Fostering Voices Podcast

Episode 81 marks the first episode of Season 5, and we are so excited for a brand new season, featuring new episodes and new interviews! The biggest news from our off season is that we acquired a Podcast Sponsor! We are so very thankful for Showit for walking alongside our podcast, and foster care journey, and supporting us! Showit is a premier website builder for photographers. Although admittedl...

Today is Chris' 40th birthday! And that's why we are releasing episode 80 on a Thursday, instead of a Saturday morning! We actually had a really hard time getting this episode up, so we are just counting our blessings that this is finally happening. This week we recap this AhMazing year that we had, and leave you with words of encouragement for the year ahead! Some of our highlights include our 2...

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but we are truly in the thick of the holidays! We get this season can be SO STRESSFUL for so many people, but it doesn't have to be that way if we can plan appropriately (or as much as possible.) Don't forget to create some margin for your family! It's easy to get wrapped up in all of the holiday parties and events, but don't forget to intentionally make time to be...

This week's episode talks about national adoption month and thanksgiving! National Adoption Month and Day! November 23rd 2019 is National Adoption Day, which is so exciting as we know this is a huge day for families who are adopting children out of foster care! And National Adoption Month was created to promote adoption via foster care.  We are thankful for all the families that we know who have a...

Hey friends! Welcome back for another episode of the Fostering Voices podcast. This week we were late putting up this episode as we normally put them out on Saturday mornings before 9am. BUT, we did a keynote presentation at the Foster Arizona annual Gala, and that was on Saturday night, so we chose to release this episode a little later. Word to the wise: we are actually really robotic sounding i...

This week's episode is brought to you straight from the Showit United conference, on our very short lunch break! I met Devin and Kathryn Robinson last year at this conference for photographers, and have had the pleasure of watching their journey from afar via Instagram. The Robinsons have been married for 7 years, full-time professional photographers for 4 years, and run an amazingly beautiful bus...

This week's episode is brought to you straight from the Showit United conference, on our very short lunch break! I met Devin and Kathryn Robinson last year at this conference for photographers, and have had the pleasure of watching their journey from afar via Instagram. The Robinsons have been married for 7 years, full-time professional photographers for 4 years, and run an amazingly beautiful bus...

This week's episode is dedicated to the books we've read this year. We made goals to read more books this year, and we did! Jihae has a goal of 19 for 2019, and Chris has already surpassed that, and Jihae just has 1 more to go. We apologize in advance for the audio issues. Not sure what happened, but it doesn't sound great, and we are sorry about that! 74 episodes in and we still aren't audio/tech...

This week's episode features our girl, Cate, who has been living with us for over a year! You can hear Cate's story on Episode 23 , where she shares with the rough start that she had in life. Basic synopsis: Cate's parents dropped her and her 3 siblings off at her uncle's house, and never came back.  But Cate is a fighter, a hard worker, a grace-receiver and grace-giver, and she is not a victim of...

We start off this episode with an apology and clarification! In episode 70 , we talked about court, FCRBs, and TDMs. We completely forgot about CFTs! We have only been to one CFT and one TDM, and they were both for our 4th placement, and we just lumped them together. SO our apologies for our mistake, and thanks to Grace Sharp and Kristen Friend for lovingly pointing that out.  A CFT is a Child Fam...

You may remember Maggie from Episode 33 . She is the crazy lady who likes to just be surrounded by cute baby boys! Well, here we are, a year and a half later - and Maggie is still surrounded by cute baby boys! And in this year and a half, Maggie has grown a baby in her uterus, then a month before having this baby, she reunified her foster baby, Baby A, with his biological family, and had her final...

You may remember Maggie from Episode 33 . She is the crazy lady who likes to just be surrounded by cute baby boys! Well, here we are, a year and a half later - and Maggie is still surrounded by cute baby boys! And in this year and a half, Maggie has grown a baby in her uterus, then a month before having this baby, she reunified her foster baby, Baby A, with his biological family, and had her final...

