You're listening to the Forgotten podcast, bringing voice to the foster care community.

My prayer went something like that. I said, Lord, if you're asking me, you know, sort of, Andrew, you give me a thumbs up or thumbs down on adoption. If you're asking me, Lord, if I'm open to adopting, I got to be honest, Lord, I'm not open to it. Fortunately, my prayer didn't end there. I said, but Lord, I'm open to becoming open to it. And again, these are one of these moments, I didn't realize at the time, but that idea,

when you see something in front of you, he said, this isn't what I thought my life would

turn out like.

I'm not open to this.

I've learned if we can say, but Lord, I'm open to becoming open to that thing.

That's all the Lord needs.

Hey, it's Jamie Cabe.

Welcome back to The Forgotten Podcast.

You can find out more about today's episode by visiting the forgotten initiative.org

slash S3E2 for season three, episode two. Andrew Schneidler was my guest today, and this is one of those

episodes guys you will want to listen to, or ladies, you're going to want to share this with

the man in your life. We had a lot of fun, and Andrew gives some great insight. I also love

the way he talked about his three kiddos, and I can't wait for you to hear that. As former foster parents for over seven years, Andrew and his wife, Michelle, adopted all three of their children. Andrew is an adoption attorney and founder of the Children's Law Center of Washington. It is a 501C3 clinic offering free and low-cost legal services

to achieve permanence for Washington State orphaned and vulnerable kids. How cool is that?

Andrew and Michelle lead the orphan care ministry at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington.

Together, they are passionate about providing post-placement support to the foster and adoptive community through authentic communities, like they have a monthly support group.

They do a retreat called Road Trip for Guys Only and their very popular refresh conference.

Let's go now to my conversation with Andrew Snydler.

Andrew, 25 years ago, you and your lovely wife, Michelle, got married, but prior to that,

while you were dating, she would often say to you in a dreamy voice, what would she say?

She would say something like, one of these days, wouldn't it be great if we adopted some kids?

...