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In this episode of The Good News, Angie Austin and Jim Stovall reflect on cherished family traditions and the meaning of Christmas in their lives. They explore how the wisdom passed down through generations, such as reading the Christmas story, shapes their present experiences. The discussion transitions into Jim's expertise in risk assessment, highlighting how these principles apply to everyday decision-making and the unexpected lessons learned along the journey.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hey there, Angie Austin here with The Good News along with Jim Stovall. Welcome, Jim.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, it is great to be with you.
SPEAKER 03 :
How was your Christmas?
SPEAKER 05 :
Christmas was wonderful. It's, you know, a little different this year. You know, different. My father's gone and he's celebrating in heaven. And, you know, some of the family is... separated by time and space, but we're together in spirit and, uh, we will get together again soon.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, was your wife Crystal able to help some, um, you know, various, uh, economic systems with her shopping this year?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, she did make a trip to New York, uh, the week before Christmas and stimulated the economy greatly. And, uh, so, uh, We can all look forward to good economic numbers here at the end of the year.
SPEAKER 03 :
Excellent. Tell her thank you for that. I appreciate that.
SPEAKER 05 :
I will. She's always willing to do her part.
SPEAKER 03 :
Do her part. Right, right, right. Yeah, I know you and I talked about how your dad read. Was it the night before Christmas, every Christmas?
SPEAKER 05 :
No, he actually read the Christmas story out of Luke, the actual story itself.
SPEAKER 03 :
And how much your nephew liked that. So who read it this year?
SPEAKER 05 :
My nephew did.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, he did. Oh, that's so neat that he continued the tradition.
SPEAKER 05 :
It is now the new tradition and it is his to do. And yeah, when we first started out, he was so young and my father started reading it. He said, it's the Charlie Brown story. He had not, he thought that that's because that's the one Linus reads on that. On the TV special.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
I had to explain to him that it, well, there was Linus got it from Luke, but anyway, so.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, that's beautiful. All right. So this week we are talking about your winner's wisdom column, and this is the beta factor. What's this all about?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, my professional background, I started out as an investment broker for the New York Stock Exchange. And in that world, you look at analytics and you look at alpha. Alpha is simply how well something performs and what return did you get on your money. Beta is how much risk did you take or what was the volatility. And you can't really judge one without the other. And we survive and thrive in our personal and professional lives when we make good decisions. But that's usually a matter at some level of assessing And, you know, if you have a, you know, if you're going to go out and mow your lawn and your lawnmower engine has not been working terribly well, but you think it'll be good enough to get through and you're willing, let's give it a shot. You know, you start the engine and try it. If you're going on a trip in a single engine plane and the engine's giving you trouble, you don't start. You don't try it. Now, it can be the same level of engine problem, but the risk is so much higher. Because one is, hey, I might have to take it to the repair shop and finish my lawn tomorrow. The other is, you could die. And, you know, people, we have to look at the risk on everything before we make decisions. And rarely are they the same. You've all been in traffic. And, you know, Angie, you've seen, you know, that guy next to you, he's playing the radio loud and revving his engine. And the minute the light turns green, he speeds off and he goes through traffic. He cuts people off. He does all this stuff. Then you come to the next life, next light, and there he is again, same guy. And he does that time after time after time. And you may get to your destination at about the same time. And you would think, well, it's just as good one way or the other. No, it's really not because he is taking great risk of hurting himself or someone else. And so we can't do these things without evaluating risk.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. And that makes me giggle about the cars because I'm not a very speedy driver. I think I was more excited to get ahead of things when I was younger. I see these people racing through traffic like that. And then I always think back to in college, I did date a guy that was the most aggressive driver. And he wasn't in person. He was pretty mild mannered, but behind the wheel. And we did get pulled over a few times. But boy, he would just really, I mean, pass people in situations that I thought were really dangerous. And it makes me laugh because, you know, unless we were on the highway, we pretty much did end up sitting right next to the person again.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, it really doesn't make that much difference. Certainly not. risking your life for and then of course one of the greatest areas of risk when we make decisions is not to decide at all and in this week's column i wrote about my my football days i remember practicing just before a game and we were going over all of these plays and formations and wow it's amazing how many things you have to memorize and you know i got down on the line i get in my stance and i realized i don't know which one of these guys i'm supposed to block I really couldn't figure it out. So at that point they snapped the ball, the play goes off, and I didn't do anything. Well, the coach comes over, as only coaches can in that tone, and says, son, what was that? And I said, well, coach, I wasn't sure who to block. And he said, let me give you a hint here. Let me help you. He said, we have no plays here that don't involve you blocking someone. So if you get down there and you're not sure who to block, Block somebody because you might actually get the right guy. And if you get the wrong guy, at least you'll be out of the way. But don't just stand there because that's always the wrong thing to do. And, you know, that has, of course, I never made that mistake again playing football. And I try not to in life. I mean, there are times when, you know, if you avoid a decision long enough, you make the wrong decision. You lose your choice. And that's, you know, that's always the wrong thing to do.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, when you were talking about, that is funny block somebody. I'm sorry, that was a good line. But when you talk about, you know, the lawnmower and how if you think it's not running well, but you may be able to finish the lawn before you, you know, work on it per se, you know, that may be worth the risk. But a lot of people, as you know, just keep driving something or doing something until it you know breaks down in a really up inopportune time i remember this one comedian saying every time he heard a rattle in his car his solution was just to gun it and so you're saying that there are that you just we need to really weigh our decisions and you've also talked before and you're doing the article too i guess about being paralyzed by decisions as well and i see that happen a lot with people and you say not making a decision is of course making a decision
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, and that is always, you know, and you don't want to make a decision prematurely. I mean, you don't want to rush to judgment before you have all the facts. You want to wait until the optimal point to make the decision. And we have many, many opportunities come into our office every day. Had one this morning from the Czech Republic. They want me to do a thing over there. And, you know, the first thing I said, okay, we have all the information here. When do you have to have an answer on this? And, well, it's about three and a half weeks away. So I said, we'll get back to you well before that. But, you know, I'm not going to rush. I don't have to decide today or tomorrow. You know, I've got three weeks to make a decision, and the decision is just as good one way or the other. But if you wait six weeks, you no longer have a choice. You forfeited your option to do something.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, I like to, you know, financially obviously figure things out. Like maybe in your decision, you know, you've got to figure out how much it would be for you and your assistant if it involved flying there and, you know, accommodations and a lot of number crunching. And as you know, club sports are really expensive. And I have three kids in club sports. We have eight trips this year. We didn't go anywhere for Christmas. We normally would be gone for like – I don't know, three weeks. And I was looking back at all the memories of all the great places we've gone the last, you know, I don't know, since they've been kids like South Padre Island and the Keys, Key Largo, Orlando, Palm Springs was a really neat one, California, San Diego, and all these memories pop up on Christmas Day of all these wonderful locations where we went. And I was at first kind of feeling sorry for myself because it did get a little chilly. There's a blizzard watch out here etc which you know we've had beautiful weather i have to say in that rocky mountain region but um i was kind of weighing all that but i had we had weighed you know how many trips we're taking and even though they're not quite as like you know salt lake city to me isn't quite like the keys but they are still destinations that if we're going to support we're going to support our kids We like to go together if possible or take another kid with us if possible to watch and support whichever kid is playing. And so we decided, we weighed everything and decided it probably would be better just to stay put this Christmas vacation than to put a lot of our financial eggs in that tropical basket.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, well, and it's great because these are great memories you're building and great opportunities. And You know, there's something wonderful about everywhere. Some of the trips we have to take are, you know, you fly somewhere and then you get in the car and it's a road trip, and you stop at these little tiny out-of-the-way places. I always like to ask somebody in the gas station or the diner, what's the coolest thing in your town? Or who's the neatest person that lives here? And I've actually gone to meet some of these people. I remember when I first started, you know, the oldest surviving... World War Two veteran from the state lived over here on this block. And I went and met the guy or, you know, different people, you know, that I met a woman who had worked for the Ringling Brothers Circus for her whole life, you know, and she was, you know, and you and every little town has something that's really pretty cool. And and it's just fun to show interest in what they do and then experience it. But, you know, I used to be a road warrior. I'd fly in somewhere, make my speech or have my meeting and get out of there. And now every time I go somewhere, I try to find at least one thing like. You know, if I'm going to be here, what's the one thing I want to try to do or go to or whatever the case may be?
