Fostering Voices Podcast

Friends, as we FINALLY wrap up season 8, we are also wrapping up our time as your hosts of the Fostering Voices Podcast. We have loved the 5 years that we were the hosts, but we are so excited for your new hosts to take over, Brian and Kim Vehon of Foster Arizona!   Chapters:   0:00 - Intro   13:54 – Good Word of the Day!!!   Good Word of the Day!!!   Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NIV   1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2     a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This episode features an interview with an AMAZING foster mama who happens to be single. Lina Bublys thought life would look differently than it does now, but she is still so grateful and so active in blessing those around her, especially her foster babes. We salute all you foster parents out there, but you single foster parents take the cake! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 8:46 – What's Been Helping Chris This Week? 14:15 – How Lina Came To The Fostering World 18:18 – Examples of Challenges of Fostering Children 24:51 – Examples of Beauty in Fostering 26:09 – Advice for Anyone Thinking About or In Foster Care 32:26 – Good Word of the Day!!! 33:17 – What Has Lina Been Doing For Her Health? Links: Lina on IG  Good Word of the Day!!! Reinvent to invent again or anew, especially without knowing that the invention already exists. to remake or make over, as in a different form Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

We are so often triggered by negative things that happen, but what about the positive things? This episode features a story of our son and the time we picked up a homeless lady on our way to McDonald's, and how that left a serious impression on his soul. Our call to action - take a chance. Say kind things, do kind things for others. And also, don't discount foster kids as broken and bad. They are not castaways of people who don't want them. They are humans who are able to accomplish great things and to be great. We just need to take a chance on them. Chapters:   0:00 - Intro   1:13 – Being Open and Honest About Adoption   9:01 – A Story About Birthdays and Imprints   22:303 – Good Word of the Day!!!   Links:   The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.   Good Word of the Day!!!   Isaiah 43:19 NIV 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This episode features an episode with host, Jihae! Join us as Chris grills Jihae on life's highs and lows. And you will even hear what Jihae's favorite physical attribute is of Chris'. It's very appropriate and clean. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 1:30 – Jihae Describes Growing Up in Her Parent's House 6:44 – What Has Been Your Biggest Challenge In Life? 9:19 – What Helped You Overcome That? 11:12 – What Time Did You Feel Most Fulfilled? 13:36 – What Advice Would You Give To Teenage Jihae? 19:58 – Good Word of the Day!!! Links: South Korea  Edmonton, Alberta Good Word of the Day!!! Joshua 1:9 NIV 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This episode is a quick interview with your host, Chris Watson! Get to know Chris and what drives him to be a WINNER at all times. We hope you enjoy getting to know Chris a little better! Next week will be Chris interviewing Jihae. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 3:01 – Thank you, SHOWIT!! 4:27 – Story From This Week 5:12 – Showit EDM and Plank Challenge 10:07 – What Makes Chris a Winner? 12:00 – What is a Hard Thing That You Overcame During Childhood? 15:22 – What's One Thing People Do Not Know About Chris? 17:44 – Good Word of the Day!!! Links: Spark – A conference for Showit creatives  Chevy's Fresh Mex Restaurant  Good Word of the Day!!! Romans 12:2 NIV 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

In this episode we share some highs and lows of the last month. Highs include seeing our big kids become amazing big kids. Not without faults and failures, but as young people who are trying to figure out what it looks like to be a loyal, kind person who has integrity. Church camps and cousins are also very high on the list. And in the lows category, Chris' dad had a stroke, Chris and Jihae have been feeling disconnected, and a meet up with a bio family got cancelled at the last minute and basically the wheels fell off for a minute. But we are all trying to weather these storms together, with grace, open communication, and community. So we encourage you to do the same! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 1:14 – Thank you, SHOWIT!! 2:19 – Chris's Highs of the Week 9:20 – Jihae's Highs of the Week 11:52 – Chris's Lows of the Week 21:36 – Jihae's Lows of the Week 27:36 – Good Word of the Day!!! Good Word of the Day!!! Persevering James 1:2-4 NIV 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Hebrews 12 NIV 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.  Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This episode features an incredible interview with Ben Malcolmson, author of Walk On: From Pee Wee Dropout to NFL Sidelines: My Unlikely Story of Football, Purpose, and Following an Amazing God. Ben has seen some major lows in his life, starting with having an alcoholic mom, and being thrust into college life a year early. But God was with him every step of the way, and brought him through so many dark days, to so many glorious days. You will learn so much from this former USC football player, and Pete Carrol's right hand man of 10 plus years on the Seattle Seahawks. If you have ever questioned your purpose in life, you will want to listen to this episode! Chapters:   0:00 - Intro   1:13 – Welcome Ben!   2:45 – Ben's Journey   7:22 – Talking About Faith   12:10 – The Intersection of Journalism and Football   28:53 – The Bible Story – From the Book   44:39 – Good Word of the Day!!!   Links:   Ben Malcomson   Walk On: From Pee Wee Dropout to NFL Sidelines: My Unlikely Story of Football, Purpose, and Following an Amazing God   Clay Mathews Chunky Soup Commercial   Good Word of the Day!!!   Habakkuk 1:5 NIV  The Lord's Answer   5 “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This week we have a less than 5 minute episode! In light of the horrifying events of this last week, we just want to encourage you to talk to your kids about it. Cause they have heard about it. But they should hear about it from you and be able to talk about it with you. Cry together, pray together, and be prepared together. We don't need to live lives of fear as parents, so let's definitely make sure we are helping our kids to do the same. Chapters:   0:00 - Talk to Your Kids   2:06 – Good Word of the Day!!!   Good Word of the Day!!!   Proverbs 1:33 NIV 33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This episode is for parents of teens and teens! We would LOVE for teenagers to listen to this episode, but it wasn't until midway through the recording that Jihae realized she was using her condescending 'mom voice', for which she is VERY SORRY. She tries to reserve that for exclusive use to the Watson children, so we are sorry you have to hear it during this episode. But, it's a serious one, and we have seen Tik Tok trends go the complete wrong way, and we want you to make better choices for yourself and those around you! We hope you learn something new and useful from this episode! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  3:02 - The Power of the Phone/Don't Follow the Trends 21:22 – Good Word of the Day!!! 24:44 – Reading Reviews Time! Links: "Complacency Kills" Proverbs 1:32  32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; Episode 141: Finding Health in Habits and Relationships with Bekah Tinter Episode 116: Protecting Your Family From Tech with Some Tech Good Word of the Day!!! Proverbs 15:31-33 31 Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. 32 Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. 33 Wisdom's instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honor. Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This episode features and interview with Health and Lifestyle Coach, Bekah Tinter. She shares some truly simple tips and habits you can implement to enjoy a healthier, and more enjoyable lifestyle. Chapters:   0:00 - Intro    3:56 - Honest Stories in Adoption   10:27 – Health Tips from Bekah   20:32 – Good Word of the Day!!!   Links:   Bek and Kev   Uncommon Freedom with Kevin Tinter   Good Word of the Day!!! Release – releasing what we can't control and allow God to be God in our lives.   Isaiah 40:29-30 New International Version 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;   Thank you to our sponsor Showit   Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!!   Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram   You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com   We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE   AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

Grant Botma, author, business owner, and super family man! He gives us some great tips on having more harmony in our lives. Chapters: 0:00 – Intro  1:19 – Welcome, Grant! 5:56 – Talking About a Unicorn 7:25 – Work-Life Harmony 13:09 – Tips on Harmonizing Your Life 25:55 – One More Thing to Do to Work Towards Harmony 31:40 – Good Word Of The Day!!! 32:48 – Focusing on Health Links: Grant Botma Work-Life Harmony – Grant Botma The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership – Tim Elmore  Episode 136 with Jodie Botma Family Plan Calendar Good Word of the Day!!! Mark 10:45 NIV 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!  

In this episode we talk about ‘Everyone Communicates, Few Connect', a great book by John C. Maxwell. And we just want to encourage everyone (including ourselves) to always strive to connect with your loved ones, and those around you! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  3:41 - "Everyone Communicates, Few Connect" 18:57 – Good Word Of The Day!!! 20:02 – Thank you to our sponsor, Showit!! Links: Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently – John C. Maxwell UHF – 1989 The Truman Show Good Word of the Day!!! "When you make a commitment you create hope and when you keep a commitment you create trust." – John C. Maxwell Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This week's episode is with the incredible Bethany Lauren. She loves the Bible and she wants you to learn how to read it, understand it, and love it as well. We hope this interview will encourage you to be more spiritually healthy!

