I was 11 years old when we received a call from the Waukesha County Social Services. I didn’t know it at the time, but this one phone call was going to change my entire life.

My family had been part of the foster program for more than two years at the time of the call. We previously had five kids stay with us at different times for about two years. I thought that it was pretty cool we had a chance to bring these kids into our house while their parents were in jail or because they were abused. As sad as this may seem, that’s the society that we’ve come to know so well.

The call was for two children: Danny, who was four, and Sarah, who was six. They had been brutally beaten and neglected, and had been moved to multiple relatives and foster homes. No one seemed to be able to handle their wild behavior.

When Danny and Sarah came to our house the first day, they seemed pretty normal, but they were shy. It didn’t take long for things to change. Danny looked like an innocent, small kid on the outside, but he wasn’t. Every day he’d have violent mood swings. He’d run around the house like a madman. My parents had to hold him down numerous times to stop him from destroying the house. He would destroy toys, put holes in walls, write on the TV with crayons, and threaten to kill us. This went on for many days to the point where I actually thought about running away.

The one thing I will never forget was his blood-curdling scream. When my parents held him down, it was as if he was being stabbed with a knife over and over again. In our house, he was never abused or hurt; he just didn’t like being confined. It was the most unbearable thing for a person to hear, but we never gave up on Danny. We knew God had a purpose for sending him to our house.

Then there was Sarah, who was completely the opposite. She never showed any emotions and was stone-faced. You could sometimes hear her in her room talking to herself, as if there was another person in the room with her. This really creeped me out. The blank expressions on her face made her seem emotionless. She had a hard time adapting to our family and to a new school. She had been moved to three different schools in one year.

But after five long years they’ve both changed significantly. I mean it when I say they have changed their whole lives around.

Danny’s anger-management problems changed drastically. He went from a wild, crazed boy to a fun-loving boy. Most importantly he now has Christ in his heart.

Sarah’s expressions have improved, and she is doing great at school. She even is making friends. She has also accepted the fact that she can be a part of our family. She knows we will never abandon her.