SPEAKER 03 :
Any cool things that you – because I'm the one that always wants to stop for the world's largest ball of swine – or twine. Swine. Yeah, the largest swine. The world's largest ball of twine or, like, outside of Palm Springs, we stopped at the dinosaur gift shop where the dinosaur gift shop was located in the stomach of the dinosaur with the big window you could peek out of. Yeah. Hello, I've got to go in there. Anything really cool, people you've met or things you've seen in some of the cities? I know you go to San Diego a fair amount, but any cool things in the last decade or so?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I gave a speech in Salt Lake once. Since you mentioned it, it always makes me think. We had about an hour and a half before I had to head to the airport. So I had the driver, I said, take us by the tabernacle, the temple there. And we did. And the gate was open. So we walked in like we knew what we were doing. And said, and the choir was practicing. And wow, that was an amazing thing in that place. And then a young lady came over and she is, uh, you know, doing her one year of mission service and she takes people on tour. So she took me and my driver and my assistant, the three of us on a tour, this whole place, just the three of us, you know, and it was just an amazing experience to, to go through that through her eyes and how she felt about it, because this is her mission. And Then we got back to the car and I, you know, I was going to slip her some money for, you know, and she said, well, no, I can't take that. I said, well, no, it's for the it's for the church. She said, well, if you're not a member of our church, we we we won't we don't take your money. And I thought, wow, I grew up in the Baptist church. We it's hard to imagine we wouldn't take your money. But, you know, that was just an amazing experience I had there. Once I was in New York and I was walking down the street there and and there's a little side door coming out of this place. The guy was actually sweeping up and we were asking him how to get somewhere. And I said, what is this building? He said, well, this is the back of Carnegie hall. I said, you're kidding. Can I walk in there? So we got to go in Carnegie hall and stand on the stage and do the whole deal. It was empty, but it was just amazing thing. You know, that this guy was just sweeping out the back of Carnegie hall. And yeah, there, there, there's different things everywhere.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, um, I think about going there as well. And we stay so close because they play right down in that downtown area. And they've been working on the main temple there. I think that one that was built, oh gosh, some of them were built in the 1800s, some of the buildings. And they keep the organ in like a dome. That really was quite an architectural feat at the time. To me, it still looks like quite an architectural feat. And I think it has one of the top organs in the world. And so I got to listen to them play that. And it was pretty mind-blowing. So maybe I'll take some more tours while I'm there this time if they've done some of the refurbishments they've been working on. All right, Jim. JimStoval.com. Always a pleasure, my friend. Thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
And to you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Kiowa is listening to the mighty 670 KLT.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
Hello, it's the Good News with Angie Austin and Grace Fox. Today we're talking about her book, Fresh Hope for Today, Devotions for Joy on the Journey. And we're going to talk about the topic, Good from Pain, which doesn't sound like good news, but it's a pretty interesting story. But Grace, welcome. Let's talk about Christmas. So what did you do with your family? How did that all go?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so my daughters came with their husbands and the children. And I had a nephew and his wife as well joined us at an Airbnb in Washington that we rented. So we're really close to the U.S. border. And it was like a 45-minute drive. It was all down across the border into this Airbnb. And it was big enough for everybody. It was wonderful. So we celebrated from last week, Thursday, until Sunday. Yeah, Christmas Eve morning, we had to be out. So we went our separate ways to celebrate with other family members, too. So it was good. It was great. Lots of cuddles with grandkids.
SPEAKER 03 :
How many grandkids and, like, what age range was it?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I only had the three there. So I do have 13 altogether. The oldest will be 16 this week, actually. But I had the three. Wow. This would have been a four-year-old and a two-and-a-half-year-old and a six-month-old.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, wow. Little ones. And then your nephew, did he bring family with him too?
SPEAKER 04 :
Just his wife. They don't have children yet. So it was good being with them as well. She just became a Canadian citizen. She's from Argentina originally, his wife. And so it's great being able to be family for her. She has no living family. She was orphaned and had no siblings, no aunts and uncles. And so we are her family and it's been wonderful to just bring her in and and include her as one of us. We just love her.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, I was thinking about if there is a family that someone could be included in, how wonderful, because I thought your nephew, of course he wants to be with your family, because you guys are so great, and how wonderful for the daughter, well, his wife, I was going to say daughter-in-law, but it's not quite, but to be included in a family like yours, especially in a situation where she's not in her native country, and then she doesn't have family, I mean, what a blessing.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, she is almost like a daughter to me now. And last night we were together with them again for dinner. And we had a prayer time together. And she just thanked the Lord for our family and for being able to be included as a part of that. And she is a gift to us. That's how we feel about her.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, I didn't, as you know, have the greatest, the best childhood. So I was really excited to really be included in a family that, you know, thought I was great and really included me. And I would say my father-in-law does feel that way about me. But, you know, he's been married for 60 years. So he and his wife have to travel closely in their circles of how they relate to people. And she kind of runs the show because she just isn't interested in, unless it's a big deal, you know. So she let me know while she, and I definitely wasn't welcome the first 10 years. She didn't even like, didn't hide that she didn't even like me. And so I was like disappointed, like, oh, I get this crummy family growing up. And then, you know, I don't even marry into a family that likes me, even though they're great to the kids. And in fact, one time when she didn't talk to us for a year, I went ahead and called and apologized just because, I thought, well, this will be better for my kids to have their grandparents because they really are wonderful to my kids and my husband, of course. But this time and she likes me now because she sees how well the kids are turning out and this, that and the other and the other son's divorce. So I'm really the only daughter in law. I am the only daughter in law now. um that they see and so this time uh she's done this to me a lot over the years she said well we're gonna go do such and such and we're gonna do this and that she knows i like to do all the activities because i just like to go out and about and i enjoy my father-in-law we take walks together and stuff and she said now you're not invited and i don't want you to take it personally but you're not invited you just want to spend time with kids well boss and then my husband calls grandpa i call him gramps My husband calls and he's like, oh, I'm going to take a, you know, get off work early. So I'll go down and meet you there at the mall and do lunch with you and all of that. So when he hung up, I said, did you let him know he wasn't invited? And they just stared at me because of course, you know, he's invited. And, um, and then grandma goes, well, you know, I don't, I said, don't worry, grandma. I said, I'm used to you not inviting me. I said, but grandpa always invites me, you know, cause if like I made a big stink out of it, grandma, grandpa would say, cause she'll say sometimes there's no room in the car, which seats eight. And I'm like, okay. Of course, there's room in the car, but it's like this flimsy, you know, excuse. But I'm so used to it now that it really doesn't bother me. And I kind of just I've accepted how she is. And so I don't feel like horrible like I used to. And I know she loves me in her own way as best she can. She's pretty decent to me and he's great. But that's why I think I thought so much of your nephew's wife and how great that this wonderful family that God's given her this gift and you feel the same way about her. I think that's why it hit me more how great. I mean, who wouldn't want to be part of your family? Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER 04 :
No, we're certainly not perfect, but we try.
