Running Toward

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! Today we sit down with Kendall — an occupational therapist, business owner, mom of two teenagers, and foster mom to five kids who came through her home over the years. Kendall thought her background in child development would give her a leg up going into foster care. It gave her a little. Then a two-year-old and a three-year-old showed up, the tooth fairy nea...

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! Today we get a perspective we haven't heard before — a woman who's lived this story from three different angles. Natalee was adopted as a baby, grew up knowing she was loved and chosen, and always knew she'd adopt someday. Then in her twenties, her parents opened their home to a 15-year-old boy from the foster system. And then she and her husband...

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! June is our dad takeover — a whole month of stories from foster fathers to honor Father's Day and to let their honesty do what it does for another man sitting on the edge of this decision. Today host Mike Kraft sits down with Bradford — a software professional, husband to Rachel, dad of two bio kids, and a foster dad who knew since high school that this w...

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! This June we're doing a dad takeover — a whole month of conversations with foster and adoptive fathers to honor Father's Day and to let their stories do what only a man's story can do for another man sitting on the fence. Today host Mike Kraft sits down with Dr. Chad Jackson — physical therapist, professor at the University of the Incarnate Word,...

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! We're continuing our Dad Takeover series for June and today I'm sitting down with my friend Jed Hefner — a man who grew up fatherless, left home at 16, and spent most of his adult life building the stability and control he never had as a kid. Foster care was not on his radar. But God had other plans. Today Jed shares how a church info meeting he almos...

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! We're kicking off our Dad Takeover series for June and there is no better way to start than with my good friend Jason Ross. Jason moved to San Antonio to do college ministry and had every reason to say no to foster care — and he did, at first. But Kelly's patience, a stranger at a Starbucks, and a breakdown at a dinner table in Phoenix all had other p...

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! We're continuing our single moms in May series and today we sit down with Ciera — a speech therapist who spent years wrestling with the call to foster care as a single woman, and then said yes anyway. From secondary trauma and hard reunifications to an unlikely friendship with a refugee bio mom, to walking through removal again and watching God redeem eve...

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! We are wrapping up our series celebrating the single moms who have stepped into foster care this month of May — and we are ending it with one of the youngest voices we've had on the show. Today I sit down with Christine, who started fostering at twenty-three years old, just months out of grad school, still paying off debt, still going to bachelorettes on...

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! We are continuing our series celebrating the single moms who have stepped into the beautiful, hard, holy calling of foster care — and today, I get to sit down with one of my really good friends, Rachel Russo. Rachel has been fostering for twelve years, has had fifteen placements, has adopted three boys, and somehow still had enough margin in her life to found...

Welcome to the Running Toward Podcast! This May, in honor of Mother's Day, we're spending the whole month with single foster moms — because fostering as a single parent is a whole unique calling, and we have some incredible women sharing their stories. Today we start with Susan — a physical therapist, professor at the University of the Incarnate Word, and single mom to six kids ranging from 5 to a...

Catalina Almanza didn't grow up thinking she'd foster — but in a way, she always was. Growing up in Colombia, her grandmother quietly took in children who needed a home, modeling a kind of love Catalina would one day step into herself. After facing infertility and the heartbreak of closed doors, Catalina found herself scrolling through Facebook when a photo of a pink room stopped her cold....

Robyn grew up adopted. So when she started thinking about foster care, she wasn't approaching it as a rescuer — she was approaching it as someone who had already been the child in the story. As a teenager, Robyn saw a billboard of an elderly woman who had fostered nearly a hundred children and thought, "I want to be her one day." What she didn't know then was how much her own ado...

What happens when you say yes to foster care — not once, but twice — after walking through some of the heaviest seasons life can throw at you? In episode 13 of Running Towards, we sit down with Shiana, a foster mom, recovery advocate, and self-described bulldog for kids who need someone in their corner. Shiana shares how years of devastating loss — losing her dad, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and...

Brenda grew up watching her mother say yes to a boy no one else wanted. Decades later, she found herself standing in a shelter, being told she wasn't the mom — and that's when everything changed. Growing up in El Salvador, Brenda learned early that caring for a child without a home wasn't heroic — it was just the right answer to an obvious need. When infertility led her and her husband toward fost...

In this powerful episode of Running Toward, Marin Baker shares her journey from planning international adoption to stepping into foster care, navigating special needs diagnoses, becoming a CPS caseworker, and ultimately learning what it means to release control and trust God fully. Marin opens up about the realities of the foster care system, trauma-informed parenting, courtroom heartbreak, and th...

In this episode of Running Toward, we sit down with Alex to hear her powerful journey into foster care, adoption, and advocacy. From working as a case manager to becoming a foster and adoptive mom of three, Alex shares how faith, obedience, and courage shaped her family’s story. She opens up about unexpected detours, early marriage, saying yes to hard callings, navigating trauma-informed parenting...

Josh and Caitlin share their powerful story of how infertility changed the course of their lives and led them into foster care. What began as a journey filled with uncertainty, grief, and unanswered prayers slowly turned into a calling they couldn’t ignore. After years of trying to start a family, they felt God nudging them toward fostering — a path that would challenge their faith, stretch their...

After losing her son in 2020, Susan never imagined foster care would become part of her story. What began as grief, anger, and unanswered questions turned into a calling she couldn’t ignore. In this episode, Susan shares how faith, loss, and responsibility collided — leading her and her husband into foster care, adoption, and a completely reshaped life. From navigating trauma, therapy, and the fos...

In this episode of Running Toward , we sit down with Katie to hear her powerful journey into foster care. From teaching in Title I schools to opening her home to vulnerable children, Katie shares the highs, heartbreaks, and faith-filled moments that shaped her family. We talk about trauma, resilience, community support, and what it really means to love kids who come from hard places. This episode...

In this episode of Running Toward, Brittany shares her journey into foster care—one marked by hesitation, obedience, heartbreak, and deep faith. From feeling unqualified and overwhelmed to learning how to hold children and plans with open hands, this conversation explores surrender, reunification, loving without guarantees, and trusting God in the chaos of foster care.

In this episode of Running Toward , Ashlie shares her powerful journey through infertility, loss, faith, and foster care. From struggling with unanswered prayers and career-driven identity to learning how to trust God through heartbreak, Ashley opens up about loving children without guarantees. She talks about losing her first placement, choosing to foster again, navigating grief, adoption, and le...

In this episode of Running Toward , Bethann shares her powerful journey through foster care, adoption, and loving children without guarantees. From early callings to heartbreaking goodbyes, she opens up about faith, obedience, resilience, and choosing love even when it hurts. A moving story about staying the course and trusting God through uncertainty.

In this episode of Running Toward , we sit down with Ariel to talk about one of the most overlooked crises in our communities: teens and young adults aging out of foster care. Ariel shares how motherhood, foster care, and adoption reshaped her understanding of responsibility, faith, and calling. We unpack what really happens when youth turn 18 and lose state support, why so many end up homeless, i...

In Episode 3 of Running Toward, we sit down with Pastor Mike Kraft to talk about what happens when foster care stops being a “cause” and becomes personal—right on your couch. Mike shares how stepping into foster care exposed a gap: the church may care deeply, but often feels unprepared to serve kids and families touched by trauma. We talk about control, interruption, fear, and what obedience looks...

In this episode of Running Toward, we sit down with Jocelyn to hear a deeply personal story of faith, foster care, and the cost of obedience. Adoption and loss were part of her life long before foster care entered her own home, shaping her understanding of God’s heart for vulnerable children. But knowing the mission didn’t make saying yes any easier when it began to impact her marriage, her childr...