Court in foster care can seem like a scary, gigantic ordeal. But it isn't, especially when you realize how little say that foster parents have in their foster child's court case.  This episode goes through our 5 years of court cases - which pretty much means nothing to you - since court is so different for everyone! But what you basically need to know is this- if you can go, THEN GO! Even if you d...

This week we talk about a marriage conference we went to earlier this year.  We talk about punching our sharks in the face, whether our sharks are shame, as Kara talked about in episode 66. Or maybe your shark is negativity, or hopelessness. Whatever it is - identify it, and beat it! We also learned about 'the edge effect' which happens in ecosystems where two edges meet each other: like water and...

This week's episode hits on a ton of different topics, as we interview Kristen Friend, a foster mom of a little over a year. In the intro though, we did get to hear from Chris, and he and Jihae shared their Highs and Lows. Having 9 people in the house is definitely starting to wear on everyone - but as we continue to have open conversations, and tweak what is working - and what is not, we are cont...

This week's episode continues our conversation on how to really connect with your child. Some food for thought: study your child(ren), and don't take everything they do so personally!! Good word of the Day: Shout for joy, you heavens;      rejoice, you earth;      burst into song, you mountains! For the  Lord  comforts his people      and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. Isaiah 49:13 Go...

This week's episode features an interview with Kara Lackey, who with her husband, Jason, created the Know and Love Quiz! This quiz is a FREE resource for families to get to know and love their kids better, and to meet each child's unique needs. Although they started off on this journey to help themselves as parents, they instantly saw how great this would be for foster families, who may not know t...

This week's episode is dedicated Chapter 1 of ' The Connected Child ' by Dr. Karyn Purvis. This is a great book for all parents, but it is dedicated to the needs of kids who have come from hard places - so it is specifically for foster and adoptive parents. Over the course of Season 4, we will be going over different ideas from this amazing book. This week we talked about Corrective vs Connective...

We often get this question from concerned parents - "Will fostering be harmful to my bio kids?" And it's a legit question. There are bad situations out there where some foster families have experienced pain and hardship with their bio kids, because of a situation that occurred while fostering. So yes, there is always a possibility of that. But there is a possibility that living a totally safe and...

We often get this question from concerned parents - "Will fostering be harmful to my bio kids?" And it's a legit question. There are bad situations out there where some foster families have experienced pain and hardship with their bio kids, because of a situation that occurred while fostering. So yes, there is always a possibility of that. But there is a possibility that living a totally safe and...

This week we just want to encourage our fellow foster families out there! Encouragement 1: Sometimes your family, and even friends, may not be on board with your journey in foster care. You aren't alone in this! We have run into different people who have not been supportive of our choices. That's ok! We are still very thankful for the people who continue to walk by us! And we are here to walk alon...

This week we are happy to have an interview with Robert Watson, pastor, and newly published author! He wrote 'Upside Down Crown' which is now available on Kindle and at most major bookstores . The premise of the book is based on the only sermon that Jesus ever preached - which is the Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew 5-7). There are so many lessons in it, and once applied to our lives, we find...

Season 4 is here, and we are so excited to bring you 20 brand new episodes!  This week we talk about what our insane summer looked like, as we took 8 weeks off of the podcast.  It started with a marriage retreat with Don and Renee Worcester, who we have mentioned before. They are an amazing couple who really connect with people, and can encourage them in such a profound way. You can learn more abo...

This is the last episode of Season 3!  We do a brief book review on ' Garbage Bag Suitcase ' by Shenandoah Chefalo. It's a memoir of Shenandoah's life - filled with difficult years with her mother and a man she thought was her father, and difficult years in foster care, and aging out of the system. This book is Heavy, and made Jihae feel a bit depressed for a day or two. BUT, it's not all depressi...

This week we have a great interview with the lovely Lindsey Stamm, the Operations manager at Arizona127.  What is Arizona127 ? This is an AMAZING organization that exists to recruit, develop, and sustain foster family through training and events. They want to help foster children, and support the families who foster them. Follow them on Instagram to stay up to date on their trainings and events! (...