SPEAKER 03 :
And then when you came back to Canada, did you do anything with any other family members? Because I know you guys love creating memories. And obviously, since you and your husband both work in ministry and you're a Christian author, this is a very important time of year for you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, we just had Christmas Eve on our own. Because truth be told, Gene came back with a really bad head cold. And so he is just recovering from that now. So we had Christmas Eve quiet and then Christmas Day morning. And most of the day was pretty quiet, too. But then we went and joined our nephew and his wife for dinner. And my daughter and her husband are actually staying at their house, too, because the boat's just kind of small with them and a dog coming on board. Oh, wow. So they have a guest. a guest room at that apartment and they're staying there. So we joined them for supper last night and had games again and prayer time.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, I love the games. It's fun. Maybe we'll do some of that tonight. We actually, I did something unusual. We did go to my neighbor's house. She includes us with family. So we were there with all of her family and she's like a sister to me. So we go to a lot of their family gatherings and The husband's Greek and she's Persian. So the food's like amazing. And then grandma from Iran, you know, she makes some great dish and the food is just... And then Uncle Chris, he runs a Greek restaurant. So, you know, the food's just so good. But they're so used to us now that we even got invited to the next night to Christmas dessert at a different relative's house that, you know... And we've just gotten to know through me being at their family's house all the time. But we did something we've never done before because they're older. And we booked tickets to a movie. And we went to the movie Boys on the Boat. And it's about just after the Depression, this team of... really poor kids from the University of Washington in Seattle, and how one of them couldn't even afford college. And it was very true to life. It's based on a true story. He didn't really have money to pay his college bills, and he was sleeping in a car, and he'd been abandoned first at 10 by his family, and then he was abandoned again at 15. So at 10, he slept in a one-room schoolhouse, and then his stepmother, the dad, said, we've got to let They had four of their own kids and this was the one kid from the mom that had passed away. And so he said, we've got to let him back in the house. So 10 to 11, he lived in the one room schoolhouse and then he moved back in until maybe 14. And then they left again. They just left for a better life because, you know, That was just after the end of the depression. And so they were just starving. So they moved the whole family and left him behind. He said he just watched the tail lights go away. So he became an engineer, worked for Boeing for 35 years, and he was on this rowing team. And they hadn't been rowers. You know, the rich teams are from the East Coast, like Princeton and Harvard, because these kids had been rowing since they were little and had money. He did it so he'd have food and they'd pay for his college education. And it was fascinating. They won the Olympics and I think it was 36, 1936. And so I was, I don't, it was really inspirational. So it was something we wouldn't normally do, but my kids being older, I just thought it might be something we could all do together. And it was really, it was neat. And it could differ.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that sounds like a good one.
SPEAKER 03 :
A different way to spend Christmas.
SPEAKER 04 :
It sounds like a really good movie.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's a different kind of tradition.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, the director is George Clooney. But, of course, then we went to Christmas Eve service, which I have to tell you, it was so moving. And, oh, my goodness, I just... Joe Rance, by the way, if you want to look him up, Joe Rance with an R. That's the name of the guy. I think you'd get a kick out of the movie. It's so good. All right, so we have time for you to tell your story. We've talked so much about Christmas. Good from pain in Fresh Hope for Today. This is interesting because we all want to help people get out of pain or protect our kids from pain, but it's not always good.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, because sometimes we get in the way. We don't want our children to hurt. We don't want to hurt, right? So everybody just wants to get out of suffering as fast as possible. But there's that story of a man who noticed a butterfly struggling to emerge from this teeny hole in the cocoon. And so he's watching this butterfly struggle. struggle, wiggled its way out, but he felt sorry for it. And he thought the butterfly was stuck and needed help. So he physically took and opened up that little hole a little bit more. And when the butterfly appeared, it wasn't ready to fly then. Like its wings were shriveled and it had a swollen body. But he didn't understand that trying to get through that hole was a part of the butterfly's preparation to take wing and fly. And so he actually hurt the butterfly. Didn't mean to, of course, but he hurt it. And sometimes we can hurt our kids by trying to spare them the consequences of their choices, perhaps. Or, you know, if they make a bad choice, they get into trouble with somebody, even the law, and then we go in and try to make excuses and try to bail them out and all that. Sometimes we do more damage than good. And so we have to be really careful.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think about parents, you know, always trying to bubble wrap their kids and keep them out of, there's a couple, you know, moms I know through sports, this, that, and the other that really intervene where, you know, they shouldn't be getting involved. I only did it once. And I think the case where I intervened was appropriate, but it ended up not working well. And so I don't get involved anymore because this kind of severed our friendship we had in the neighborhood, not with the kids. The kids were fine. But with the mom that, you know, her phone was used to send my daughter, my little girl. So not even like, you know, she's friends with the older kids. But someone used her phone to basically send my little girl this horrible message, the person flipping the finger at her and saying yucky things. And so I called the mom and said, you know, your daughter allowed her phone to be used for this really yucky message. And it wasn't received well. And I know it wasn't from her daughter, but she did allow her phone to be used for this nefarious, I believed, you know, text message against a younger kid. So I just learned, like, just stay out of it. Like, the kids are all fine. My daughter's watching their dogs while they're out of town. And, you know, but I think we don't get invited over anymore for things and this, that and the other because I got involved and I really learned my lesson. But I see so many people do it and it's not really helpful because they're not learning lessons when...
SPEAKER 04 :
there are no consequences for their behavior well that that's true and it goes beyond kids too it's not just from parents trying to save kids from pain but we we as adults often want to run away from a painful situation as well so say we're in a job that's hard because co-workers are prickly people or whatever and We're not perfect either, right? So we might be contributing to tension in the office space. But if we just quit the job and kick off and go find a better job or easier people to work with, or so we think, we might be robbing ourselves of a valuable lesson because pain can teach us perseverance and it teaches us patience with other people. But who wants to be in pain, right? So we cut the strings and run. Yeah. And I think that's not always the best thing to do.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I think that that pain of like even if it's just the irritation of studying or working on a project, all of those things, that pain, that's what gets us to the good stuff, the promotion, making more money. a college degree. And if we avoid all of that, you know, we don't want to end up working 7-11. Not that that might, you know, not be a bad temporary job on the way up the corporate ladder or in college, but that's not, you don't want to be stuck somewhere forever where you are limited in, you know, your ability to provide for your family. And so I just liked this. Again, it is fresh hope for today. Devotions for joy in the journey. And this one is good from pain. Gracefox.com. Thank you, my friend.
