Menu
In this enlightening episode of The Good News with Angie Austin, Angie is joined by Grace Fox to discuss the concept of 'Joyful Disruptions'. Grace shares a profound experience from her travels in Romania that illustrates how unexpected disruptions can lead to powerful spiritual connections and personal growth. Together, they explore how embracing God's unexpected plans can enrich our lives with joy and purpose. Tune in to be inspired by tales of faith, resilience, and the beauty of life's unpredictable journey.
SPEAKER 06 :
welcome to the good news with angie austin now with the good news here's angie hello there friend angie austin and grace fox with the good news we're talking about in the new year joyful disruptions i love that title grace's book that we're speaking of today is fresh hope for today devotions for joy on the journey and um it's so funny joyce that welcome by the way thank you for having me again It's funny because just yesterday I posted on my Facebook something that I'd written several years back and it had to do with stopping to smell the donuts because my post was about, from five years ago, was about how I like to stop at the world's largest ball of twine. And then I had a picture from back then where we stopped at the dinosaur in the parking lot. It was a dinosaur gift shop outside of Palm Springs. And then Randy's Donuts near LAX in Los Angeles that's like a two-story high donut on top of, and I'd never stopped there because when I lived in California, I worked so much like 60 to 80 hours a week that I didn't do all the fun things. So now I like to stop and experience things. So what's funny is that before I even knew you, um, my title, my theme for the year, five years ago was the joy is in the journey. And so your book, Being Fresh Hope for Today, Devotions for Joy on the Journey, I just thought about because yesterday I decided my new theme for the year was the joy is in the journey. And then as I'm interviewing you and starting the interview, I'm like, wait a second. That was what I posted five years ago. I didn't even know you. And then today we're talking about your book, Devotions for Joy on the Journey. I just think God works in funny ways.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, that is so cool. And then today's little discussion that we're going to have is about joyful disruption. So we keep bringing the joy back into it. That's great.
SPEAKER 06 :
And so as we're talking about the new year, you kind of preface this by saying to me, look, we all have a lot of plans for the new year, but be open to God's plans for us. So let's talk about this joyful disruption, devotion, and then what you want us to be, you know, open to this year.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, for sure. So I wrote this little devotion after having an experience in Romania, where my husband and I were going from one destination to another, checking up on some of our missionaries and just making sure that they were doing well. And on the way, when we got to the Romanian border, the train stopped and some police officers came on board with German Shepherd dogs. They were sniffing for drugs and all this. But about four of them gathered at our little berth at the doorway and then just started talking away in Romanian to us. We didn't understand, but they were pointing and talking and finally realized, oh, man, they're asking for our passports. And so they checked mine. It was fine. They checked Gene's. And there was a problem with the stamp when he entered Europe on that one. They failed to put the proper stamp in passport control. And so they pulled us off the train with our suitcases. and took us into the nearest police station where there we were in a room with a little single light bulb hanging down from the roof and being questioned by a woman who spoke very good English. But, boy, they were just really grilling Jean over when he entered and whatnot. They finally took our passports and left the room, and we had no idea really what was going to happen because there was no explanation given for that. It was a little bit scary because people told us, you know, in some countries, Westerners are targets. And so they'd always told us in that particular country, don't give up your passport because they might ask for a bribe in order for you to get it back. Oh, interesting. And they stopped you, especially if you're involved in an accident as a foreigner. They just will regard you as somebody with money. And so they are going to want money before they get your car back or get your passport back or anything like that. And so we thought, oh, man, you know, there's our passports. We didn't really have a choice on giving them up. And and so we didn't know what was going to happen. But in the end, it worked out OK. But in the interim, we were left with a Romanian-speaking officer who wanted to practice his conversational English. And you know what had happened?
