Scared. It’s the only way to describe the fight or flight experience. Homeless. It’s the only way to describe what caused them to be scared. Tyler was living in the woods, rather than learning to talk he learned to howl, rather than read he learned to hunt, rather...
Stories
The Demons She Couldn’t Give Up
I sat there on the cold stairs. The family was inside the house and the table was full of food. I hadn’t seen her in over 16 years. I was just a 9 year old when the rug was ripped out from under me, and everything I knew in life would suddenly change. It’s crazy to...
Roar With Me
He looked up at the night sky, stars twinkling so brightly. He tickled his feet on the zipper at the edge of the tent. It was the world he knew. The only one. His mom was already sleeping. He listened as the wind rustled through the trees above him. He sat up tucked...
Dear Father You’re Important
"Do something for me, raise your hand if you have a father in your life." It was another year that had gone by. There I was sitting around the table with the resident mothers of Acres of Hope. As we sat there on the day before Father’s Day, I asked them if their...
When The Blinds Were Closed
When the blinds were closed it stayed dark. The darkness I knew seemed darker than the shadow that covers the night sky. When the blinds are closed no one can see in. When no one can see in, there is no way out. There is no one who steps in to save you. Everything is...
If My Mom Had Acres of Hope
If my mom had Acres of Hope growing up, I never would have gone into foster care. I would have never found out about the siblings I never knew as a young adult. If my mom had Acres of Hope perhaps she would have never been lost in addiction. Perhaps she would have...
I Have A Sibling: The Other Side of Reunification
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’" Luke 15:31-32 Andrew: Age 7 :”I have a sibling, I didn’t...
Leave the light on please!
Their squeals filled the air. Toy cars where making their stretch across the floor. Then with a great crash, road block. A closed door halted the great escape. A mother close behind to rescue the attempt for a great getaway. Into the new expanse was a great darkness,...
Pain Unseen: A Safe Place To Heal.
“Hidden beneath the smile is the pain unseen. It can arise at any moment, triggered by a memory. Don’t give into it, I’ve heard people say. Yet deep within me, I wish they could enter in it and pull me out somehow, some way.” A Woman of HopeJourney with me, beyond the...