Foster Care: How Everyone Can Help

Summary

Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: Focus on the Family with Jim Daly

Episode Title: Foster Care: How Everyone Can Help
Air Date: June 2, 2026
Host(s): Jim Daly, John Fuller
Guest: Jason Johnson—Pastor, Director at Christian Alliance for Orphans, Author, and Foster/Adoptive Parent

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Episode Overview

This episode of Focus on the Family explores the central theme of foster care and its importance in the Christian walk. With guest Jason Johnson, the conversation centers on how individuals and the church can help vulnerable children—not only through adoption or fostering, but also by finding personal ways to contribute. The discussion highlights real stories and biblical principles while encouraging listeners to prayerfully consider their role, dispelling myths and fears about fostering, and offering practical encouragement and resources.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Need for Family and Belonging

• The show opens with the moving story of Jordan, a nine-year-old boy longing for a family to call his own ([00:33]).
  • "That's the cry of every person's heart. To belong. Have a family. A mom or a dad. Preferably a mom and a dad." —John Fuller [00:44]
• Jim Daly relates with Jordan from his own childhood experience, underlining the deep value of family ([01:07]).

2. Personal Stories: The Power and Wounds of Family

• Jason Johnson shares his narrative of learning his father is not his biological parent—and experiencing both confusion and gratitude ([03:15]-[04:23]).
• Johnson discusses early conversations with his wife about adoption, showing that seeds of foster care are often planted before marriage ([04:41]-[05:16]).

3. Gospel Motivation for Foster Care

• Jason draws a strong parallel between the Gospel and adoption/foster care:
  • "Our motivation as believers... is we do what we do because of what Jesus has done for us... He steps into our story and he changes our story... On a similar level, we step into the stories of families and children, and we say, it doesn't always have to be like this." —Jason Johnson [05:32]
• Adopting and fostering are presented as natural outgrowths of Christian discipleship and compassion ([05:32]-[06:29]).

4. Reframing the Purpose of Foster Care (Beyond Adoption)

• Daly shares how Focus on the Family’s "Wait No More" initiative aims to support the wider foster care system—not just promote adoption ([06:29]-[07:23]).
  • "Adoption isn't always the goal for foster care. What is the goal?" —Jim Daly [07:23]
• Jason:
  • "We're not all called to do the same thing, but we're all capable of doing something. Everyone can do something." [07:23]
  • The “body of Christ” analogy is used, affirming unique and varied contributions ([07:23]-[08:17]).
  • Non-foster parenting roles discussed: business owners, counselors, community members finding personal “somethings” ([08:24]).

5. The Magnitude of the Problem & Collective Action

• Jim Daly highlights that there are around 400,000 kids in the foster care system, with over 100,000 waiting for adoption ([08:55]).
• "I'd love to see a New York Times headline that says, Christian church wipes out waiting foster adoption list. Wouldn't that be awesome?" —Jim Daly [09:53]

6. Overcoming Barriers to Fostering

a) Timing & Fear of Disruption ([10:10]-[11:13])

• Jason:
  • "There's never a perfect time to do this... God is inviting us to find opportunities to say yes, despite all the reasons we can come up with to say no." [10:10]
  • Encourages praying for courage, not just clarity.

b) Attachment & Letting Go ([11:13]-[13:48])

• Main barrier: fear of bonding with a child and then having to say goodbye.
  • Jason:
    • "Let’s not let the fear of loving a child that might leave deter us. Instead, let’s let the fear of a child never knowing our love drive us." [12:16]
    • Foster care is more about "giving your family for a child" than "getting a child for your family."
    • The ability to get attached is a qualification, not a disqualifier.

c) Family Dynamics and Existing Children ([13:48]-[17:57])

• Jim shares personal experience: the difficulty when bringing in foster siblings close in age to his own children ([13:48]).
• Jason tells how his initial fears about the impact on his daughters were reframed:
  • "Maybe my job, in my case, with four girls, isn't so much to raise safe girls as much as it is to raise strong girls." —Jason Johnson [17:57]
• Foster care as an opportunity to teach his kids empathy, resilience, and compassion ([17:16]-[17:56]).

d) "Handprint Story" and the Family’s Heart ([17:57]-[19:17])

• Jason recounts a touching family moment:
  • His children’s concern for including future siblings in their handprints—evidence of their open-heartedness fostered by their family’s journey.

