Mindful Parenting Recap and Colbert Family Update

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast! 

In this episode, my special guest is the founder of The Mission Driven Mom and creator of the MDM Academy: Audrey Rindlisbacher. Audreys world was turned upside down when she, at the time a mother to four kids herself, decided to foster her cousins four children, ages ranging from twelve years old to newborn. In this conversation, we unpack her story, this incredible experience, and how God led her to utter faithfulness. 

Specifically, I ask Audrey how to cope with the weariness that comes from this calling. When Audrey was at her lowest point, she turned to God like she never had before and was completely changed. Audrey encourages moms to seek resources, fill their needs, and especially fulfill their spiritual needs like prayer. 

Here are a few key take aways: 

• Foster and adoptive parenting can be incredibly challenging and rewarding.
• Prayer is a powerful tool for finding clarity and strength.
• Self-care is essential for caregivers to effectively support children.
• The feelings of love often stem from actions of love.
• God's plan may not always align with our expectations, but it is always good.
• Community support can make a significant difference in the foster care journey.
• Being a foster parent requires vulnerability and courage.
• Every child in foster care has a unique story and needs.
• Sometimes when God says No it can be scary, and we have to trust His plan.

Want to keep Christian Parenting going? The network is listener-supported! Consider giving an end-of-year gift that provides resources to Christian parents. Check out cpgive.org 

Check out Audreys amazing resources at https://www.themissiondrivenmom.com/

Listen to her podcast: click here

Check out the Mission Driven Mom Academy: click here 

You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at [email protected]. I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast! 

In this episode, Jill Marier joins me on the podcast to discuss the need for fostering medically fragile children. Jill has a rather unique family, and in her words she says we get stares. They have a large household full of children that are adopted, biological, and fostering, many of them are medically fragile. Jills heart was moved to medically fragile kids after her biological son JoJo was born with cerebral palsy. He is non-verbal and confined to a wheelchair. Going through this experience, Jills heart broke for all the kids with these medical hardships without any parents or guardians to walk through it with them. Theyre alone and often abandoned because of their medical needs. 

Not only did Jill and her husband begin to foster and adopt many of these children, and the need is so great, but they started a non-profit farm which has wheelchair accessibility. The farm is a safe space for parents to bring their medically fragile children to have fun with some animals.

Together in our conversation, we unpack the fears surrounding foster care and adoption with medically fragile children:  Im not qualified or Ill be too attached or What if they die? and more. These fears are lies from the enemy to keep you from following Gods calling. Jill and Somer do not shy away from the hard things but God is with you always. 

Here are a few key take aways: 

• Every child deserves a loving family, regardless of their medical needs.
• Foster care can be a rewarding but challenging journey.
• It's important to overcome fears and say yes to fostering if God calls you.
• Daily life with medically fragile children involves careful planning and routine.
• Community support is crucial for families in foster care.
• Loss and grief are part of the foster care experience.
• Building connections with nonverbal children is possible and rewarding.
• Creating inclusive spaces for children with special needs is essential.
• Setting boundaries is necessary to maintain family dynamics in foster care.

You can check out Christian Parentings gift guide by clicking here. 

You can learn more about the Mad Hatter Farm on their website: https://www.madhatterfarm.org/

And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madhatterfarmandrescue 

You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at [email protected]. I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast! 

In this episode, I am helping you better understand embryo adoption. IVF treatments have risen in popularity as desperate families seek to get pregnant, but the process comes at a great cost and not just financially, but also emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually as families navigate what to do with excess embryos. Because the success rate is so small, facilities will create more embryos than a couple may necessarily want to carry and raise. There are a few options for these embryos: adoption (which I highlight) or termination or scientific experimentation. This is an extremely heavy decision for the parents to make. 

Embryo adoption is where an adoptive mother has the embryo placed inside her to carry to term, if successful. There are some factors to this adoption which are different from a traditional one: in utero bonding and potentially breastfeeding. (A newborn adoption could also involve breastfeeding, but it is a different process to achieve this.) 