This episode talks about a bit of a funk that Chris had been in recently, and he realized it was stemming from his need to control things, which also caused him to feel less empathetic towards others. Might you be in the same boat? Check out this episode! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  2:14 - What We Are Reading 3:20 – That Thing Where You DM Us 9:12 – Being in a Bit of a Funk 22:00 – Getting Out of the Funk 24:00 – Good Word Of The Day!!! Books: The Gospel Comes With a House Key – Rosario Champagne Butterfield The Context Marketing Revolution – Matthew Sweezey Permission Marketing – Seth Godin Good Word of the Day!!! Hebrews 4:16  NIV 16 Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Next week's guest Bethany Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE  AND please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This episode features my sweet friend, Jodie Botma, who on the outside may look like she has a pretty darn good life! And she does! But she has also just come out of such a dark and hard season, and she shares with us how she survived the longest and darkest year of her life. And she has gone through many hard things in her life already, so that is actually saying a lot! Even though we may not have the tools to help you get out of your winter season, we believe this episode can help you through it! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  7:05 - Different Seasons of Life 11:31 – Winter as a Season of Life 21:28 – Word of Advice 26:33 – Jodie's Turning Point 33:16 – A Word of Encouragement 34:17 - Good Word Of The Day!!! Links: Oil Pulling Description at National Library of Medicine: Megan Fate Marshman Sermon talking about seasons and Jesus as our Wonderful Counselor. The Problem Isn't Their Paycheck – Grant Botma Work-Life Harmony – Grant Botma: 2 Timothy 4:17:  17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. Good Word of the Day: Psalms 40:1-3 For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. 1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Jodie on Instagram Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE  AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

The amazing Robert T Watson went to be with the Lord on February 15th, and what an amazing grandfather he was to Chris, and I, and all of our many children and cousins! This episode is in memory of this phenomenal man of God, who chose to live his life with great intentionality and love and prayer. We would truly not be who we are without him. We hope you enjoy this episode, and that it inspires you to love each other well, and to stay sharp, and hug your grandparents while you still can! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  1:32 - High and Low from Last Few Weeks 25:14 - Good Word Of The Day!!! Links: Grandpa's Obituary Fostering Voices – Episode 43 – Wes Watson Good Word of the Day!!! A good person leaves an inheritance for their children's children,     but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous. Proverbs 13:22 Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE  AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!  

This week we are so pleased to have Dr. Dayna Harris - a Child Psychologist, with us on the podcast! She has an Educational Specialist Degree and a Doctor of Education Degree, and she truly loves to work with kids. In fact we met because she was the Child Psychologist at our kids' school! And her son is one of my son's best friends! Dr. Harris shares with us how to help our kids to think about what they are thinking about, and encourages us as parents to do the same! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  2:39 - Dr. Dayna's Background 4:19 - Good Word Of The Day!!! 6:21 - Functioning in Dysfunction 13:38 - Tailoring the Conversation to the Age of the Child 19:57 – Thinking About What You Are Thinking About 23:55 – Things Parents Should Strive to Modify 37:30 - Keeping Oneself Healthy Good Word of the Day: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,     before you were born I set you apart;     I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” - Jeremiah 1:5 If you would like to connect: Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! Follow us on YouTube! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

Marriage is something we love to talk about, because it truly does help foster kids, and adoptive kids, and your bio kids to feel like they are in a safe and healthy home. The things that make marriages awesome are great communication and even great community! We are happy to have been able to host a Marriage Shower for Cate and Josh this week, and that's what prompted this episode. We start with why we have showers and gatherings, then we get into the advice that was shared at the shower. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  1:13 - Today's Topic – Marriage 10:42 - Bits of Wisdom Shared at Wedding Shower 18:40 - Our Sponsor – Showit! 19:00 - More Marriage Wisdom 28:48 - Good Word Of The Day!!!   Marriage: Marriage is something we love to talk about, because it truly does help foster kids, and adoptive kids, and your bio kids to feel like they are in a safe and healthy home. The things that make marriages awesome are great communication and even great community! We are happy to have been able to host a Marriage Shower for Cate and Josh this week, and that's what prompted this episode. We start with why we have showers and gatherings, then we get into the advice that was shared at the shower. The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker “This book will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue—and how you host and attend them.” Advice: Don't think you are competing or deserve something for serving your spouse. You are on the same team, not keeping score of stuff that doesn't exist, so set your spouse up for success. Have grace.  Envisioning your spouse in the other team's jersey is not healthy. Referenced Outward Mindset again, by the Arbinger Institute. Very important to have a healthy mindset in marriage! Surround yourself with great community in every season that will point you to Jesus. Desperate need for Jesus to make your marriage work - humility is necessary. And ask for help. Steadiness, and pointing others to truth. Be a safe place to confess things to each other and confess everything to each other. When you feel like things are coasting, that's when things fall apart. Communicate frustrations so they don't pile up. God created us with emotions. Part of emotion is connection. Learn how to understand what emotions are happening helps build intimacy. Untangling Emotions is a good book.  Allow yourself to go to bed angry. Think of marriage as a team sport- be willing to shift to cover. Go to bed at the same time- it's hard to have sex in different rooms. Decide roles (who is in charge of finances), decide how you will communicate about money.   Of course, since this is a wedding shower, we talked about sex: Communicate desires and drives ahead of time.  And “tiredness is the enemy of sex”, which is a good word from Grandma Watson Good Word of the Day: Say what you mean. 'It's fine', is never fine. – From Cate and Josh's Wedding Shower Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE  AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video! Good word of the day:  “It's fine” is never fine. Establish common communication habits. Say what you mean. Truth and love in communication. 

This is a great episode featuring an interview with our sweet friend, Dee Lavigne, of Queen Dee Fitness, and The Lavigne life on YouTube and beyond. She shares some simple tips for us all to stay fit and healthy! Give her a follow on social media and YouTube to be entertained, and inspired! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  5:15 - Welcome To The Pod, Dee!! 10:11 - How Long Have The LaVignes Been YouTubers? 11:04 - Let's Talk Some Fitness 21:18 - Accountability and Community 25:50 - Good Word Of The Day!!! Links: Dee LaVigne and family on These Four Walls YouTube Queen Dee Fitness Even more LaVigne-ness!! The LaVignes on Tik Tok Good Word of the Day!!!: Balance! Our Sponsor: Showit Create an incredible website for your creative small business! Connect with us!   Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! Follow us on YouTube! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

Starting off the new year with goal setting is our favorite way to start the year! This helps us to set up ourselves, and our kids, to accomplish things! Accountability is a big piece of the goal setting puzzle, especially because it helps us to remind the kids of the work they need to put in to make sure they accomplish their goals too. We also use the goal setting time to pause and reflect on the great, and hard things, from the year before. We are able to give thanks to God for answering specific prayers, which is always a great thing! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 2:03 - Watsy's 2022 Goals For The Year 8:42 - Here Is Where We *Actually* Talk 2022 Goals!! 18:06 - Good Word Of The Day!!! Show Notes: Dave Ramsey Goal Sheet  Bek and Kev goal setting with kids Financial Goals Give a higher percent every year And stick to personal allowance Spiritual Read paper Bible - the beautiful book Jihae talked about is this one  Chris is going to refocus on men's group - learn more about the one he goes to here. Prioritize accountability Intellectual Reading more books - but especially rereading books! Which goes back to the Good Word of the Day last week, where we want to be more effective, not just more efficient. Family Becoming a family of service and creating memories GOOD WORD OF THE DAY “Forget the former things;     do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!     Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness     and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19  If you would like to connect: Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! Follow us on YouTube! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

