Episode 150: Entering Into Flexible Fatherhood
The Forgotten Podcast
The Forgotten Initiative
4.9 • 532 Ratings
🗓️ 27 June 2022
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today I’m talking with Josh Ballard, who has a passion for foster care and building a community to support other foster dads. As a result of this passion, Josh started Flexible Fatherhood, a group (and a podcast!) that provides foster dads with educational resources and community to give them confidence in raising the next generation of children. In our conversation, Josh and I talk about his family’s journey to becoming aware of the need in foster care, how their perspective has expanded since taking this step, myths about fostering teenagers that need to be debunked, encouragement for other foster parents, and so much more.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Meeting you right where you are on your foster care journey, this is The Forgotten Podcast. |
| 0:10.7 | I've had to, you know, they say let go and let God. |
| 0:13.9 | And literally over this, you know, last 10 months, I've said it, you know, to some friends that I have prayed probably more in this past 10 |
| 0:22.3 | months than I ever have in my life because, you know, I've had to let go of so many things. |
| 0:33.5 | Hello and welcome back to the Forgotten Podcast. I'm your host, Jamie Cave, and I am so very happy to be with you today. |
| 0:41.6 | This podcast is part of our ministry here at the Forgotten Initiative. |
| 0:44.7 | And if you're new around here, we exist to help people everywhere, support the foster care community, and experience Jesus together. |
| 0:53.6 | You can learn all about our work at the forgotten initiative.org. |
| 0:58.1 | Well, it is always special when we get to hear from foster dads, isn't it? |
| 1:01.8 | Because their perspective is not one we commonly hear from. |
| 1:06.4 | Foster dad Josh Ballard joins me today. |
| 1:09.3 | And before we jump in, I want to tell you a little bit about him. |
| 1:13.4 | So Josh is married to Emily, and they shared a dream of fostering teen moms. Okay, already, that's pretty cool, isn't it? |
| 1:21.6 | Josh and Emily have two biological children. They became licensed foster parents in 2021, and Josh quickly learned that |
| 1:30.2 | there was this need for more of a support system for other foster dads like him. So he decided |
| 1:35.4 | to create one called flexible fatherhood. All right, I'm not going to say anymore because I want |
| 1:41.1 | you to hear from Josh himself. So let's get right to it. |
| 1:50.7 | Josh, it's so good to have you here at TFI. We often say awareness leads to action. |
| 1:57.7 | And this is really true of your story, isn't it? Yeah. When my wife and I went to Mexico back in |
| 2:04.6 | 2009, we worked with different orphanages down there, and we really watched each other interact with |
| 2:12.0 | these different kids and just knowing that there are kids without homes. you know, I grew up in a two-parent |
| 2:17.6 | household. |
... |
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