Ever wonder what it's like to be a foster parent?
Join us on a transformational journey as we converse with Kristen Andrus about our personal experiences and heartfelt lessons learned from being foster parents. We recount the trials and triumphs we've encountered, dissecting misconceptions and challenging societal norms surrounding foster care. We share our story, from our initial calling to aid children in need, to the enriching experiences that have since unfolded, all the while driven by unwavering faith.
We take a moment to reflect on an impactful story of a child, who endured 19 calls seeking a home before finding placement. This poignant narrative is a call-to-arms for all of us, a stark reminder that we, as the church, are the hands and feet of Jesus. Our discussion broadens to spotlight the role of the church in supporting foster care families and touches upon the ongoing crisis in our county.
Moreover, we delve into the tale of our rebranded podcast, A Force to Be Reckoned With - a platform dedicated to championing the cause of fulfilling our God-given purpose. We lay bare the connection between our foster care journey and our podcast's mission. Whether you're contemplating venturing into foster care, seeking ways to contribute to the cause, or looking for inspiration to live your mission, this candid conversation promises to enlighten you.
So why wait? Join the force, and let's make a difference together!
Episode Highlights:
Find More on Kristen Andrus:
Links Mentioned in Episode/Find More on A Force to Be Reckoned With:
This show has been produced by Adkins Media Co.
Ever wonder what it's like to be a foster parent?
Join us on a transformational journey as we converse with Kristen Andrus about our personal experiences and heartfelt lessons learned from being foster parents. We recount the trials and triumphs we've encountered, dissecting misconceptions and challenging societal norms surrounding foster care. We share our story, from our initial calling to aid children in need, to the enriching experiences that have since unfolded, all the while driven by unwavering faith.
We take a moment to reflect on an impactful story of a child, who endured 19 calls seeking a home before finding placement. This poignant narrative is a call-to-arms for all of us, a stark reminder that we, as the church, are the hands and feet of Jesus. Our discussion broadens to spotlight the role of the church in supporting foster care families and touches upon the ongoing crisis in our county.
Moreover, we delve into the tale of our rebranded podcast, A Force to Be Reckoned With - a platform dedicated to championing the cause of fulfilling our God-given purpose. We lay bare the connection between our foster care journey and our podcast's mission. Whether you're contemplating venturing into foster care, seeking ways to contribute to the cause, or looking for inspiration to live your mission, this candid conversation promises to enlighten you.
So why wait? Join the force, and let's make a difference together!
Episode Highlights:
Find More on Kristen Andrus:
Links Mentioned in Episode/Find More on A Force to Be Reckoned With:
This show has been produced by Adkins Media Co.
We are at war and it's not against our neighbors, spouses, children, politicians or whatever else we feel like we're battling against.
Speaker 2:So the questions are who's the fight against, and are we winning or losing? We're the Adkins, and we are a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 2:Are you ready to join the force. Hi everyone, we hope you're having a good week and thanks for tuning in for another week of A Force to Be Wreckoned With. This week we are actually sharing a conversation that we had the opportunity to have on another podcast. My friend, kristen Andrus, is the host of a show called Planted and Flourishing, and she asked us to be on her show to share a little bit about our foster care journey, and several of you have asked about a little bit more information on foster care. Some of you have reached out sharing that you are working on getting licensed for foster care or have thought more about it and have questions. So we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share this episode and also share about her amazing show, again called Planted and Flourishing. So we hope that you guys enjoy it and you can find links to Kristen's show and all of the other things mentioned in the episode in our show notes.
Speaker 3:Today I'm talking with Corey and Beth Adkins, and if their name sounds familiar, it's because they've been guests on Planet and Flourishing before Now. Prior to this, you guys, you were doing the Millennial Mission, and I'm sure you still have a hand in that, but you've recently jumped into a new ministry. Is that what you would call it Life goal? What would you consider this new venture that you guys have stepped into?
Speaker 2:Yeah well, first of all, thank you so much for having us back. I love any opportunity that we have to chat with you, so I'm super excited that we're here today. Did you have something you wanted to?
