Finding God in Foster Care: Laci Phillips’ Story
Pain, fear, uncertainty and trauma followed Laci Phillips as she grew up, but when she looks back on every heavy memory or beautiful moment, she can confidently say God was with her through it all.
Laci works as a case manager for Families 4 Families, a career inspired not only by her own experiences but also by the foster parents who eventually adopted her and her sisters out of the foster care system.
“My [biological] parents divorced when I was around two years old. My mother took me, and my biological father took my brother. I can still say to this day that, even being so young, it’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
Laci and her mother moved across the U.S. from California until they found a permanent home in West Virginia. There, her mother met and married another man, and they welcomed Laci’s little sister. Soon after, Laci’s stepfather began physically abusing her, and her mother didn’t intervene.
“When I came into [foster] care, I had bruises all over my body. I wasn’t clean, and I had a lot of lice,” Laci remembers.
Case workers in West Virginia first brought six-year-old Laci and her young sister to an emergency placement with the girls’ babysitter.
“Her name was Amanda, and I remember that I absolutely loved going over to her house to play with her kids. I considered her and her home my safe space,” she said.
But since this placement was only temporary, Laci and her sister soon moved to another foster home that didn’t provide the comfort or reassurance she needed. After her foster father passed away, the girls were moved yet again to the home where they would later find a permanent family.
“My [adoptive] mom tells me that I would not get out of the car,” Laci said. “All I could talk about was going back to Miss Amanda’s because in my child brain, that was my safe space, and that’s what I wanted.”
But with Barbie doll bribery and a lot of reassurance, Laci and her sister found peace in this loving home. That peace, however, was short-lived.
“We were removed from that home and placed into a kinship home. When we got that call, my [adoptive] mom was upset. She came in, and I remember having one of the deepest conversations I’ve ever had with my mom about how it was going to be okay, and we were going to pack up all of my favorite things.”
In this kinship placement, Laci again faced life without a loving family until her relatives decided they couldn’t care for the children anymore. Laci’s caseworkers called her previous foster family and asked if they would take the two girls back and potentially welcome another baby sister who was on the way.
“My [adoptive] mom says she remembers this call being God’s way of telling her, ‘You’re meant to adopt these girls,’” Laci shared.
“My adoptive family is the reason I have everything that I have today. They brought me to Christ, and my life has been different ever since. I can truly say that I don’t know where I would be without them.”
The care and love that Laci has received from her adoptive family inspire her to make sure children in foster care can experience the same safety and security she did. She feels that her work with Families 4 Families not only makes a difference for the children she serves but also uplifts her as she wades through difficult cases.
“Without a faith-based agency with other people who also believe in the Lord, I don’t think I could do what I do. It can be so heartbreaking, stressful and frustrating,” she said.
“This is a very taxing job, and it takes a lot from you. You’re dealing with a lot of traumatic experiences with these children. But at the end of the day, what keeps me going is knowing they’re being placed in faith-based homes where they can become exactly who God intends them to be.”
It’s this trust in God’s plan that has sustained Laci as she’s sought healing and wholeness as an adult. Without a loving Heavenly Father, she knows she wouldn’t be where she is today. But, together with the Families 4 Families team, she’s giving children in foster care the opportunity to hear about His love.
“As humans, we don’t know why kids get taken into care. We don’t know the reason for some of the things that happen in cases. But we also have to realize God is the ultimate being. God knew from the moment He developed me in the womb that I was going to go through all of this,” she said.