Here are our top 5 books from 2021 with honorable mentions of the other 40+ books we read this year. We love to read as a way to grow our minds to different ideas and perspectives and we hope you enjoy these books as much as we do!  Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  2:46 - Intro to High and Low from 2021 6:47 - Actual(!) High and Low from 2021 11:44 - The Books of 2021 13:28 - Quick Thank You to Our Sponsors 14:06 - The Books of 2021 cont. 31:09 - Good Word Of The Day!!! 33:21 - Continued Focus on Health Gigantic 2021 Book Review Jihae Books 1 The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray 2 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 3 Daring Greatly by Brene Brown 4 No Greater Love by AW Tozer 5 The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World John Mark Comer 6 Business Made Simple: 60 Days to Master Leadership, Sales, Marketing, Execution, Management, Personal Productivity and More Don Miller 7 The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy Steve Stoute 8 The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World Rosaria Butterfiled 9 Crying in H Mart: A Memoir  Michelle Zauner 10 Never Lose a Customer Again: Turn Any Sale into Lifelong Loyalty in 100 Days Joseph Coleman 11 I Am Here: The Journey from Fear to Freedom Ashley Lemieux 12 Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life  CS Lewis 13 Eat a Peach David Chang 14 Fortitude: American Resilience in the Era of Outrage Dan Crenshaw 15 Real Artists Don't Starve: Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the New Creative Age By: Jeff Goins 16 Come As You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life By: Emily Nagoski PhD 17 The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom Re-Read Books 18 For Women Only by Shauti Feldhahn 19 Essentialism by Greg McKeown 20 Love Does by Bob Goff Chris's Books 1 Wizard's First Rule: Sword of Truth, Book 1 Terry Goodkind 2 What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful Marshall Goldsmith 3 His Needs, Her Needs: Building a Marriage That Lasts By: Dr. Willard F. Harley Jr. 4 Nonviolent Communication: Create Your Life, Your Relationships, and Your World in Harmony with Your Values Marshall Rosenberg PhD 5 Public Speaking for Success Jim Rohn 6 It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership – Colin Powell 7 Twelve Pillars – By: Jim Rohn , Chris Widener 8 More Than a Carpenter Josh McDowell 9 Tangled Up in Blue: Policing the American City – Rosa Brooks 10 Re-read The Compound Effect Read Together 11 Feeding the Mouth That Bites You: A Complete Guide to Parenting Adolescents and Launching Them into the World Kenneth Wilgus PhD 12 Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew By: Sherrie Eldridge 13 The Anatomy of Peace, Expanded Second Edition: Resolving the Heart of Conflict The Arbinger Institute 14 The Outward Mindset: Seeing Beyond Ourselves The Arbinger Institute 15 Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box The Arbinger Institute 16 A Promised Land by Barack Obama 17 How To Have Your Best Year Ever Jim Rohn 18 Your Turn: How to Be an Adult by Julie Lythcott Haims 19 Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life – By: Craig Groeschel   Keeping Score: Jihae - 29 Books Chris - 19 Books Jihae is the 2021 FV Pod Book Reading Champion!! Other Links: Lily's devo she did on the Bible App - Growing Your Faith  Patrick Lencioni 5 Dysfunctions of a Team ‎At The Table with Patrick Lencioni: The Five Dysfunctions … Dave Ramsey Goal Sheet  Bek and Kev goal setting with kids Good Word of the Day “Don't ask yourself how you can be more efficient, ask yourself how you can be more effective.” –  Carey Nieuwhof Wishing you all a great new year of healthy bodies, spirits, and minds! If you would like to connect: Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! Follow us on YouTube! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!    

Becky Goodson, Nurse Practitioner extraordinaire shares with us the 3 things that she tells almost every single one of her patients to be healthy and to operate at their best. Listen in to see how you are faring with these 3 simple things you can be doing every single day! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  0:56 - It's 'Gee-Hey!!' 1:14 - Health and Wellness 2:39 - Three Health Recommendations – Vitamin D,  8:57 - Gut Health 13:54 - Omega 3s 18:49 - Talking About Weight 25:24 - Ways To Improve Your Health 29:58 - Good Word Of The Day!!!  Links: Activated Health and Wellness is the Practice, owned by the amazing Dr. Rodarte, where you can find Becky! 100 Days challenge was by Michelle Poler on Fearing Less & Doing More Get in touch with Becky We didn't find any fish with the skin on recipes in time for publication this week. Apologies! If you would like to connect: Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! Follow us on YouTube! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

We know misery loves company - so join us as we talk about some of the challenges we have been facing in the parenting front lately. Let us commiserate together, but also encourage one another - cause we are all in this together! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  2:16 - Talking About The B-Word....Balance 6:09 - The Current Season of Life 10:38 - The One Device-Related Rule 26:09 - Reasons For Serving 31:39 - Good Word Of The Day!!!  Links: Sun Valley Community Church on YouTube Feeding The Mouth That Bites You The Good Word Of The Day   May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 Elf (2003) Let's Connect! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

Cindy Branton is a teacher, mom, wife, church worker, Jesus lover, friend, sister, daughter, bunny-owner, sugar inhaler, and now Author. She shares her new book 'Words to Jesus: Children's Litanies to Pray as a Family' with us in this episode. This is an incredible resource to have to help you and your family to draw nearer to God's truths and goodness, in a way that is simple enough for your kids! This would make an amazing gift as the holiday season is upon us! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  3:13 - Welcome Cindy!! 9:01 - Cindy's Book – Words To Jesus 12:41 - More About The Book 17:27 - Good Word Of The Day!! 20:14 - Focusing On Health   Links: The Book! https://smile.amazon.com/Words-Jesus-Childrens-Litanies-Family/dp/B09B4VWGBS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=35XP2W3PYV52W&keywords=words+to+jesus+cindy+branton&qid=1638555259&sprefix=words+to+Jes%2Caps%2C196&sr=8-1 Young Adults Group at Sun Valley https://www.sunvalleycc.com/young-adults?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnaeNBhCUARIsABEee8WUiFpWDMp6i2SHtPI7IbLHwrhbpZqI1VfsyBXP28eg95rqhTsInsIaAs5BEALw_wcB Connect with Cindy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cindy_branton_writes/ Connect with us!! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

In this episode, we share some simple tips that have been helping us to be more successful in the Watson household of 9. From making the bed to doing the cross crawl, we think you will be encouraged to do little things that will make a big impact. Our kids have already been experiencing some bigs wins at school because of these exercises! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  3:30 - Thank you to our Sponsors!! 4:15 - The Importance of Habits  4:44 - Exercising Every Day 7:11 - Compound Effect 10:39 - At Dinner Talk About Kindness 16:12 - Cross Crawl 21:10 - Tapping 30:04 - Good Word Of The Day!! Links Showit United Naval Officer  we talked about who tells you why you should make your bed. Compound Effect one of our top 10 books! Read this and feel motivated to keep making small decisions that lead to big results. At Dinner Talk About Kindness! Cross Crawl  This is the new exercise we have been doing at home, and it has already helped out kids to connect the right and left sides of their brains, and has helped them to focus better! Tapping is a powerful exercise you and your kids can do to relieve stress and sync the 2 hemispheres of your brain. Power of High Five  Ed Mylett and Mel Robbins talk about the power of the High Five! Another great thing you can do with your kids! Thanks to our Sponsors Showit Bek and Kev Let's Connect! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

Join us for a great interview with Rayetta Sanchez, the Department of Child Safety's Community Liaison. She shares all the ways that we can all be involved in helping kids in foster care here in Arizona. We also discuss the big initiative they are working on right now called The Giving Tree. If you are a business, church, organization, or even a very generous person, you can get involved to make a big impact on many of Arizona's kids. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  9:00 - Welcome Rayetta Sanchez!! 12:16 - What Are Some Ways We Can Help Kids? 16:36 - Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents 18:07 DCS's Giving Tree Program 21:20 - Get In Touch With Rayetta and DCS 22:07 - Supporting DCS 28:32 - Good Word Of The Day!! 34:00 - Thank Yous and Skinny Vanilla Lattes! Links Feeding The Mouth That Bites You: A Complete Guide to Parenting Adolescents and Launching Them Into the World by Kenneth Wilgus Get in touch with Rayetta Sanchez - engage@azdcs.gov You can email her to get more info, to help out, or to get your FREE Arizona State Parks pass (if you are a current foster family!) To find a DCS office near you, go here! Visit Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents to join, connect with other families, and receive free bikes and shoes as a foster and adoptive family, and so much more!  Good Word Of The Day So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 Thanks to our Sponsors Showit Bek and Kev Let's Connect! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

This episode touches upon staying up on your mental, spiritual, and physical health - especially when things don't go as planned! But set backs don't need to be that serious if you can get back on track as soon as possible!   Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  1:24 - Lesson Of The Day 6:50 - "Sometimes You Just Can't Trust Your Toots" - Chris Watson 7:04 - Trusting Yourself to Not Overanalyze 9:56 - Best Laid Plans 12:54 - Good Word Of The Day!! 18:36 - Episode Wrap-up   Links Good Word of the Day Isaiah 26:3 Fostering Voice on IG   Sponsors Showit Bek and Kev  

