience. And whenever she sees hope, both in her family and in the world around her, the crown on Fillipi’s head stands a little taller.
[For the sake of having a repository for my newspaper columns and articles, I reprint them here, with permission, a week after their run date. The preceding ran in The Forum newspaper on March 24, 2024.]
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