SPEAKER 06 :
Wait, what? He just said to you, look, I know they've got your passports, but I would just like to practice my English with you in the interim.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, this is so funny, because it was a woman that took our passports away. I think she was in a position of authority there, and she just assigned this guy to stay with us in this room. Yeah, and so he just started... kind of trying to talk as best he could in conversational English. But the neatest thing was, was it was Easter time. And so we got into a spiritual conversation on what is Easter? What does it mean? Oh, it means that Jesus died. Well, who's Jesus? You know, there's a lot of religion in some of those countries, but not a lot of people know who Jesus is. Wow. And so we got to explain who Jesus was. And the thing was, my dad had died a couple weeks prior, and I wasn't even able to attend the funeral because I was in Eastern Europe. And so I was able to share with him how my dad died, but that we knew he was with Jesus because he placed his faith in Jesus as a young man. And so we got to explain what that meant. And all of that in, you know, his practicing conversational English. So, yes, it was a real hassle when we got pulled off the train because we missed our connection. You know, it messed up the missionaries that were waiting to meet us at the end. We had to wait for the next train to come and all that. It was a headache. But God had better plans. And we had to be willing to hold our plans in an open hand so he could fulfill better plans. And that's how I think we need to go into the new year. We have all our hopes and dreams in our hands and they might all be good. That's great. But let's hold them in an open hand because God might have better plans yet. And so just hold them in an open hand. And if he disrupts our plans for something better, so be it. Let's just roll with it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Wow. I mean, that is crazy that God used these two people who were involved in ministry, you know, who would evangelize in a very subtle way to a guy that just wanted to speak English, you know, with you. And did you feel that he understood the gist of what you were getting at?
SPEAKER 05 :
We did. It was the best conversation ever. And what was kind of funny was at the end, like we really had a bond. I had a couple of granola bars on me. And we talked about his family. He told us we were able to ask him those questions using basic English. And he answered using basic English, but he told us he had a couple of children. And so I gave him the granola bars and I said, these are for your kids. And he smiled and stuck them in his pocket. And then I said, can I get a picture taken with you? And he kind of looked out the door down the hall to make sure nobody else was coming. And then he handed the camera to my husband and he goes, okay, now, now. And so he took the picture and, And then he disappeared for a moment and came back. He had his, his hand clutched closed and he took my hand, turned my palm up and then he put his clutched hand on top of my palm. And I'm thinking, what's he going to do? What's he going to put into my hand? Cause he could put something contraband in my hand and then, and then look like I'm holding it. And now he's going to want money to, you know, for me to kind of ride my way out of this situation. But, but he opened his hand onto mine and pressed a patch onto my hand. It was one of these fabric patches that you can sew onto a piece of clothing, and it came from the communist days. It was like a little relic from days gone by, and he just said, I just want you to have that. I just want you to take it and remember me.
SPEAKER 06 :
Do you still have it?
SPEAKER 05 :
I do. I do.
SPEAKER 06 :
That is so cool. And so the picture, do you still have the picture too?
SPEAKER 05 :
I do somewhere in a file, but I do have the patch. It's with me on a boat. It made the purge even when we moved onto the sailboat because it was such a special moment to connect with this police officer at that station in Romania. When it was all done, the whole situation was over. They brought our passports back and they realized that it was passport control issue, you know, stamping Dean's passport incorrectly. They apologized for the inconvenience. And then, and then this was so funny. The lady in charge says to this police officer, you take them to the train station and you get them on the next train. So he marched us to the train station. He told us to wait there. Well, he went back until the train arrived. It was about another hour's wait or something. And then he came back when the train pulled into the station, picked up our suitcases. He marched us onto the train, put our suitcase up above on a rack there. And then, you know, when he did, he he put his heels together like a soldier would. And he saluted us right there in the aisle of this train. Everybody else was watching. What in the world is going on with them? And then, you know, made sure that we were seated comfortably and off he went. It was an incredible situation where we just saw God at work. So that patch stayed with me as we moved on to the boat.