This episode features an interview with Kate Somerville, the founder of Kate Somerville Skin Health Experts, and Maggie Lin, co-founder of Foster Nation. These two powerful women have overcome hard beginnings and started their own companies, all in the name of being able to help others. Especially foster youth. We hope you are inspired by this interview as much as we were! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  7:46 - Welcome Kate and Maggie! 8:50 - Kate's Background 12:34 - Maggie's Background 16:00 - The Vulnerability Hangover 19:54 - Foster Nation x Kate Sommerville Skin Care  22:58 - Guardian Angels 27:50 - More on the Kate Sommerville and Foster Nation Collaboration 32:48 - Ways To Support Foster Nation 37:58 - Giving Back As A Mentor 40:48 - Learn About Kate's Company 42:04 - Good Word Of The Day!! 46:24 - Reminder to Focus on Health! 50:26 - Thank You For Listening Please Check Out The Show Notes! Links https://www.katesomerville.com/us/en/ https://www.fosternation.org https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kate-somerville-skincare-announces-partnership-130000036.html https://www.instagram.com/fosteringvoices/   

Episode 122 features an interview with Ryan Moore, director of Community Partnerships at Ohana. Ohana is an organization here in Arizona that creates safe, faith-based and loving family environments for foster youth and adults with special needs. They strive to create dignified environments through love and family. Chapters: 0:00 - Welcome to our guest, Ryan Moore! 1:29 - Ryan's 2-minute....no, 5-minute(!) Bio 4:45 - How Ryan and His Wife Met 6:19 - What is Ohana and What Do They Do? 14:45 - What Are Some Ways To Support Ohana? 17:57 - What Has Been Ryan's Biggest Surprise in The Foster Care Community? 22:44 - Donations and Sponsors 24:08 - Good Word Of The Day!! 27:08 - Thank You For Listening And Please Check Out Ohanaaz Let's Connect! Ohana AZ Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

Welcome to Season 8 of Fostering Voices. We are thrilled you are here for this season opening episode. Jihae and Chris talk all about their highs and lows of the summer, including how some of our kids learned to fly - metaphorically and literally.  Welcome to Season 8 of Fostering Voices. We are thrilled you are here for this season opening episode. Jihae and Chris talk all about their highs and lows of the summer, including some fantastic flying Topher that you will not want to miss out on. Also this summer is 100 days of sustained effort, at exercise, or walking, or even yes, flossing!. We hope you enjoy this episode! Chapters: 0:00 - Welcome Back!!! 1:50 - Review of the Week! 3:20 - Thank You Sponsors!! 8:04 - Summer Tales and Catching Up 10:01 - Topher Flying Away!! 12:02 - More Summer Tales and Catching Up 19:52 - The Anatomy of Peace 24:31 - Good Word of the Day! 29:18 - Commit to 100 Days 30:38 - 100 Days of Flossing...LET'S GO!!!!! Links The Anatomy of Peace - Resolving the Heart of Conflict Andy our producer's music on Apple Music Andy our producer's music on Spotify Showit Dr Charles and Grace Bekah and Kevin Tinter Peter on YouTube Topher Flying Away!! Pickleball Let's Connect! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!  

In the final episode of the season Jihae has a deep, insightful, and powerful conversation with Peter Mutabazi. Peter is a single fostering dad who is an advocate for children. he is incredibly active and terrific on social media. His YouTube channel and IG feed are especially active and terrific. We can't wait for you to hear from Peter and hear his passion and commitment to fostering children. Chapters: 1:19 - Finding Joy In This Season 1:39 - DECLUTTER!!!! 3:14 - Chris's Beautiful (Sometimes) Yard 7:59 - Reminder: Please Donate to Foster Care Initiative 9:46 - Chick-Fil-A!!!! 10:36 - Introducing Peter Mutabazi - Foster Dad Flipper 23:35 - How Peter Decided to Become a Foster Parent 37:16 - What Have Been The Challenges As An Adopted Dad? 40:42 - Now You Are Known 51:15 - What Is Bringing You Joy?   Links: From Episode 119 - Foster Care Initiatives Please consider donating by the end of July! Peter's Website - Now I Am Known Peter on YouTube Peter on IG Fostering Voices on IG

This week we are interviewing the lovely Hitomi Mewhinney the Director of the Birth Parent Program at Foster Care Initiatives. She shares how she has been partnering with birth moms to walk with them through their journey. It is beautiful work, and you can join them!

It is easy to discard kindness as just a suggestion, but not something that actually makes a difference. And we beg to differ on that. We think that kindness is a big piece of what is missing in society at large. Don't overthink it. Just be kind. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Listen to understand, not just to respond. Show Notes: - Other podcasts we have been on recently: - The Forgotten Initiative. Our episode isn't out yet, but there are so many beautiful lives to learn from! You will definitely want to subscribe to this podcast! - The CFC Learning Podcast. This one has YouTube videos as well! And is in 2 parts. You can watch here and listen here! CFC is Christian Family Care, and they are the agency we got licensed through (and where Jihae works as a foster parent trainer!) Find out more about them at CFCare.org - Loving God Loving People Podcast. Chris was on this podcast hosted by our bro, Robert Watson! It's the podcast for our church Sun Valley Community Church. Watch it here and listen to it here. Kindness Matters: - We mentioned a few books we are reading that talk about being kind, which now takes a lot of bravery and intentionality. Check out Fortitude by Dan Crenshaw and Your Turn by Julie Lythcott-Haims Good Word of the Day Back in 2019, Ellen Degeneres was at an NFL game with George Bush. And people lost their minds. You can read this article about it. But Ellen's response was so beautiful, and still so applicable to us today: "I’m friends with George Bush... In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. But just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be friends with them... When I say, ‘be kind to one another,’ I don’t only mean the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone.” Dear Ellen, Thank you. Let's be kind to everyone my friends. 

Show Summary: A wonderful and deep conversation with Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Chapters: 0:00 - Welcome, Rita!! 1:24 - Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption(Yes, *that* Dave Thomas!) 3:34 - Raising Awareness for Foster Care and Adoption 5:53 - Wendy’s Wonderful Kids 13:44 - The Birthright of Every Child Is To Have a Home - Beginner’s Guide to Adoption 17:48 - How Can You Get Involved or Support These Kids? 22:15 - "These Children Are Not Someone Else's Responsibility, They Are Our Responsibility"  23:01 - Good Word of The Day!!  25:13 - Something Simple Bringing You Joy Right Now Show Notes: Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption Wendy’s Wonderful Kids  Beginner’s Guide to Adoption  DTFA on Instagram Our Website Find us on IG

Technology is great and terrible for our families. Millions upon millions of families have come before us with little to no technology. And they did pretty well for themselves. But here we are with too much technology and what are we supposed to do now? Todd Watson, CEO of Showit (the sponsor of our podcast!) and Chris' cousin, is on the podcast! This interview is packed with so much incredible info on how to keep our families safe in this technological world. Where to start We cannot expect to protect our kids from everything. That is a truth pill we have to swallow, right off the bat. But let's also remember that as adults, a lot of us need this info, whether we have kids or not. A lot of us grown ups are just as bad, if not worse, than kids with their devices!  In episode 31, we talked with Robert Watson about porn and sex. One thing that he told us was that your kids are not always looking for porn, but porn is looking for them! So teach them that there are just so many things they should not click on. And talk to them about staying safe online. Todd also mentioned that simply having a phone, and having texting capabilities is a form of social media. So even if your kids are not on social media (which we strongly recommend that they avoid it til they are at least 16, if not longer!), you still have to check up on them! If they can text, they are not getting a break from school life, or social life. When we were younger, when we left school for the day, that was it. We didn't bring the drama home with us. Make sure your kids are doing ok with who is texting them, and what people are texting them. Even deleted texts can haunt you forever - so be careful. And tell your kids to be careful.  Some tools Here are some of the apps and tools that Todd mentioned in this episode - qustodio.com - bark.com - Griffin Wifi router - set pins on Netflix Best parenting advice As always, our biggest pieces of advice for having a healthy home are to eat meals together and build your relationships! If eating dinner every night together is out of the question, then eat bowls of cereal together in the morning. Just make sure you have time to look each other in the eyeballs and say "how was your day? how is your heart?" Good Word of the Day Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. -Proverbs 22:6 Todd talked a lot about training our kids for character! SO GOOD! We can't control our kids and their actions. We can try to help them make better choices, and we can try to protect them from certain things. But if we train them to have good character, they will make a lot of those good choices for themselves! We mentioned that Rules Without Relationship Lead to Rebellion. Work on your relationship with your kids and your loved ones. Help them to understand the rules, and even have ownership in them! Hopefully this will mitigate some of the rebellion! Friends, none of us are going to get this right 100% of the time. Our kids will slip up. And so will we! So let's have grace, AND wisdom! Connect with Todd You can hear more about Todd's journey as a foster family in episode 6!  You can connect with him on social media, even though he is rarely on it. (So, good luck!) Connect with Us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us here! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!  