7. The “Fix-It” Mentality and Redefining Success in Foster Care

• Daly and Johnson discuss the misconception that foster parents need to "fix" every child ([19:19]-[19:40]).
  • Jason: It's okay to feel inadequate; God loves working with what we have, not what we don't ([19:40]-[21:27]).
  • The story of the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6):
    • "Just give me what you got, your few pieces of bread and fish, and watch what I can do with it. I can multiply it to the point of abundance where there's more than enough." —Jason Johnson [21:28]
  • Johnson points to Hebrews 11—both the "triumphant" and "suffering" examples of faith are commended:
    • "God is far more concerned with our willingness to be faithful than he is concerned with our ability to produce a certain set of outcomes through our faithfulness." [23:38]
    • Success in God’s eyes means obedience and faithfulness, not guaranteed results ([23:38]-[24:57]).

8. Practical Ways to Help

• Focus on the Family’s “Suitcase Bundle” (suitcases, teddy bears, Bibles, handwritten notes for foster kids, to give dignity to the transition) ([25:09]).
• Encouragement to find your “something”—whether fostering, adopting, supporting foster families, or providing resources ([07:23], [08:24]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "We’re not all called to do the same thing, but we’re all capable of doing something." —Jason Johnson [07:23]
• "Let’s not let the fear of loving a child that might leave deter us. Instead, let’s let the fear of a child never knowing our love drive us." —Jason Johnson [12:16]
• "Foster care is less about getting a child for your family, and it’s more about giving your family for a child." —Jason Johnson [12:38]
• "God is far more concerned with our willingness to be faithful than he is concerned with our ability to produce a certain set of outcomes through our faithfulness." —Jason Johnson [23:38]
• "Maybe my job... isn't so much to raise safe girls as much as it is to raise strong girls." —Jason Johnson [17:57]
• "Just give me what you got... and watch what I can do with it." —Jason Johnson [21:28]

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:33 — Introduction and Jordan’s Story: The Heart Cry for Family
• 03:15 — Jason shares his personal childhood revelation about his father
• 05:32 — The Gospel motivation for foster care and adoption
• 07:23 — Reframing foster care: “Everyone can do something”
• 08:55 — The scope of the foster care crisis and call for church involvement
• 10:10 — Common barriers: Timing, fears, and the myth of the "perfect moment"
• 11:47 — Addressing the fear of attachment and “goodbyes” in fostering
• 13:48 — Real stories: Navigating challenges with biological children
• 17:57 — The "Handprint Story" and fostering a heart for others in kids
• 19:40 — Moving from “fix-it” mentality to faithful presence
• 21:28 — Loaves and fishes: God works with our "not enough"
• 23:38 — Redefining success as faithful obedience, not outcome
• 25:09 — Focus on the Family’s “Suitcase Bundle” initiative

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Summary Takeaways

• Foster care and adoption are practical expressions of the Gospel.
• You don’t have to "fix" everything; willingness and faithfulness matter most.
• Many forms of help exist—everyone can do something, not just fostering or adopting.
• Attachment and emotional struggle are real but reframable as expressions of love.
• Foster care can challenge, but it also transforms families, building empathy and strength.

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Resources Mentioned

• Reframing Foster Care by Jason Johnson
• Focus on the Family’s Wait No More program ([Show Notes link])
• Suitcase Bundle initiative (for supporting kids’ dignity during placement transitions)

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This episode serves as a compassionate, practical guide for individuals and families considering their role in foster care—encouraging action, faith, and creativity in response to the ongoing need among vulnerable children.

Transcript

[Focus on the Family Announcer]

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[Jason Johnson]

would like this to have a family to call mom and dad or this mom or this dad. I don't really care.

[John Fuller]

Well, listen to the heart of that little nine year old boy. His name is Jordan and that's the cry of every person's heart. To belong. Have a family. A mom or a dad. Proposed preferably a mom and a dad. Today on FOCUS on the Family with Jim Daly. Our guest will share ideas to help hurting children who are longing for a place to call home. I'm John Fuller.

