Raging Resilience

03/13/2026

Thank you, Raging Resilience! Last night, we hosted a table of eight to support Keystone Family Alliance as they reminded us to imagine the possibilities of improving the local foster care community.

Part of what made last night so special was celebrating Keystone's 5th year of ministry. We also had the opportunity to hear directly from Lancaster's Children and Youth Services Executive Director, Crystal Natan, who shared the status and current needs of Lancaster's foster care children.

Stay tuned for more ways to help!

03/11/2026

Spot on-

Most people picture foster care in courtrooms.

Paperwork.
Case plans.
Hearings.
Decisions made by people sitting around a table.

But foster care really begins somewhere much quieter.

It begins on the first night.

The first night a child walks into a house that is completely unfamiliar.

They walk in carrying a trash bag or a small backpack with a few things thrown inside.

Nothing about it feels normal.

The house smells different.
The floors sound different when they walk.
The bedsheets feel different.

Everything around them is new, but their whole world just fell apart.

Some kids try to be brave.

They nod.
They say they are fine.
They try not to cry.

Some kids cry the moment the door closes.

And some kids go completely quiet. The kind of quiet that makes your heart ache.

Because they are not just thinking about where they are.

They are wondering where their mom is.
They are wondering if their siblings are okay.
They are wondering if anyone is coming back for them.

They are wondering how long they are going to stay.

And the foster parent is standing there trying to make something impossible feel normal.

Offering snacks.

Asking what they like to eat.

Finding pajamas that might fit.

Showing them where the bathroom is.

Telling them it is okay if they want the hallway light left on.
Telling them it is okay if they need the door open.

Trying to make a stranger’s house feel safe in the middle of one of the worst days of their life.

Everyone in that house knows something huge just happened.

A child lost everything familiar in a single day.

The first night is not about fixing trauma.

It is not about making everything better.

It is about something much smaller, and somehow much bigger at the same time.

It is about helping a child survive the hardest night they have ever had.

Just making it to morning. 🤍

02/20/2026

You know our story.
You know the foster care system is broken.
Support children and adults directly affected.

Join Nick and I for this free dinner and evening of heartwarming information, fun, and possibility. I’ve committed to hosting a table of 10 and it would mean more than you know to have friends learn about the local foster community and support Raging Resilience and Keystone Family Alliance by signing up or making a donation.

Thank you,
Erica

https://secure.fundeasy.com/ministrysync/event/home.php?e=31569

12/28/2025

Sorry Kevin McCallister, but you’re dangerously close to losing your long-standing number one spot.

This is the movie I didn’t know I needed.

You see, Martha started it- not Martha from the Bible (although she wasn’t a good example either), but Martha Stewart. She made women question their abilities to make Christmas special enough. She demonstrated the precise way in which our table linens should be folded and how our hams should shine with pineapple glaze.

From there, it just got worse. Moms became scathing savages, jumping over one another and scolding store clerks to claim their Cabbage Patch Dolls. Then, holiday themed magazine issues and Pinterest stole the show.

Recently, a nail crushed through the coffin of the simple Christmas.

Somehow, I missed out on this 1972 novel that became a shortened children’s book and two movies. I’d heard the title, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” over the years, but God put it right in front of my face a few days ago.

As usual, He knew I was finally ready for it. What has been a classic for decades, hit our family hard. Resilience, raging or not, opens your eyes to see through a new lens. My children, husband, and I each took away different lessons.

We watched the movie days after reading the book and as I sat watching the end of it with tears quietly trailing down my cheeks, I couldn’t help but be thankful. Christmas suddenly looked much simpler and more straightforward.

Maybe you need to watch it too.

Merry Christmas! 🎄