SPEAKER 06 :
That is such a cool experience. And like you said, joyful disruptions. Most people would have seen that as like, you know, you see people traveling and losing their marbles and yelling and throwing a fit. And they apologize saying it wasn't your fault. It was when you entered the country and that the stamp was, you know, not correct because, you know, fault on their country's end. not on yours and apologetic, but so many people would have been so harried by the disruption that they wouldn't have taken that opportunity to really enjoy that experience and share their faith. And that's such a great, I love the message for the new year that we have these wonderful plans, maybe for the new year, But they may not completely align with God's plans or there might be a detour or, as you put it, a disruption. And to be open to these detours because they might be wonderful experiences not only for you but the person that God brings into your path.
SPEAKER 05 :
Exactly. We don't know what God has in mind. And so as we enter this new year, I do it with joy. I do it with a sense of anticipation, maybe a little bit of trepidation over things that I have coming up. big tasks that are coming but i i'm just sort of leaving them in the lord's hands but i still need to be open to those disruptions and and we'll call them the divine disruptions because we can look at them irritated like like you were just mentioning a minute ago when the trip is disrupted we just want to wow let's just get on with it but but if god is in the midst of that if he's the one disrupting those plans they are divine and he's got a purpose And to be able to explore those purposes and roll with it. Go along with him on it. Don't fight him. Let's go along with him because he's got something good in mind.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, I think about when I was taking my son, my daughter, and one of my son's teenage friends, we were going to Las Vegas from Colorado. And we broke down basically like in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't a town within an hour. And we had to wait quite some time for a tow truck. And we were on the side of a very busy highway in a in a ravine kind of like it was like it was I couldn't even imagine a more desolate area in this day and age in the United States where we barely could get cell service. And I had no idea where we were. So we walked down to like a mile marker and then it was starting to rain. And, you know, they wanted me to leave my kids behind in the car when they towed my truck because they might have not have room for my kids. I'm like, no, I have to stay until you can find a tow truck that has room for my kids. I can't leave my kids on the side of the road in the middle of the night. My daughter was like 12. So anyway, I used that whole opportunity because there was no rental car company in the town where we ended up and I was in a hotel and my car ended up being like the engine almost totaled because of some faulty part that had just been put into my car, like an expensive, a timing belt. So like I'd had like a thousand dollar bill, really prepped the car for the trip. And then they had to tow it back to Colorado. It was that damaged. And so to make a long story short, I used it as an opportunity to show the kids how to stay calm in like this really weird situation. We had to actually get, the only thing they had in town was a U-Haul truck rental company. So I had to rent a U-Haul to drive a few hours to a town that had a rental car company that then leave the U-Haul, take the rental car to Las Vegas. And we had to drive back to the U-Haul that was parked at like a little teeny airport in a small town and then switch out the rental car for the U-Haul because we had to bring the U-Haul back to the town where we'd rented that and then get the rest of the way back because my husband had to fly out to help us. Anyway, I just wanted to show the kids like stay calm and under pressure. So it was a good time for me to like teach them how to like not lose my marbles because we had so many things to figure out. Hey, Grace, we're out of time. I appreciate you so much. Happy New Year. GraceFox.com. Thank you, friend.
SPEAKER 05 :
You bet. Happy New Year to you, too.
SPEAKER 03 :
Aspen Park is listening to KLTT, the mighty 670.
SPEAKER 01 :
Arc Thrift has all your winter needs. You will find a variety of gently used and new items ranging from personalized Christmas gifts to ski clothes and exercise equipment, including tons of winter clothing to bundle up in. There's no need to spend hundreds of dollars on clothes or household furnishings when you can go to Arc Thrift. They have sales every weekend, and you can find almost everything you need at any of their stores. You might discover that hidden gem or snazzy one-of-a-kind jacket you can't find anywhere else. They also have a new store in Littleton at 7951 South Broadway. It is their new hidden treasure with quality items everywhere throughout the store. Buying from Ark gives back to your community. And Ark always needs new donations, so find one of their donation centers or stores and make sure to shop the store once you donate. To find the nearest Ark Thrift near you, go to arkthrift.com.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here with the good news, along with one of my favorite guests, Lloyd Lewis. He is the president and CEO of ARK. You've heard me talk a lot about ARK on the program, ARKthrift.com, if you want more info. And Lloyd Lewis is joining us to talk about what's going on with ARK and also a little bit about his book as well. Welcome, Lloyd.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, great to be with you again. Did you say one of your favorites? Did you say one of your favorites? Yeah, like top five. Did you say your favorite? Top five. Top five. Yeah, let's rephrase. Top five. Top three. Top three.
