Justin and Chelsea Smith have opened their home to 16 foster children over eight years in San Angelo, Texas, and 94% of those kids have gone back to their biological families. That number runs nearly double the national average, and it reflects something very deliberate about how they approach the work. In this episode, they share the stories behind that statistic, including a two-year-old who arrived non-verbal and self-harming and left six months later saying "Daddy home," a mother who was incarcerated and fought her way back to her children in record time, and a Mother's Day Chelsea spent at the NICU holding a baby whose own mother was not coming back.This conversation also moves into something harder to articulate. Justin describes lying awake during a break from fostering, realizing that the comfort scared him more than the chaos ever had. Chelsea talks about learning to be "a good yes" for a child even when you are not their forever yes. Together they make a case that faith and calling rarely look like what we plan for, and they close with an honest word for anyone who has thought about fostering and quietly talked themselves out of it.CHAPTERS:00:00:00 Opening Highlights00:01:02 Welcome to Open Homes Initiative00:02:22 Meet Justin and Chelsea Smith00:03:46 How It All Started in 201600:05:29 Respite Care and Getting Licensed00:10:13 The Hard Parts They Do Not Skip00:12:09 The Boy Who Said Daddy Home00:19:30 Relationships with Biological Families00:24:23 Mother's Day in the NICU00:30:29 Their 94 Percent Reunification Rate00:34:17 How Fostering Shaped Their Family00:36:21 When Comfort Becomes the Warning Sign00:42:31 Advice for Anyone on the Fence00:47:27 Closing

Foster care isn’t an abstract idea for Jaime and Rebekah. It’s lived experience, hard decisions, kids leaving and coming back, gaps in the system, and people who chose to show up anyway. In this episode, they walk through what it’s actually like to grow up in foster care, become foster/adoptive parents, and keep saying “yes” to kids who aren’t “yours” by blood but are yours in every way that matters.

Rebecca shares her story of entering foster care in the 90s, being separated from her siblings, and landing in what she calls “the best foster home ever” because of one thing: support. Church, school, a CASA named Judy, and parents with a strong faith and a strong community. Jaime shares how a decade in juvenile probation and a decade at West Texas Boys Ranch reshaped how he sees youth, trauma, and parenting. Together, they talk about their girls leaving and then coming back into care, their son joining them later, birth order dynamics, trauma-informed parenting, and why the Weekly hands-on Independent Tutoring (WHIT) program matters so much for kids who are always a few steps behind through no fault of their own.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Could I really foster?” or “How could I help if I can’t take kids in?” this conversation is for you.

Show Links:

WHIT Program: https://www.whitprogram.org/

West Texas Boys Ranch: https://www.wtbr.org/

Open Homes Initiative: https://openhomesinitiative.com/

CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 Loving Beyond Blood

00:00:49 Why Support Matters

00:01:28 Stories Behind The Stats

00:02:32 Meet Jaime And Rebecca

00:05:23 Rebecca’s Foster Care Story

00:10:38 Adoption Identity And Belonging

00:14:59 Becoming Foster Parents

00:17:01 Girls Return And System Gaps

00:19:08 Reuniting Siblings At Home

00:21:50 Kids Thrive And Give Back

00:24:10 Hard Things Grow Us

00:25:57 From Probation To Purpose

00:27:40 Boys Ranch Family Work

00:29:06 Trauma Informed Parenting

00:31:59 Birth Order Dynamics

00:35:09 WIP Tutoring Explained

00:38:46 Why Volunteer Tutors Matter

00:40:49 Love Makes Family

00:44:19 Ways To Get Involved

00:45:25 Final Wrap And Thanks

We’ve had 20 foster kids and we haven’t regretted a single one. Not even the 18‑month‑old who showed up two weeks before our newborn. It’s been the hardest thing we’ve ever done, and we’re still choosing to break our hearts on purpose over and over again for the sake of the gospel. In this episode, Logan and JC share what that’s actually looked like in real life: six kids in the house, constant goodbyes, a front yard full of toys, and an ongoing awareness that they are absolutely not the heroes of the story.We talk through the fears (what this will do to our bio kids, feeling totally inadequate, drowning in the chaos), the impact on their daughters, how their view of biological parents has radically shifted, and why they now see fostering as one of the clearest ways to live out the gospel. We get into how the church has shown up, how hard it is to learn to receive help, what happens when kids leave, and the small rituals and anchor scriptures that keep them going. If you’ve ever thought, “I’d get too attached,” or “I’m not enough,” this conversation sits right in the middle of that tension and points to the only place our adequacy really comes from. CHAPTERS:00:00:00 Intro 00:01:54 Meet Logan And JC 00:03:40 First Placement Whirlwind 00:04:22 Life With Six Kids 00:06:19 How The Call Began 00:08:31 Orientation And On Board 00:11:34 Fears And What Ifs 00:17:58 Impact On Bio Kids 00:19:24 Grace For Birth Parents 00:26:15 Inadequacy And Not Hero 00:32:34 Acts 17 Rest And Trust 00:34:32 Trust Not Cop Out 00:35:20 Complexity And Dunning Kruger 00:36:07 Hope Justice Made Right 00:38:10 Church Support In Practice 00:39:50 Helping Bio Families Upstream 00:43:05 Learning To Receive Help 00:45:34 Need More Foster Community 00:49:45 Heartbreak And Gospel Goodbyes 00:53:52 Rituals When Kids Leave 00:55:54 Encouragement For Future Parents 01:00:48 Moments Of Grace That Sustain 01:03:19 Final Thanks And Wrap Up