Battling the Backyard Dragon: A Tale of Heroes Who Wouldn’t Give Up.
Tiffany’s yard had gotten out of hand. Trash littered the ground, and overgrown branches reached over the fence like clenched fingers. The mess of rusty garbage and tall jungle grass was constantly eating away at Tiffany’s hope.
It was a result and a constant reminder of a hard time in her life, those years ago when she had made some poor choices and gone down a darker path. Although she was in a better place now, her yard was like a gray cloud still looming over. Working long hours and caring for three kids left her no time to work on it herself, and she wouldn’t ask her kids to help with the yard because it was her actions that led to its condition. “It was a lot,” she said, “and it wasn’t their fault at all.”
When Grace Church Orlando arrived to serve Tiffany’s family by cleaning up the yard, they looked something like a medieval army prepared to fight a mighty dragon. “They came with pole saws and rakes,” Tiffany recalled. “They went above and beyond.” The team spent several hours doing battle with the overgrown foliage and the piles of trash. Tiffany joined in with them in the work and watched with amazement and gratitude, but she noticed that one of her family members was missing. Her father had left the house around the time the team arrived because he was embarrassed about the condition of the yard and their need for help. Tiffany explained that the yard was especially bothersome to her dad. “It was a thorn in his side,” she said.
As the team concluded their work, Tiffany looked around at her spotless yard in stunned silence. “The transformation was unreal,” she marveled. She began to walk around the edges of the fence, where just hours ago she could not, thanking the team and surveying the beauty of the newly visible landscape. Just then, her dad returned. Not knowing what to expect from him, Tiffany started across the yard towards him. As she got closer, she saw on his face a rather unique expression. “He was in a state of shock,” she said. Tiffany’s father was in joyous disbelief. With tears of gratitude in his eyes, he began to walk through the yard, thanking and shaking the hand of every member of Grace’s team.
Tiffany herself was deeply moved. “My dad’s not a crier,” she explained, “and it brought him to tears.” Reflecting on how this affected her, she said, "The smile on my dad’s face and the tears in his eyes as he thanked those who were still here when he got home, was priceless to me.”
Looking back on this day, Tiffany continues to radiate thankfulness. “Words cannot express the gratitude my family and I feel,” she said. Her deep appreciation comes from a heart that knows both what it is to need help and what it is to serve and provide for others. Years ago, Tiffany beat cancer. This was indeed an incredible triumph, but she fell into a dark time in response to her harrowing battle. Her own children had to be placed in foster care. At this low point in her story, Tiffany “hit [her] knees,” and she explained that God began to heal and restore her. “It took me a year to get my kids back,” she recalled. And she reflected on this momentous shift in her life, saying, “Ever since I started that journey to getting myself straight and my life right, I’ve just seen God’s blessing.” In response to God’s faithfulness to her, Tiffany didn’t stop at just getting her own kids back. She also took in her teenage cousin, who had been in foster care for years, as a kinship placement.
Having gained a perspective that only comes through experiencing life’s ups and downs, Tiffany presses on with grit and a resilient drive to serve. “I’m just here trying to make the world better for somebody else, and trying to survive it myself,” she explained. Although parts of her story were dark and painful, her present path is illuminated by selflessness and humility. For Tiffany, her life is about “making sure that [she] sets the kids up for success.” And as heroes often do, she refuses to accept praise for the impact she is making in her kids’ lives, saying, “There’s no glory to me, period.”
The story of Tiffany’s yard clean up highlights the harmony that powers healing in the foster care system. Families like Tiffany’s are desperately needed to care for vulnerable children, and volunteers are likewise needed to support and strengthen those families so they can continue the critical work of fostering. With Tiffany’s journey as a beacon of hope and possibility, know that wherever your path has taken you thus far, there is always an opportunity to be a hero.