[Jim Daly]

John because of some good people, that little boy Jordan did get adopted into a family out of foster care. Tens of thousands of people responded after that news clip went viral. And that says a lot about the heart of people. But think of how many thousands of children are still waiting for their forever family. And that's heartbreaking. I can remember being that little boy and, you know, not having a mom and dad in my life, hoping that maybe I could be adopted. I just didn't know. I had older brothers and sisters at the time. My football coach asked me if I wanted to live with them and offered to adopt me, but I thought it would hurt my brother too much who I was then living with. You know, God has plans for every child, just like Jordan. And at Focus on the Family, we want to do our part to help hurting kids. Isaiah 1:17 says to seek justice, encourage the oppressed and defend the cause of the fatherless. Through our foster care effort called Wait no More, we're trying to help the foster care system do the best job it can do. And I'm proud of the work that we're doing here at Focus on the Family.

[John Fuller]

Learn how you can make a difference. Check out Wait no More. We've got the details in the show notes. And our guest today is a man with some terrific insights and ideas. Jason Johnson is a pastor and a director at Christian alliance for Orphans. He and his wife Emily have been foster parents since 2012 and they have four daughters, one of whom joined them through adoption. Jason has written a book called Reframing foster care, Filtering your foster parenting journey through the lens of the gospel. We've got copies of that here.

[Jim Daly]

Jason, welcome to Focus on the Family.

[Jason Johnson]

Well, thank you for having me.

[Jim Daly]

I want to call you like super dad, but I think your message is going to be, you know, people that love the Lord can do this, right?

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah, just normal, normal dad.

[Jim Daly]

Normal dad. I like that. Let's start with your personal story. It's so compelling. When you were nine years old yourself, you got some news that really changed your life forever. What was it?

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah. So I learned around that time in my life that my dad was in fact, not my biological father.

[Jim Daly]

That was the first time you'd heard that?

[Jason Johnson]

First time I had become aware of that. And of course he was my dad and is my dad, but he just wasn't my biological father. And so that began to unfold a story where as I grew older, I understood the implications of what my dad did at a particular time in my life, my mom's life, and my older sister's life.

[Jim Daly]

Let me ask you the feeling of that because we're talking to mostly adults. I remember being told my mom had died when I was 9, then my dad when I was 11. You start thinking, what's going to happen? Where do I go? How do I eat? Where do I sleep? In this context, just hearing that your dad was not your biological father, what were those nine year old feelings like for you?

[Jason Johnson]

You know, there was a little bit of, well, why, you know, why has this been necessary? Right. Where is my biological father? What's the story there? But also gratitude that this man would step into our story.

[Jim Daly]

You know, it's interesting too, how these childhood experiences begin to shape your adult decision making. And so you had that idea about adoption. Describe how you and your wife begin to talk about that and what motivated you to adopt your daughter.

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah, that's a great question. So my wife and I had the conversation that I think a lot of people have even pre marriage. Right. As you, as you're suspecting, I think this is headed towards marriage. And I suspected that actually the moment I met her. So that's a different story. But I believe even before we were married, we were having conversations about one day we want to adopt. And so it was kind of the one day conversation that I think a lot of couples have, kind of the private personal conversation of maybe one day when this is something we'll do.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah, and you did that. In fact, you point to a parallel, and I've used this before as well, between what Jesus did For us and what adoption does for a child and, you know, for every believer. Make this connection. Go ahead.

