Fostering Voices Podcast

This episode is a quick interview with your host, Chris Watson! Get to know Chris and what drives him to be a WINNER at all times. We hope you enjoy getting to know Chris a little better! Next week will be Chris interviewing Jihae. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 3:01 – Thank you, SHOWIT!! 4:27 – Story From This Week 5:12 – Showit EDM and Plank Challenge 10:07 – What Makes Chris a Winner? 12:00 – What is a Hard Thing That You Overcame During Childhood? 15:22 – What's One Thing People Do Not Know About Chris? 17:44 – Good Word of the Day!!! Links: Spark – A conference for Showit creatives  Chevy's Fresh Mex Restaurant  Good Word of the Day!!! Romans 12:2 NIV 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosterin

In this episode we share some highs and lows of the last month. Highs include seeing our big kids become amazing big kids. Not without faults and failures, but as young people who are trying to figure out what it looks like to be a loyal, kind person who has integrity. Church camps and cousins are also very high on the list. And in the lows category, Chris' dad had a stroke, Chris and Jihae have been feeling disconnected, and a meet up with a bio family got cancelled at the last minute and basically the wheels fell off for a minute. But we are all trying to weather these storms together, with grace, open communication, and community. So we encourage you to do the same! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 1:14 – Thank you, SHOWIT!! 2:19 – Chris's Highs of the Week 9:20 – Jihae's Highs of the Week 11:52 – Chris's Lows of the Week 21:36 – Jihae's Lows of the Week 27:36 – Good Word of the Day!!! Good Word of the Day!!! Persevering James 1:2-4 NIV 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of man

This episode features an incredible interview with Ben Malcolmson, author of Walk On: From Pee Wee Dropout to NFL Sidelines: My Unlikely Story of Football, Purpose, and Following an Amazing God. Ben has seen some major lows in his life, starting with having an alcoholic mom, and being thrust into college life a year early. But God was with him every step of the way, and brought him through so many dark days, to so many glorious days. You will learn so much from this former USC football player, and Pete Carrol's right hand man of 10 plus years on the Seattle Seahawks. If you have ever questioned your purpose in life, you will want to listen to this episode! Chapters:   0:00 - Intro   1:13 – Welcome Ben!   2:45 – Ben's Journey   7:22 – Talking About Faith   12:10 – The Intersection of Journalism and Football   28:53 – The Bible Story – From the Book   44:39 – Good Word of the Day!!!   Links:   Ben Malcomson   Walk On: From Pee Wee Dropout to NFL Sidelines: My Unlikely Story of Football, Purpose, and Following

This week we have a less than 5 minute episode! In light of the horrifying events of this last week, we just want to encourage you to talk to your kids about it. Cause they have heard about it. But they should hear about it from you and be able to talk about it with you. Cry together, pray together, and be prepared together. We don’t need to live lives of fear as parents, so let’s definitely make sure we are helping our kids to do the same. Chapters:   0:00 - Talk to Your Kids   2:06 – Good Word of the Day!!!   Good Word of the Day!!!   Proverbs 1:33 NIV 33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Thank you to our sponsor Showit!! Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!! Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please 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 communi

This episode is for parents of teens and teens! We would LOVE for teenagers to listen to this episode, but it wasn't until midway through the recording that Jihae realized she was using her condescending 'mom voice', for which she is VERY SORRY. She tries to reserve that for exclusive use to the Watson children, so we are sorry you have to hear it during this episode. But, it's a serious one, and we have seen Tik Tok trends go the complete wrong way, and we want you to make better choices for yourself and those around you! We hope you learn something new and useful from this episode! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  3:02 - The Power of the Phone/Don't Follow the Trends 21:22 – Good Word of the Day!!! 24:44 – Reading Reviews Time! Links: "Complacency Kills" Proverbs 1:32  32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; Episode 141: Finding Health in Habits and Relationships with Bekah Tinter Episode 116: Protecting Your Family From Tech with Some Tech Good Word of