Speaker 1:ask. I was just gonna say thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Also.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we Kristen. We met through compel, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The writers training? Yep, we sure did. And, corey and I, our podcast started out called the Adkins Highlight Reel. We were talking about real life and real struggles and figuring out your purpose. And then that morphed into the Millennial Mission and how all of us have a mission and that is still carrying into living out our God given purpose. And so, yeah, that I guess that's what you would call it Our mission. And every step of the way, I feel like we're just following where God calls us and right now we're still doing all of those things, but we've also been called to do foster care, so we're excited to dive into that today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and recently we rebranded the podcast to be called a force to be reckoned with, because now it's like, okay, we've got, we know that we have a purpose, we know, through the Millennial Mission and what we did there, we've got the tools. Let's take action towards it and let's be a force to be reckoned with, through the strength of God.
Speaker 3:So yeah, yeah, I love that so much that just what you guys are doing stepping into this calling of foster care is something really that is a force to be reckoned with, because there's so much evil that is driving the cause of this need, and you guys have stepped in to just being an answer to some of the issues that the foster care system is is facing right now, and so I looked up some stats on foster care and it's really mind-boggling to know that there's almost 400,000 kids in the foster system in the United States of America. That's mind-blowing, that there are that many children that that need a place, a safe place to stay for a while while their family regroups or whatever the story is on that side. So how did you guys? I know you say you've said that it's a calling, it's something you feel called to. What started this for you guys?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, the first point, just with that staggering number, I mean it is staggering, it is crazy to think of and it's so easy for us as people to just in our go-go-go life like that's a number. It's heartbreaking, it's sad, but when you think about it as individuals, like for think about 400,000 children, children that they're in, for whatever reason, a scenario where they can no longer be taken care of by their family, and even more than that, typically if they're in foster care, extended family and kinship has already been explored. Foster care is the last case scenario. So can they not be with parents, but they can't be with, for whatever reason, extended family? And so now foster care is that last option, and foster the county will still explore kin and all of that. But for it to even get to that point it had to have been really pretty bad. And yeah, like you said, we could talk about that, for you know five different episodes on why that is. But talking about purpose, I mean that people not living out there purpose or leaning on God, I mean the mental health struggles in the world, all of that you know. And then there's just so many different reasons.
Speaker 2:But yeah, we never anticipated getting called into foster care. My parents were foster parents. I have two adopted sisters and that was honestly something when we were getting married, like I was so sure that that was something I never wanted to do. And I even remember saying to Corey like we had talked about maybe adopting at some point. Do you remember this? No, yeah, that's what this was. He talked about maybe adopting, but I was like I never want to do foster care and he was like, oh great, me either.
Speaker 2:But we're from Ohio. We lived out in California for about four years to run a business and then moved back. And when we moved back we got planted into this community of really wonderful people, but almost all of them were foster parents and it was not something that like at first we were like, oh this is weird, all these people are foster parents, that was just who you know. Our kids kind of went to school together and then COVID hit and we homeschooled together and they just happened to be in the world of foster care and so over the course of about two years we just kind of observed their lives and I mean, once you see that world and you see faces and you understand stories, it is so hard to look away from it.
Speaker 1:But that also doesn't just happen overnight either. It took years of us being around our friends and witnessing it and hearing the stories and seeing what they were going through for it to really like break down my wall and see that God was leading us in that direction.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and to make things even crazier, so talking about just going where God leads you, that's been kind of our life. I mean, that's everybody's life mission, but that's the theme of our podcast always, no matter what the podcast name is, and our good friends who we got planted into this community with.
Speaker 2:How we became friends is. I started this podcast. I was exploring people to have on the podcast. I found this woman who had a really wonderful story about infertility and foster care. So I had her on our podcast during COVID, not even realizing she was also from Ohio. And then at the end of the interview I realized not only is she from Ohio, she lives down in the street from us and our kids are in the same home room. That's crazy, right, and it was like it's crazy to think about. That's a God thing. It sure is, because, just like the act of being obedient on our podcast, like having a, had I never said yes to the podcast, I never would have interviewed her, I never would have known our kids were in home room. And then I mean we are very close friends with a group of families and they're one of them and, yeah, I mean, if it weren't for that, we probably never would have even gotten involved in foster care. So it was certainly a God thing.