Parenting fails are always fun to hear, but less fun to live through - especially if you are the parent (or the child of that parent!) We have 7 kids, which doesn't make us parenting experts. It just makes us a couple that has more parenting fails than normal! Chapters: 0:00 - Opening - Welcome Back!!  0:58 - Parenting and Epic Fails  4:28 - Parenting Fail #1  6:46 - Parenting Fail #2  9:40 - Parenting Fail #3  13:00 - Parenting Fail #4  18:10 - Good Word of the Day  19:48 - Book Time!!  22:46 - We Are All in This Together  24:28 - The Review That Inspired This Episode  25:38 - Find Us On Socials Show Notes: The Connected Child By Dr Karyn Purvis The Whole Brain Child By Siegel and Bryson How to Raise an Adult By Julie Lythcott Haims Check out Episode 110 and our interview with the author Julie Lythcott Haims Safe House by Joshua Straub Coddling of the American Mind by Haidt and Lukianoff Mindset by Carol Dweck How We Love by Kay and Milan Yerkovich Sun Valley Church Parenting Course Episode 113 with Jason Johnson Thanks for tuning in! Thankful to say that this podcast is brought to you by Showit! If you need a professional website for your creative website, Showit is the website platform for you! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

Guys! We apologize for being such slackers! We have lots of excuses as to why we missed posting a new episode last week, but we will keep MOST of those excuses to ourselves... one of the reasons is that I was in Virginia visiting my sweet friend/work wife, Cassandra! (This is Jihae, not Chris. He does NOT have a work wife!) Here are some things we talked about in this episode: Do Not Use Authorized Vehicle for U-Turn on Interstate Episode 99 - Davey Jones Bible App on iOS   Good Word of the Day 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! We all struggle with doing stuff that we don't want to do. If you are struggling - you are not alone! But just cause you don't want to do something is not reason enough to NOT do it!  Leave Us a Review Contact Link Find us on IG 

We could not be more delighted to present this interview with THE Jason Johnson! He is the author of the incredible book "Reframing Foster Care", and he is also the Director of Church Ministry Initiatives with Christian Alliance for Orphans. He has an incredible blog that is a fantastic resource for families, individuals, and churches alike. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did! You can also watch it on YouTube if you prefer to see faces, or you want to listen to it again, with a visual component! You can learn more about Jason's books here. And the book club that we mentioned in the episode can be found here on YouTube, or on Jason's Facebook page. Let's Connect! You can also follow Jason on Instagram. Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com  AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!

Too many of us prioritize big events as major milestones. Like a family trip to Disneyland. Or a romantic getaway to Hawaii. If this is you - then this last year of not being able to travel and experience monumental wins must have really sucked, eh? What if we found as much joy in washing our face at home every day, as we did in having a spa day? Cause who has time for spa days??? But we do have to wash our face every day (unless you are a man, and then you might accidentally wash your face in the shower on occassion.) But this episode talks about choosing simple little things that bring you great joy in your everyday life. Jihae's picks: - Aveeno facewash! It smells like a fresh new day of possibilities. Washing my face with this stuff every morning rejuvenates me and pumps me up for a new day. Then washing my face with it at night brings me peace and calm and helps me to remember the good from the day I just had. And it's only $6! - Waterpik water flosser. A new purchase as recommended by our dental hygienist, this thing has brought us some great joy! It's fun and it's good for you. And it's about $35. WHo knew the bathroom could bring so much joy to a person. Chris' picks: - Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer. Chris is basically a real life elf, and he drinks this stuff EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. He loves coffee, and he really loves this creamer. It's insane. But it brings him great joy on the daily. - Playing pick up basketball. Yay for physical activity. All the better if you can do this with some friends. Fellowship and physical activity are so powerful in helping you to feel joy, and to clear your mind, and to keep your body healthy. We make too many excuses as to why we are too busy to be healthy, but that just makes us more and more unhealthy! Good Word of the Day "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, "King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:16-18 We heard this great sermon by Megan Fate Marshman last week and it was so powerful and so full of hope! She reminded us that it is FAR BETTER to serve than to be served, and to stop making an idol of ourselves! You can listen to the sermon right here. Friends! There is still so much out there that we cannot control. But we urge you to take control of what you can! That includes yourself, your thoughts, your hygiene, your friends, your family (to a degree), your health (also to a degree). But don't feel so overwhelmed by the outside world. Find peace in knowing that you are more powerful than you think! And God is even more so! Some other books we mentioned that have helped us find great joy in our daily lives is Mindset by Carol Dweck, and the Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. Holler at us if you want to connect! hello@fosteringvoices.com.  

Happy 2021! We recorded this episode on December 30th, 2020, with the intentions of releasing it the next day... Well, here we are almost 3 weeks later! Gotta love those good intentions! So welcome to season 7. We had an absolutely incredible season 6, and we are so thankful for all of the new listeners who joined us on our journey this last year. This episode talks about some of our favorite books and episodes from this year. We hope you enjoy it! Some things we mentioned in this episode: - We LOVED reading/listening to these biographies this year - "Greenlight" by Matthew McConaughey, "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah, "That Mean Old Yesterday" by Stacey Patton (by a former foster youth), "Real American" by Julie Lythcott Haims, and "Becoming" by Michelle Obama.   - Basically every podcast episode we recorded this year were our faves for different reasons! We met Gaelin Elmore and his wife this year, and he was on episodes 86 and 87, and he shared about his journey as a former foster youth. As did my friends, Monica, in episode 107, and Wendy in Episode 100.   - We loved interviewing Justice James Beene in episode 108, and Davey Jones on episode 99, and Dr. Ray Branton on episodes 97 and 98, our sister Lindsay on building community in your neighborhood in episode 104. - Some of our highs from this year were that we officially became a family of 9 through adoption. Chris was promoted at work, and Jihae delivered a good talk at United Apart (that you can watch on our YouTube Channel!) - We are so thankful for our sponsors from this year - Showit, and Charles and Grace, and Keller-Gibbs Realty Team!

None of us know what we are doing as parents and are always looking for solid parenting advice. Julie Lythcott-Haims has some strong suggestions. She may possibly be the most quoted author on our podcast. She is the New York Times Best Selling Author of "How to Raise an Adult: Break free of the overparenting trap and prepare your kid for success", our most recommended book on parenting. Julie has a TedTalk on the same subject that has been watched over 6 MILLION times on YouTube and Ted.com combined. Through Julie's amazing graciousness - she is ON THE PODCAST in this episode about parenting, and becoming, and kindness! I died a million deaths of joy and awe before, during, and after the interview. Julie is WISE, and such a strong communicator, and full of kindness and empathy (as evidenced when she started crying within the first 5 minutes of our interview!) For a tiny piece of Julie's resume, she is a Stanford, and Harvard Law grad, and she was the Dean of Freshmen for a decade at Stanford. Which is the kind of resume my parents wish I had! :) Parenting and more Obviously we talked about parenting. Julie drew a graph of the 4 kinds of parenting styles. In the red are: Authoritarian, Neglectful, Indulgent. The one we are all supposed to strive for is Authoritative. This parenting style has the right mix of relationship and rules. The others have incorrect, or missing elements of relationship and rules. The ARC of Becoming: this is an arc that takes you from being a baby to adulthood. A is for Agency. R is for Resilience. C is for Character. We need to develop this arc for ourselves, and for our kids! Two massive factors in raising successful adults: chores and unconditional love! Julie has a heart for the foster and adoptive community because she found out at the age of 10 that she had a half brother that her mom did not tell her about. A question she asks herself and her friends often: "What are you working on in yourself? Where are your edges? Who are you becoming?" Treating others with Kindness and Dignity will go further than you can ever imagine. More resources This episode is on YouTube! Once I get it up, there will be a link here!! Definitely worth watching so you can see Julie, and all of her illustrations! She's such a teacher. :) You can also listen to this episode we did as a review of "How to Raise an Adult" after we read it! This is another popular parenting episode. And you can check out all of our parenting episodes on our website! The Good Word of the Day "We are all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass "Be Love Now" When you get to this part of the podcast, you will hear the cheesiest and most sincere sigh from Chris and I! What a beautiful word. And truly something we need to remember: we are all on a journey. Let's walk each other home with kindness and empathy! If you read 'Real American', Julie's memoir, there are chapters that are SO PAINFUL to read. But if you stopped on a page without reading the next one, you would make a judgment call which is not complete or accurate. That's how it is with everyone you encounter. You are meeting them at a certain chapter of their life. Stick around for the next, and possibly help them to write that next chapter better. And YOU are on a journey as well. You are on a page, in a chapter. The book is not complete yet. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others. Let's walk each other home. Connect with Julie! (She loves connecting!) On her amazing website She has great resources on Race. Her memoir is a MUST READ. Her most recommended online Bookstore (no, it's not Amazon). Buying from Bookstore.org actually supports small, local bookstores! On Instagram. That's how we started our conversation! Don't forget to PreOrder her new book: Your Turn Her books are available on Audible. And she narrates them! So it's definitely worth pursuing this option, cause it feels like you are sitting with a friend. If you would like to connect with us: Fostering Voices on Instagram Jihae on Instagram and Chris on Facebook You can also email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com  AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy little video!    