SPEAKER 04 :
You bet. We'll talk to you again.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
Join Angie Austin as she hosts a heartfelt conversation with Grace Fox, diving deep into life's real struggles as shared through compelling stories. From personal journeys of letting go to understanding the psychological roots of attachment, this episode is filled with insight and introspection. Discover how faith and perseverance can transform arduous paths into enlightening experiences. The episode also shifts focus to the pressing topic of foster care, featuring expert insights from Kristen Pratt of Foster More. Learn about the challenges and triumphs involved in fostering and how communities can step up to support this vital cause. It's an episode that underscores resilience, hope, and the courage to face life's uncertainties. Immerse yourself in engaging narratives as our guests share their personal stories of overcoming journeys, the emotional ties to possessions, and the fortitude required in fostering. With thought-provoking discussions on securing peace through faith and fostering hope through love, this episode offers both encouragement and inspiration to navigate your life path.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now with The Good News, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hello there friend, Angie Austin and Grace Fox. And today we are talking about real life struggles from her book, Fresh Hope for Today, Devotions for Joy on the Journey. Hey Grace. Hi, good to talk to you again. All right, so tell us about real life struggles.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, so I wrote this one after interviewing a friend. Her name was Nancy. She lives in Oregon, actually. And she talked to me about how she and her husband had decided to take a hike. And so they trudged, as she described it, trudged four miles uphill through the forest. And they began second-guessing their wisdom in choosing to do this hike. but she said that they persevered and they got to the top of a, when they got to the top, it was this meadow that was just filled with flowers and glacier fed streams. And she said, it was just so beautiful. They sat down and had a picnic there and thoroughly enjoyed their time. It was that kind of a space where you work so hard to get somewhere. And when you, when you finally arrive, it's just so beautiful. You don't want to leave. And that was like their experience. And, And so when I heard her story, I thought, well, that is like real life in that sometimes we end up on a journey that is so arduous. And it's maybe not by choice, but it's just something that happens. We end up on this path that is so hard. And we just don't know that we're ever going to reach whatever it is we're trying to reach. But finally, the Lord just brings us into a place of rest. and it's it's a place that our soul is longing for after all of that maybe hardship that we've just come through but where we can sit down and we can rest and we know that he's with us and we know that he's got us and he's holding us close but wow it's you know the destination of getting there and experiencing that rest for our soul is good but the pathway to getting there is sometimes really hard
SPEAKER 06 :
Can you think of examples like in your own life where that really applied to you as well? And you're like, oh, I'm going to write this because I can really relate to this.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I think that when my husband and I sent the Lord nudging us to purge almost all of our earthly belongings to move aboard our sailboat home. And we didn't have a boat. It's not like we had this boat sitting around and we could just move into it. We had to find one that worked for living aboard and find a place to moor it. It was a journey that took a lot of energy mentally and emotionally as I had to part with all of these things that I counted precious. It was a path. It was arduous. And we didn't have a long time to do it. Once we got on it, once we actually found a boat and bought it, we had like six weeks to get rid of our stuff. And it was a path that wore me out in some ways, just emotionally every day, getting up and sorting again and purging again and saying goodbye again to these things that we'd held dear. But once we completed that and arrived, moved into the boat, settled in, And realize that, wow, you know, like this was a time of really stretching our faith and growing our faith. But we saw God come through. And it was a time of thanking him for that opportunity to walk that tough path. But to come to that place of knowing full well that we had obeyed him completely. And there was peace in that, even though I'd said goodbye to all these things that I'd once held dear, there was peace in my heart and there was joy in having obeyed. And it was something that, yeah, we walked that path and it was hard, but wow, it's been worth every step.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, it's interesting you talk about, you know, peace of letting go of things that you once held dear. It's so hard sometimes to part with them. And there's some organizer lady that, you know, basically says, if you feel, if that item brings you joy, you know, keep it. And of course, if it's something you haven't, you know, used or worn or whatever for many years, you know, even if you're like, oh, I might wear that again. There's really no sense in keeping it. But I wonder why we have such a hard time letting things go. My... Mother-in-law has... The family calls her an organized hoarder. And so she has a basement that's probably 1,500 square feet. And it's the most organized basement stuffed to the brim with like 200 purses, you know, 400 pairs of pants. And they're those stretch pants that... you know like senior citizen ladies wear that you can slide on and have thanksgiving dinner and they still fit just fine in every color of the rainbow and then i'm like well why are there like 20 yellow pairs well she used to be super skinny so there's like you know three pairs and a size four three pairs and a size six three pairs and i'm not i'm like oh my gosh like you could never if you wore these pants every day like You probably, she couldn't even wear them like at the end of her life now and go through all those pants. You know what I mean? Like it's just crazy to me and she won't let us down there. Like my son really wants to go down there because he's a thrifter and he's been allowed down a couple of times like with oversight. Like she'll be down there with him. And he might get like a hockey jersey that my husband had when he was little. Or this last time my son came home with a stack of photographs of like my husband when he was, you know, a kid and in college. And then some from when we first got married, like probably 50 pictures. So that's what he came home with. But usually he gets like a little thing. I even got down there. Oh, I couldn't believe that was allowed down. But I needed one of those like shopping bags kind of like to take on the plane that... you know fooled up and she had some nicer ones down there that were like designed or whatever so I found a small one that you could maybe put like the size of like two bottles of wine maybe so that was perfect for like my snack on the plane I go oh look there's another one there's a matching one I'm thinking oh I should take both right she goes oh no no no no no don't get greedy girl And I'm looking around, right? Even three of the purses that I gave her, they're just hanging down there collecting dust, right? Like coach bags. And I'm like, are you sure you've never used that coach bag? Are you sure you want to keep that? Like I gave that to you 20 years ago. I would definitely use that. Oh, no, no, no, no. And I'm like, what? What is it? I don't understand the psychology grace behind that kind of hoarding. You know what I mean? And I know they say it can relate back to maybe losses. Like her dad was a police officer and he was killed in the line of duty when she was like maybe 8, 9, 10. And I've heard that like losing, like if you lose a child or lose something big, like somehow hanging onto these things. And I know that that's not like the Christian way to do it. We're not supposed to get our like comfort and our like, you know, out of things. They're not supposed to give us like that comfort. Right. But it's perplexing to me. Like I can't wrap my head around it, but it's got to have something to do with it giving you comfort or comfort.
SPEAKER 05 :
um security something like that you know that we're supposed to be secure through christ but apparently we're secure through 200 pairs of pants and 200 purses yeah the word security came to my mind as you were talking and i think that's it is that we look to things for our security but if that house burned down if that house were to burn down today how would she respond right like if she found her security in those things that'd be a significant loss for her But the one thing about hanging on to the Lord and finding our security in him is he's never going to leave us. Nothing's ever going to take him away from us. The scripture says in Romans that nothing separates us from his love. And so no matter what happens, even on those tough walks that we take through life, sometimes doesn't matter where he leads us or what he asks us to go through or what he allows in our life. still we can find hope and we can find peace and we can find joy if our security is in him and not in stuff that can be gone in a heartbeat.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and I think with so many of the people, I keep seeing these pictures because I've got so many friends in the news business in Los Angeles. And one of my girlfriends went out really early this morning. And, you know, I don't think we can really wrap our heads around the loss that those people experienced, right? And I know everybody says, well, you know, you still have your life and things can be replaced, etc., etc. But it's a whole... change of like all those lives because it's not like a house in your neighborhood burns down and oh you get rid of it you rebuild like it's so toxic up there and now they'll have problems with mudslides right but your grocery store is gone your library is gone your mechanic is gone all your neighbors homes are gone so like then you go up there and you rebuild and in the midst of all this toxic you know material that's up there and even working up there you know how how easy is it going to be to get workers that want to go through all this burnt toxic you know you know destruction that they need to throw into a big dumpster and you know start from the ground up and then the soil and i don't know just that kind of loss um you know, being secure in Christ, we're supposed to find our security there. But I can imagine when you return to your neighborhood and you don't even know if there's a possibility of you rebuilding, like, I'm very curious to see what it'll be like in 20 years. I'm assuming the oceanfront Malibu homes where those people have money coming out of their ears and they're like $10 million houses, those will get rebuilt because even if you don't have insurance money, you're loaded and you can rebuild. And the people in Pacific Palisades, you know, those are very expensive homes too in the millions, but some of them may have been in a different position of maybe owning it for 30 years and they they aren't multi-millionaires it just became millionaires because the you know real estate values went up so much but you know i'm just very curious to see what that will be like in 20 or or so years if it is all rebuilt because it is such a prime spot but i sometimes i feel like so the picture that i had when my friend sent all these pictures out today um was of just kind of despair and just kind of like a hopelessness that many of them feel about, you know, where do we go from here kind of feeling. And I think some of us have that feeling about other things in life, you know, where we end of a relationship oh gosh where do i go from here or the loss of someone a loved one you know how do i work my way through this how do i claw my way out of this i just watched a documentary um on avicii this dj who was so talented just oh so talented and he committed suicide and i just thought to myself like gosh, you were such a genius with creating music. If you didn't want to do those concerts, couldn't you just stop doing the concerts and just create with other, he was working with the top of the top of the top, you know, musicians. And couldn't you just do that? Like, couldn't you see your way out of it? And I know that that's why we have faith. I know that's why we have like the Lord to turn to. But I just think people get lost in a sea of despair sometimes.