Speaker 1:One little piece I wanna add to that too is when you brought, I didn't live in that world at all, so I didn't grow up around it. I didn't, my parents didn't do that. The closest thing I came to is that the school I went to there was a group home in our school district that had kids that came from there, but oftentimes those kids they were older. I didn't experience that until, like, they were in high school and they usually had some type of like criminal background or something. But so when we started getting around people that were doing foster care and Beth is bringing it up, like in my mind I was like I'm not doing that. People that do foster care are weird, like that's just what you think.
Speaker 2:Which is really funny because, like we're weird so I don't wanna just connect with this.
Speaker 1:We are weird, but in my mind it was a different kind of weird. It was a SpongeBob Crocs wearing Walmart pajamas when you're going to the grocery store, kind of people. I don't know.
Speaker 2:I have to show you.
Speaker 1:There could be some really good people out there that wear SpongeBob, crocs and Walmart pajamas out in the public but in my mind that's what it was.
Speaker 2:I have to show you this picture that. Kristen sent me. Oh, no, yes.
Speaker 1:Oh my.
Speaker 3:I immediately thought of you, Corey. That's so bad. I was like yeah, I'm sending that to Beth.
Speaker 1:There is a picture of a dude. I'm assuming this is based on the hairy feet that was her crocs that got a sun tan and they were holding the crocs on their feet like polka dots, like they got leprosy or something.
Speaker 3:Yes, you could draw a picture.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in my mind that's somebody that did foster care they had to do so much.
Speaker 2:And here we are.
Speaker 1:But that was a blinder for me, because the people that I met were normal people. They ran their own businesses. They were normal guys. Normal girls Like just you would have never known that they did foster care, and so I don't know if anybody else had that stigma in there, and anybody else out there is maybe even considering doing foster care, but that's a hang up for them that you're going to turn to a weirdo.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You won't.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Probably a pretty hard one, right.
Speaker 3:We're our own kind of weird.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, so, speaking of some of the barriers and misconceptions of foster care, I mean that's one of them, that's a realistic barrier that people find to this topic or even entertaining the possibility of stepping into this world. So what are some of the other things that either you've heard or you've experienced, and how do, how have you been able to reconcile that or find the flip side of that misconception you want?
Speaker 2:to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say one other thing that I didn't even think about, to be honest with you, but I actually just had somebody say this to me the other day. We have a new little guy with us and I took him to school when he's the same age as a little girl that we had previously had. That has gone to live with family members, and one of the workers at the childcare center said to me she's like I was telling my boyfriend about you guys doing foster care and he was like, oh wow, she was talking about how inspiring it was, which I didn't even think that we were inspiring. But she said that he told her, can they not have kids? And so that was a is it?
Speaker 1:sometimes people think that people do foster care or adopt because they can't have kids, and that may be true in some cases. That is another way to be a family is to do that we can still have our own kids and we still were doing foster care, and so for us, I think one of the things with that that is sometimes a battle is that I think there's a lot of foster families that do do that to. You know, maybe potentially add to their family or grow family, and then when we're getting into Pushbacks with, like our county, they keep thinking that they're used to a lot of foster families, you know, pushing back at things that they're doing because they want to keep the kids.
Speaker 2:Many layers to that. So if there's anybody out there who is doing foster care to build their family, I mean we. I truly believe there's nothing. There's nothing wrong with that. The goal of foster care is reunification.
Speaker 2:But we have so many friends who did get into foster care to build their family due to infertility issues. But again it's kind of like, well, maybe God made that infertility journey part of your story so that you would get into foster care. Like, had that not happened, maybe they never would have even done foster care at all. Right, the issue that Corey's talking about is there's a lot of stigmas even within the county that County workers kind of get jaded after a time and so often even county workers and foster families go head-to-head and Like we had the issue when we're at there's a difference between advocating for the safety of a child and sometimes that gets misconstrued Like they're just, you know, trying to throw all these red flags so that they Child.
Speaker 2:So that is a hurdle that we've had to. It takes time to kind of build your reputation and Show your true heart in it, and it's it's. It's a struggle, I would say for me, just really quickly. A Lot of people hesitate if they, if they do have biological kids because they're worried about what that would do to their family as it is now, and there is no doubt it will absolutely change your family and change you know the way you do things and change your children, and it will be hard at times, but there is also so much good that comes with it and there are so many front seat views that our kids get to have that many kids don't get to have because we are Like we have children in our homes who have experienced, and our experience in things that Our kids would have never been exposed to otherwise. Yeah, and that can be scary too, but it's also such a good way for them to see, like see through the eyes of Jesus, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the living gospel. So what are the some of the ways? I there's got to be a host of challenges when you bring another child into your home and you've already got kids, like there's that conflict, especially in age differences in space. You know territory. How are you guys, how do you deal with the challenges with your own children and helping them understand and they Understand? And then, on the flip side of that, how have you positively seen this impact your kids, your home, your family?
