Rise Above It

I can only talk for a few minutes and then I have to play music or commercials or take your calls, which I love. But in this podcast, um, I can share some of the longer phone calls that I take at night. Do you know sometimes I talk to people for twenty minutes half an hour when they call through at night. What I do is I let Janey, my producer, or Lisa or Peter mon whoever is running the board.

They can tell when I need time to talk to someone at length on the phone, and so they will run a call that was taken earlier so that I can stay on the phone with you for however long it takes to talk about your situation. I had someone called the other night, Uh, and I want to share some of that phone call with you. A listener named Tianna who heard me talking about helping kids in foster care. I have an in Geo a charity called Point Hope, and what we do is we give hope to children

who have no hope. And there are a lot of kids, half a million kids in our foster care system who have little hope because they're stuck in a system that doesn't meet their emotional needs, doesn't doesn't think about the impact that moving them every few months has upon your life. And I was talking about that and talking about these bags that we are providing um totes for teens, their backpacks or um duffel bags filled with things that they will need should they be moved, which they will be

from house to house and foster care. And so when they're moved now oftentimes they're given a garbage bag to put their stuff in, and we're trying to give them a little dignity with totes that are filled with toothbrushes and toilet trees, deodorant, things that a teenager needs, and a place to put their clothes, what few clothes they might have. So I was talking about that on the radio, and Tianna called and she said, I am one of those kids that was in the foster care system for

most of her life. And we ended up talking for a long long time, and I want to share some of that conversation with the you a lot of that conversation with you. Uh. We talked about things that I couldn't put on the radio, couldn't put on the air because it's just too um tender or emotional. And my show at night is a family friendly show, and the things that Tianna shared with me on the phone were not things that I would necessarily want a four or

five year old to listen to. And so in this podcast, I am going to share some of the conversation that I had with Tianna and then some thoughts on how you can make the world a better place for children in foster care. By the way, um, this podcast is being brought to you, and it's funny that I'm I'm talking with Tiana, who is an African American girl who was stuck in foster care for more than half of her life and chose to rise above it, chose to

not let her circumstances determine her future. And there is a movie out right now called Hidden Figures, and it tells the story of three women who went to work for NASA back in the nineteen sixties. They were mathematicians. They were the team members that helped NASA with the

historic launch of astronaut John Glenn's launch into orbit. You don't often hear about all the people working at NASA behind the scenes, but the story of these three African American women and their contributions is not to be missed. The movie is called Hidden Figures and it's now in theaters everywhere. Take yourself and if you have daughters, take

them to take them, let them see it. Let them understand the power that women have that God has given us, and just how much they can do and how their contribution can change the world. Again, it's called Hidden Figures, and they are sponsoring this podcast. So let's go to the phone. Let's go to this conversation that I had

with Tianna. Hi, Welcome to the Delilah Shell. Who is this. Hi. I'm Tianna and I'm like a recent listener, but I've been listening now for like two months, and I've seen that you guys talk about foster care and I'm in foster care. I kind of just got my place down. I've been a foster care for eleven years and I'm with my new born son. Wait wait, wait, back up. You you have been in foster care for eleven years, Tianna. Yeah, how old are you now? I'm twenty, I'm about to

be one. So I've been in foster care since I was nine because my mom died and my dad's deported. So how many placements were you in over those eleven years? About ten? Ten fourths to homes, so basically you moved every year. Yes, yeah, I've I've been in a good home where I still have connections with the woman. I've been a bad home so I slept on the floor and didn't have anything. I've got my clothes stolen from forster girls and stuff, and I learned a lot from

them and the whole system. I learned a lot from it. And that's why I just I wanted to share a little bit of my story because God bless me so much. I have my own apartment, now, I have my son and smiling right now. I wanted to tell my story a little bit. So you never you never got a

forever family? No, Um, I tried. But when when you're a forster care and like you're nice, there's a lot of girls who take advantage of it, and then you get into fights, and then you have to move from home and stuff, and then they still your clothes and stuff. It's a lot. They go through a lot. I've never been to what they've been through. Some of their parents, you know, are on drugs or they could have raised

them and stuff. My parents died, so I don't know how it feels to be neglected by your mom and your dad that you love and they don't really want you. So I had to deal with their emotions that they had and they got taken out on me. So I never really get together forever home. But I have two good relationships with two false to parents and I couldn't

asked off for anymore than that. Tianna, how do you have such a sweet faith and such a deep faith when you have been shuffled around, kicked around, moved around, orphaned, and yet it sounds to me like you still have hope because I have Christ as I didn't have the little bit of kindness that He has given me even

through what I've been through. Because I'll tell you I've been through like a lot, even up to this moment, I've been through a lot, but I feel that so many people have been through worse than what I've been through. And seeing how my foster sisters, how they have felt and what they go through. I don't complain. I don't, I don't. I just every time, I just make away. It's just a way for me to be happy. My son is happy, he's healthy, so that makes me happy.

I have a roof over my head, that makes me happy. I'm just always happy. Well I am. I am so proud of you, and I am so happy to hear that God is your fortress and your strength because I was when I was your age. I was a bitter, angry, selfish, self centered young woman and it wasn't until I was twenty six that I gave my heart to God and God started healing my heart. But I was much older than you are now before I had that kind of piece that you have, and I hadn't been through anything

like you have. So I am so proud of you. Oh, I can do a smile. I came out on the winning team. I'm on the winning side. I'm about to go to college. Just just three years ago and I had three credits, so I'm blessed. We've been talking or listening to a conversation that I had earlier. I took this call the other night while I was on the air, and I obviously couldn't air the entirety of the call, or even a portion of it. It was so in depth with Tianna. But I just want to encourage you, Tianna.

I want to encourage any young person listening who has been abused, who has been shuffled from home to home, who feels like no one cares. I want to let you know. And I know it sounds trite, and I know you're not gonna believe me, and you're going to roll your eyes, but God does care. I know it's tough, it's a big jump to make, it's a big leap to make. But if you were listening to Tianna, you could hear in her voice the sincerity when she talks

about her faith. I know in my own life, the things that I went through, the abandonment that I faced, I was disowned by my family and kicked the curb. I'm glad now that I went through that. As weird as that sounds, I am so glad that I went through that and every other tough thing that I went through, because in going through those tough things, it developed compassion in my heart for others and a desire to make

the world a better place. So, if you are listening to my voice right now and you have not been able to forgive God for the abuse that was heaped upon you, visited upon you by the foster care system, by parents that didn't love you, by people that abandoned you or hurt you or used you, please now there is a higher being whose heart broke every time your heart broke, and who saved all of your tears in an alabaster jar. And one day it will all make sense.

Not today, but one day it will make sense. But today all you need to know is that you are here for a reason, and you have an amazing purpose in your life, and I am here at night and on this podcast to help you find that purpose. Thank you for sharing this time with me. So down and lesson more where you line