SPEAKER 05 :
I agree with you on that. I think depression and anxiety are on the rise. And I just want to encourage listeners today to not give up, to keep putting that one foot in front of the other, just like my friend and her husband, as they were going on that path. They didn't know it was going to be four miles long. They didn't know how long it was going to take or how arduous, how steep it got. They just heard it was a great path. So, you know, the path that we end up on, we don't know where it's going to lead to eventually. We don't know sometimes how steep it's going to get. But like these poor people that have lost so much out in California, they don't know how long this is going to take before they can return to their life or what their life is going to look like. What is their new normal going to be? Where is their workplace going to be? Where are their kids going to go to school? What about their church family if they lost their church? So, you know, everything is disrupted in their lives. But to not give up hope, just every day put one foot in front of the other on that path and persevere because eventually it will even out. We don't know what that will look like. There are no guarantees, but It's going to be okay is what we want to say, right? It's going to be okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I always love, you know, your Fresh Hope for Today devotions. That's the book, Fresh Hope for Today, Devotions for Joy on the Journey. If you want some hope, it's a great book. Always enjoy talking to Grace Fox. And if you want to find her and her books, you can go to gracefox.com. Thank you, friend. Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Manitou Springs is listening to the Mighty 670 KLT.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here with the good news. Well, you know, if you've listened to the program over the years, I guess I've been on, gosh, radio and TV like 25 years. So many of you know my background and I have a real heart for foster care because I spent some time in foster care growing up and really was appreciative of the families that took me in. Joining us is Kristen Pratt, and she is with Foster More, the leadership team. Welcome, Kristen.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you so much for having me, Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, so let's just start off, first of all, I know that there is a need for foster care. I've seen books where it's like page after page after page of kids that are looking for homes. So is this crisis in America worse now? And just tell us about the foster care crisis in general.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so... Any given day, it fluctuates a bit, but there are approximately 400,000 children in foster care in America. So it is, it has seen some slight improvements the last few years, but a lot of those kids are experiencing, you know, over two to three placements a year, the majority of them. And so there's a real need for loving, stable homes for these kids who are facing a lot of obstacles.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes. Oh my goodness. All right. So I know that you guys do some research and there was a barrier, a significant barrier preventing, you know, families from stepping forward to, I'll tell you what my mind would be. Well, first of all, I have three teenagers, five pets and off and on my 82 year old mom. But my barrier would probably be my husband. But I might be able to work on him like once the kids are gone, because they're all in high school now. But the barrier for me is my spouse, like I would do foster care. And I know it's rough. I don't have any fairy tale like version of how difficult it could potentially be. So what are the barriers that people see in terms of becoming foster parents?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I mean, that is a barrier, like your spouse, you have to both be on board. But We always tell people, too, there's a need for foster parents of all kinds, all ages, you know, empty nesters, young people, older people, single people. So there's really, you know, anyone can step up there. And one of the things that we found that people would say is that they couldn't take the time off work. So they'd say, well, my job doesn't allow for me to take that time off work. And, you know, like there's a lot that goes into that. Um, when the child is placed in the home, not only do you need that time to bond with, with some child who has by definition experienced some trauma, but you also need the time to get them enrolled in a new school and doctor's appointments and, you know, all the appointments. So you really, it's important to have that time off when the child joins a home and a lot of businesses don't provide for that. And it stops a lot of potential foster parents from moving forward when they find out that information.
SPEAKER 06 :
Um, have you, have you, like, is this something that you try to address with businesses to try to, I know that my, my station that I worked for one of the gals on the, one of the weather women, uh, adopted a child and she got, you know, the typical time off that you would get. But in this case it was an infant, but I know some businesses do give you time off, but I would. assume with a single parent that that would just kind of like you know take that option off the plate for them to become a foster parent but do um does the foster care system help with things like um you know daycare if you're getting like a kid that's two three four that needs you know daycare during the day they do there are it depends on the state you live in but there are some you know provisions for that and that's another thing that we work with businesses like if a business has on-site child care um we ask that you know
SPEAKER 04 :
youth in foster care if someone becomes a foster parent their child can be um immediately have access to the to the facility yeah but um yeah one of the things we realized is that a lot of the businesses that were offering like you were talking about adoption paid time off for adoption or birth foster care was just overlooked because yes you know a lot of people think of foster care as a road to adoption. And so they get, you know, the time off when the child is adopted, but you really need that time off when the child is placed in the home. And the child is not always adopted in foster care. About half the time they're reunited with the parents. So we need all different kinds of homes, people that want to adopt, people that want to be there for a family that needs some support. And so we want to make sure that businesses are specifically giving that time off for just being a foster parent
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, I understand that Foster More is obviously helping with this whole workplace initiative, you know, trying to get places to make it more, you know, user-friendly to become a foster parent. Can you talk about that?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So at Foster More, we have sort of like a ladder of engagement on our website. We try to engage people in all different ways. So, you know, if you want to learn about becoming a mentor for youth in foster care, if you want to have the opportunity to pack a duffel bag or get involved and volunteer in different ways, you can start on our website to do that. And one of the tabs on the website is to become a foster parent, where you can fill out a little form, and then we can connect you with someone, depending on where you live, someone in your local area that can help you learn about becoming a foster parent. And the same thing for the workplace pledge, there's a tab on the website where you can learn more about If you're a business owner or an employee and you're interested in having your business become officially foster-friendly, you can do that on the website, too, and we'd be happy to talk more to anyone about their business becoming foster-friendly.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. I'm just wondering, you know, for people listening today who are thinking about becoming a foster parent, I know a lot of it seems like overwhelming and, you know, all the things you have to tackle to be approved, et cetera. So how do you recommend people get, you know, started on the process? Obviously your website with all the tabs, you know, a really good idea. But how can someone personally, I mean, talking to someone, that's a great idea that you just gave us. What else?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, well, again, research shows that it takes about 18 months to two years for people. Once they start thinking about becoming a foster parent, you know, do you have the idea to actually become a foster parent? So, you know, it does take, and as it should take a lot of thought for people, it takes a lot of research. So it's something you can start looking into. It's a little bit different than requirements in every state. You can start asking people about it. You can look into other ways to, to get involved and volunteer first. I mean, the need is great for foster parents, but if you want to learn more about foster care, you can volunteer. There are tons of amazing organizations all across the country doing great work. You can learn more about how to get involved in different ways. you know, maybe on the path to becoming a foster parent, as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, in your particular case, what I always love to get people's passion for things, obviously, I'm interested in this topic, because I live with families and relatives, and I only had one, quote, unquote, official foster home, but I had many places where I stayed, you know, so what what what is behind your passion for this kind of work?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I've always been involved in working with kids. I have a background in special education and I became a CASA, which is a court appointed advocate. And that's something people can look into as well, where you support a youth in foster care, you go to court with them and you're sort of their mentor and their person along the way. And so I learned a lot about foster care that way. And just, you know, the more it's something that, like I was saying, people don't talk about that much, but it's such a big issue. And once you, it's like you can't unsee, you know, what you've seen and what you've learned. And it really requires so many more people to step up in any way that you can. And I think it's something that you realize, like, we're all connected to this issue. It's not just a sort of other or someone, you know, far off that you don't know. Like you said, like almost all the time, When we talk to people at businesses, we hear stories like yours where it was like I was in foster care. My cousin was in foster care. My parents were. I was a foster parent. And so so many people are connected. And it's just not only when you provide the workplace benefits, you're also getting people to talk about it, too, which is so important. And that's why we really appreciate you having us on, too, so we can talk about it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, I'm wondering in terms of I know that there's like people are thinking, oh, foster care, you know, I'm going to have this kid for 18 years. But there are other, you know, that sounds terrible, but I said it like that. But you know what I mean? Like people are overwhelmed by the prospect of having a child that long or maybe someone, you know, like myself, who's already raised their kids, who's maybe looking at teens or something of the sort. I know you can specify what you're interested in, but is there also like emergency short-term care where you might just have a baby for a week or, you know, like shorter-term options per se? Now, one of my girlfriends, she's a nurse, her husband's a doctor. They did have a short-term situation. And then once the little girl had stayed with them for quite some time, she told me, well, we're going to adopt her. And I was like, wow, like your kids are in college, like yikes. And she said it's the right thing to do because she'd been with them for so long.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So most places you can sign up for respite care. So that's basically like giving a foster parent a weekend break or a few day break. Oh, I've never heard of that. Yeah. So that's a really cool way to sort of like dip your toe in and get involved. It's called respite care. And also there's a really huge need for people that don't want to adopt from foster care that they just want to support. Because like I was saying, the goal of foster care, the ultimate goal is is to support whole families so that kids can be reunified. And that, you know, doesn't always happen. And sometimes, you know, the best situation is for them to stay with the foster parents. But if at all possible, you try to support a whole family so that the child can be reunited with their biological parents. And that requires people to step up temporarily, right? Like that's so important. And I think a lot of times people think of it more as like a road to path to adoption, which it can be. But there's a huge need for people that want to just be there and provide a safe, loving, supportive space for a child in the family who's going through a crisis.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. We only have a couple of minutes left, but I can't believe I've never heard of respite care. Okay. So would you keep the child for the day or is this something like more like several days or do you kind of take them maybe on? I know CASA, they take them on like outings and things like that from their foster situation. So what are the possibilities for respite care for a foster parent?