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh man, there are just so many different ways. I will say we are very blessed. We live in a very Great town with a lot of great families, and I hate, I feel like the word privilege is thrown around a lot and I don't really like that term and the way that it's used now in culture, but I can't really think of a better.
Speaker 2:We just live in a very fortunate a fortunate area with good families in a great school district, and when you live in that kind of bubble, it's very easy to take Little problems and they're these like big, big things. And then when you take somebody who's just 20 minutes up the street but it's like a third world country compared to where you live and you're putting those experience into your home, it makes those Small-town problems, let's say I mean, there's still real problems. We have an eight-year-old and her problems seem small to us but they're very big to her. Oh, it's just a perspective shift. It has really helped our kids to Feel and they're still working on it. We're still working on it to let little things go.
Speaker 2:When you see, when you have a child and and you are able to look your kid in the eye and be like you know, I know you're Struggling with this. I know this is hard. It's so hard to share your toys, it's so hard to share your stuff and it's so hard to share your parents. But she has never she's lived in, you know, 25 different homes. She has never had a stable parent to love her and nurture her. You know she went days without food and she didn't have a fridge full of food and that's why she put snacks under her pillow and that's why she hides things under her bed. When you have those experiences right, you have a front-row seat to them. It's like it really makes you take a step back and and we've seen that for our kids too there are certainly things they're still struggling, but it has really helped a lot.
Speaker 1:I would say it brings to life. And I know there's a stereotype for a lot of moms it would say like, finish your food, there's kids starving in China. You know, like your mom would say that to you and you're like in reality, you know, like I don't see the kids in China. It's not real to you. It's hard to make that team, yeah, but you get. You're bringing children into your home that haven't been parented the way that your kids have been parented, haven't been, haven't had clothes or food or been given the love and attention that your kids have, and they get to kind of see what the effects of that are tangibly and in real life. And then they get to see through you as a parent bringing in somebody else and loving them Unconditionally to, to see what that truly looks like, the unconditionally love a stranger, in essence, somebody that's not your own. And then they get to practice it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Unconditional love is so easy as an idea and I think we see that even in marriage like oh yeah, I can. When you're in love with somebody, like you can love them unconditionally, and then but then hard time.
Speaker 2:Right when our time is hard to choose that person, and it's even a step harder when you have to love somebody Unconditionally. That's not your blood and then it's not your family, because it's it and it's not by like a relationship that you've chosen. You know it's so unnatural, these children. You get a phone call and then two hours later this or there's, this child that you didn't even know existed In your home and you're caring for them and it's just. There's so much unnatural, there are so many unnatural elements about it, and so to see kids have to experience that it's very hard, and so to just help your kids understand that this is hard, because this is not the way God intended families to be, but God calls us to love unconditionally, and love even when we don't feel like loving, and sometimes love is hard, and so it's an act of choice. Having the privilege to teach our kids that it's been really cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean they're seeing the gospel lived out like real life, true blue. Because we can read the Bible, they can read their stories, they can all those things that happened way back then and it's always a great story. You know they, they learn the principles, but to see them in action, I think all of us, as parents that put faith in the middle of our lives, we work really hard to make sure that what our kids experience, the way they live, what we provide for them, the experiences we allow to affect them as much as we can control. Anyway, we try to be very intentional about that, right, and so at times it can create this bubble like you were talking about, beth. It's. They live in this little bubble world of protection and as parents that's what we're supposed to do.
