We have some updates!

We have some updates and also some exciting shows coming your way.

Sorry it took so long for us to be "back" but we re and we can't wait to share what we have coming up!!!

If you are ready to be a guest, reach out to one of the places below.

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey, hey, hey y'all, my name is Dana and I'm your host of the Graceful Truth Inscripted podcast. We are here to speak truth in the most graceful way possible about experiences we've had through the adoption and foster care system along with parenting special needs children. This is a safe place. We don't sugarcoat anything here. These are all real people telling their stories. Our goal is to be the voice for those who can't speak. We are here to share our stories and to share our realities. We're also here to make sure that we effectively change the legislation and the laws. It's time to come together and become one voice for these children. So join us as we embark on this journey together. Alright, guys. It's time to come clean with you guys. There is not going to be video to this one because I mean I wish there could be so you guys can see my contraption. But we were having technical difficulties today, so which is fine because this is really just an update for you guys, what's been going on, why there's been no podcast release, even though I said that there were going to be. So uh that's the update for the video. Um we will be uh releasing new episodes every Friday. So you're listening to this on Friday the 10th, right? Today's, yes, I'm recording this on the 8th. So Friday will be the 10th. That is when this podcast uh episode dropped that you're listening to right now. And the next one will be the following Friday. So every Friday there's gonna be a new podcast episode dropped for you guys. That is the new schedule. Uh, it's just really the best for me because I'm not gonna rush on the weekend trying to get it uploaded and released on Monday, and I already have you know a few episodes. The next couple episodes I'm be covering, which again, already recorded. I talked to a former foster care child, now adult, uh, and he and I had one of the best conversations I have had to date, and it is simply because he was a former foster child, adopted child. So he his story uh is really cool, and he is a fellow podcaster as well. Uh, but I got to ask questions that I can't ask my kids as an adoptive mom. So I could have asked my father, you know, what could somebody have done differently? But at the time, at the time, you know, I could have asked these questions, I was not an adoptive parent yet. And I haven't really sat down and talked with my dad since becoming a foster adoptive parent. Uh, you know, I just go to him for parental advice. I just I have not been able to get to do that, and it's easier to do it with somebody else because they're not sitting there, you know, it's not okay, I'm telling my daughter this, but do I want to tell her everything type thing. Um, so it was a really uncandid conversation. He had to think about some of the answers, and it really provided me a better outlook because us as adoptive parents and foster parents, you know, we have a different view than our children do, right? There was uh a video done really well, um, and it wasn't on it, it was just parenting, but when you're watching this video, it's you know, what do the mothers feel or the parents feel that actually I think it was a Mother's Day video, so it may have been mothers, you know, they felt like they were a horrible mom because they insert whatever reason, like they literally had every reason in the book as to why they were a horrible parent. And so when the children came in and they asked, you know, tell us about your mom, it was all positive, and they were all you know, positive, positive, positive, positive, and it was just a different outlook on life as a child than it is as the parent. And I think everybody can relate to that. But the cool thing about this interview was he is now an adult and can look back and be like, okay, this is what first of all, he wouldn't change the circumstance he was in, right? Uh all this stuff is to help parents and children not feel that you're alone and kind of gauge, you know, what where you want to go. I am always one that is looking for ideas to further myself being a parent. And that this episode, I cannot wait for you guys to listen to it. And I'm going to release that one won't be next Friday's episode, it'll be the Friday after. Next week's episode is going to be all about mental health and statistics. So it's a lot of numbers, a lot of mental health talk as a broad subject and honed in on foster and adoptive children and how uh their lives play on not just their mental health, but everybody's. And that I don't have a guest on that. Uh, that one I did pull, obviously, statistics and stuff like that. And um, these were actually I recorded this in the beginning of the year, so I'm sure that has been since updated. Uh, but uh there's that episode, and then I also talk with another family uh who has a podcast, uh, the husband mainly, and they