Through this episode, I seek to make you aware of all the different factors of embryo adoption, what it is, and what is happening with so many families in the IVF process. 

There is plenty of controversy even in Christian circles on this topic and I seek to approach it with information and empathy. There are countless little lives frozen right now, waiting for homes. 

Here are a few key take aways: 

• Embryo adoption is a process of placing fertilized embryos with adoptive parents.
• The IVF process can lead to difficult decisions regarding surplus embryos.
• Success rates for embryo adoption can be as high as 59%.
• Embryo adoption allows for biological siblings to be raised together.
• The financial cost of embryo adoption is generally lower than traditional adoption.
• There are emotional challenges and grief associated with embryo adoption.
• The process requires legal documentation and a home study.
• Adoptive parents can bond with the child during pregnancy.
• Controversies exist regarding the ethics of IVF and embryo adoption.
• Seeking God's guidance is essential in the decision-making process.

You can check out Christian Parentings gift guide by clicking here. 

You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at [email protected]. I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast! 

In this episode, I am joined by a joyful and light-filled author, speaker, and mom: Alice Matagora. Alice shares her story about a painful waiting process, depending on Gods promises. Inspired by this waiting journey, as a new mom Alice wrote the book, You Are My Miracle. All children are a miracle from God and this book helps us affirm this truth over our children. Through our conversation, we discuss the miracle it is to be a parent, to raise our kids, and the challenges of the waiting process till that child enters our life. 

Here are a few key take aways: 

• Waiting can be emotionally taxing and filled with uncertainty.
• There can be a lot of grief in infertility. 
• It's important to seek God during times of waiting and uncertainty.
• Community support is crucial for those going through infertility or adoption processes.
• Every child is a miracle, regardless of how they come into a family.
• The journey of waiting can lead to personal growth and deeper faith.
• Parents should communicate to their children how loved and wanted they are.
• It's essential to remember the struggles of waiting even after fulfillment.
• Hope is a continuous journey, not just a destination.

Connect more with Alice on Instagram and Facebook. 

Check out her website to learn more! 

Here is her book referenced in this episode, You Are My Miracle

You can check out Christian Parentings gift guide by clicking here. 

You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at [email protected]. I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast! 

In this episode, I am joined by the amazing and inspiring Jamie Finn. Jamie is an author and busy mom to both biological and adopted children, and their family has been fostering for years. She is also the founder and president of Foster the Family, a national nonprofit that serves vulnerable children and the families welcoming them, as well as the founder of the Filled Gathering, the largest gathering of foster and adoptive moms in the world. 

Together, we discuss adopting children from foster care. There is a huge stigma against foster kids, being labeled as problematic and an underlying fear that you cant handle their pain and trauma. There is also the fear of becoming attached to a foster child only for them to be reunified, even though reunification is the first priority of foster care. There are many more fears and apprehensions, so how do we face them as Christians, standing on Gods Word and His calling for us to care for the least of these? 

One big point is we are all called to love these kids, but that doesnt mean everyone is called to adoption or fostering. You can start by supporting those who already are! This may be a small thing but it is huge to the families who desperately need this support and community. And if God does call you into this, you may find yourself with support and community because you served others. Another key point Jamie and I discuss is surrendering to God in this calling. You have no control over what happens and that may be scary but it strengthens your faith. There is also so much beauty in adoption because God has adopted us. 

Here are a few key takeaways: 

• Foster care is a mission that requires commitment.
• Fear is a natural response to the unknown in foster care.
• Preparation is key, but you can never be fully ready.
• Reunification is the priority, but permanency is also important.
• Grief is a complex emotion in foster care.
• God's love is constant, even in brokenness.
• Community support is essential for foster families.
• Surrendering control is a part of the journey.
• Children need to see a model of unconditional love. 

Connect more with Jamie on Instagram or her website. 

Check out Jamies book: Foster the Family: Encouragement, Hope, and Practical Help for the Christian Foster Parent

Check out Jamies new book for foster kids: God Loves Kids: A Gospel-Centered Book About Foster Care

You can check out Christian Parentings gift guide by clicking here. 

You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at [email protected]. I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!