This episode features and interview with Health and Lifestyle Coach, Bekah Tinter. She shares some truly simple tips and habits you can implement to enjoy a healthier, and more enjoyable lifestyle. Chapters:   0:00 - Intro    3:56 - Honest Stories in Adoption   10:27 – Health Tips from Bekah   20:32 – Good Word of the Day!!!   Links:   Bek and Kev   Uncommon Freedom with Kevin Tinter   Good Word of the Day!!! Release – releasing what we can't control and allow God to be God in our lives.   Isaiah 40:29-30 New International Version 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;   Thank you to our sponsor Showit   Listen to Us on Spotify (and leave a review please)!!   Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram   You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com   We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE   AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices fro

Grant Botma, author, business owner, and super family man! He gives us some great tips on having more harmony in our lives. Chapters: 0:00 – Intro  1:19 – Welcome, Grant! 5:56 – Talking About a Unicorn 7:25 – Work-Life Harmony 13:09 – Tips on Harmonizing Your Life 25:55 – One More Thing to Do to Work Towards Harmony 31:40 – Good Word Of The Day!!! 32:48 – Focusing on Health Links: Grant Botma Work-Life Harmony – Grant Botma The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership – Tim Elmore  Episode 136 with Jodie Botma Family Plan Calendar Good Word of the Day!!! Mark 10:45 NIV 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please 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! If you want to see how to leav

In this episode we talk about ‘Everyone Communicates, Few Connect’, a great book by John C. Maxwell. And we just want to encourage everyone (including ourselves) to always strive to connect with your loved ones, and those around you! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  3:41 - "Everyone Communicates, Few Connect" 18:57 – Good Word Of The Day!!! 20:02 – Thank you to our sponsor, Showit!! Links: Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently – John C. Maxwell UHF – 1989 The Truman Show Good Word of the Day!!! "When you make a commitment you create hope and when you keep a commitment you create trust." – John C. Maxwell Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE! AND please 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! If you want to see how to leave a review, check out this handy littl

This week’s episode is with the incredible Bethany Lauren. She loves the Bible and she wants you to learn how to read it, understand it, and love it as well! We hope this interview will encourage you to be more spiritually healthy.

This episode talks about a bit of a funk that Chris had been in recently, and he realized it was stemming from his need to control things, which also caused him to feel less empathetic towards others. Might you be in the same boat? Check out this episode! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  2:14 - What We Are Reading 3:20 – That Thing Where You DM Us 9:12 – Being in a Bit of a Funk 22:00 – Getting Out of the Funk 24:00 – Good Word Of The Day!!! Books: The Gospel Comes With a House Key – Rosario Champagne Butterfield The Context Marketing Revolution – Matthew Sweezey Permission Marketing – Seth Godin Good Word of the Day!!! Hebrews 4:16  NIV 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Next week's guest Bethany Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us!  hello@fosteringvoices.com We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE  AND please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! This helps others to find our p

This episode features my sweet friend, Jodie Botma, who on the outside may look like she has a pretty darn good life! And she does! But she has also just come out of such a dark and hard season, and she shares with us how she survived the longest and darkest year of her life. And she has gone through many hard things in her life already, so that is actually saying a lot! Even though we may not have the tools to help you get out of your winter season, we believe this episode can help you through it! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  7:05 - Different Seasons of Life 11:31 – Winter as a Season of Life 21:28 – Word of Advice 26:33 – Jodie's Turning Point 33:16 – A Word of Encouragement 34:17 - Good Word Of The Day!!! Links: Oil Pulling Description at National Library of Medicine: Megan Fate Marshman Sermon talking about seasons and Jesus as our Wonderful Counselor. The Problem Isn't Their Paycheck – Grant Botma Work-Life Harmony – Grant Botma: 2 Timothy 4:17:  17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that