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah. So, you know, I think ultimately our motivation as believers in all of life is we do what we do because of what Jesus has done for us. And that translates into every aspect of our life. In particular, stepping into the lives of vulnerable children and families. And when I think back on what Jesus has done for us, he steps into our story and he changes our story. Past, present, and future. All of it becomes new. Our past no longer defines us. Our present reality is new and shifted, full of security. Our future trajectories are full of hope. And on a similar level, we step into the stories of families and children, and we say, it doesn't always have to be like this. And you can live today with a security of knowing you are fully loved, and you can live today also with a hope for what the future can look like. And every aspect of our story together in that changes, you know, and we're

[Jim Daly]

all working in this area to help improve the lives of these children. I mentioned Dr. Sharon Ford. She worked here in the state of Colorado, and thankfully, she's come on staff here at Focus to lead the Wait no More program. We started by just purely encouraging Christians to get involved and to adopt. She's now kind of broadened that, I think, rightfully, to encourage families to not only consider adoption, but also wrap around care to simply become foster parents. Because the foster system is so overwhelmed right now and typically always is. You know, they just need more resources. The point of that, and I would like you to speak into this, is adoption isn't the only goal. I mean, it's a good goal, but there are other options. And you even mention this in your book, that adoption isn't always the goal for foster care. What is the goal?

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, That's a big question with a big answer. I think the goal is that every believer is empowered with a sense of calling and direction as to what their something might be. So we often say this. We're not all called to do the same thing, but we're all capable of doing something. Everyone can do something. And we see that reflected in and theology, the body of Christ, where Paul says, we are like ears and eyes and hands and feet, and we all have different functions, but for the same purpose. And so as we translate that into the activity of the church in terms of caring for kids and families, we find not everyone will open their home to children. But that doesn't mean there's not significant places for other parts of the body to find their something and to get creative in that?

[John Fuller]

Yeah. Do you think it's a good starting point to at least take a step of faith and start praying about what God might have for us in this? Absolutely.

[Jason Johnson]

To begin to pray God, what's my something? And to ask for clarity on that and to be open minded with that, you know, because it could be that my something might be. We begin to take steps towards opening our home to children. It could also be, you know what, the Lord has blessed me with a business and maybe I get creative and I find ways to use my business, my restaurant or my repair shop or my counseling center. How can I use my something for the good of the whole?

[John Fuller]

Yeah.

[Jim Daly]

Jason, this next question is really to prompt people to think. When you look at the foster system situation and we have about 400,000 kids total in the system, that number fluctuates a little bit, but around 400, 420,000. And within that group, you have about 100, 110,000 children where the courts have terminated the parental rights. So they're wards of the state. I mean, the state really is their mom and dad, unfortunately. And they're probably in a temporary foster situation until they get a permanent placement and hopefully get adopted. Thinking of those numbers on the 40,000 foot view, I think we have 360,000 churches and these are 110,000 children. Need a place that is troubling, that we in the Christian community cannot do more. I'd love to see a New York Times headline that says, christian church wipes out waiting foster adoption list. Wouldn't that be awesome?

[Jason Johnson]

It would be.

[Jim Daly]

And so in that context, now bring it down to the one foot level. You and your wife deciding to do this, speak to that couple that's listening right now that might be interested, but they don't know how to start. Is it the right thing to do? We already have children. Can we do it?

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah. So there's a number of things I would say to them. The first would be, you know, there's never a perfect time to do this. And so if you're waiting for the perfect time, you'll likely never do anything.

[Jim Daly]

There's always going to be an excuse.

[Jason Johnson]

There's always. So here's what we say is, I think what God is inviting us to do is to find opportunities to say yes, despite all the reasons we can come up with to say no. And there's a lot. Now that doesn't mean that we push aside good judgment and wisdom. It doesn't mean that we Say, you know what, our family's in turmoil, we're in financial crisis, and our marriage is struggling. We should probably open our home up and do something hard. No, no. We want to be wise and diligent, but we also want to be realistic and understand. I'm very, very good at finding reasons to say no. And it changes our prayers in a lot of ways. I think we spend a lot of time asking God for clarity when he's been clear. And instead of asking for clarity, maybe we spend more time praying for courage.

[Jim Daly]

One of the big reasons people don't foster is because they're afraid of having to make this attachment with these kids. And then we're talking about the other 300,000 kids where they just need temporary placement so their family can get their acts together, etc. And then the kids are going to return to their biological parent or parents. But that is an excuse that people will use, and it's not a, you know, that's a fair thing. You have these kids for maybe six months a year, who knows? And you bond, and then they're going to be ripped away from you. How do you respond to that caution?

