Welcome to a VERY special episode of The Forgotten Podcast. We are going to be doing things a little bit differently because we just hit and surpassed a huge milestone. The Forgotten Podcast has reached the 1 million download mark! Can you believe this?!?
We have listeners in all 50 states and over 150 countries around the world. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to you for being a part of this amazing community. Thank you for sharing, listening, and supporting our work here.
It is a joy to walk with you and to share a big opportunity with you in this episode. A generous ministry partner has offered a matching grant for $20,000 to help us double our impact through the month of July. This means when you join our community of givers with a gift of any amount now through the end of July, your gift will be doubled!
Team 3:10, which is based on the Bible verse in Malachi 3:10, is our community of podcast listeners and other givers who share the dream of seeing God throw open the floodgates of Heaven so that every child, parent, and worker in foster care will know they are not alone.
In today’s episode, I am reminiscing about some of my personal favorite parts of the podcast, reviews we’ve received, what’s on the horizon, and more about this matching grant. Listen in and celebrate this milestone with us! 🎉
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/one-million-downloads/
Team 3:10: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/team310/
My guest today experienced a childhood filled with painful circumstances, parents who struggled with drug addiction, and the death of his father at the age of seven. You can imagine the amount of trauma and instability he experienced growing up.
Corey Johnston, in spite of the instability of his mother, always longed to feel like her son. God was gracious to invite Corey into a relationship with Him. And as an adult, he gave his life to Christ and started a church plant.
But even after that, he would encounter unmet hopes through a miscarriage that would eventually open the door to fostering and then later adopting his son. Corey shares with us why it feels so difficult when hopes are unmet, how to process grief, and many more nuggets of wisdom along the way.
I was blessed by Corey’s story as I have personally experienced unmet hopes through a failed adoption. If you’ve ever wondered, “God, how can you make this good?,” then you won’t want to miss this episode.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/corey-johnston-188/
Get 10% off BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/tfi
My guest today is proof that awareness leads to action, and that a passion for supporting the foster care community can span generations. Once you become aware of the needs, have seen them firsthand, or have seen your own family foster, it is hard not to answer the call to take on a supporting role within the foster care community.
Sarah Hamaker first saw foster care in action from her own parents. They started fostering when she was a teenager and had a total of more than 40 children in their home over 30 years. This is initially what inspired her to be a foster parent herself. In addition to being a second-generation foster parent, Sarah is a therapeutic foster parent, speaker, award-winning author, podcaster, biblical parenting coach, and certified Leadership Parenting Coach™. She is passionate about helping parents develop strong relationships with their children.
In this episode, Sarah is sharing about how your impact goes beyond the children that are in your home, what you should do if you feel a pull towards foster care, why crying when a child in foster care leaves your home can be a gift to them, and so much more.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/sarah-hamaker-187/
Get 10% off BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/tfi
Today’s guest defines trauma as something that impacts your ability to cope in everyday life. Trauma can also affect multiple generations and start a cycle that is difficult to escape.
Cordelia Cranshaw Skeete has experienced this cycle of generational trauma. As a former foster youth, she experienced the deep trauma of multiple transitions, the loss of connection to biological family, and other traumatic events. But through all the struggles she experienced, she was able to find beauty too.
Cordelia is a former foster youth, foster system advocate, coach, author, speaker, former Miss District of Columbia USA 2019, founder of Acts of Random Kindness (a nonprofit that provides resources to children and families facing life challenges), and Licensed Graduate Social Worker. Her greatest passion is to bring healing to children and families who have experienced trauma.
This was such a special conversation. I hope you are as encouraged as I was by Cordelia’s willingness to share her story and her powerful perspective on generational trauma. She is a cycle-breaker!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/cordelia-cranshaw-186/
Get 10% off BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/tfi