We are adoptive parents. Before the applications, before the home study, the questions you have to ask yourself are more difficult than any school exam. The *answers* to some of those questions reveal things you’d just as soon not know about yourself, let alone having your spouse and various state and private institutions know. But not asking and answering those questions openly and honestly could have dire consequences not just for you or your marriage, but for the very person you set out to help. I can believe that it took a year after two months of classes, Ronda, before you were ready, willing, and able to finally say yes. Imagine the pain it would cause to say no, just in your own head, to a kid born with AIDS, or a blind child, or a person born with no limbs. All of those children need homes, but my home, or yours, might not be the right home. Bless these people, their programs, and the kids they foster. Bless you, Mike, for all that you do. And bless all those touched and moved to action because of these shows.
Loving this episode. This summer, in July 2024, I spoke to my husband about fostering and adopting. We had done a kinship foster last year for 10.5 months for a woman I had been trying to help get sober. We already had 3 kids when we fostered last year, and our youngest was 8.5-9 years old at the time. My husband, like Ronda’s also had had “the procedure” about a week BEFORE we even knew I was pregnant with our 3rd baby, back in 2013. So when we fostered a baby in 2023 it was like starting over. We brought our foster son home only thinking we were going to watch him for the weekend so his mom could get sober and have a break. We went out and bought everything we needed for caring for a baby that weekend since we had nothing and she didn’t give us anything when she asked us to take him. That few days turned into a week, and then someone called CPS on her and they stepped in and began an investigation. CPS kept him with us while requiring his mom to get sober and go through programs to get custody back. When he went back to his mom, after we had had him for 10.5 months, it felt bittersweet. We were so happy she was sober, but it felt like we lost a child. After several months I felt God calling us to open our home again to foster or adopt. So in July of this year, I spoke to my husband and he said he would be ok with adopting but didn’t know about fostering because he would not want to lose another child. Our kids, who are currently 16, 14, and 10, all said similar things, ok with adoption but didn’t want to possibly lose another sibling. I started contacting Christian adoption agencies within a few days of talking to them. August 5th we formally applied to a small local to us adoption agency, and 10 days later, on August 15th, we got a call that they had a baby for our family. We had the weekend to purchase everything and we brought our youngest son home on August 19, just one day before he turned 4 weeks old. The adoption agency we went through is connected to a Christian ministry called Breath of Life Maternity Ministries, in Austin, Texas. They help pregnant women and new mothers in need of support and resources. Often the women they help are older and coming from backgrounds of abuse or substance use. They will even house pregnant women during their pregnancies, and after their pregnancies they have an after care program that will allow the mothers to stay with their babies for 1-2 years after they deliver. They offer help with education, job opportunities, medical appointments, sobriety, clothing, discipleship and mentoring, transportation, etc. They will also help any mother who wants to choose adoption make an open adoption plan and help them go through that process. They even help the birth mothers and adoptive families stay in contact. We feel incredibly blessed to have found the ministry and to have brought not only our youngest son into our family, but we are so glad we can consider his birth mother an extended family member too. The ministry struggles to keep their doors open due to the rising costs of everything, and not always having enough financial help through donors, or enough volunteers. I’ve been emailing churches, ministries, influencers, and other Christian organizations to try and help share about this ministry and what they are doing because I really believe in it and what they are trying to do. I think if they could share about what they do, how long they’ve been doing it, how they have helped so many women and babies and families, with more people or a larger audience they could get the help they need to stay open. The founder of the ministry started everything because she herself became pregnant and didn’t have the support or means to take care of a baby by herself and she wanted her daughter to have a family. After placing her daughter for adoption and going on to complete her education and getting married, she knew there was a need for a ministry like Breath of Life. Her and her husband also adopted their first child because a young couple came to them and asked them to adopt their baby. So she saw God working in her life and how he brought everything together. I could say so much more, but I know I wrote way too much for just a youtube comment. Mike if you see this, please consider having Jeannine Floores from Breath of Life Maternity Ministries in Austin, Texas on your show. She’s got so much she could share, and she’s such a hard worker who loves to serve others.
My daughter and her husband fostered and adopted a sibling set of four children, five and under, at the time. When they first told us, the wife and I thought they were getting over their heads. But we prayed that God would have His will. Our other grandchildren call my wife Bella (short for Abuela), and her birthday is September 21st. We discovered that the oldest of the girls was named Bella, and her birthday was September 21st. When they first came to us, the daughter and son-in-law strapped them all into their car seats in 30 minutes. For the first month or so, they walked around with the thousand-mile stare. It has been a challenge at times, but it has been an incredible blessing. And I have discovered your heart will produce all the love needed if you let it.
Did foster care for 37 yrs and at least 25 yrs with special needs. Still a guardian to one of my special needs kiddos. It’s a hard life but full of blessings.