Speaker 3:But, man, when we can put an opportunity to actually live out the gospel, what a powerful example to them. That's such an important lesson to in the art of managing your emotions and not allowing your feelings to dictate your actions necessarily. And I know for our kids that is so difficult, especially in the world that they live now, because nobody has trouble expressing their opinions and how they feel about any kind of situation, right. So they're seeing all of this just word vomit all the time, just through people's actions. But when they're seeing you guys, when they know you're tired, maybe they know you've had a rough day and you're still pouring into not only the little guys in your house that aren't normally there, but even to them. It's one of those things that's caught, not taught.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean, even just having this conversation is convicting me right now, because we are not perfect, like we are so far from perfect, and I think that's another good point. It's like you don't have to be, because we aren't ever going to be perfect, but we have to allow God to use us and to equip us, because God is perfect and we are not, and so we just have to be the tool that God uses to live out his purpose. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what are some of the most common questions that you guys have been asked about foster care?
Speaker 2:A lot of people. I mean, adoption is a big thing. I think that foster care is. Just it's not really understood that the goal is reunification and adoption absolutely can come from that. But the goal is always at first for kids to either be with their biological family or kin, and honestly, this is where people say that the system is broken and because sometimes it's great and obviously we're very we want that, we want kids to be with their family. I mean, you can think about it. You love your mom, whether your mom. If you could pick somebody that was a billionaire and had a theme park in their house or living with your mom in an apartment, you would choose your mom. Of course you would, because you love your parents and so that's the goal. But that's why the system is broken, because sometimes they are reunified and the scenarios, like, aren't always ideal and they can be put a little bit further than they should be. But what question?
Speaker 1:So I get this is kind of two part, but one people ask me how things are going, and when I talk to them about how things are going, you know, every time these kids have biological parents that have any list of things that they're doing wrong, which is that's going to happen every time, that's why their kids aren't with them, right?
Speaker 1:And so people automatically assume that those biological parents you know, like, if it looks like the kids are going to reunify with their parents, that they don't deserve them, they shouldn't get them back.
Speaker 1:And I think that's the wrong way to look at it, because and for me with you know, some of these with these parents is I cannot agree with the choices that they've made, or even sometimes I could not agree with the choices that they're still making. Like we've had an instance where the parent didn't do the things that she needed to do to get her kids back. But I still have empathy for her and, like, one of the things that I told her too, and at a meeting, was that, you know, a lot of times it focuses on the kids and it should be, but also that parent is a human being that was created in the image of God too, and that parent has a purpose that, for whatever reason, they've chosen not to live out that purpose and to lean into that purpose and lean into that relationship with God. And you know we shouldn't just write them off because we're talking about a human being here right.
Speaker 1:And so that's. That's one thing that I think that people need to keep that in perspective, and you, I think you can protect the kids and still love the parent that's not making may not be making the best decisions still.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean off of that. The very first case that we had. It was we only had two of the four siblings, but it was a sibling set of four. There wasn't a home that would take all of them, because I mean so many foster homes, you can't just take four kids, especially if you already have kids because you don't remember. So we have two younger siblings. I mean it was a case where mom could have worked her case plan and all the kids could have been back together. In this scenario she didn't, for whatever reason, and the siblings got split up three ways. They were all across the eastern part of the country now, as far as eight and a half hours apart from each other, and it's just a really sad ending.
Speaker 2:And you think it's easy to think like? You're so selfish. Your choices not only hurt your children and separated your children, but they're hurting our family too, because they couldn't be with you and now they can't be with us and now they're spread apart. But that is just the wrong, like what Cory was saying. It's just not the. It's so hard. You have to love that parent unconditionally as well, because they deserve it, and of course you need to have boundaries and all of that. But in this instance, you know this mom, she's actually pregnant again with a fourth dad, a fifth baby, and it's really just so If four, six.
Speaker 2:Yeah, could be twins, but because we've maintained that relationship with her, we potentially will get this baby. And you know, it's just, it's important. It's important to parent and not villainize them, because they're human too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and one more thing that I get to a lot is it's in these updates and when people ask me and is it's more of a comment, and when I talk about how the like for the last case the two kiddos went to family members in different places and they'll say, oh, I could never do that, I could never give the kids back or give the kiddos to somebody else, not knowing what- If they'll be safe, if they'll be safe, all those things, and I honestly said that too.
Speaker 1:I said that beforehand. I was like I don't think I can do this, because I love kids. I've always loved, I've always had a heart for kids and I didn't think that I could do that either. And we chose to do it anyways, because I knew it was what God wanted us to do. And now we've had to do it. And now my answer to those people was yes, you can, and it's hard, but-.
