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 in this, and I can very safely say that we did not sound that was when we actually presented it! There were lots of tears, and lots of award laughter. An all around success… 🙂

We are truly truly thankful that we had the opportunity to share our story at this gala, and on this podcast, every week. Foster care is not something that we planned to get into. Foster care is not something that we have always wanted to stay in. And Foster care is not about us. And thanks to it, our family is better, the lives of the families who walk alongside us are different, our community is diverse and beautiful, and one that generously serves others (as well as our family) so very well!

We are all just regular people, who can do regular things, for regular children! We don’t need to be doctors, or specialists. We are all qualified, as long as we choose not to look away.

There are technically 2 good words of the day in this episode:

The Good Word of the Day #1:

“Optimism for me isn’t a passive expectation that things will get better; it’s a conviction that we can make things better – that whatever suffering we see, no matter how bad it is, we can help people if we don’t lose hope and we don’t look away.”

– Bill Gates

Good Word #2:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

There is a lot out there that is overwhelming and heart breaking. And it’s easy to lose hope and succumb to the sadness. But we pray that you would choose hope. That you would choose to look people, who are suffering, in the eyes – and ask how you can help them. And we pray that the Holy Spirit would empower you to do great things, with great joy, courage, and love.

Thanks for being here. And listening, and supporting us. It means so much to us!

If you would like to connect:

Jihae on Facebook

Chris on Facebook

Fostering Voices on Instagram

Jihae on Instagram

You can also email us at jihaeandchris@yahoo.com

AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from the foster care and adoption community with more people!

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