The amazing Robert T Watson went to be with the Lord on February 15th, and what an amazing grandfather he was to Chris, and I, and all of our many children and cousins! This episode is in memory of this phenomenal man of God, who chose to live his life with great intentionality and love and prayer. We would truly not be who we are without him. We hope you enjoy this episode, and that it inspires you to love each other well, and to stay sharp, and hug your grandparents while you still can! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  1:32 - High and Low from Last Few Weeks 25:14 - Good Word Of The Day!!! Links: Grandpa's Obituary Fostering Voices – Episode 43 – Wes Watson Good Word of the Day!!! A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children,     but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. Proverbs 13:22 Connect with us! Fostering Voices on Instagram We would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE  AND please leave us a review on iTunes! This helps others to find our podcast so we can share these voices from t

This week we are so pleased to have Dr. Dayna Harris - a Child Psychologist, with us on the podcast! She has an Educational Specialist Degree and a Doctor of Education Degree, and she truly loves to work with kids. In fact we met because she was the Child Psychologist at our kids' school! And her son is one of my son's best friends! Dr. Harris shares with us how to help our kids to think about what they are thinking about, and encourages us as parents to do the same! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  2:39 - Dr. Dayna's Background 4:19 - Good Word Of The Day!!! 6:21 - Functioning in Dysfunction 13:38 - Tailoring the Conversation to the Age of the Child 19:57 – Thinking About What You Are Thinking About 23:55 – Things Parents Should Strive to Modify 37:30 - Keeping Oneself Healthy Good Word of the Day: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,     before you were born I set you apart;     I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” - Jeremiah 1:5 If you would like to connect: Fostering Voices on Instagram You can al

Marriage is something we love to talk about, because it truly does help foster kids, and adoptive kids, and your bio kids to feel like they are in a safe and healthy home. The things that make marriages awesome are great communication and even great community! We are happy to have been able to host a Marriage Shower for Cate and Josh this week, and that’s what prompted this episode. We start with why we have showers and gatherings, then we get into the advice that was shared at the shower. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  1:13 - Today's Topic – Marriage 10:42 - Bits of Wisdom Shared at Wedding Shower 18:40 - Our Sponsor – Showit! 19:00 - More Marriage Wisdom 28:48 - Good Word Of The Day!!!   Marriage: Marriage is something we love to talk about, because it truly does help foster kids, and adoptive kids, and your bio kids to feel like they are in a safe and healthy home. The things that make marriages awesome are great communication and even great community! We are happy to have been able to host a Marriage Shower for

This is a great episode featuring an interview with our sweet friend, Dee Lavigne, of Queen Dee Fitness, and The Lavigne life on YouTube and beyond. She shares some simple tips for us all to stay fit and healthy! Give her a follow on social media and YouTube to be entertained, and inspired! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  5:15 - Welcome To The Pod, Dee!! 10:11 - How Long Have The LaVignes Been YouTubers? 11:04 - Let's Talk Some Fitness 21:18 - Accountability and Community 25:50 - Good Word Of The Day!!! Links: Dee LaVigne and family on These Four Walls YouTube Queen Dee Fitness Even more LaVigne-ness!! The LaVignes on Tik Tok Good Word of the Day!!!: Balance! Our Sponsor: Showit Create an incredible website for your creative small business! Connect with us!   Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! Follow us on YouTube! 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 communi

Starting off the new year with goal setting is our favorite way to start the year! This helps us to set up ourselves, and our kids, to accomplish things! Accountability is a big piece of the goal setting puzzle, especially because it helps us to remind the kids of the work they need to put in to make sure they accomplish their goals too. We also use the goal setting time to pause and reflect on the great, and hard things, from the year before. We are able to give thanks to God for answering specific prayers, which is always a great thing! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 2:03 - Watsy's 2022 Goals For The Year 8:42 - Here Is Where We *Actually* Talk 2022 Goals!! 18:06 - Good Word Of The Day!!! Show Notes: Dave Ramsey Goal Sheet  Bek and Kev goal setting with kids Financial Goals Give a higher percent every year And stick to personal allowance Spiritual Read paper Bible - the beautiful book Jihae talked about is this one  Chris is going to refocus on men’s group - learn more about the one he goes to here. Prioritize acco