SPEAKER 04 :
So respite care, you know, I think it depends on each in each state. I think it's a little bit different, but most of the time it's, you know, two, three days you're certified as a foster parent. So you would have to get the certification, like, you know, the cost of you're not, you have to have like a background check and everything, but you're not certified as a foster parent. So if you're doing respite care, you have to go through the whole process of making sure your home is suitable and everything. And then it would be, I think the time really varies, you know, it could be, Two nights, three nights a week. It's just really that time, like say a foster parent needs a break or is going on vacation or has a family emergency, you know, and they need to go out of town. So someone providing respite care would give them that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I think about, you know, business trips. Okay, we have one minute left. Tell me your takeaway. What do you want to tell people that are, like, kind of on the fence? Like, what do you want people to know if you had a one-minute elevator speech to give to us?
SPEAKER 04 :
I think the main thing we want people to know, and this is what we say at Foster Mer, these kids are amazing, and they're resilient, and they have the potential to overcome anything, and they really just need someone... to step up and be there for them. The outcomes for kids in foster care are not great, and that can change if we as a society and as individuals step up and are there for these kids.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I sure appreciate all that you do. My foster care situation was quite interesting because I come from a family where my dad has his PhDs, well-educated, but we had a lot of, he was estranged from our family for like 35 years. And then one of my brothers was murdered. Another one ended up homeless. Wow. Here I graduated top of my class. I worked full time all through high school and college. So for somebody listening, just the opportunity to stay with my foster family and other families that really cared, I think really made a difference in my life and where my first job was at NBC News out of college in Los Angeles. So thank you, Kristen, for all you do for others. Really appreciate you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you so much, Angie. I'd love to hear more about your story.
SPEAKER 06 :
I'd love to talk again. Thanks, Kristen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
In this thought-provoking episode, Angie Austin brings forth conversations that challenge us to rethink the way we view our lives. Jim Stovall shares his insights on breaking free from a mediocre existence and what it means to truly live a fulfilling life. Through poignant anecdotes, including the tale of a man planning a new chapter post-incarceration, listeners are invited to reconsider the power of a single life-altering decision. Moreover, Angie’s conversation with Dr. Scott Adzick explores pioneering work in fetal surgery, offering hope and insights into life-saving medical advancements. As Dr. Adzick talks about training future specialists, the episode also highlights the importance of mentorship and legacy in impactful work. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their passions and make deliberate choices that align with their values and dreams. Whether it's a career change or finding joy in volunteering, this episode serves as a guidepost for navigating towards a life of significance and satisfaction.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here's Angie.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hello there, friend. Angie Austin, Jim Stovall with The Good News. And today we are talking about your best life. Sounds like the best column. I love this, Jim.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, thank you. It's a phrase we all kind of borrow from Oprah. And she probably got it from somewhere else. But, you know, and the premise is that... we have a choice. We can live our best life. We can live our worst life. And, you know, I'm well aware of the fact that bad things happen to good people. And, you know, it can either be a something that defeats you or a springboard to greater success. And Walt Whitman said, I am not one person. I am many persons. You know, I'm a giant. I'm a dwarf. I'm wealthy. I'm poor. I'm you know, successful, I'm a failure, all these things, because he realized that inside of each of us is the potential to be all of those things. And, you know, we all have those moments, those days, those periods of time that change that. I had a gentleman in my office last week who I met at a fundraiser event I was doing for a Oh, a faith-based group that helps people getting out of prison. Okay. And he had made a horrible series of decisions when he was 15 years old, and it ended up with him killing a guy, and he spent the next 35 years of his life in the penitentiary. So I met him at age 50 when he just got out, and he had been in prison every day since he was 15. And, you know, and it's just amazing. He recounted what happened to him that morning. And he made a couple of dumb decisions and put himself in a bad place. And there you go. I mean, it wasn't some big conspiracy plan or something. It was a momentary thing. And his life is there. So he talked to me about the fact that, okay, that's been your life up to now. But now you're 50. For the next 35 years, you can decide what do you want your life to be. And you have to have a double good life from here on out to make up for that first part. So you've got to come back. You're like a team. You're two touchdowns behind. You've got to make up for this. And he's making plans to do that. And we all have the ability to live a great life or a poor life. Unfortunately, most people... live right in the middle. They live a mediocre existence. And in our country today, Angie, it doesn't take much to be mediocre. You can just kind of drift through life if you want to, and that's where it is. Or you can change your life by changing your mind, and you can live a great life. And it's all about making a decision. And you can have one moment right now today that changes that, just like the guy I told you about, When he was 15 years old, he had one moment he did something really stupid and ruined his life. Well, the contrary is true. We can all have one moment where we make our mind to change. I remember a moment like that for me, and my life will never be the same. I just don't want to live like this anymore. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, and that's it. And, you know, many things go back to that. And I just decided that's it. We're not living like this anymore.
SPEAKER 03 :
Was that the loaf of bread?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, indeed. Yeah, we miscalculated our groceries as we were going through the grocery store. And Crystal had to go put back a loaf of bread. And it was embarrassing and frustrating. And I just said there is no reason I should ever live like this. I'm just not going to live like this anymore. And that changed my world.
SPEAKER 03 :
And you two, weren't you first and second in your college class when you graduated?
SPEAKER 05 :
We were indeed. We were indeed. But we had gotten way in debt, and I was blind. And at that point, I thought disabilities means you couldn't do stuff.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, interesting.
