Donate to help the Gross family

I have the honor of being friends and living life with Jon, Julie, and their 5 kids. In fact, I count Jon and Julie more as family than friends. So when their hearts ache, lament, and cry out for restoration and healing for their daughter, mine does too.

Please read Jon and Julie's letter below, and join me in praying and giving to a couple who has the best interest in mind for all of their children. Including a daughter born out of love, not DNA.

Thank you

-Anna Bergum

In 2016, we said “YES” to God, and we opened our home and heart to two little girls. We were unsure where this road would lead us, but knew with every fiber of our being that we were being asked to step in and receive whatever came with that “yes”. We knew only a small portion of their back story or the hurts they were carrying, but we did know that two little girls needed someone to say “YES” to their hearts and their futures; and we were confident God was asking us to do just that. The journey between that day and now has been filled with both joy and incredible struggle as we’ve tried to understand and navigate the spaces of their past and walk with them toward their future. We have learned along the way that deep childhood trauma has invaded spaces where protection and covering should have been building them up in the confidence that they belong and are deeply wanted. Instead, there were deep questions surrounding rejection, belonging, and knowing what to truly believe. This past year has been tough as we’ve tried to really press into these hurts and debilitating lies to try and uncover and restore the truth that they are known, loved, chosen, and that they belong. We quickly realized a few things:

1. We have used every tool we have, and sometimes you need others to come alongside and provide tools and resources you don’t have.

2. It starts with us…. Occasionally we are brave enough to pause and address the broken places within ourselves and our families, and acknowledge that we need help cultivating restoration and healing so that we can move forward together, stronger and more equipped.

These realizations influenced our decision several months back to send one of our daughters to an intensive therapy program to help break the cycle. She has completed that program and the recommendation now is that she attend a year-long therapeutic boarding school that specializes in a relational model of therapy for kids with childhood traumas, helping her learn healthier ways to process emotionally difficult and stressful experiences without engaging in self-destructive behaviors. This will empower her to process the pieces of her childhood that were disrupted by trauma, build a healthy self-image, attachment skills, and learn how to manage daily pressures and family dynamics. This decision was not easy to come by, but we know as a family it provides the greatest opportunity for her to walk in wholeness. This, however, is incredibly expensive and we have tapped into every resource we have because we believe in her and this process. Our “YES” means we are committed to seeing her win, overcome, and heal. We are also committed to doing the hard work required of us to be ready to welcome her home. So this is where we humbly ask you to link arms with us, partner with us in prayer, and give financially if you are able and willing to help us with this next step. We need to raise a large sum of money fairly quickly. We are trusting God to move mountains and provide, and we are asking you to partner with Him and us to make that happen.

Our hearts and hands are willing but deep healing sometimes requires more than we have to offer.

-Jon and Julie Gross