Leadership is something we talk about a lot on the podcast, because we are all leaders! It is your choice if you are going to be a good one, or not. Parenting is some of the hardest kind of leadership, because you are maxed out in your pay grade, because oh yeah - you don't make any money doing it! We talk about 2 books that we are reading and have read, but that came to our attention via podcasts we listened to. The first one is called "The Motive" by Patrick Lencioni, and we became aware of it when Lencioni was on The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast.  You have to ask yourself if you are a Reward of Responsibility-centered leader. A reward-centered leader has worked hard to become a leader, and now that they are one - they feel like this is the end of their journey. They don't do hard or unpleasant work, and have the mindset that others should be serving them, and they have 'arrived'. A responsibility-centered leader sees their leadership role as the beginning of their journey. Now that they have gotten their new role - they have to work hard to be the best leader for their team and organization. So again - which leader are you? And again - this kind of thinking applies to parenthood. There are reward-centered parents, and responsibility-centered parents.  The second podcast we listened to is the Storybrand Podcast with Donald Miller, and he interviewed Dan Heath who wrote "Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen." This book was such an inspiration and filled with so many positive victories! Problems and solutions start on a micro-level, and they can in turn be changed to macro-level results. An example that Heath gave was how one city more or less eradicated homelessness! They started off with recognizing the problem, mobilizing a team of power players (city officials, police, hospitals, mental health providers) and basically writing a list of the homeless people in their area, knowing them each By Name, and providing homes for them. Amazing! Both episodes are great, and we just started reading 'The Motive' and finished reading 'Upstream' and we recommend them both! The Good Word of the Day "He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God." - 1 Corinthians 4:5b That's a good word! Check your heart and make sure you are the kind of leader that your team and family need! Thanks so much for tuning in this week. Next week we have an amazing interview with Julie Lythcott-Haims!!!!! She is the author of How To Raise an Adult! You do not want to miss this episode! And we are SO thankful for our amazing sponsors! Thanks to our newest sponsor - The Keller Gibbs Realty Team ! We have used them for every house we have ever bought - which is strangely quite a few! (Arizona has had so many ups and downs in the real estate world in the last 15 years! We have bought 4 different homes with Keller Gibbs team!) And if you would like to connect, check us out at fosteringvoices.com and feel free to email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com , and hit us up on social media!

We are beyond honored to have The Honorable Justice James Beene on our podcast! Justice Beene, aka Jim, has served on the supreme court in Arizona for the last year, and had served in Family and Juvenile court for over 4 years, here in Arizona. There is just SO much great stuff in this podcast, and we hope you enjoy this fantastic interview with a wise, and kind guest who truly cares for the futures of the young people in foster care, as well as their bio families, and the families who choose to foster. We had Kim Turner, a GAL, on our podcast on episode 53. If you want to learn more about the court system for foster kids, check out that episode as well. The Good Word of the Day "Persistence". That's a great word that Justice Beene's mother often reminded him of. And it's a great word for all of us to lean into in times of trouble and hardship. There is always great reward on the other side of hard work and persistence! If you have any questions for Justice Beene, we can pass them along to him. You can email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com . We would love to connect with you there, or on social media! And if you are enjoying our podcast, we would love for you to leave a 5 star review, and a blurb about what you enjoy most about the podcast! We are so thankful for you, sweet listeners!!! WE hope you have a great week and that you will tune in again next week!  

Trauma is something that is common to all humans. But trauma and abuse are not a part of everyone's story, but it is for this week's guest. Monica was put into foster care as a baby, and was soon adopted by an abusive family. She was actually put back into foster care a few years later, but then returned to the previous adoptive family. Talk about a traumatic childhood! But Monica is not defined by her trauma and pain, and she encourages others to get over their pain to fully heal, and fully understand how to receive love and give it away as an adult.  Tune in to hear how she rose above her difficult past, and how she is pressing forward with great love, and great hope and joy for the future. The Good Word of the Day: Honestly - we had too many! Monica dropped so many great nuggets of truth and wisdom on us! Our favorites are: "Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." - John 13:7 "It's not about perfection, it's progression." Author Unknown. BUT Joyce Meyers did say "Strive for excellence, not perfection, because we don't live in a perfect world." And Meyers is one of Monica's favorite authors. "Look how far you have come." - Bob Goff We are SO thankful for Monica and her heart! She is going through therapy and doing SO MUCH hard work to get herself to a place of healing and peace. We all need help and healing, so we just want to encourage everyone to get the help that they need! We are especially thankful for Showit - the sponsors of our podcast, and also the place where Monica and I both work! We are a small team of 32, but SO MANY people have been interviewed on our podcast as their lives have been touched by either foster care, adoption, or both! You can check out Elisa Watson's foster care journey here. And Parker's journey about being adopted, here. Kara Lackey created the Know and Love Quiz to help parents to know and love their kids - especially their foster kids! JT and Ashley Pals share about their journey with adoption. Reggie Sheffield, an Amazing DCS worker for over a decade deserves a medal, but instead just got to be on our podcast. And Shamesha was kind enough to make a video on our YouTube channel about caring for ethnic hair. And just this week, our other coworker, Eddie, adopted his son through the state. And Nathan and Heather Griffy, have been foster and adoptive parents for a few years now, and we need to get these two families on the podcast soon! But that's 9 out of 32 people who are in this space! How amazing is that?!?!? If you would like to connect, feel free to email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com . We always love to hear from our listeners! We would also really appreciate if you would subscribe to the podcast and leave a review! Thank you! Go do great things with great love, and we will be back with a brand new episode next week!

Foster care according to our 8 year old bio daughter, who has been a foster sibling for over 6 years, and our 10 year old daughter who we adopted out of foster care. This week's interview is sweet and short, but still has lots of great nuggets to encourage you and your family on your personal journey. The Good Word of the Day "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength;  he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights." - Habakkuk 3:18-19 We hope you have a great week, and tune in again next week for another great interview! If you would like to connect: Fostering Voices on Instagram Jihae on Instagram and Chris on Facebook You can also email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people!