SPEAKER 05 :
Everything I knew about being blind, I learned from people that told me what that meant. And it's no different than all of us going through life if we're mediocre. Someone told us this is how you live. And people that live a pinnacle existence, a mountaintop existence, they either had somebody amazing tell them how they could live life, they read a book, or they just got a vision of who they could be, and they just decided, I'm not going to be that way anymore. And I read about once this bald eagle had fallen out of the nest and had been taken in through a set of circumstances. It ends up with a bunch of ducks that have just hatched. And this eagle, you know, was raised by this mama duck and, you know, and took on the character. This eagle thought he was a duck. And he walked like a duck, talked like a duck, you know, even started quacking like a duck. I mean, and took on those characteristics. Oh, my gosh. we have a tendency to become like our environment or the people around us, and we can change that. And any time we don't like it, we can change the channel. Sometimes we act like it's a wired-in broadcast and we're stuck with this. No, you've got 500 channels. You can do anything with your life you want, and you change your life when you change your mind. And that's why every once in a while you need somebody to come along And think, what would your best life look like? I mean, what would you do if you could do anything you wanted to do? Because the reality is that's where we all live.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, what did you tell this guy? So he made a mistake, killed somebody when he was 15, didn't plan it. And all these years later, he's 50. What did you tell him to do in order to live his best life?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I told him, first, we've all got to decide what it is we want. What do we want the end to look like? And he's working on that right now. We're going to have another meeting next month. But I said, then you got to look at what talents, abilities and experiences do you have? And he said, well, I don't have any. I said, that's where you're wrong. There are people going into prison, getting out of prison. There are people who need to make quality decisions to stay out of prison. And you have a unique life. You can speak to those people. And you know what it's like on the inside. You know what it's like out here. And more than anybody I know, you can speak to that issue. And, you know, we talked about him, you know, consulting with people, writing a book, helping young people in high schools. I mean, you know, when you have a guy walk in and say, I'm 50 years old. I mean, you know, I'm as old as your parents and almost your grandparents standing here. And when I was your age that you are right now, I did something really stupid and I ended up this way. And, you know, and maybe you could help a handful of kids from avoiding that. And, uh, that would be a good life. You, you, you would be living your best life when you use the talents and abilities and experiences you've had to help other people. So he and I talked about that and, um, You know, and he's got a job. He's the place that I help raise money for. They help people get jobs, and it's not a great job, but it's a job. And he has an apartment, and it's not a great apartment, but it's a good place to start. And as he pointed out, it's better than a jail cell, and the neighborhood's better. So he's feeling pretty good about it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Whenever I talk to interviewees that I find particularly interesting, I figure out where they got their passion for what they do. And one of the doctors that I've interviewed that is coming up again is Dr. Adzik, and he does fetal surgery. And he told me, I'll never forget, of all the thousands of interviews, I'll never forget, he said, what's the most satisfying thing about your work? Or when have you felt like, wow, I'm really doing something that makes a difference? He goes, well, every year when I go to the big party for the kids that I've done fetal surgery on, so it might be heart surgery while the baby's in the womb that saves its life. He goes, I see him throwing the football and having a great time together, enjoying the party, eating their hot dogs or whatever they're having. And he said, and I think, wow, this is really great work that I do. This is this is really I'm making a difference. This is very satisfying. I thought, wow, what a cool thing, because he's working on cleft palates and club feet, heart surgeries, spina bifida, you know, all these things that we never would have operated on a baby in the womb. Right. It's just so fascinating to me. And so I started talking more recently about like finding your passion. Like you said, what are you interested in? What are your skills like? you know, what are your values, where do you think you could add, whether it's, you know, a job where you're going to get paid, or whether it's going to be volunteer work, because I've been writing all this down myself, trying to figure out, you know, what I'm going to do next, as my kids are, one, another one's leaving this year, you know, Riley just went up to, moved up to campus just recently, because he'd been commuting, and then the next one goes to Tennessee in about six months, and then I'll have one left at home, so really just thinking about, you know, what's next, so I like, you know, how you are kind of setting him on the right path to what he wants to do next after all those years in prison and knowing that he can still make a difference.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, absolutely. We all have the ability to do that. And then sometimes we forget, like you were talking about your doctor. I met a young lady the other day, a young lady, and she's probably in her mid-40s, and I was speaking at a university. And she's the dean of admissions and teaches at the university, and she came up and introduced herself. I said, it's nice to meet you. And she said, you don't know who I am, do you? And I said, well, you just told me who you are. And she said, no, no, no, no. 1988, I'm a college freshman. I ran out of money. I was getting ready to drop out of the university and go back to my job as a waitress. I went to the mailbox there on campus to turn in my key. I had one envelope left there, and it was a letter from you telling me I got a scholarship. And I finished college and got a graduate degree, and now I'm dean of this university. And she said, it all started because you made that envelope happen. And I said, well, thank you, but no, you made all that happen. You did every bit of that. But I said, I will tell you, from time to time, it's a hassle running a scholarship, and you just gave me plenty of motivation for the next 10 years. I'm good to go.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 03 :
That is, that's, whew. Well, speaking of making an impact, there you did, but I want to tell you one other thing. You know my friend Dr. Cheryl Lynch, she's a professor and just a really neat lady, and she writes books as well, and she wrote me a note the other day, and she said, she I'm reading Jim Stovall's book, The Gift of a Day, 100 Doses of Winner's Wisdom. And this quote from Chapter 7, Crystallize What I Do. Could we do a segment on this sometime? I'd really like to talk about it because Jim has such a way with words. And here's what he said that brought me to tears. And the quote, I'll start with the whole thing, but then I'll highlight what you said that made her cry. Influence can be either good or bad, and it can be overt or subtle. We are all being influenced, and we are all influencing others every day. And here's the part that got her. If we learn something, we change our world. If we teach something, we change another person's world. But if we teach people to teach, we change the whole world. And she said that really encapsulates what she does as a professor, and that made her cry.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, that is good. I think we ought to laugh some every day, cry some every day, have good memories. And, you know, that needs to be a regular part of our day. And it's a good thing. And please tell her I am greatly honored.
SPEAKER 03 :
She's a good one. All right. So in your best life, we've got about a minute left. What's our takeaway here?
SPEAKER 05 :
Examine the life you're living right now. We spend very little time. We spend our lives worrying about stuff that happened in the past we can't do anything about or fretting about stuff in the future that may or may not even happen. And we never take a look at what am I doing right now and is this really what I want to do or did I just kind of end up here? You know, someone told me to get in that line and here I am. And really take it, do it on purpose and, you know, really start living your best life.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I love it. You always say, today's the day. And it says, you and I are much the same, and our best lives await. As you go through your day today, trade your ordinary life for your best life, because today's the day. And that's jimstovall.com, jimstovall.com. Thank you, my friend.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you. Be well.
SPEAKER 03 :
You be well. Brighton is tuned to the mighty 670 KLT Denver.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here with the good news. Well, I'm really excited about our next interview. Did you know that nearly 150,000 babies every year are born in the U.S. with birth defects, many with conditions so rare that some of the parents and clinicians have never even heard of them? approximately 5,000 fetal surgeries done worldwide to treat these birth defects. A quarter of them had been performed at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Scott Adzick is a fetal surgeon who specializes in treating these babies' unique needs. And today we're discussing advancements that will save even more lives. And we've had Dr. Adzik on the show before and over 30 years in TV news and radio news. I worked at NBC for many years. I've interviewed thousands of people. And Dr. Adzik is one of my all time favorite interviews, which he doesn't even know this. His work is fascinating and lifesaving. Welcome back, doctor.
SPEAKER 06 :
Geez, thanks for the introduction, Angie. That was awesome.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, I'm fascinated by people's passion for what they do. And I asked you once, hey, what's satisfying about your work? You know, what gives you great, you know, satisfaction? And you said these kids come back for this like party that you have to celebrate the kids who've been saved, you know, in, you know, you've operated on them before they've even been born and you're like and here they are like teenagers and they're throwing the football and you know I mean not you're humble but they're alive because in some cases you did this surgery on them and you're watching all of these kids playing that really I mean you kind of help save their lives I mean that's so cool that's very cool and you're right and that sort of sounds a little bit like me I don't even need to do the interview I mean you the line look
SPEAKER 06 :
It is true that each year in June, actually this year is on June 1st, Sunday at the Philadelphia Zoo, you're invited. Oh, I'd love to go. I have a fetal family reunion and patients, children and their families come back. And last year we had over 3,000 people there. And that's usually for the most part just folks who are local and regional, not just who are national since the program was started. It was started in 1995. This is 30 years for us. We've had more than 33,000 pregnant women carrying babies with birth defects referred to us from all 50 states and from more than 70 countries. So that is inspiring. There's so many children whose babies likely could have died running around and growing up healthy and strong. Actually, there's nothing better. Nothing better.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I want to talk a little bit about some of the advancements, because this is so fascinating to me anyway, that you can operate on a baby while it's still in the mom's tummy. I mean, to put it down to the basics of what you do, but I mean, it's so technical and they're so tiny. Talk about some of the birth defects that you can help via this surgery.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, well, there's a whole long list. and we've been fortunate to be pioneers in many of them. The two most common, though, I'll touch on are spina bifida and twin-twin transfusions. What's spina bifida? Well, you know, but I'll explain it to your listeners. That's where, in the developing fetus, the tissues around the spinal cord don't develop normally, so the spinal cord and the associated nerves are exposed to the in-utero environment, which is principally amniotic fluid, which in the third trimester is quite neurotoxic, destroy the developing spinal. These children, when they're born, they're likely to eventually be wheelchair-bound, have motor function problems, have hydrocephalus, fluid on the brain, require a ventricular peritoneal shunt to drain the fluid into the abdomen, and so on and so forth. We can now treat this condition in selected cases. Before birth, we've done about 500 of these operations since I think it was the first one in 1998. And the children who have the operation between 23 and 26 weeks gestation, in an operation, it's on average about 70 minutes. The outcomes, this is not a cure completely for spondylobifida. Children that have this before birth are much more likely to walk, have much better motor functions. Much less likely to have hydrocephalus, much less likely to need one of those shunt tubes. That's reporting and we're now doing, obviously, the long-term follow-up. The first case was in 1998. We're now doing the follow-up, which goes back almost 30 years.