Speaker 2:It's just as horrible as you'd expect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just as bad as you would expect. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like it's awful, yeah, but in that yes, the lesson that we had to learn is to that we have to completely surrender to God. We have to completely. We have no control and Beth and I are both control freaks and I had to. I have zero. I don't have any control over where this child goes. They're with what's gonna happen when they're there. I have zero control of that. But I have to trust and I have to believe that if God, if you called us to this and we were obedient in that we did exactly what you wanted us to do and we've loved on these children that you will protect them, you will watch over them and you will guide them. And I may not like what's happening right now, but it is your will that this thing is happening and I know that you've got them. You've got them covered.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, as you're talking right now, I'm thinking about these parents that are having to separate from their kids for a little while. Every one of those parents has a story. There's something there, and I feel like it would be easy to just kind of lump them into this category of you know, whatever you wanna label that. But then if you look back at Jesus in the gospel, he like steps right in the middle of all of the stories and the mess and whatever it looked like. So, really, foster care is part of the gospel, because you play a role in their story, and so what a gift. It's a hard one, no doubt. It sounds like it's difficult, but, man, a gift that you guys are giving to them and a gift that's being given to you guys in being able to pour into these other children and just know that you've played a role, whatever that is.
Speaker 1:Sometimes God has to keep teaching me this lesson. So I'm almost saying this to myself. But and he's done it in the past with different parts of our journey so far but I'm kind of living in a place where it's like I will go wherever he wants me to go, I'll do whatever he wants me to do, and I think there's a piece that comes with that. So it's like, do we make plans? Yet I mean, you have to be able to make plans a year down the road, five years down the road, all those things, but you also have to be flexible for those things to change. So I would say that we will do this as long as we feel God calling us to do it and we'll stop when he wants us to stop.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree with that. I have no idea. I tell my friends this all the time. I mean, I quit all the time, but you just it's hard to quit for the day. You get to sleep just like. Who was it? God fed Elijah? Who did we just talk about?
Speaker 1:Oh no, when he was in the desert and he was running.
Speaker 2:Then you know, god feeds you and urges you, and then you're good.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, all I know is that, through this whole journey of you know, figuring out what is purpose and what am I supposed to do with my life, and what is that one big thing? It's not one big thing, it's just all acts of obedience. And I just know that at the end of my life I want to get to heaven and I want to hear well done, my good and faithful servant. And I don't want to hear turn away from me, for I never knew you. That is, we cannot. I am a people pleaser and I spent too much of my life chasing after man's approval and I just don't want to do that anymore. So right now, we're parents, obviously we're called to take care and nurture our family. We need to nurture our marriage and we're called into foster care, and so we'll do that for as long as we feel that God is calling us. And who knows what's next for us In 10 years? It could be wearing crocs. It could be crocs. Here come the crocs.
Speaker 3:I'm wearing crocs. What are some things that you? If there's people listening that are contemplating this maybe they've been tossing this around. Or maybe, if it's not even foster care, if it's some other thing that to them feels just huge and overwhelming, and they're contemplating that, what would you speak over them? Right now?
Speaker 1:You want to go first Sure I would say, no matter what it is, if you feel that God is leading you there, if you need some extra certainty because I'm definitely one that often, on big things, needs extra certainty get in the word one, pray about it and seek good Christian counsel. And if you're getting for me anything like that, I've gotten hit from every angle. It's like, okay, God, I get it. And then you just got to take the leap. It's going to be scary, it's going to be hard, but this life wasn't meant to be comfortable. This life wasn't meant to be cushy and set on cruise control, God said. Jesus said that in this life we will have troubles, but take heart, for I've overcome the world. I think I just snapped my chair. Speak of troubles. I hope you get it backwards.
Speaker 2:That would be really funny.