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah, so I'm glad you brought that up. It is likely the number one reason that people won't foster is that fear acting as a deterrent. We hear it all the time, and so I like to legitimize it. It's real. What we don't say to people is, you know, if you really love Jesus, you wouldn't be concerned about that at all. No, it's real and it's raw, and we've experienced it ourselves. But it also requires a reframing, which is why we named the book the way that we did Reframing, the way that we think about things. And so we can't let the fear of loving a child that might leave deter us. Instead, let's let the fear of a child never knowing our love drive us. So it's just a reframing. It also maybe comes from a slightly flawed understanding of what the purpose of foster care is. You know, foster care is less about getting a child for your family, and it's more about giving your family for a child and embracing the implications that come with that. And some of those implications are hard, and they require great sacrifice. And if the goal is for reconciliation and renewal in their families and with their moms and dads, then it will likely mean that we grow close and we attach and then we have to say goodbye. But we have given our family to this child for Their renewal and we got to participate in that with them. It doesn't make the goodbyes easier. It just gives purpose and meaning to the goodbyes. It was not in vein. Right. We also say this, you know, if you're afraid of getting too attached and you're using that as an excuse not to attach. Not to attach, then perhaps it's better understood in this context. The fact that you know you will get attached doesn't disqualify you from becoming a foster parent. It might be one of the things which qualifies you the most because that's exactly what these kids do.

[Jim Daly]

It's so true. Jason, this next objection. We lived this one. So I'm going to speak from that personal experience we had when our boys were younger, probably 9 and 11. We did have two boys that were 8 and 9. So it was a bundle of close little boys. I mean, it was tough. It was really rough. I think they were with us for six, seven months. And it really had an impact on one of my sons in a very negative way. And later we did have a long term placement with two much younger children, 4 and 2, when my boys were 15 and 13. That worked beautifully. I mean, they really took them on as siblings and they loved on those kids. There wasn't competition, there wasn't as much fighting about things. But speak to that as well because that can be an objection. My kids are that young age. I don't want to put them in an environment that's going to be harmful. Those are really legitimate, I'm telling you, because we lived it. And if I look back on it, I would have waited for my kids to be a little older and had the experience that we had with the second set of long term placement children that we had.

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah, yeah. So our encouragement to families and that was my number one hesitation as well. Our girls were six, four and two at the time. And questions of is it an injustice to them and the time that they're due from us and the attention that they are due from us, would it be taking that away from them? And I'll never forget sitting in an orientation class at a local agency in Houston and the instructor comes in and even before she gets into the orientation, she starts sharing. You could tell she had a tough week, as most agency caseworkers do, and she begins to share a story of a little girl's file who came across her desk that week. And the little girl happened to be around the age of one of my little girls. And some of the things that she was sharing about what this little girl experienced that week were horrific, as you can imagine. And I found myself sitting there using the age of my daughters as an excuse as to why it wasn't the right time. And then listening to the story of this little girl getting angry inside and feeling the sense of righteous anger. Why wasn't anyone there to protect this little girl? I would give my life to protect my little girls from. And then, you know, God's up there kind of going, ah, is it connecting now, Jason? Right. And so here's my point in that is God took the very thing that I was using as my excuse, the age of my kids, and turned it into actually the very thing which began to compel me the most. I want someone to be there for these kids, just like I know I would be there for mine. Now, there's no script for this. There's no prescription for this. Right. Everyone's family is different and unique, and their own kids and their temperaments and their needs is all different. And so my encouragement to families is, yes. Be very in tune with the effects that it will have on children that are already in your home. And also understand that we have found foster care has given our daughters a gift that we, as mom and dad, likely would have never been able to give them on our own. It has opened their world up to a perspective.

[Jim Daly]

Without a doubt.

[Jason Johnson]

Without a doubt. They've seen another side of things that I don't know they would have seen if it was just us. Has that always been easy? No. Have there been police officers at our home late at night? Yes. Have they seen things that maybe we would have normally gone to great lengths to, you know, insulate them from?

[John Fuller]

Yeah.

