Based in the desert of West Texas, Amara Bratcher is a full-time student minister who also writes, takes pictures and volunteers with at-risk children. She has written a book entitled The Bridge That Love Built for adopted kids who have gaps in the early years of their lives. She likes her coffee French Pressed and wears her hair curly 365 days a year. 

Four Years

Four years.
Five court cases.
Ten girls.
Two boys.

When I signed up to be a court appointed special advocate (CASA) for kids who were in protective custody and had an ongoing case with CPS, I thought I was going to save someone. I thought I was going to change someone’s life. I thought I was going to be a hero.

Let me summarize the last four years succinctly -
I have been saved.
I have been changed.
I have seen the only hero that exists - and it’s the God who holds everything together.

All of these revelations came on the other side of intense trouble - kids who hated me, parents who verbally attacked me, physical sickness and crushing stress, being silenced and overlooked in the court system, being vilified by CPS and attorneys, outcome after outcome that just wasn’t right.

But the kids who were in the middle of it all, they were never alone.
I was there. I am here.
And that’s the miracle of weathering a storm - I’m still standing.
By God’s grace, those ten girls and two boys are too. That’s success.

mature

A Tale About Blood