Bridging The Gap

Yes is always the answer — but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In this episode, Kevin and Tiffany Geer share their foster care and adoption journey and why their family keeps choosing to say yes when God calls them into the uncomfortable. They talk about welcoming children into their home, prioritizing keeping sibling groups together, and learning how to stay present on the hardest days by celebratin...

If you’re a foster, adoptive, or kinship parent, it’s easy to feel like your child’s behavior is the scorecard for your success. In this episode, parent coach and Korean adoptee Melissa Corkum helps reframe that belief entirely—showing why behavior isn’t the measure, and why your nervous system, presence, and connection matter far more than any outcome. Melissa shares candidly about parenting six...

In trauma‑informed parenting, marriage can drift into survival mode — fast. In this episode, Ryan & Kayla North share how they’ve stayed more than roommates through 24 years of marriage, 30 foster placements, adoption, and the realities of raising kids with big needs. They offer real-life tools for staying united: weekly date rhythms, transparent communication, dealing with triangulation, repa...

This bonus episode features Jason Johnson in a candid conversation about why connection matters for foster, adoptive, and kinship dads. After hearing consistent feedback from foster families across the state, Child Bridge is launching a Just For Dads Journey Group , beginning in mid May 2026, to give dads a space where they can connect with men who understand the unique challenges and pressures of...

What if the fear keeping you from fostering isn’t the real fear at all? Jason Johnson joins us to discuss the “thing beneath the thing,” why fostering often reveals more about us than we expect, and how families can navigate doubt with wisdom and faith. Whether you’re just exploring or already fostering, this conversation offers grounding, clarity, and compassion. 💡 What You’ll Learn: - Understan...

Parenting children with trauma and invisible disabilities can feel isolating and overwhelming. In this episode, Amy J. Brown — author, mentor, and mom to six — shares her journey and practical tools for navigating grief, building resilience, and leaning into God’s presence in the chaos. Whether you’re fostering, adopting, or caring for kinship kids, you’ll discover hope, encouragement, and strateg...

The world says fostering and adoption are too hard — but faith and community tell a different story. In this episode, Jeff and Emmy Ort share their journey of fostering and adopting, including raising a child with special needs. You’ll discover practical ways to navigate hard days, build resilience, and find joy in the midst of challenges. 💡 What You’ll Learn: How fostering impacts biological chi...

Feeling exhausted and overwhelmed? Burnout is real — but healing doesn’t have to be complicated. In this video, certified health coach Chantel Oakley explains how movement, mindset, and grace can help foster, adoptive, and kinship parents thrive. You’ll discover practical ways to care for your body, mind, and soul while caring for others. 💡 What You’ll Learn: How to recognize signs of burnout Why...

In this practical and encouraging episode, therapist and author Daniela Coats shares strategies for navigating the holiday season as a foster or adoptive family. Drawing from her experience as a bio kid in a foster family, social worker, and mom, Daniela offers actionable tips to reduce stress, honor traditions, and create emotional safety for every child in your home. 💡 What You’ll Hear: How to...

What happens to siblings when adoption transforms a family overnight? Dr. Jana Hunsley knows this firsthand. As a teenager, her family adopted seven children in four years — a shift that changed everything. Now a clinician and researcher, Jana brings deep empathy and practical insight to the complex sibling dynamics in adoptive families. 💡 What You’ll Hear: Why siblings often feel invisible and h...

What does it look like to follow God’s call into adoption — even when the path is unexpected? For Eric and Shelly Basye, adoption wasn’t just a decision — it was a response to proximity, conviction, and a deep desire to live out their faith in action. Their journey is filled with moments of surrender, resilience, and the kind of hope that only comes from trusting God in the messy middle. In this h...

Parenting kids who’ve experienced trauma can feel exhausting and uncertain — but you don’t have to stay stuck there. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, Parent Coaching can help equip you with the tools, strategies and confidence you need to bring more peace to your home. In this episode, nationally recognized parent coach Tina Feigal shares real-world techniques like those you’ll learn in Child Bridge...