[Jason Johnson]

Do we believe it has made them stronger and more grounded? I do think so. Not because it's been easy, but because it's been difficult. And so I have found through our journey, maybe my job, in my case, with four girls, isn't so much to raise safe girls as much as it is to raise strong girls.

[Jim Daly]

That's beautiful. Yeah, that is really, really beautiful. You have a story I want to get to, which is the handprint story. So set that up. And how profound was that for your family?

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah, you know, it ties right into that where the effects, you know, initially being concerned about the effects it would have on our girls, opening our home to this, and would it deprive them? Would it take away from them? But we began to see early on some fruits of this in their own minds and their own hearts. So maybe we'd walk in and they've pulled all their baby dolls and the paraphernalia out into the living room, and we say, what are you doing? And they're saying, we're taking care of babies that don't have mommies and dads.

[John Fuller]

Right.

[Jason Johnson]

Or when we were building a new home and we did the typical put your hands in the cement of the driveway before it dries.

[Jim Daly]

Right.

[Jason Johnson]

And there were all six of us there and one of our little girls, I can't recall, who became highly concerned about when the cement dries. How are we going to get any new future sisters handprints into the heart cement. Right. And I assured them, you know, we could, like, cut out a square and repatch it. But again, it was just one of those little pieces, little glimmers of this has planted something in their hearts and in their minds, and we see little evidences of that which are encouraging.

[Jim Daly]

Jason, that's such a beautiful portrait. Let me end with this question, though. You say you struggled with wanting to fix each child that came into your home. I need to ask this question because that's where I would be. You know, what do we got to do to fix? And we're fixers, right?

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah.

[Jim Daly]

What's the problem? And we'll give you a solution. How did you let go of that, and what did you learn in that process?

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah, this has probably been the biggest learning curve for me, because like you said, I'm a fixer. And I think a lot of people that get involved in this, they have a vision for what can be. And so we want to get involved in this because we know what can be. And the question then becomes, what happens when what can be and should be doesn't become or more slowly materializes? And so a couple of points, just real quick for me, is these feelings of inadequacy, like, I don't have what it takes to do this. And I think that deters a lot of people as well. They see the problem and they see the need, and they immediately think, I don't have what it takes to do that. That's for special people, spiritually elite people, gifted people. That's definitely not me. I don't have what it takes. And so point number one for me has been embracing the gift of not having what it takes. Okay. I don't find anywhere in scripture where God calls someone to do something with the expectation that they're going to have everything that it takes to do it. As a matter of fact, I see quite the opposite. So the story of the feeding of the 5,000 has been especially important for me. And most of us are familiar with it. But the disciples recognize an overwhelming need that they can't meet.

[Jim Daly]

They're down to the fix it mode.

[Jason Johnson]

Hey, there's thousands of people here that they need to eat. And so our only solution is we need to send them away. And then Jesus, in typical Jesus fashion, rather than saying, you're right, guys, he turns it back around on them. How frustrating would that be? Sometimes, like, seriously, Jesus, again, he says, how about you give them something to eat? And immediately they look at what they have. We don't have what it takes. And so they somehow commandeer bread and fish from a little boy. We don't know exactly how that happened, but they stole it or borrowed it or bought it. We don't know.

[Jim Daly]

Let's be on the high side. They bought it.

[Jason Johnson]

They bought it. They bought it in a very ethical way. And they bring it back to Jesus and say, this is all we can come up with. We don't have what it takes to do what you're asking us to do. Jesus does not turn around and say, guys, you're right. I'm so sorry to have put you in that position to make you feel inadequate. Let's just send them away. You were right the first time. No, I think Jesus purposefully, lovingly put them in that position, knowing full well you don't have what it takes to do what I'm asking you to do. And then he says, he essentially says, just give me what you got, your few pieces of bread and fish, and watch what I can do with it. I can multiply it to the point of abundance where there's more than enough. And so that kind of leads into my final thing, which has been the umbrella over our journey for the last eight years. And it's redefining what success is for us in the kingdom of God. You know, in the world, success is defined by things we can measure. Accolades and ladders and bank accounts and power and position and all of these things. It's quantitative, right? And in the economy of God, we see it completely flipped upside down in a lot of ways. And I've gone to Hebrews 11 quite often. The first couple thirds of Hebrew 11 is all about people who, by faith, saw the walls of Jericho fall, the Red Sea split, kingdoms conquered, the dead raised to life. And we all say, yes, that's the victorious faith that I want. I want for my faith to produce great victories like that, and it will prove that I've been successful in my faith, right? I've been A successful Christian. Okay. And then the last third or so of Hebrews 11 takes a pretty significant turn, and it starts to say that others by faith were sawn in half. They were left destitute in caves and holes in the ground. They were stoned to death. And we go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't want to read. I want the sermon that talks about the first part of Hebrews 11 not being sawn in half and stone to death. And then the end of Hebrews 11 says this. It says, all of them were commended for their faith.