Speaker 1:I think you just have to take the leap and trust that God is going to carry you through, and I can tell you from my own experience every time that I've done that, it's worked out and it's been the thing I've. I learned so much or I grew so much or I got so much out of that thing, no matter, it was even and it was every time. It was hard, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean everything that you said, corey, I agree with in regard to figuring out where God is calling. You Read the word, surround yourself with good people, pray about it more than you're talking about it, all of those things. But in regard specifically to the world of foster care and children, we are not all called to be foster parents. So if you do not have that calling, there is no shame or guilt around it. So maybe we're all foster parents. I mean that'd be great because, in the grand scheme of things, there would be plenty of homes. But the thing, the reality, is that foster parents need people who aren't foster parents to pull them up, because it is hard, it is exhausting, it is 24 seven. You don't do it for the money, or sure. So we need support and we need people surrounding us. So maybe you don't feel called to be a foster parent, but we need to have some support and also have some people in our community who are, who are not foster parents. And then we do take our children to the playground, check and, do you know, give them a weekend break and watch the kiddos for them, or deliver a meal or take a coffee or send a text message or pray for them.
Speaker 2:Our Hope Bridge is an organization that Cori and I are both part of and we just did a video. It's specifically for our county because it is really powerful and it's very real. The very first clip in the video they talk about a child that there were 19 calls and that was the case that we just took. We were the 20th home that they called. Oh man, there's no families in the little. He was sitting in the office like he had nowhere to go. He was sitting in the county office. So, in regard to that, just a call to the church like if you're feeling like I don't know what to do with my life and I am lacking purpose, yeah, pray about it, seek people, but also, as the church, we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus and there are hundreds of different ways to do that.
Speaker 1:So, you know, find a way to do it, find a way to get involved and yeah, I'm just going to add one other thing and I get my natural tendency is to be a little bit direct and I get kind of fired up about stuff. So if I just feel like I'm going to go in that direction, so if I do don't get offended, the reason that I'm like that is, honestly, that's how I like to receive things. Like, sometimes I need somebody to like almost scream at me for me to get, for it to get through.
Speaker 2:But that's why I married me.
Speaker 1:But I truly feel and this was me too I feel that our church in this country, that we, this is. I think this is the greatest country on earth and that we're blessed to be in. But because it's we have things so good here. I think that our church in general, the Christian church, has become so complacent and soft and we really need to step up, like we were the reason that we started the American Revolution. We were the Christians, were the reason that slavery was ended. We used to take care of our communities, our neighborhoods, our kids. And this world is going to get more difficult and more challenging until Jesus comes, and I think that's part of the reason why we see such a rise in statistics and we see, you know, depressions up, anxieties up, people are using the medications, health issues, obesity, all of these things are up and things are getting worse and our church is just standing by and watching it happen, and that's not our job. We're supposed to be the salt of the earth and preserve you know the goodness.
Speaker 1:And when it pertains to kids in foster care, practically and tangibly, in our county we have 527 kids, something 517 kids, something like that over 500 kids in the foster care system in our county and I promise you your county is probably similar, no matter where you are, if you're listening out of those with those 500 kids. There's 120 families in our county that are licensed foster care and we have parents, and so what's happening is a lot of these kids are getting shipped to others, the complete opposite side of the state. You know, three, three plus hours away. Some are going into group homes because there's nowhere for them to go.
Speaker 1:And when you think about it, in our county I think we have like 100,000 people and there's also 115 churches in our county. We had what would that be like? Four families more in each church. Step forward the crisis in our county, for when it comes to foster care, it's done for families, her church and how many? I mean how many? What's the average church membership? I don't know, but what is 200, 300, 400? I mean, some of these churches got multiple services with 300, 400 people in each service.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, like we could the church, we could end this. This is a tangible thing that we can end. We're not asking to end poverty or any of these like bigger giant, like they seem like intangible tasks. This is something tangible, practical, that could quickly be solved. If people that were on the fence and now you've heard about it, if you're listening, so you can't unhear it you know. If God's calling you to do foster care, take the leap, step up and do it. If he's not, there's other ways that you can support, like Beth mentioned, but I just think that we've gotten too complacent and too soft and it's time for us to step up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's such a good point. It's kind of a command for us to do the things like love. Love involves action and moving and giving and sacrificing and just being our default instead of something that we have to think about making ourselves do so. Corey Beth, thanks so much for shining the light on such an important and necessary topic. We really need to talk about these kinds of things that are impacting our communities, because the church is the hope of the community, right? We? That's what we're there to do. So thank you guys so much for coming on here and sharing your hearts with us today. I always love getting to chat with you.
Speaker 2:Yes, you as well. So good to see you and talk to you and thank you for having us.
Speaker 1:Thanks for choosing to talk with us and letting us talk to your community. We appreciate it.