Campus Spotlight:
Meet Waukeesha and Jacob
By Debbie Robertson, HomeNews Writer
Waukeesha McKinnie and twoyearold
Jacob joined the HomePlace Ministry
in January 2019. As she welcomes you to her living room, she appears relaxed and
happy, and she radiates joy. But their journey has not been an easy one.
As a child, Waukeesha was “very sheltered, a peoplepleaser.”
She wanted to
fit in and soon learned that drugs helped her feel like she was part of the crowd.
Several times over the years, she tried to get back on track but would always return
to old habits and the wrong crowd. Through various rehab programs, the focus was
on the process of getting clean. “But, it was never about that for me,” she says. “I
had no problem getting clean. My problem was that I couldn’t stay that way.”
Waukeesha recalls the day that Child Protective Services knocked on her door.
She was expecting them; she knew they were coming to take Jacob. Those were dark
days, and she was thankful when, in time, she was accepted into P31, a faithbased
women’s recovery home. During her ninemonth
stay there, she started her faith
journey, and it’s there that she heard about LBCH’s HomePlace Ministry. “I begged
Ms. Susan (Susan Clark, Director of HomePlace) to help me get in,” Waukeesha says.
Prayers were answered, and Waukeesha and Jacob joined the Campus family.
Waukeesha was excited, thinking the next steps would be easy: she had a great place
to live, and she had her son. But she was in for a surprise. “I had Jacob back with me
again, but he and I had to get reacquainted. He didn’t know me; I didn’t know him.
I didn’t know how to be a mom. And then there were all these rules to get used to.
And all these new things were going on at the same time. I thought I wanted this
but didn’t know it would be so hard!”
Waukeesha admits that she often acted out, expecting Deborah Johnson (Irma’s
Place Cottage Mom), Ms. Susan, and others in the HomePlace Ministry to kick her
out of the program. Instead, she was amazed at their kindness. “Ms. Deborah would
even drive me to work. She didn’t have to do that. But she would get up early to
take me, and she was always here to help. She was always telling us to love Jesus
and that everything starts with God. But I kept rebelling. I pushed them to the limit.
But the more I acted out, they just kept showing me love. I didn’t understand that.”
When asked how long it took her to adjust to the rules and to her new life, Waukeesha
exclaims, “Eight months! It took a long time! After moving here, I started to realize
that my life had always been in chaos—when I was growing up and even after
I left home. I was used to that. If there wasn’t chaos, I was going to create it.... I
prayed; I always prayed. But I didn’t know how to act with all these people trying to
help me. And I also started to realize I didn’t know how to ‘bow’ to Jesus and His
will. I’d always done everything on my own and didn’t know how to let go.”
She points to a chair and shares that one day, sitting in that chair, she desperately
prayed for life change and for Jesus to be more real to her. “I cried and prayed
for Him to help me surrender and to give Him control. It wasn’t something I could
do on my own. And there was a change that came over me,” she says. “I could feel
it.” Ms. Johnson remembers that day, too. “Waukeesha was a challenge, but I believed
in her and for her. As I continued to pray for her, I began to see her life in a
way she could not. And on that day, her heart changed, her countenance was completely
changed. It was truly transformational.”
Since that day, Waukeesha has a new appreciation for life and a new hope for
the future. She is grateful for the HomePlace Ministry and those who prayed for her
through this process, and she is appreciative of the services available for moms and
children. The parenting classes have been a blessing. Waukeesha tried to parent
Jacob the same way she did her older children—ages 18, 12 and 11. “But here, caring
for an infant—there were a lot of things I didn’t know.” The older children live out
of state, but Waukeesha enjoys talking with them. “I’m a lot more aware of what
they are going through, things they like or don’t like. I’ve learned how to listen and
how to be a better mother to them.”
Waukeesha and Jacob are actively involved at Faith, Hope & Love Fellowship.
When they are home, she and Jacob spend a lot of time outdoors. Jacob loves riding
his bike. Waukeesha says they also read a lot. Jacob likes books and he loves to pretend
cook. Jacob has been quietly playing while his mom talks, but he looks up at
her as she mentions his cooking. Ms. Deborah says Jacob is a very happy, loving
child who loves his mom very much, and Waukeesha is a wonderful mother to Jacob.
Waukeesha looks for opportunities to share her story of life change with other
moms in similar situations. She may want to work in counseling someday, but her
immediate priority is to save enough money to get a car and a home for her family.
She looks forward to the day when she and Jacob can have more time with her older
children and she can help support them, too.
As one of the older moms in the HomePlace Ministry, Waukeesha sees herself
as an example to others that, “It’s never too late.” She adds, “HomePlace helped me
with life skills and parenting skills. Basically, the generational curse stops here,” she
says. “I feel safe here and I haven’t felt that since I was a child. This is definitely the
place for moms who want a Christian change in their lives, a change that will last.”
”They just kept showing me love.” –Waukeesha
Kerri Byrd, LCSW
Foster & Adoption
Specialist
HomeNews - November 2019 • PAGE 3
Fear and Jumping In...
A few years ago, my husband and I went white water rafting while visiting family
in Kentucky. The fullday
rafting experience included an opportunity to swim and relax
in a calm stretch of the river. There was a large rock overlooking the swimming area
where participants could jump into the river. The area had experienced a drought recently,
so the river was unusually low
making the rock look more like a cliff towering
above the river. I stood at the foot of the rock and stared at it for a while, trying to convince
myself that the potential fun outweighed the potential for breaking my neck.
Eventually, my husband convinced me to climb up to the top. After I spent fifteen
minutes stalling and fretting, the group members started providing words of encouragement.
The guide assured me that many people had jumped safely from the rock. He
said my life jacket would pull me back up almost immediately once I entered the water.
I took a deep breath and quietly announced that I was ready. The group counted down,
and I jumped. When I emerged from the water, I heard cheers from the top of the rock.
I will never forget the exhilaration I felt from the jump, the cheers, and the satisfaction
of facing my fears. I actually climbed the rock and jumped a second time with no hesitation.
When I encounter families who feel called to foster, they almost always describe
some sort of fear as the barrier to moving forward. Whether it’s the fear of working
with the child welfare system, the fear of the impact fostering will have on their children,
or the fear of the unknown–it’s effective at keeping them from moving forward.
Maybe you’re standing at the foot of the cliff, overwhelmed by the idea. Maybe
you’ve seen other families foster with success, so you’re standing at the top of the cliff
weighing the pros and cons. If fear is stopping you in any way, consider the promises
you’ve received from your Guide: He will provide for you and meet your needs when
you’re walking in obedience. The life jacket won’t fail.