In this bonus episode, occupational therapist Saydee Miller helps us understand the deeper story behind food struggles in kids from hard places. She explains how trauma shapes a child’s relationship with food and offers practical ways to build safety and trust during meals. From interoception to simple tools for daily routines, Saydee gives foster and adoptive families the insight and encouragemen...

For many kids from hard places, bedtime isn’t restful — it’s triggering. In this episode, occupational therapist Saydee Miller joins us to explore why sleep can be so difficult for children with trauma histories and how caregivers can respond with compassion, patience and practical tools. From sleep journals and bedtime routines to sensory regulation strategies and “cookie dough rolls,” Saydee sha...

Teens who have experienced trauma often carry unspoken grief, identity questions and emotional walls that can leave caregivers feeling shut out. In this episode, author and adoptive mom Susan TeBos shares wisdom from her own parenting journey and from the teens whose stories she gathered in her book We’ve Been There . From anger and grief to silence and withdrawal, Susan helps unpack why teens may...

Screens are everywhere — and so are the risks that come with them. In this episode, we explore what it means to raise digitally safe and spiritually grounded kids in today’s tech-saturated world, especially for families parenting children from hard places. Our guest shares practical tools and insights for online safety for kids, from managing screen time to navigating social media and addressing h...

In honor of National Foster Care Awareness Month, Tricia trades seats with Ray Biggerstaff, Director of Advocacy at Child Bridge, to share her own heart-wrenching story of childhood abuse and neglect. But her story didn’t end there. Listen as she highlights the life-changing impact her foster family made by loving her unconditionally. She boldly sheds light on the horrific reality many children in...

Kids who enter foster care often get tossed into an ever-changing web of people, places and plans. At the center of that wheel, walking alongside the child through it all, is their CASA. In this episode, Executive Director of CASA for Kids in Flathead County , Cindy Basnett, explains the role and heart behind the volunteers who help set the trajectory of a child’s journey through foster care. To l...

James and Ashley Newell join us in the midst of a chaotic season of their parenting journey. The adoptive parents of two boys from foster care, this couple gets really real about the awkwardness, uncertainty, growth and goodness they’ve met along the way. And they share how all of it together worked to prompt them to start all over again. See how God prepared two ordinary people for an extraordina...

“Adversity and trauma don't define the outcome of a life — rather, they describe an experience.” Researcher, missionary, author and marriage/family therapist Nicole Wilke dares to describe the formula for resilience, or the capacity to overcome adversity. In this episode, she draws on her real-world experience, professional knowledge and biblical faith to explore the science and scripture behi...

Fear. Anger. Failure. Danica Montana went through a wide range of emotions when Child Family Services removed her children from her. Above all, she couldn’t believe that she had repeated the same cycle she’d grown up in, neglect and abuse that leads to devastation. Vulnerable and eye-opening, this is the rarely heard perspective of a birth mom’s journey as she’s lost and fought to regain her child...

How do you see and respond to the birth parents who hurt a child you love? Author, speaker and foster mom, Jamie Finn, asks the big questions in this probing discussion of her own foster care journey. Jamie boldly digs into the root of what foster care is truly about, what makes it possible and why it’s worth it. Listen as she exposes the heart position necessary to love, lament and persevere like...

Foster care means constant decision-making, and how you approach those decisions makes all the difference, according to Corree Roofener. Foster mom and host of The Courage Coalition Podcast , Corree invites parents to name the beliefs and values that drive them. Getting to know yourself, she says, can help you identify ways to care for your own soul on this often-self-sacrificial journey.  Follow...

Fostering teens can feel like a huge undertaking. After all, you only have so many years to prepare them to head out into the world. Right? Author and mom of 11 children, Beth Guckenberger, says wrong. In reality, there is no finish line for parents. Because “children aren’t projects to be finished but people to be healed.” Hear real stories of what it’s like to raise teens in foster care.  To lea...

Phill and Emily Christiansen have a message for those who are hesitant to step into foster care. “To be a Christ-follower is to say yes to the uncomfortable.” Pastor Phill and Emily discuss how foster care became their family’s mission. In this episode they discuss the combined difficulties and blessings of navigating sibling dynamics, birth families, loss and love. To learn more about foster care...