It's easy to forget why we are fostering, or why it's important to be involved in foster care. And this week, I (Jihae) became a licensed foster care trainer. Which means I will start teaching prospective foster parents to get licensed. And having to go through Foster Parent College as part of my training, helped me to remember the trials and tribulations that come with foster care. But not for the foster parent, but for the foster kids. So in this episode, we go through an exercise that reminds us of all that our kids are facing. This is an exercise that we invite you to do with us. And this is also a great exercise that you can do as a family as you prepare to have foster children join your family.  Grab 5 post its, or pieces of paper for each person, and then write 5 things you absolutely love and that are a part of your daily life. Don't write 5 individual people's names, you can cluster those into 'family', 'friends', etc. And then, one by one, drop one of those things in order of priority to you. And chances are, you have family as the last thing you are hanging on to - and then drop that too. Foster children are taken away from everything they know - their schools, neighborhoods, friends, possessions, AND family. This exercise should remind us all and create more empathy for what our foster children are dealing with. We were also reminded to have grace for bio families, and how important it is to be kind and gracious to bio families. When you can have a good relationship with bio families - everyone wins! Especially the kids. How great is it for our foster and adoptive kids to feel like they have two sets of parents who love them and support them, and support each other? So we just want to continue to encourage you all to keep playing a role in supporting foster children. Whether you are an educator, a foster parent, a neighbor to a foster family, or anything in between, we all can play a role in supporting kids in foster care. The Good Word of the Day  “We can't let the fear of loving a child that might leave deter us; we must let the fear of a child never knowing our love drive us.” - Jason Johnson 'Reframing Foster Care'. We have so many fears before, and even during our foster care journey. But none of those fears should trump the fact that we can still get involved in the lives of these at-risk-youth.  Let's Connect! We are so thankful for you wonderful listeners! If you have any questions or want to email us, please do so at hello@fosteringvoices.com . Have a great week and tune back in next week for a new episode!

This week's episode focuses on building community in your actual neighborhood! We talk about the importance of community all the time. But it's easier to build community at work, or at church, maybe in a foster support group, or sports' team. But how about where you actually live? Do you know your neighbors' names?  All of us want to help out people in need - like if your neighbor was going through cancer treatments, you would want to help them, right? But how would you know they have cancer if you don't even know their names?? Lindsay Watson, our sister-in-law and next-door neighbor, shares how she started our neighborhood's monthly meetings and Group Me text thread. Our neighborhood is THE best. And maybe yours is too, you just don't know it yet! First Mondays This is a thing that Lindsay started where the neighborhood ladies gather on someone's driveway around 8pm. Kids are usually in bed. No one has to clean their house. You bring your own folding chair and beverage of choice (no judgement), and an open heart to meet your neighbors! There's a question of the night so that everyone can get to know one another, and so that no one person dominates all the talking time. It's GREAT! We have gotten to know so much about our neighbors through First Mondays. Our neighbor, Tia, was on our podcast cause we got to hear about her story at a First Monday. She is incredible, and you should listen to her journey here. She has adopted her 3 nieces, and cares for her husband who has ALS. She is a vision of strength and servant leadership. The Good Word of the Day "We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. " -Romans 12:6-8 We all have different gifts and talents. Maybe you aren't very extroverted, but you are yearning for community in your neighborhood. You may have to be the brave one who starts a First Monday. But once you get to know your neighbors, you can pass the 'leading' baton off to another neighbor who would enjoy leading it.  Podcasts we are listening to. Lindsay listens to The Bible Binge, which is a fun podcast about looking at the Bible through a pop culture lens. It's pretty amazing.  Chris listens to The Financial Samurai, cause he loves financial podcasts! This episode talked about how your cars should value 10% of your income. Very interesting! And Jihae listens to The Storybrand Podcast. This episode with Dan Heath was INCREDIBLE. They talked about looking at problems from an Upstream perspective, and we will definitely be reading, and discussing that book in a future episode! If you would like to connect: Fostering Voices on Instagram Jihae on Instagram and Chris on Facebook You can also email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people!  

Let's try this again! We are definitely going to give you some great tips and tricks on how to run a big (or small, or medium!) household efficiently. But, I just need you guys to know that this episode was a real pain to get out into the world! I posted it once - and it just disappeared. So I rewrote the show notes, much shorter than the first time; and then the audio was SO BAD that we had to take that episode down IMMEDIATELY. And so here I am, writing these shownotes for the THIRD TIME! And, we re-recorded the whole episode. So, enjoy! You would think that being on episode 103, we would know what we were doing... **palm to face. Oraganization So in this week's episode, we talk about the importance of being organized!  When we were a small family of 4 - we were super disorganized! Our house was a mess, as were our finances! But we have found that with each child we add to our home, the more we NEED order, schedules, routines, and a BUDGET! We talked about this calendar and chores chart, which is definitely my most recommended Amazon purchase to date. Although I have also recommended these headphones with mic and share port, to quite a few early elementary parents who are doing online school. We even mentioned them in this episode. The way we like to organize the Chores Chart is to add daily chores - which include emptying the dishwasher, setting the table, and clearing the table. We have 4 kids on rotation for those chores, so that makes sense for our family. If you have 2 kids, you may want to add another daily chore to make sure things are fair. :)  I also add what for lunch and dinner everyday, which helps me to meal plan, and also prevents the kids from asking me what we are eating for every single meal, every single day. And we also add what the monthly chores are, and who is in charge of what. The monthly chores are done every Sunday, but each kid sticks with the same chore for the month, and then we rotate. Those chores include cleaning the toilets, tubs, picking up dog and tortoise poop, cleaning sinks, vacuuming, and tidying up the car. It's pretty great! We've heard people say that they can't get their kids to do chores. Well guess what? You don't give them a choice. You can get your kids to do chores, you just may not be able to get your kids to WANT to do chores. Those are different things, and also things that don't matter. Doing chores is an integral part of childhood, and launching into successful adulthood!  Another important part of our daily routine is that we do not allow the kids to be on any devices during the week. They can watch a bit of tv in the afternoon if all of their schoolwork is complete, but the kids are encouraged to get off their butts and MOVE AROUND. Especially in this time of online schooling, the kids do not need to keep sitting and staring at screens. And they need to interact with other humans!  Finances We truly believe that financial freedom leads to freedom in so many more areas of life. Being stressed about finances causes you to be stressed about pretty much everything else in life.  If you don't have a budget yet - YOU NEED ONE! There are so many different budgeting spreadsheets to suit your needs. Whether you use Microsoft or Google Spreadsheets, there is something for everyone! Chris recommends doing a Zero Budget. You start with all of your income, and you account for everything! The $0.89 you spent at the gas station on your debit card? There's a place in your budget for that! Account for how much you are saving, tithing and giving away, and spending everywhere you go.  And, it's a great idea to let your kids start having control of some of their money as well. This will help your kids to see how much they have in savings, and in checking, and they have their own little debit card too. We use Greenlight which is a handy app for everyone to use.  We love to listen to the Defining Stewardship Podcast because they make financial talk and practices so easy! This was Chris' podcast pick of the week, as he listened to this episode on whether to save or for your kids' college funds, or not.. Mine was this episode of The Storybrand Podcast, with an interview with Nicole Walters. Darren Hardy talks about the Compound Effect, in his book of the same name. The 'Treat Yo' Self' moments you have now have a cumulative effect for the future. If you always 'deserve' a Starbucks treat, the compound effects are hundreds of dollars wasted, extra calories consumed, and... well, that's a lot of serious repercussions. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy a treat every now and again. But if you do it every day, it's not a treat, it's just a lifestyle. But is it a lifestyle you can afford?? The Good Word of the Day “Kids develop their identity by getting clues from you about what you think about them, feel about them, and hope for them.” Dr. Meg Meeker, Pediatrician We have to trust our kids to do chores, to have some control of their finances, and to see that we think that they are smart and capable little humans!  Thanks for listening to another episode of our podcast. We are so thankful for all of you. We hope that you will do great things with great love. If you would like to connect: Fostering Voices on Instagram Jihae on Instagram and Chris on Facebook You can also email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people!  