SPEAKER 06 :
Top three. You are so funny. So, Lloyd, I know you and many of your ambassadors well. I met you when your son was born. How old is Kennedy now? Kennedy turned 20 last August. Oh, my goodness. So Kennedy has Down syndrome. And after his birth, because you didn't know much about that whole world, you took a new career path at some point after Kennedy was born. So tell us about that career path and ARC.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I was in the private sector and I was a financial professional, including as a CFO for a high tech, ultimately sold to Micron before I joined ARC. But when Kennedy was born, I became very involved almost immediately in scientific research advocacy and met a neuroscientist at the University of Colorado. We partnered up and lobbied for additional funding for Down syndrome research, met with the director of the NIH, met with a number of people at CU, et cetera, et cetera. And also met a philanthropist daughter, Michelle C.,
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
And her family has now created the world's largest Down Syndrome Research Institute named for the neuroscientist I brought into the project. That was my beginning effort to help people like my son. Shortly after that, I got recruited to Arcturus Stores, which is a 55 year old nonprofit whose mission is to fund advocacy for people with developmental disabilities, inclusive Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, and all forms of cognitive deficit. And I'm nearing my 20th year with ARC. Oh, my goodness. We've had a lot of good luck, and we've been able to dramatically increase funding and support and now become the largest employer of people with developmental disabilities in Colorado. So it's been really fun.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, so largest employer of people with developmental disabilities in Colorado. When you started with AHRQ almost 20 years ago, if I recall correctly, there were about five ambassadors who were differently abled, and now you have how many?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, we had 10 ambassadors who had developmental disabilities working for us in 2005. Today we have nearly 500. They work in all parts of the company and just do amazing work for us and inspire all of us.
SPEAKER 06 :
And we've talked about it before because I have such an affinity for your ambassadors about what it is that people love about them so much and how they add to the camaraderie and the feeling of family within your organization. How do you explain that? How do these young people make the, you know, environment, the corporate environment so wonderful?
SPEAKER 04 :
They're very caring. They're very generous. They're very loving. They love to work in teams. They love to support their fellow employees. And they're just great workers. And they have a great love for you. And you're actually more popular with them than I am, which is a little upsetting, but that's okay. But they do a wonderful job for us. They're just terrific.
SPEAKER 06 :
You're pretty popular. Yeah, I've heard sometimes they're teamed up with kind of a partner. Can you explain that? Let's say Kennedy's working at your place or one of Kennedy's friends, and they might have some issues with figuring something out or learning something. Don't you have partners that help them?
SPEAKER 04 :
We have a buddy system, and a lot of our ambassadors have buddies, which are their typical employee peers. And they'll help them as needed with, you know, various tasks and training and learning and just help them through the course of the day if that's needed. Not all of our ambassadors need that. But we do have one-on-one buddies, and they really enjoy being buddies. And they enjoy the relationships they develop and the help they provide. And, you know, we have employees that are working for more than just a paycheck. They're working to help people in an important mission. So I think that makes a difference.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think it does to the ambassadors, how excited every ambassador I've ever interviewed has been excited about going to work and getting a paycheck. Their families, their parents, of course, are relieved that their child has found a place and has a purpose and makes a living. And then also, I think I was just telling a friend of mine about your organization and explaining that. There is also like ARC University to teach them, you know, things about, you know, using the bus system, the public transit system, you know, about boundaries, et cetera. But I think even more importantly than all of that is the social circle that you guys create through the activities that you get the ambassadors together for, whether it be a dance or karaoke, that all of a sudden they may have been like in their neighborhood, the only kid with Down syndrome or the only kid with cerebral palsy. And then all of a sudden they have friends.