just share some really cool tools that they use with inside their family to make their children feel safe, feel comfortable coming to them, and just really cool things that we have implemented in our family and that we love. So those are the three that are coming up. I will warn you ahead of time. They were recorded a while ago. So just be forewarned and I will forewarn you in those uh episodes as well. Uh, and then for the rest of the year, I just really I don't have a plan of what I want to talk about, but there's you know certain cases in the media in within the past couple of years that I want to touch on and kind of talk about. Uh, and I still have to share T's story and all of her paperwork and diagnosis and just you know her life through you know that time um like I did for M. Uh it was like one of the first couple episodes. So if you haven't caught up on the episodes, I urge you this week to go catch up on those episodes because I will be referring back to them um as needed and go catch up on any that you may have missed. And again, I apologize for taking that break. But an update on our family. So, you know, we finished our school year uh struggling quite a bit with all three kids, but the our older two uh just really struggled in their learning, and I'm not sure if it was because of everything going on in the world or if there was some some issue going on that I wasn't catching or whatnot, but over the summer we, you know, I let them relax. We had a family vacation with my brother and his wife and his kids, and we just really had fun. Alright, guys, if you've known me for a hot minute, you know that five years ago I made the switch to a toxin and chemical-free home, and the company that I chose based on all my research was Young Living. And guys, yes, I've actually been to the farm, touched the plants, planted plants, and even saw the way that they just care about not just our plants, but the members, us, the everyday people that purchase their products day in and day out, and use their products day in and day out. So with this offer, you go to myyl.com backslash dnj Floyd, and that's F-L-O-Y-D. This will all be in the show notes. And when you purchase your premium starter kit through that link, you will be sent a Thieves Household Cleaner, which will last you about six months. It lasts my family five to six months, but we use it on everything: floors, windows, steam mops, cars, we legit just use it on everything. So again, that website is myyl.com backslash DMJ Floyd, and that is also in the show notes. So hop on over, pick your premium starter kit, and get yourself a free bottle of cleaner. Alright, let's get back to the show. Sorry about that. Dog broke into the room and opened the door. Anyway, so we got to enjoy a week with them on vacation. They had cheer camp, uh, we had summer camp, and that's not to mean we did not deal with things that we deal with in nor every normal, everyday life, which was the stairs, uh and just uh I mean again I've covered this before where we did not we were not exempt from that uh over the summer. And we have just had a lot going on in everybody's life trying to get back into a normal routine, and it just it just did not happen. Uh, we were very busy with that. We were busy with uh uh the nonprofit. We had a fishing tournament uh to raise funds here locally and just really trying to help those in our surrounding communities here in Florida that are taking in these children, and currently we're just in a shortage, which I'll do a whole episode on as well because that's an entirely different conversation. It's just been a really tough year. Uh I thought 2020 was bad, that this year has turned out to be a little bit worse for us. Uh, we've had some health issues we're dealing with, we've had obviously everything going on in the world right now that we're dealing with, we've had kid issues that we're dealing with, um, and just really trying to navigate the new um stage of life that we're in because our children are no longer younger, they're a little older, they're uh able to have more responsibility, which is is nice in some aspects, other aspects it's not, and just with the stresses of the world and the conversations we've had with our children, it's just it's been a rough year. Um, I'm just gonna put that out there. That is just something we've been struggling with. Um, but I'm excited for these next few episodes to come out. I'm excited what the future holds. Uh, but I also am looking still for others to close out the year with me, talk about their journey, um, talk about their expertise in the field, whether you're a caseworker, a you know, a lawmaker, uh, a doctor, a psychiatrist, a therapist, uh, if you have a story that you want to submit anonymously, uh, to where people don't know your name, if you're an adoptive parent, if you're a grandparent, if you're an aunt uncle, just if you've had an experience with a foster andor adoptive family or child, um, I would just love to get you on the show, uh, get you recorded, and to to share your story, to share who you are, what you've been through, and just get it out here. Uh I that's that was