Lethal Weapon takes place at Christmas, is that considered a Christmas movie as well? And....... Die Hard is a Christmas Movie Plays regularly in theaters at Christmas
Have to say this is the most wrong statement ever uttered statement that Die hard and a wonderful life are not Christmas movies 🤕🤕🤕😳😳😳 Merry Christmas🙏💟💟💟🙏🙏🙏🙏
Yeah, I've been subscribed to the channel for a few months. I normally skip over most outro's in 5- or 10-second increments, but I have never skipped this one, just because it makes me laugh so much.
Um, aren't you the guy that tells the rest of the story? 15:32 is not the rest of the story. Please tell me there's another episode dropping somewhere.
Dan, some of your vids are more visual based. Personally I’m a little less interested in those and have to sit down and watch them. Most of my time is available for audio based news and informational podcast style listening. You keep your content interesting in that I never know what we are going to get. Christy, wow you’re very well spoken! Thank you for serving our communities.
What’s Rhonda’s new number. I bet Rhonda is a people magnet, one of those personalities who takes over a room not because she’s over baring but because her of positivity and energy.
I know how she feels trying to read the Bible to your man 😂😂 He's coming along...sort of 😅 She's fabulous. Great sense of humor.. I'll bet her husband is an interesting person.
The problem im having is that these shorter videos are coming out but I'd rather watch the full conversation... It's not intuitive/easy to find the full episode from youtube, partially because of titling... Episode number in the title perhaps? ### -
We are adoptive parents. Before the applications, before the home study, the questions you have to ask yourself are more difficult than any school exam. The *answers* to some of those questions reveal things you’d just as soon not know about yourself, let alone having your spouse and various state and private institutions know. But not asking and answering those questions openly and honestly could have dire consequences not just for you or your marriage, but for the very person you set out to help.
I can believe that it took a year after two months of classes, Ronda, before you were ready, willing, and able to finally say yes. Imagine the pain it would cause to say no, just in your own head, to a kid born with AIDS, or a blind child, or a person born with no limbs. All of those children need homes, but my home, or yours, might not be the right home.
Bless these people, their programs, and the kids they foster. Bless you, Mike, for all that you do. And bless all those touched and moved to action because of these shows.
Loving this episode. This summer, in July 2024, I spoke to my husband about fostering and adopting. We had done a kinship foster last year for 10.5 months for a woman I had been trying to help get sober. We already had 3 kids when we fostered last year, and our youngest was 8.5-9 years old at the time. My husband, like Ronda’s also had had “the procedure” about a week BEFORE we even knew I was pregnant with our 3rd baby, back in 2013. So when we fostered a baby in 2023 it was like starting over. We brought our foster son home only thinking we were going to watch him for the weekend so his mom could get sober and have a break. We went out and bought everything we needed for caring for a baby that weekend since we had nothing and she didn’t give us anything when she asked us to take him. That few days turned into a week, and then someone called CPS on her and they stepped in and began an investigation. CPS kept him with us while requiring his mom to get sober and go through programs to get custody back. When he went back to his mom, after we had had him for 10.5 months, it felt bittersweet. We were so happy she was sober, but it felt like we lost a child.
After several months I felt God calling us to open our home again to foster or adopt. So in July of this year, I spoke to my husband and he said he would be ok with adopting but didn’t know about fostering because he would not want to lose another child. Our kids, who are currently 16, 14, and 10, all said similar things, ok with adoption but didn’t want to possibly lose another sibling. I started contacting Christian adoption agencies within a few days of talking to them. August 5th we formally applied to a small local to us adoption agency, and 10 days later, on August 15th, we got a call that they had a baby for our family. We had the weekend to purchase everything and we brought our youngest son home on August 19, just one day before he turned 4 weeks old.
The adoption agency we went through is connected to a Christian ministry called Breath of Life Maternity Ministries, in Austin, Texas. They help pregnant women and new mothers in need of support and resources. Often the women they help are older and coming from backgrounds of abuse or substance use. They will even house pregnant women during their pregnancies, and after their pregnancies they have an after care program that will allow the mothers to stay with their babies for 1-2 years after they deliver. They offer help with education, job opportunities, medical appointments, sobriety, clothing, discipleship and mentoring, transportation, etc. They will also help any mother who wants to choose adoption make an open adoption plan and help them go through that process. They even help the birth mothers and adoptive families stay in contact. We feel incredibly blessed to have found the ministry and to have brought not only our youngest son into our family, but we are so glad we can consider his birth mother an extended family member too.
The ministry struggles to keep their doors open due to the rising costs of everything, and not always having enough financial help through donors, or enough volunteers. I’ve been emailing churches, ministries, influencers, and other Christian organizations to try and help share about this ministry and what they are doing because I really believe in it and what they are trying to do. I think if they could share about what they do, how long they’ve been doing it, how they have helped so many women and babies and families, with more people or a larger audience they could get the help they need to stay open.
