A young woman who once lived in Cathy’s Home, with former Home Parents Bill and Tammy Atherton, shares a struggle that she, and many of our children, dealt with when arriving at Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries. Yet there is hope! Today with her own children, she is using some of the lessons she learned during her brief time here:
Bill & Tammy with kids in front of Cathy’s Home, Sept. 2000
I used to hate anything and everything about myself. I now know that what happened to me was not my fault and I should not feel hate for myself because of what others did to me. But I had not yet learned that when I came to Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries, and so I pushed everyone away in fear when they tried to get close to me. I feared losing them. I feared growing to care for them, only to have them reject me. It seemed easier to just push people away than to grow to love and accept them, risking the hurt and rejection that I feared would come later. The people at Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries tried to help me heal, and I’m thankful for that. I was damaged, and I regret that at the time I couldn’t distinguish good motives from bad.
Tammy was the mother I always longed for and needed. I just didn’t know how to fully accept her or Bill. They always treated me and the other kids in the home the same way they treated their own biological children. Yet I had this deep down, nagging feeling that if my own family didn’t want me, how could anyone else?
Bill was a good father to all of us. He always sent a flower to school for each of us on Valentines Day. That was very special. In the morning, when it was time for all of us to wake up, he would start playing this soothing music. It was so annoying to us because we hated it, and thus it was a good wake up call. Bill was always smart with that reverse psychology stuff! It’s funny, but now I like that kind of music, and it’s also how I wake up my own kids in the morning! I also always make sure I send a flower to school for my children on Valentines Day. So I’m passing on some of those big and little things I learned at Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries.
Because of your support, the ministry of Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries and Bill and Tammy has changed this woman’s life, and is now impacting the lives of her children. An eternally significant impact that will last for generations to come. THANK YOU!
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