Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast.

If you're new to this podcast, I just want to say welcome!

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Nicole Wilke, author and director at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Center on Applied Research for Vulnerable Children and Families. Nicole helps to explore the powerful intersection of scripture and science in building resilience in children and families.

Her passion for helping vulnerable children and connecting research with frontline practice shines through as she discusses her new book, Overcoming: What Scripture and Science Say About Resilience. We discuss practical ways for parents, caregivers, and communities to become agents of change and support children through adversity.

Nicoles books are available for purchase from Amazon or the Christian Alliance for Orphans page.

Here's where you can learn more about Nicole and the Christian Alliance for Orphans.

She is also present on Linkedin and Instagram.

So glad you're here to join us! You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at somercolbert@gmail.com.

I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast.

As 2024 comes to a close, Somer wants to highlight one of the best episodes from this year -- in case you missed it!

Often people think infertility leads to adoption. It isn't always the case, but it can be for some. Joined with Somer on the podcast are authors Jenn Hesse and Kelley Ramsey who were connected from miles apart thanks to social media. They both share similar infertility stories which is what dawned their friendship and eventually collaborating on this book, "Waiting in Hope: 31 Reflections for Walking with God Through Infertility"

In this episode, they tackle the emotional rollercoaster that is infertility. There is hope and there is pain, and it can be isolating. Kelley and Jenn remind us how important marriage is, community, and leaning into God who has the plan we may not understand.

Something beautiful can come from this grief, and something beautiful can also be different from what we expect.

So glad you're here to join us!

You can email your questions about adoption and foster care at somercolbert@gmail.com.

Somer would love to connect with you on Instagram or send you a monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast.

As 2024 comes to a close, Somer wants to share the best from this year. This episode is a 2024 highlight, to make sure you didn't miss it! The conversation is about how hard isn't the same as bad, and we all know how hard adoption and foster care is.

Joined with Somer on this insightful conversation is the author "M is for Mama" Abbie Halberstadt. Abbie is the busy mom of ten kiddos who also finds time to encourage Christian mamas in their calling of motherhood. As moms, we are laying the foundation for our kids to know Christ; it is a heavy responsibility but one we can do with God on our side.

Somer and Abbie talk about the hardship of parenting, and how that relates to adoption and foster care. Whether you're parenting adopted, foster, or your own biological children, its all hard! And hard is where God grows us.

So glad you're here to join us!

Link to:

Abbie's Instagram

Abbie's website

Abbie's new book "Hard is Not the Same as Bad"

You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at somercolbert@gmail.com.

I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast.

This is a special episode where Somer shares clips from the five most downloaded, most popular episodes from Called to Love thus far:

1. Reframing Your Mindset As A Christian Adoptive Parent: Reflect on Your Calling
2. Lessons Learned in Our Adoption Journey with Somer & Corey
3. Everything You Need to Know from an Adoption Attorney (featuring Lucrece Bundy)
4. Listener Q & A: Am I Really Called to Adopt or Foster?
5. Understanding God's Heart for Adoption and Foster Care with Tim Wolkiewicz

As the year closes, it is the perfect time to reflect on everything God has done and God has done great things for this podcast. Somer hopes and prays this show has been a blessing for you and a valuable resource! She is crafting a series for 2025 titled, "The Lies Adoptive and Foster Parents Believe" and she needs your help! Submit that "lie" the enemy is whispering in your ear so Somer can help point you towards God's truth.

You can email your questions about adoption and foster care at somercolbert@gmail.com.

Somer wants to connect with you on Instagram or send you her monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast.

In this episode, I am focused on talking about our neurodivergent kiddos, whether they're our biological ones, adopted, or being fostered. "Neurodivergent" has been a popular term in the past few years but what does it mean? And how do we love our kids well when we struggle to understand them? I explore all of this and other ways to regulate the big feelings and much more in this episode.

And please reach out to me with your questions, comments, and especially your "lies" that you've experienced as an adoptive or foster parent, for a series I am doing in the New Year.

You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at somercolbert@gmail.com.

I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast.

In this episode, I am focused on talking about how to help our kids with holiday anxiety. Christmas is quickly approaching and maybe you've already experienced some the holiday stress with this past Thanksgiving. There is so much overstimulating our kids, from school activities, sugary sweets, family and friends gathering, and so much more... and with all this stress, anxiety and overstimulation can come the fights, tantrums, and big feelings that can even cause us to burst out in anger. So, how do we manage all of this? In this episode, I offer my recommendations from my personal experience and research. I hope you greatly benefit from what I have to share!

And please reach out to me with your questions, comments, and especially your "lies" that you've experienced as an adoptive or foster parent, for a series I am doing in the New Year.

You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at somercolbert@gmail.com.

I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast.

Christmas is quickly coming around the corner which is why I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk with Donna Amidon about the connection between Jesus and the Old Testament, how God is the same through all the ages and the promise of Jesus is woven throughout scripture.

As foster and adoptive parents, the holidays can be challenging and one thing that can be stabilizing is having some family traditions. One thing that Donna talks about is the Jesse Tree, something she didn't realize was having an impact on her daughter. We can plant seeds in our kids and not see the fruit till years later which is why it is so important to persevere and keep planting!

Here's a link to Donna's book: Tracing His Promise: Understanding the Bigger Story of Jesus and What That Means for Us

Here's where you can learn more about Donna: her website, click here!

So glad you're here to join us! You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at somercolbert@gmail.com.

I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!

Welcome to the Called to Love Podcast.

This is such an important episode because there is such a stigma around adopting older children. Joined with me on this important conversation of breaking-down, understanding, and destigmatizing the need for older child adoption is an amazing expert from the field, Dr. Kimberly Offutt.

Dr. Kimberly Offutt is an adopted mom herself who's first adopted child was eight years old, and has welcomed more children since then. She has been a part of Bethany.org for years and shares her experiences with the organization along with her personal stories. Here's the truth: adoption will break you, but it's also a sanctifying process where God refines you. It is hard and that is why it is so important to be aligned with your spouse and surrounded by a support system.

Dr. Kimberly Offutt's resource: Bethany.org

The book she continued referencing in the episode, "The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog"

The podcast episode Somer references: "Safeguarding What is Sacred: Keeping Your Marriage Strong as Foster and Adoptive Parents"

So glad you're here to join us! You can email me your questions about adoption and foster care at somercolbert@gmail.com.

I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or send you my monthly newsletter with free resources and first access to episodes and more!