Thanks for joining us for another episode of our podcast! This episode is a conversation about RACE, and why we need to check ourselves, and our thoughts on race. Books on Race We read this great book called Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD. She discusses race in such a way that makes you really try to understand the many issues faced by our Black and Brown brothers and sisters. We highly recommend this book for you to start thinking about your biases in race. At Showit, we have been talking about race quite a bit. Showit is a sponsor of this podcast, and we are proud users, and supporters, and employees of Showit! Read this blog article that further discusses this book by Tatum. This article is very helpful in educating us about how to talk about race with our children, and having more books with diversity on our shelves. This is SO IMPORTANT as foster and adoptive families. Not everyone in your family will ‘match’, and that’s a beautiful things! But can your kids find positive representations of themselves in the books and toys in your home? And even if everyone in your home is Caucasian, it is still a good idea to have books written by authors of color, and protagonists of color as well! Hair Care for Ethnic Hair We would love for you to check out this YouTube video that we created with our friends Shamesha (her husband, Reggie, was on episode 37) and Shamara. They run us through how to care for hair of different textures. Especially multi-ethnic and ethnic hair. Did you know hair can be classified into 4 types? It’s important to know what hair types you and your children have, so that you can get the right products for each hair type! The brands that Shamara and Shamesha love are Mielle, Aunt Jackie’s, and As I Am . The main thing to remember is to keep Type 2-4 hair (curly) very moisturized! We often hear people criticizing pics of little Black children in the care of non-Black parents, saying ‘that child’s hair is not being taken care of!’ But maybe you don’t know what Black, or curly, or any hair besides your own, is supposed to look like! That’s when it’s time to ask questions and seek out resources! (But also, can we stop criticizing so much, and try to start helping and educating??) Thanks SO MUCH to Shamesha and Shamara for their time and expertise in this area! More Thoughts Can we out-serve one another? Let’s just give that a try and see how things go. When we are serving others with a good heart – we aren’t looking out for ourselves. We are looking out for others. And if you live your life this way, with boundaries and wisdom, but also faith and love – we promise that others will try to out-serve you! We got this idea from Francis and Lisa Chan’s book – You and Me Forever. You can download this book for free! Don’t be color blind. Don’t be satisfied with being ‘not-racist’. Be anti-racist! Be an ally for our Black and Brown brothers and sisters who need our help and support! And as adoptive and foster parents, Beverly Tatum challenges us all with this thought: “Do not let your child be your first friend of color.” She has a whole section on ‘Identity in Adoptive Families Considered’ in her book, pages 321-328. She very hopefully says: “Adults willing to do the personal work required to confront racism and stretch their own cultural boundaries increase the possibility that they will have the reward of watching their children emerge into adulthood with a positive sense of their identities intact.” (328) Follow Therepy Redeemed for lots of great information on adoption and transracial adoption. As well as Hey TRA (transracial adoptee). The more we know, the more we can all grow – and support our adoptive and foster children of color. I talked about how Kevinee Gilmore, of Hashtag Foster Care, and I had a rough beginning to our relationship. But I am very thankful for her, and her heart for foster youth! She has a shop that you can support, and be confident that you are supporting a true champion of foster kids in Ohio! Podcasts We Listen To Chris is a member of the Footclan, because he listens to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. We are thankful for these 3 friends (they aren't Chris' friends. Chris is their friend, but they don't know that) who have helped Chris will tens of tens of dollars over the years. #hundredaire Jihae listened to the Michelle Obama Podcast, which is only available on Spotify! The first episode with special guest – Barack Obama, was a real treat! If you care about community, and purpose, and people – you will enjoy this episode! Michelle Obama, the Footballer guys, and other podcasters are not our competition! We love listening to podcasts, and are always thankful for anyone who listens to ours. Feel free to let us know which podcasts you guys are listening to! The Good of the Day This is from Carlos Whittaker, an author we greatly admire. He wrote Kill The Spider, which we talked about in an episode, but can’t remember which one… He also has a new book called Enter Wild, which we are also big fans of. Follow him @loswhite on Instagram to learn more about how to talk about race, and be aware of the slight of our Black and Brown friends, as he himself is a Black and Brown man. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:2-6 Be humble and gentle! And patient! Let us love and care for one another and be unified in the Spirit. I believe in us. I believe in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s Connect! We hope you enjoyed this episode, and if you did – please leave us a review on iTunes! And feel free to email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com if you want to chat, or if have any questions or suggestions for us. Have a great week, friends! Fostering Voices on Instagram Jihae on Instagram and Chris on Facebook AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people!          

Welcome back to our podcast, friends! We took a few weeks off, and are so excited to be back with you all.  Over the last few weeks, we have: - Gone to San Diego for 48 hours (we live 6 hours away via car) and jammed 13 people into a 3 bedroom Air BnB. - Gone golfing 3 times! Two times it was 109 degrees, and therefore much more affordable, but also kind of miserable. - Did a 36 hour staycation while doing an online Marriage Conference with Don and Renee Worcester. You should call resorts near you to see what they are offering! We stayed here for $99 and with a $25 food and drink credit! When we booked online, it was over $250 with no food or drink credit. - Helped live stream a mini wedding. And almost got fired, because we aren't very good camera people... But congrats to Nick and Adria! They are one of our couples that we did Premarital Counseling with, this year. Our other couple - Devin and Keenan Murray, also got married during quarantine! Congrats cute couples! Check out this amazing wedding video of the Murrays if you want to see how to do a micro-wedding right! - Traded off babysitting with our friend, Kara Lackey (from episode 66) so that we could each have some time without our kids! Find a friend who you can trade time with! - Sent the kids to Nana Camp every Friday! SO THANKFUL for Barb, Chris' mom, for hanging out with the kids every single Friday, and giving us adults a break!  Season 6 news We made the decision to move from doing 20 episodes a season, to 10. We are still committing to putting out episodes on Sunday mornings at 9am. We just don't think we can do it for 20 weeks in a row, with how crazy quarantine life still is. We also gave away $100 in honor of our 100th episode! Congrats to Robbi-Anne Strauss for winning that, and leaving such a great review on our podcast. And thanks SO MUCH to Charles and Grace for sponsoring that giveaway! If you would like to be a sponsor of the podcast, or the giveaway. You can learn more on our website! And this season we are also going to share other podcasts we are listening to every week! This week, Chris talked about this amazingly heartfelt episode from the Stewardship Podcast. You can learn more about Dan on this website and you can download his book. Jihae listened to this episode with Nancy Panza, a police pyschologist, on the Joe Rogan Experience. And finally, we also listened to episode 100 of the Brands that Book Podcast. A great listen for anyone running a business from home. Davey, the host of that podcast, was on our podcast for episode 99! Check it out if you want to learn how to start your own podcast! The Good Word of the Day “If you have raced with men on foot     and they have worn you out,     how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country,     how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" -Jeremiah 12:5  Such an appropriate word for 2020! Let us keep persevering through hard things. We will all come out stronger and more amazingly! Thanks so much for being with us! We hope you enjoyed this episode, and if you did - please leave us a review on iTunes! To see more episodes, check out our website! And feel free to email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com . Have a great week, friends! Fostering Voices on Instagram Jihae on Instagram and Chris on Facebook AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people!  

 EPISODE 100!!!! We made it! And we are so thankful to be able to bring you an absolutely incredible interview with our friend - Wendy Nguyen, of Wendy's Lookbook! Wendy has been a fashion blogger for about 10 years now, and maybe you know her because you are one of her 1.1 million followers on Instagram. But Wendy is so very much more than a pretty face, with incredible fashion sense. Wendy found herself in foster care at the age of 15. She has been fending for herself ever since (and who am I kidding, before then too.) Wendy shares her powerful story with us - not to entertain or shock us - but to show us that grit will propel you! To foster parents: We speak to foster parents (moms especially), and those involved in the foster care system as workers, that we can, and all need to, do better. Showing up more consistently for those in need. Showing up whole heartedly for those in need. Not guarding ourselves from the pain of separation - but loving fiercely for the seasons that we are supposed to love fiercely.   To foster youth: For foster youth who may be listening - there is hope for you! You are not a victim of your circumstances! You have been dealt a bad hand - whether by your parents, or society. You are not a foster child because you did anything wrong! As Wendy says in the interview: "The system wasn't built for us (the kids)." But keep your head up, follow the rules (they are there for a reason), and chase your dreams! Go to college! Be your own boss. Be whatever you are hoping to become. You have the grit to get you there. The system is broken. Very. But let's not sit back and feel helpless. We can all work to make lives of foster youth better! We have to try very hard. But it's worth it. Very.   The Good Word of the Day "Give me a place to stand,... and I will move the world." - Archimedes Thank you, Wendy, for sharing your heart with us on this episode. We hope everyone feels moved and motivated to do hard work and make a positive impact on someone else's life. You can connect with Wendy on Instagram, or on her website, or at her store! If you are in New York, please check out Artemis. And if you are not - find them on Instagram! Thank you friends for being with us for ONE HUNDRED EPISODES! We are so thankful for you. Truly truly we are! We hope that you will check out our brand new website, to find more episodes and resources. Feel free to connect with us: Fostering Voices on Instagram Jihae on Instagram and Chris on Facebook Fostering Voices on YouTube (you can find this interview on YouTube!)  You can also email us at hello@fosteringvoices.com AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! (If you don't know how to do that, watch this quick little video!) This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people!