The founder of the ministry started everything because she herself became pregnant and didn’t have the support or means to take care of a baby by herself and she wanted her daughter to have a family. After placing her daughter for adoption and going on to complete her education and getting married, she knew there was a need for a ministry like Breath of Life. Her and her husband also adopted their first child because a young couple came to them and asked them to adopt their baby. So she saw God working in her life and how he brought everything together. I could say so much more, but I know I wrote way too much for just a youtube comment.
Mike if you see this, please consider having Jeannine Floores from Breath of Life Maternity Ministries in Austin, Texas on your show. She’s got so much she could share, and she’s such a hard worker who loves to serve others.
My daughter and her husband fostered and adopted a sibling set of four children, five and under, at the time. When they first told us, the wife and I thought they were getting over their heads. But we prayed that God would have His will.
Our other grandchildren call my wife Bella (short for Abuela), and her birthday is September 21st. We discovered that the oldest of the girls was named Bella, and her birthday was September 21st.
When they first came to us, the daughter and son-in-law strapped them all into their car seats in 30 minutes. For the first month or so, they walked around with the thousand-mile stare.
It has been a challenge at times, but it has been an incredible blessing. And I have discovered your heart will produce all the love needed if you let it.
Did foster care for 37 yrs and at least 25 yrs with special needs. Still a guardian to one of my special needs kiddos. It’s a hard life but full of blessings.
Blessings to that family! ❤
Hey, this isn't the first time yall made me cry ❤
OMG--the hardest thing was the minivan!! I agree!! That is hard❤❤❤❤
An amazing family… bless you all.
Need a longer interview with Rhonda 😮
Great person!
Die Hard and It's a Wonderful Life aren't Christmas movies?? This changes our relationship.
Bruh … Die Hard has been part of my Christmas Movie rotation for over a decade.
Lethal Weapon takes place at Christmas, is that considered a Christmas movie as well? And....... Die Hard is a Christmas Movie
Plays regularly in theaters at Christmas
Have to say this is the most wrong statement ever uttered statement that Die hard and a wonderful life are not Christmas movies 🤕🤕🤕😳😳😳 Merry Christmas🙏💟💟💟🙏🙏🙏🙏
@jimmortimore3894 No because Lethal Weapon is communist propaganda.
DH…no
IAWL…yes
I have never seen or heard of this woman before. That is okay since then I have no preconceived thoughts. Mike is great.
She’s a hoot!
You were supposed to be a big deal...😂😂😂
Shasta?
3:30-4:07….yes. Love this.
Wow, I thought a simple "like" would suffice, till I heard that amazing 4-part harmony "subscribe" quartet.
Yeah, I've been subscribed to the channel for a few months. I normally skip over most outro's in 5- or 10-second increments, but I have never skipped this one, just because it makes me laugh so much.
In the movie Up the marriage is the adventure, she knew she was living the adventure, it took a long time for her husband to understand.
Um, aren't you the guy that tells the rest of the story? 15:32 is not the rest of the story. Please tell me there's another episode dropping somewhere.
"Simple, safe and predictable", isn't that what nearly all men want?
My husband and I are foster parents in MS. Similar beginning to our story. 2 Bio kids. Vasectomy. A decade later…5 deep 😂.
MIKE PLEASE! Seek out if you can redo the Jim Varney ( ERNEST) movies please 🙏🏻
We LOVE Jim Varney & his movies!
Dan, some of your vids are more visual based. Personally I’m a little less interested in those and have to sit down and watch them. Most of my time is available for audio based news and informational podcast style listening. You keep your content interesting in that I never know what we are going to get.
Christy, wow you’re very well spoken! Thank you for serving our communities.
Well, where's part 2?
Is there a full version of this anywhere? I prefer watching the podcasts over listening to them 😅
What’s Rhonda’s new number. I bet Rhonda is a people magnet, one of those personalities who takes over a room not because she’s over baring but because her of positivity and energy.
💥Yep.
She done blowed up
real good!💥
@:44
Where do I find Dirty Jobs to watch?
😎💪🏁
I know how she feels trying to read the Bible to your man 😂😂 He's coming along...sort of 😅 She's fabulous. Great sense of humor.. I'll bet her husband is an interesting person.
Thanks👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
🌟🐑👼👑🐪🐪🐪🎁📯🎀🔔🎄⛄🎆💕
Isaiah 1:17
Netflix or Hulu..
The problem im having is that these shorter videos are coming out but I'd rather watch the full conversation... It's not intuitive/easy to find the full episode from youtube, partially because of titling... Episode number in the title perhaps? ### -
and then just leave the titles for these shorter videos here like they are
Algorithm
I'm sorry but if you're not going to give us the full version every time I'm going to have to give you a thumbs down every time
The full episode is linked in the description of every one of these clips videos.
@TrixieJFerguson I don't see the link for this video just one for a podcast
Isaiah 1:17