We could not be more delighted to present this interview with THE Jason Johnson! He is the author of the incredible book “Reframing Foster Care“, and he is also the Director of Church Ministry Initiatives with Christian Alliance for Orphans. He has an incredible blog that is a fantastic resource for families, individuals, and churches alike.

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did! You can also watch it on YouTube if you prefer to see faces, or you want to listen to it again, with a visual component! (It’s also at the bottom of this post!)

Notes From the Interview

The power of proximity is SO real! If you feel afraid of something, or even someone – get to know more. The more we know, the less afraid, or anxious, or wrong we will be. Jason described the moment when he saw a staff member of his church walk in with a foster child; It was as if the red sea parted! Seeing and knowing foster children makes this idea of ‘helping out in foster care’ more real.

On Ramp is the amazing organization that Jason mentioned near the end of the interview. They take cars that have been donated and give them to a recipient, usually a single mom. What a blessing it is to see people using their talents, interests, and time to bless others!

Oftentimes, you hear that we need to be concerned with more foster families faster. But we need to be far more concerned with the right foster families for longer! When we see families who are fostering – let’s support them! So that they can continue the work that they are doing. Babysit, do their laundry, bring them dinner, take the parents out for dinner, all of these things make a big difference in the life of a foster family!

Of course we referenced a Heath Brother’s Book! Upstream! We love it. (Others we love: Power of Moments, Made to Stick) And so does Jason Johnson! You can check out this post where we talked about it. Jason reminding us that all the different people at work in and around the river, play a valuable role, upstream, downstream, and on the shore.

The Good Word of the Day

Be careful not to get caught up in the trap of measuring your success or failure solely based on the outcomes you are able to produce. There are going to be seasons where you will not able to produce the kinds of outcomes you want to be able to produce and you are going to feel like you are failing at this foster care thing.

– Jason Johnson

More Words of Wisdom

• God is not concerned with our ability to produce outcomes. He is concerned with our ability to be faithful.
• Let’s change the way we define success and failure – in life, in fostering, adopting, etc.
• Read Hebrews 11. This is the hall of fame of faith, and yet so many did not see the end results of the things they hoped for. We should not expect rewards and results to be immediate. All God is asking us to do is to be faithful – not to fix everything and everyone around us.
• Renew your mind. Romans 12:2. Daily.
• The words of your testimony. The power of story. Share your story. Listen to the stories of others. Draw people in using stories. This is the bread and butter of our podcast!

Thank you, Jason Johnson!

We are so thankful for Jason’s willingness to be on our podcast, and to share so much wisdom and encouragement with us! Thanks for letting us interview you, Jason Johnson!

You can learn more about Jason’s books here. And the book club that we mentioned during the interview can be found here on YouTube, or on Jason’s Facebook page. You can also follow Jason on Instagram.

Let’s Connect!

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