Created for You

Over the weekend, I had the honor of speaking at the Created for You Retreat put on by Northway Christian Community in Pittsburgh. It was such a life-giving experience for me to be able to encourage the foster and adoptive moms gathered there.

We first began our foster care journey a little over a decade ago and have grown so much in our understanding of trauma and its impact on our bodies, families, and communities. Over the course of three sessions at the retreat, I was able to share pieces of our own story and what I’ve learned about:

Our core needs (worth, love, trust, rest, and nourishment)
What happens when those needs aren’t met either because of what happens to us (other peoples’ choices; ACEs) or what happens in us (our own choices)
- Download handouts from this session for self-reflection and group discussion
How we can meet the needs of those in our care, fostering resilience to buffer the effects of toxic stress

As promised for the retreat participants and anyone else who is interested… here is a list of some of the great resources I mentioned, to learn more about adverse childhood experiences, trauma, and how it all affects us.

Note: This is really just the tip of the iceberg as far as what’s out there, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you with options. So I suggest checking these out first, and then going deeper by joining your regional ACEs Connection network.

Research & Background

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
ACEs Too High
Center for Disease Control (CDC) Study

Social Networking/Conferences

Videos

Podcasts/Audio

The Adoption Connection
Love Thy Neighborhood (Episode 15: Where the Gospel Meets Foster Care)
Honestly Adoption
Foster Parenting Podcast
Chapter 6 (“Sewer Rats and Scofflaws”) of Rising Strong by Brené Brown
Chapter 7 (“Wholehearted Parenting: Daring to be the adults we want our children to be”) of Daring Greatly by Brené Brown