[Jim Daly]

Interesting. Yeah.

[Jason Johnson]

So here's what I find, and here's what's been especially powerful for us on this journey, is that God is far more concerned with our willingness to be faithful than he is concerned with our ability to produce a certain set of outcomes through our faithfulness. Sometimes faithfulness on this journey will feel like the walls of Jericho are falling, the Red Sea is splitting. We're seeing great breakthrough, great healing, great, great connection happening with these children and these families. And sometimes faith is going to feel like we're being stoned to death and sawn in half and left in caves and holes destitute. And in all of that, God says, well done. Well done. Our journey has been one where we've seen the walls of Jericho fall in some cases, and it's also been one where we felt like we have been stoned to death. And I can't put my head down on the pillow without holding fast to the truth that God is in the business of producing outcomes. All that he asks of me is to be faithful, to give him what I got and watch what he can do with it. It doesn't mean that we don't fight hard. It doesn't mean that we don't advocate hard. It doesn't mean that we don't push. But it does mean that we rest in the fact that. That only God can do what only God can do, and only I can do what I can do. And what he asks of me is to be faithful and to trust him.

[Jim Daly]

Well, Jason, you and your wife Emily and your family have done such a wonderful job. Well done. And this is a wonderful book. Reframing foster care. If you're considering helping in the foster care effort, there's great information in this resource for you. For a gift of any amount, we'll get a copy to you as our thank you for supporting the ministry. And then let me invite you to become part of our case Bundle program. You might scratch your head and say, what is that? Most foster kids when they're moved by the Department of Family Services or the police, they usually show up to the foster home with a Hefty bag, a trash bag of their clothes. It's such a poor. I did that when I was nine. That's what I had. I had a box of clothes and a Hefty bag of clothes to take to the foster family. I mean, what we saw there is we can give these children some dignity by providing a suitcase bundle. That is a suitcase, a teddy bear and a Bible and a handwritten note by a volunteer or staff member here at Focus of churches that help us put these bundles together. Imagine getting a handwritten note. We haven't met, but we care about you. More importantly, God cares about you. We hope you enjoy this. I mean, what a thing to say to a child. And we've distributed 51,000 so far. Let's do 100,000 more. Join us today to provide more of these kits for these kids.

[John Fuller]

Yeah. Support the work of Focus on the Family and that suitcase bundle. Request your copy of the book Reframing Foster care All when you call 800, the letter A in the word Family, where we've got details about the suitcase bundle. And Wait no More in the show notes. While you're there, look for articles and videos from Wait no More to help inform your understanding and hopefully engage you in foster care, in kinship care, adoption, or supporting other families who are fostering or adopting.

[Jim Daly]

Jason, again, thank you for everything you and Emily have done and thank you for being with us today.

[Jason Johnson]

Yeah, well, it's been a pleasure. Thank you.

[John Fuller]

And on behalf of the entire team, thanks for joining us today for Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I'm John Fuller inviting you back as we once more help you and your family thrive in Christ.

[Focus on the Family Announcer]

Pastors, if you're struggling to help couples in your church whose marriage is in trouble, we can help. Marriage 911 by Focus on the Family trains laypeople to mentor married couples. Each kit includes two training guides, four workbooks, and all the training necessary to meet with couples who need help. Go to marriage911.com that's marriage. The numbers 911. Do.