Fostering Voices Podcast

Today's guest is another personal fave! Elisa Watson is one of my dearest friends, also my twin (January 1981!), and my cousin in law! Elisa shares her personal experience with fostering a little girl for 21 months. This textbook-case little girl came as a 5 year old, and left as a wiser, and slightly better-adjusted 7 year old. My favorite part of Elisa's story is how she was able to continually support this little girl, and her family, after she was reunified with her parents. The village! Community! Support! We all need this, and I am beyond thankful for all the support I have received from Elisa as we walked through this difficult season together.

On today's episode, we talked about:

Elisa's podcast: Sines of Life Her fantastic church that has a great Foster Support Network! Dealing with Lice! Some resources in Arizona/East Valley and to find a clinic near you. Disciplining your kids in a heartfelt way: "The Heartfelt Discipline". (Obviously this was a fun episode, you are going to want to check it out!)

The (Good) Words of the Day Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

What great reminders that we all need to work on different aspects of love. And once we have that love, as well as the comfort that comes from loving and trusting in God, we are then able to give it all away to those in need of those things as well. Thanks so much for your time, and being willing to share your story with us all today, Elisa! You can also read more about her time with her foster babe, and life in general on her blog.

The D word in the world of foster care is DISRUPTION. It is much like divorce and comes with all the same stigma. Tune in to find out how Jamie got to the point where she felt like disruption was her only option, and how she survived that decision.

Today's guest is my precious friend Jamie Pieper. She has a true servant's heart, and I am so thankful that she is here to share her story with us. Jamie is the mom of 2, and former foster mom of 2. We get to hear about how she got to, and then survived Disruption. Disruption in the foster care world is much akin to divorce, and comes with a lot of the same stigma. But Jamie talks about how it was absolutely the right call for her family, how she overcame the shame and embarrassment that came with it, and what she is doing now to still be involved in foster care. She talked about something very interesting, which we didn't expound on at the time, but she mentions that maybe if she had had more community support, she might not have been so exhausted and run down. And this is what we are here for - to raise awareness, and provide support! If you are a foster family and are feeling like you are on the brink of disruption - let people know! Ask for help! And if you are have disrupted in the past, please do not feel embarrassed or ashamed. You tried something, and it was really hard, and the time you spent with that foster kid(s) was important and valuable and will still impact those kids in the long run. Finally, as a community, can we agree to not shame, or gossip about families who have disrupted? None of us actually knows what happens in someone else's home. We need to support, and love, and serve one another.

Other things to be aware of in this episode:

• I almost start bad-mouthing Women's Bible Studies. And then I feel convicted mid-sentence and stop. It's awkward and I'm sorry you have to hear it. That particular study was not my favorite, but that's not to say that all women's bible studies are bad! If you are interested in joining one at my church (Sun Valley Community Church) we do them on Thursday mornings, and they are as great as you make them!
• My stinkin dog barks in it twice. I didn't know if it would be better or worse to lock him out of the room, but I didn't want him to be scratching at the door, so I let him sit in the room. But then a squirrel must have been in the vicinity (which is amazing since we don't have squirrels in these here parts), and so he leaps off his seat with a mighty bark, twice, and basically ruins this episode.
• Jamie mentions this Jeremy Camp song that helped her to feel empowered in her trials, Same Power
• She also talked about KLOVE, which is a Christian radio station, that apparently knows the song you need to hear and plays it. Just kidding. That's all the Holy Spirit. You can listen to Klove here, if you don't live in the US.

The Good Word of the Day: But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10

Thanks to Jamie and Andrew, for how well they love my little family, and serve others around them. Their family is one that is truly focused on living their best life - for Christ's glory. And thanks to their sweet girls who did their best to serve their foster siblings when they lived together. I truly believe that the bio kids in families play a big role to make it possible for parents to even think about fostering. So, great job Brooklyn and Reagan! Thanks so much for tuning in to today's episode! Feel free to leave a comment, or leave a review on iTunes. Until next time - get out there and serve others, and love them well.

Brandi Hansen is a former foster babe turned fantastic adult. She is proof that kids are resilient, and can grow to be well-adjusted, productive, creative, and beautiful members of society, despite non-ideal beginnings.

Today's guest is so special. She gives me hope for being a parent, but specifically a foster parent - because she herself was a foster babe, and is now a successful, wonderful, loving, and caring adult/wife/mother. Brandi is one of the few adults that I know who was a foster child, and she shares her journey with us on today's podcast. Along with how she found herself in foster care, and how she grew up in a broken adoptive home, Brandi offers sage advice on how to be a successful adoptive parent, and how to eat a replanted celery stalk. We jumped right into Brandi's story, and I pretty much introduce her at the end (I am still getting the hang of this!), but some quick tidbits about Brandi: She is of Thai, Irish, and Hispanic descent. She is 35 and has 5 kids. She is a photographer and lifestyle/food blogger. She thinks that she is not fully rad, so she is Rad-ish. But I think she is the Raddest. I'm friends with Brandi, and you can be too! Find Brandi on Social Media and Online: Photography website Instagram: B Hansen Photography Radish Mama website Instagram: Radish Mama Today's Good Word of the Day: "They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:8 Brandi reminds me of this verse. She is like a tree planted by the water, that is strong and bears great fruit, despite the rocky beginnings she had. I'm glad you got to hear Brandi's voice today, and hope you will join me again for next week's episode. And the photo cred has to go to her as well. I believe this is from her trip to Amsterdam last year.

In today's episode, I do a quick review of an incredible book by two incredible women: Regina Calcaterra and Rosie Maloney.

Girl Unbroken is the true story of Rosie's life. She had a terrible stint in foster care, but the truly terrible times were with her own mother. If you can handle a lot of truth, a lot of sadness, and a handful of F-bombs, go and read this book and let me know what you think.

My guest for today is the sweetest, most fantastic, best looking man on planet earth - that's right, my husband. Join us as he tells us his side of the story of how he started his foster care journey.

Episode 2 is a good one (biased), as I interview the world's best foster dad in the universe - my husband Chris. Chris shares his heart on what has been hard, and what has been great as a foster dad for the last 3.5 years. Tune in for a little behind the scenes look at our mediocre hearts, and terrible senses of humor. This episode should be livelier than my first one, but is just as unfancy - as Chris and I recorded this in our guest room, while sitting on the floor, with the mic perched on a box of brand new baby wipes (yay Costco runs.) I didn't do this for my first episode, but here is the intro to 'The (Good) Word of the Day", a time when I will share a Bible verse that stood out to me this week.

Today's (Good) Word of the Day:

"But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless."

- Psalm 10:14

God sees our hurts and our struggles, and we just have to lay them at his feet. Because He has the whole world in His hands. Thanks for tuning in friends! Find me on Social Media if you want to connect in between episodes. Fostering Voices on Instagram Jihae Watson on Facebook

The first episode of the podcast, and it makes sense for it to be about how I got involved in the foster care system. 3.5 years later, we are still a foster family, serving our 4th placement.