SPEAKER 04 :
hundreds of friends who are like them that they can hang out with their their jobs become a very central part of their life and a very central part of the life in their families and they love uh their jobs they hate to miss work there could be three feet of snow on the on the road and i'd have to order them not to come in for safety reasons because they just hate to miss work one of our we have supplemental programs that we've developed for our employees as you mentioned One is ARC University. A series of 12 post-secondary-style classes in money, computers, pet care, transportation, et cetera. And we designed it such that if they do a class, which are done over lunch, just for participation, they'll get a certificate. It's not grade-based. And if they do 6 of 12, they get a bachelor's degree, 9 of 12 a master's, 12 of 12 a Ph.D. Some of them have 5 or 6 Ph.D.s.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I tell them that's a little upsetting because they have more degrees than me. But when you go to our graduation, you would think you're at Harvard commencement. They're just all fired up and proud in front of hundreds of families and friends. We also have a social program monthly as well where we'll go to the movies or the zoo or, you know, bowling or to a museum. One of their favorites is karaoke.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
And at one of our karaoke, they wanted me to sing Ring of Fire. Did you? So being a professional and a CEO, I responded by hiding in the bathroom. And when I came out 15 minutes later, they were all there waiting for me and they marched me over to the mic.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, that's hilarious.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's a lot of fun. Then we also have a community service program with International Civitans, where they meet monthly and they plan projects to help the community. They may collect socks for the homeless, write letters, to seniors in assisted living centers or prepare packages for military service personnel serving overseas. But they love to support the community.
SPEAKER 06 :
I love it.
SPEAKER 04 :
We think we have one of the best programs, employment programs and supplemental programs in the country. We're very proud of that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I would agree with you and I can see why. Now, when you say that the buddy system, that the buddy, you know, so the buddy might not be needed in a day to assist the ambassador or they might work side by side with them all day. It just depends on what the ambassador needs in terms of assistance in their job.
SPEAKER 04 :
It's really based on the needs of the ambassador. So for some, it can be sort of constant support and for others, it can be as needed. But everyone has a one-on-one buddy they can turn to if needed.
SPEAKER 06 :
As you mentioned, those relationships, many of your galas, your fundraisers, your celebrations, I've heard the buddy talk about their relationship with the ambassador. And I would agree with you that they also, the buddy benefits very much from that relationship with their ambassador. It's kind of touching how close they get.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, we sometimes as a society try to make them more like us. And my own learning has been we should be more like them. I agree. Because they really are very generous human beings. Very inspiring.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, for people, I always call ARC, you know, the experience shopping with a purpose. And every Saturday, I know that there's 50% off most items. And then there's a senior day on Tuesday. And there's an e-club at ARCthrift.com or ARCthrift.org that you can join. So when people shop, that money goes right back into the community to fund advocacy, you know, your programs to help people, whether they're an ambassador or not, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, the purchases that people make in our stores or the donations they make in our stores support advocacy programs, $150 million so far during my tenure. Wow. Support employment of people with developmental disabilities. Support support of the community generally. So we're one of the largest distributors of food to people in need. We're one of the largest relief agencies. We supply a million dollars in vouchers every year for use of people in need in our stores. We collect 40 to 50 tons of food every year. We're a large recycler. We've recycled over a billion pounds of donations during my tenure. So if you go to our website and look at our annual report, you'll see 40 pages of various supports we provide to Coloradans in need and people with disabilities.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, my goodness. All right. So through the course of this, you know, getting to know all these different personalities and your own experience with your son, Kennedy, with Down syndrome, you wrote a book that explains like your mission, your experience. So tell us about your book and, you know, and what you share with us in it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, a number of years ago, I wrote a book entitled Why Not Them? about my son Kennedy and about our ambassadors, our employees with developmental disabilities. We did a presentation to introduce the book, a tattered cover on Colfax. It was the number one nonfiction paperback bestseller for that week in Denver.
