The Forgotten Podcast

Trent Taylor’s earliest memories are filled with abuse and extreme neglect. These circumstances led to entering foster care at the age of four where he would remain until he was nine years old. After he was adopted, it was a long and painful process to establish trust and work through the trauma he had experienced, but he found that there was hope. In this episode, Trent shares some of the common misconceptions people have about foster children, how to support a child working through trauma, the reality that healing requires pain, and a look back on his own story and how God is using his life in some incredible ways.

This episode honestly hit me hard. I was an emotional wreck by the end! If you’ve ever wondered how foster care would affect your biological children, if you are feeling the weight of it all right now, or if you grew up in a family that did foster care, this episode is for you. James Drayer was just four years old when his parents became houseparents at Gateway Woods, a ministry that offers Christ-centered social services in northeast Indiana, including Residential Childcare, On-Grounds Schooling, Foster Care, Gateway Farms, Adoption, and the LARC Program. In this heartfelt conversation, James shares with us what it was like to grow up helping kids with trauma, the impact that experience has had on him throughout his life, and how God transformed his heart to follow in his parents footsteps. I’m praying you will feel seen, and refreshed, as you listen!

Today I have a special conversation that I’m excited to share with you. Most often, we view the world of foster care through the lens of foster parents, former foster youth, or those that support foster families and children. But today we get to hear Brenna Hunter’s story, a parent that had her kids removed and walked the path back to reunification. Brenna graciously shares her journey of growing up in a Christian, homeschool family, struggling with insecurities and an unhealthy relationship with food, the circumstances that led to her two children entering foster care, placing her dependency on Jesus, and the journey that ultimately led to reunification. Her story is powerful and I really appreciated Brenna joining me for this conversation. This episode holds some important reminders to both foster parents and biological parents alike. No matter your role, there is hope and you are not alone!

Friends, I have such a fun episode to share with you today! Isn’t it crazy how God can redirect our passions to make a difference in ways we never dreamed possible? This is Leah Johnson’s story. Leah lives in North Carolina and has been a TFI Advocate in Mitchell and Yancey Counties for over a year now and she is sharing how God has used her passion to lead her on a journey to ultimately partner with us at TFI. In this episode, she shares her story, the incredible God stories of being able to provide for various needs in her community, what her relationship has been like with local agencies, becoming God-conscious instead of self-conscious, and more. Hoping this conversation is an encouragement to you today! You can sign up now to make a difference in your community: tfiadvocate.org

From the age of 15, Javian Shipley felt the desire to foster. It’s a calling she has passionately carried with her into her marriage and is living out today. But her journey has not been easy. In addition to the challenges of being a foster parent, she has also walked through infertility. In this episode, Javian shares what she has learned through the grief and pain of her own story, how she and her husband found unity in their decision to foster, why we need to be intentional about our perspective towards biological parents, the value of anchor Scriptures, and how God has continued to show up again and again and again.

My guests today know what it feels like to say “no.” AJ and Katrina Nowaczyk have fostered nine children, so far. And while they didn’t set out to only foster, they have learned a lot whenever the opportunity to adopt one of their foster kids came up. In many cases, circumstances pointed to needing to say “no.” If you’ve ever felt the internal struggle between yes and no, I hope this episode is a support for you and a reminder that there’s simply no perfect formula for making hard decisions.

It’s not uncommon for us to talk about the unique balance of brokenness and beauty in foster care. In this episode, I am joined by someone who has experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly of the foster care system. Darren Morris is a father and husband, a store manager of a Starbucks, small business owner, and founder of a soon-to-be nonprofit, A Foster’s Hope. He entered the foster care system at the age of four and was eventually adopted eight years later into a family that now has 17 kids. (You read that right! 17!) In this honest conversation, Darren shares the impact of being a young kid bouncing around in the system, how his foster care experience has shaped who he is today, the value of mentors in his life, the redemption he’s seen in his story, and how he’s navigated trauma and overwhelming emotions.

Britanie Ramirez and her family have said “yes” to opening their home 26 times. Like all of us, Britanie started out with some preconceived ideas about the goal of fostering but, through her journey, God has taught her about the meaningful and challenging realities of stepping into a family’s brokenness. In this conversation, she shares about seeing collateral beauty in brokenness, recognizing what we’re actually rooting for as foster parents, why it’s 100% worth it to step into foster care, and reminders to celebrate the small wins. I know you’ll be encouraged by this one!

What impact does a safe adult have in a child’s life? It’s nearly impossible to measure. In this episode, we have the incredible privilege to welcome Jaymi Lynn, who has experience across the gamut of foster care. Jaymi is not only a social worker today, but also a foster and adoptive parent (she took her first placement at 19!), and was in the foster care system herself. She was removed from her home at the age of 13 and considers herself to be one of the “lucky” ones as she truly felt heard and supported in a unique way by her caseworker. I know you’ll be inspired by her story and supported by the wisdom she has to share!  

Does your child ever just get on your last nerve? Have you had a meltdown of your own after a really hard day? Does it feel like your parenting techniques that have worked with other kids in your care just aren't working anymore? As parents, we’ve all experienced this more times than we would care to count. When our kids have significant trauma in their past, and we have our own triggers from our past, it can make for a really challenging journey.   Ryan and Kayla North know firsthand what that is like! They have 10 years under their belt as foster parents and today they develop training and programs on childhood trauma. Join me as Ryan and Kayla share perspective shifts we need when raising kids with traumatic backgrounds, how our own childhood trauma may be impacting our relationship with our kids, practical ways to parent with connection as the primary goal, why we can’t care for our children if we’re not caring for ourselves, and so much more. This was such a rich episode, and I look forward to hearing what stands out most to you!