Here are our top 5 books from 2021 with honorable mentions of the other 40+ books we read this year. We love to read as a way to grow our minds to different ideas and perspectives and we hope you enjoy these books as much as we do!  Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  2:46 - Intro to High and Low from 2021 6:47 - Actual(!) High and Low from 2021 11:44 - The Books of 2021 13:28 - Quick Thank You to Our Sponsors 14:06 - The Books of 2021 cont. 31:09 - Good Word Of The Day!!! 33:21 - Continued Focus on Health Gigantic 2021 Book Review Jihae Books 1 The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray 2 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 3 Daring Greatly by Brene Brown 4 No Greater Love by AW Tozer 5 The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World John Mark Comer 6 Business Made Simple: 60 Days to Master Leadership, Sales, Marketing, Execution, Management, Personal Productivity and More Don Miller 7 The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewro

Becky Goodson, Nurse Practitioner extraordinaire shares with us the 3 things that she tells almost every single one of her patients to be healthy and to operate at their best. Listen in to see how you are faring with these 3 simple things you can be doing every single day! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  0:56 - It's 'Gee-Hey!!' 1:14 - Health and Wellness 2:39 - Three Health Recommendations – Vitamin D,  8:57 - Gut Health 13:54 - Omega 3s 18:49 - Talking About Weight 25:24 - Ways To Improve Your Health 29:58 - Good Word Of The Day!!!  Links: Activated Health and Wellness is the Practice, owned by the amazing Dr. Rodarte, where you can find Becky! 100 Days challenge was by Michelle Poler on Fearing Less & Doing More Get in touch with Becky We didn't find any fish with the skin on recipes in time for publication this week. Apologies! If you would like to connect: Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! Follow us on YouTube! AND we would LOVE it if you would SUBSCRIBE and leave us a review on iTunes! Thi

We know misery loves company - so join us as we talk about some of the challenges we have been facing in the parenting front lately. Let us commiserate together, but also encourage one another - cause we are all in this together! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  2:16 - Talking About The B-Word....Balance 6:09 - The Current Season of Life 10:38 - The One Device-Related Rule 26:09 - Reasons For Serving 31:39 - Good Word Of The Day!!!  Links: Sun Valley Community Church on YouTube Feeding The Mouth That Bites You The Good Word Of The Day   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 Elf (2003) Let’s Connect! Fostering Voices on Instagram You can also email us! 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! If you want to see how to leave a review, check

Cindy Branton is a teacher, mom, wife, church worker, Jesus lover, friend, sister, daughter, bunny-owner, sugar inhaler, and now Author. She shares her new book 'Words to Jesus: Children's Litanies to Pray as a Family' with us in this episode. This is an incredible resource to have to help you and your family to draw nearer to God's truths and goodness, in a way that is simple enough for your kids! This would make an amazing gift as the holiday season is upon us! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro  3:13 - Welcome Cindy!! 9:01 - Cindy's Book – Words To Jesus 12:41 - More About The Book 17:27 - Good Word Of The Day!! 20:14 - Focusing On Health   Links: The Book! https://smile.amazon.com/Words-Jesus-Childrens-Litanies-Family/dp/B09B4VWGBS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=35XP2W3PYV52W&keywords=words+to+jesus+cindy+branton&qid=1638555259&sprefix=words+to+Jes%2Caps%2C196&sr=8-1 Young Adults Group at Sun Valley https://www.sunvalleycc.com/young-adults?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnaeNBhCUARIsABEee8WUiFpWDMp6i2SHtPI7IbLHwrhbpZqI1VfsyBXP28eg9