SPEAKER 06 :
I love it.
SPEAKER 04 :
But the book talks about the contributions that people with developmental disabilities make, my son and my ambassadors. And in that book, We relay a lot of fun stories about Kennedy, fun stories about our ambassador, some of the challenges we've encountered, and some of the efforts I made to create supports for people like Kennedy. And it got a really good response. It's available on Amazon. And, you know, proceeds from the book go to support people with developmental disabilities. But, um, you know, I just wanted to tell the story and make more people aware of who people with developmental disabilities really are. They really are.
SPEAKER 06 :
So any, um, stories you can think of from the book that people were touched by or that, you know, you felt were really important for you to, uh, to share?
SPEAKER 04 :
There's a lot of touching stories in the book. There's a story about my own son, Kennedy, who, you know, we're watching a Cat Stevens special. when he was two or three and then he stood up and started dancing. Now he dances anytime he hears music still. And there literally was a time when he would dance if we turned on the blender or opened the garage door, which I thought was very cool. Everything was music to Kennedy and still is. Uh, we tell, you know, some stories about some of my ambassadors, Lori, who, you know, in a wheelchair, great sense of humor dictates poetry with cerebral palsy. She told my CEO group at one meeting that she was gunning for my job because she told better parties. Right, right. And I chided her at bowling night. She said she was throwing me under the short bus.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, that's hilarious.
SPEAKER 04 :
Another fun story in the book is about one of our employees with Down syndrome who would bring in his bowling score every Wednesday and announce his score over the PA to all the customers and employees who would all applaud. So they just all have these wonderful personalities. And, you know, through no fault of their own, they have cognitive issues, but they have amazing personalities. They may have IQs less than 70 for the definition of IDD, developmental disability. They have EQs more on the order of 200 plus. And there's really a lot we can learn from these individuals.
SPEAKER 06 :
I agree. I love your organization. I love sharing your story and Kennedy's story. ARCthrift.org, again, they've got a couple of days that they have great deals, Saturday, Tuesday. And then if you're on their email list, you can find lots of great days to go. And any day is a great day to shop at ARC, Shopping with a Purpose. Thank you, Lloyd. You're a real blessing to the program.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you for your donations. Every time you donate to us, we see a big sales spike. Every time you donate.
SPEAKER 02 :
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 :
Arc Thrift has all your winter needs. You will find a variety of gently used and new items ranging from personalized Christmas gifts to ski clothes and exercise equipment, including tons of winter clothing to bundle up in. There's no need to spend hundreds of dollars on clothes or household furnishings when you can go to Arc Thrift. They have sales every weekend, and you can find almost everything you need at any of their stores. You might discover that hidden gem or snazzy one-of-a-kind jacket you can't find anywhere else. They also have a new store in Littleton at 7951 South Broadway. It is their new hidden treasure with quality items everywhere throughout the store. Buying from Ark gives back to your community. And Ark always needs new donations, so find one of their donation centers or stores and make sure to shop the store once you donate. To find the nearest Ark Thrift near you, go to arkthrift.com.
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 :
Arc Thrift has all your winter needs. You will find a variety of gently used and new items ranging from personalized Christmas gifts to ski clothes and exercise equipment, including tons of winter clothing to bundle up in. There's no need to spend hundreds of dollars on clothes or household furnishings when you can go to Arc Thrift. They have sales every weekend, and you can find almost everything you need at any of their stores. You might discover that hidden gem or snazzy one-of-a-kind jacket you can't find anywhere else. They also have a new store in Littleton at 7951 South Broadway. It is their new hidden treasure with quality items everywhere throughout the store. Buying from Ark gives back to your community. And Ark always needs new donations, so find one of their donation centers or stores and make sure to shop the store once you donate. To find the nearest Ark Thrift near you, go to arkthrift.com.
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.