SPEAKER 03 :
The condition is about... And I hate to interrupt you, but for people that aren't as familiar with it, I had a girlfriend who was very young when she had her first baby. She's now in her 20s. And they told her that her baby had spina bifida and said, when do you want to schedule the abortion, basically? And she was like, what? You know, she didn't even know what it was. And so she, you know, did some research, et cetera. And this kid is amazing. They have four, five kids. And she's like the light of their lives and helps with the other kids, et cetera. And, you know, she does have some issues with walking, et cetera, wears braces. But, you know, a high functioning mentally, you know, has graduated from high school and did really well. But I mean, that's the option that some people are given and they don't even know about you. So that's another reason I think what you do is so amazing. Like people who would have not kept their baby... we're letting people know that, hey, there's this other option where they can have a much better, possibly, quality of life if they have this fetal surgery. So I just wanted to throw that in there.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and that's one of the reasons why we're doing the interview now, just for information so that folks can be knowledgeable and aware. The second most common operation we do is an operation for twin-twin transfusion syndromes called fetoscopic laser therapy. Well, what is that? Well, Twin-twin transfusion syndrome, TTTS for short, is identical twins in the uterus, of course, each within their own amniotic sac. As opposed to each of the two twins having their own placenta, which is the disc between the mother and the fetus's umbilical cord, these twins share a placental disc, one placenta. And the setup is that there's an imbalance of circulation such that there are abnormal crossing blood vessels from one side to the other, such that one twin, one identical twin, gets too much blood and develops congestive heart failure, and the other twin doesn't get enough blood and goes into kidney failure, and both twins will go on to die, unless you do fetoscopic laser therapy. So what is that? Well, the mother has sedation, sedation, It's a fetus coat placed through her abdominal wall, like laparoscopy, into the uterus. We visualize that the sona use a laser fiber that will coagulate or occlude those culprit vessels. And in most instances, both twins save.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, the work you do is so highly specialized. And I was reading about an award you received last year. And in the article I was reading, it said that you trained over 50 other or helped, you know, train 50 other doctors. And it talked about other people. So not only are you doing this groundbreaking surgery, but, you know, in Philadelphia, you're also helping, you know, other younger people learn to do what you do, because obviously there will be a time when you're not doing this anymore. So I think that's pretty a pretty cool privilege as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think so, and it's an important part of our mission, of course, to train future professors who now run fetal programs throughout North America, South America, Europe, Far East. That's very gratifying, and it provides greater access for more patients, more unborn patients.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I could talk to you for another half an hour, but I know that I've got a time limit here, so we've got another minute. Besides giving us the website, what else do you want us to know?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, the future's bright. Talked a little bit about the artificial womb, about in-utero gene editing. There's a lot of other stuff going on. Very, very, very exciting. That's three varies.
SPEAKER 02 :
Would you give us the website so we can get more information, doctor? And I'd love to have you back. You're always welcome on the good news.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you. Fetal surgery, one word, that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, always a pleasure. Dr. Scott Adzik, always a pleasure to have you on fetalsurgery.chop.edu. Thank you so much. A real blessing to have you on the show.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, he is amazing. I just, like I said in the intro, I just was so, you know, I've interviewed him before. And when he told me the story about the kids, you know, getting together for that, you know, yearly party to kind of celebrate their lives, seeing those kids toss the football and play and do all those things and just be amazing. living their lives because of this fetal surgery that he has done on them for various issues. Some of the heart issues are obviously life-saving and the spina bifida surgery is life-changing. So, wow, I just think what he does is... I mean, not many people can do what he does. All right. So, and how cool that he's training so many other physicians to, you know, do the kind of work that he does because it's not that common. All right. So I started this last week where I told you, you know, let's find our passions because I love to talk to all these people about how they, you know, got a passion for what they do in my 30 plus years now of interviewing thousands of people. I just love to hear why they chose what they do. And, You know, I've interviewed so many interesting people in, you know, politics or, you know, physicians always fascinate me. Their brains are so wonderful. And, you know, nonprofits, you know, my friend Lloyd Lewis that does work with kids with cognitive deficits. You know, kids are differently abled and, you know, maybe had a hard time getting through school. And, you know, he gives them benefits. jobs and they add so much to the organization. They have such big hearts. I mean, some of the kids that I've met with Down syndrome, his son has Down syndrome, are some of the most loving people I've ever met in my life. It's like they have an extra gene for love, you know, and joy and happiness. So then that became his passion, you know, working with You know, young people, you know, who he employs over 500 now ambassadors. So how do we find our passion? And I've told you repeatedly, I'm looking for my next thing after my kids are raised. So what am I going to do? Am I going to volunteer with pets? You know, so as I mentioned last week, so number one, reflect on your interests, you know, minor animals, kids, older people. um being active hiking you know and then identify your strengths so you know i love ymca the rockies maybe i go up there you know in the summers and i lead hikes i knew a guy who did that and you live up there and you don't really get paid much you just kind of get free room and board and spend the summer but you know ymca the rockies and that's always kind of intrigued me how fun would that be um and then keep you know besides your strengths and you know what you're interested in what do you spend your time on so pay attention to what you do in your free time you know what are you doing in your free time are you exercising are you Are you lifting? Are you spending time with your pets? Are you going for walks with your dogs? Are you volunteering at the local elementary school? Are you helping kids learn how to read? Are you volunteering? Like, you know, volunteering might be a great way too to figure out your next even career path, right? Because you can volunteer in an area of interest. Internships, I think, are great ways to really get your foot in the water. My daughter wants to be an attorney, and I'm like, you should definitely do an internship at a law office and really be with these attorneys and see what they do before you make that kind of a commitment to that kind of education. Explore new things. Try new activities. Meet new people. Connections. Meeting people is so important. Just getting out there, chatting with people. You can even ask for connections on social media. Hey, does anybody know anybody that works with animals? Does anybody know anyone that works in law? And people will connect you with people. It's amazing what they do. I just had a really sweet friend of my daughter's move to Colorado Springs and she was homeschooled and really involved in her church. And I knew a girl that I met at 10, who's now close to 30. And I knew she was really involved in kids ministry, particularly working with young women. And I knew she'd have connections for her. So I just randomly connected them on text. And hopefully they're going to be able to, you know, the older girls can be able to connect the younger girl to some other Christians in her community. So I'm very hopeful for that. And then journaling. I mentioned that last week to write down your thoughts, your feelings, your direction. I think sometimes we get direction when we kind of do prayer and journaling to kind of get an idea of, you know, where we want to go. And writing for me really helps me get those ideas out and put them on paper. And that kind of guides me. But then speaking of guidance, seek out someone, a mentor, a friend. I used to have an accountability partner, which was another newswoman in Los Angeles. She's still the main anchor at Fox in L.A., And we would hold each other accountable every week. We'd go over, you know, what were your goals? Did you follow through on what you wanted to do? Did you do blah, blah, blah? So and then think about your values, you know, what might work for you, you know, in terms of your own values and what's important to you. So, yeah, all of that. And, you know, of course, fears like get rid of those. Just go for it if you want to try something new. All right. This is Angie Austin. Thanks so much for listening to the good news.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
