Episode # 47 // No Matter Where I Go: From Foster Care to Motherhood with Raquel McCloud
We are starting a new series this week to celebrate the launch of my new children's book, No Matter Where I Go. I wrote this book for children in foster care to know they are loved, cared for, and seen by God. The episodes in this mini-series will be interviews with guests who are a part of the foster/adoption world in some way. I am so excited to introduce you to these friends!
Today I get the privilege of introducing you to my friend Raquel McCloud. Raquel has an incredible story full of much grief and pain coupled with the incredible redemption only found through our Heavenly Father. I don’t want to spoil the story, and our conversation was so rich and full, so let’s jump in!
GUEST BIO
Raquel is a former child of kinship care, a birth mom in reunion, and a kinship adoptive mom. She is also a wife, a parenting mother, and a nature enthusiast currently living in and exploring the Appalachian Mountains somewhere in western North Carolina. She has a certification from Florida State University in Trauma & Resilience, but it’s her lifetime of lived experience that has made the biggest impact on how she shows up as a writer and speaker.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
I like to find beauty in the mundane because life is not often like the grand adventures.
I don't think God necessarily orchestrates hardship in our life to bring us closer to Him, but I do think He often redeems our hardships and allows us to draw closer to Him and to help others in the process.
There was no choice given. I was told that if you decide to keep this baby, you don't have a place to stay. You are 14 years old. You can't move back in with your grandparents. You're not welcome here.
I wasn't angry at God, but…if this is my life thus far and you are a good God, like what's the point of leaning into You?
I feel very passionate about sharing our stories and using them to help others.
Sometimes I just needed someone that had a light to illuminate that this isn't the end of your life. This isn't the end of your story. It can get better.