When Diego Fuller arrived at the home of Bishop Aaron Blake and his wife Mary, he heard a message that he hadn’t heard before. They told him when he arrived that he was engrafted and that nothing could separate their love from him. He didn’t fully understand what that meant. In fact, the words “I love you” meant something completely different to him because of all the abuse and neglect he had experienced at the hands of those who told him “I love you.” In this episode you will learn about the devastating event that helped Diego to understand the true meaning of love for the first time. You will hear him describe how that discovery changed his life.
Download the free companion PDF to this series—“Seven Insights about Foster Care from Those Who’ve Been There”–and share these types of insights with others in your community!
Key Quote
“Keep in mind, anybody that ever said that they love me I always thought that was the enemy because the only thing that love … Love to me was neglect, it was abuse, it was being molested, it was being neglected, it was … That’s what love was. If anybody ever said, “Diego, I love you,” I thought of you as the enemy to me because that’s what I have always seen. Then when he said that’s the reason we really act it out in this house. Not just me, all the boys. When he said, “I love you,” we thought, “That’s just … Everybody says that. ”
Resources and Guests
Engrafted: When the Kids Burn Down the House Video Here
Bishop Aaron Blake and his wife Mary engrafted 6 teenage boys from foster care into their family just shortly after empty-nesting. They always told the boys that they were engrafted into the family, but this is the story of what it took for them to understand what that really meant. This video features interviews with Bishop Aaron Blake and Diego Fuller and also features the song "Engrafted" by Diego Fuller.
Farmer Herman and the Flooding Barn is a truly unique children’s book with a big heart. Based on a true story, this beautiful and whimsical book explores Farmer Herman’s quest to solve a very big, big, big problem. After considering a few silly ideas of how to take care of his flooding barn, Farmer Herman comes up with maybe the silliest idea of all—find 344 friends to come help pick it up and move it!
This inspiring story from Bruno, Nebraska, has been told around the world demonstrating the power of solving big problems together. One group of people who were inspired by the Bruno barn-moving story were advocates around the country who are working together to provide more than enough for kids and families in foster care.
You can order single copies of the book on Amazon, here.
For 12 or more copies for an event you are hosting, families you serve, or leaders you work with, you can get bulk pricing discounts. Place an bulk order request here.