my whole point of this podcast is to talk to others, you know, gain some knowledge, share some knowledge, and just really work towards changing some of our laws, getting more families that can uh help and foster care, and just just raising awareness on on the on the holes in the system and what needs to be corrected in the system. So if you have a thought, if you have experience, uh anything like that, I would love, love, love to talk to you. So I'm gonna put all of the contact information, you know, how to reach out to us in the show notes. I have also for my listeners and or anybody that wants to be on the show or who has been on the show, um, I started a channel in Telegram, uh, which is a messaging app, to where we are able, I share, I'll share every episode in there, any information, any updates, links to articles, things like that. And it's just a way to interact with um the podcast and myself. Uh, that's really where I'm moving a lot of things because we've been having issues posting-wise, and and it's just been it's been surreal, honestly. Uh, that was one of the things we were dealing with is a lot of technical issues because of uh being just it's a whole thing. Anyway, but there is a telegram channel that I would love for you to join. Um, and it it's not like a chat back and forth type thing, uh, but I can post something and then people are allowed to comment on whatever that post is. Uh, so I will be sharing things and you can submit questions and you know, just have all the stuff there. So I would love to see you join me over on Telegram, and obviously, you will be hearing from me in the next week. We'll be talking weekly, and you know, if there's a topic you would like me to cover, I am also open to that, so you can for sure email me, say, hey, do you mind talking about this? You don't necessarily have to be on the podcast. Um, I will take viewers' comments and suggestions on maybe you know, my feelings about anything regarding parenting, mental health, uh foster and adoptive care. There's just so much that I can't wait to cover. And I'm sure there's things out there that I don't even know about that I would probably love to cover as well because my goal in this is to effectively change our system because there are a lot of flaws in our system, and it's time that we as parents stand up to the system, and really, you know, we the system touts that they're there for the child, that the child's best interest is in, you know, their minds, their hearts, etc. Uh, but historically that has not been the case. Uh, and they just provide further harm to children. So, you know, I'm sure the some feedback will not be welcome, but that's fine. Uh, we need more parents like me to speak out, to stand up, to see how we can get things changed, to see what's needed to get things changed, to see what we can do, you know, what laws are in place now, why those laws are no longer working, and you know, just change. I'm you know, I'm not blaming anybody for anything because in every situation I'm sure that there's you know a reason it was done that way. Um, I know that our system is overloaded, I know that there are not enough families. I personally know a caseworker who has almost every day had to stay at her office while trying to be a full-time mom at the same time because there's not enough foster families, and I obviously will cover that uh coming up in a future episode, but I know that it is there's a lot of work to be done, and it's going to require a lot of advocating and you know hard work that we're not going to get paid for, but in the end, the goal is to protect our children, to protect the children uh that don't live in favorable conditions, and to get them into a safe place so they can grow up and be able to do you know what they want safely and effectively as well. So I'm gonna go. Uh, this was obviously a shorter podcast just because uh, like I said, I wanted to update you, tell you where we're going, what you're looking forward to, uh, and all that stuff. So I will see you guys on the next podcast. And uh once the YouTube channel is live, the video on the video platform, I'll also probably be uploading to Rumble as well. Uh, but I will obviously let you guys know right away once the videos are up. So if there was something in an episode that you would like to see face to face or you wanted to see one of the speakers uh in the episode, you are more than welcome to do that. And I will talk to you guys next week. Thank you all so much for listening to this episode of the Graceful Truth Unscripted podcast. Here's what I want you to do next. Take a screenshot of that episode you're listening to right now. Head on over to your Instagram or Facebook stories and tag GracefulTruth Unscripted so more people can find our podcast. Also, if you really love us, head on over to iTunes and leave us a review. I will be reading as many reviews as I can on the next episode of the podcast, so be sure to listen for your shout-out. If you haven't already, please click that subscribe button so you don't miss a show. And don't forget, if you have a question for the show, shoot us a message on Instagram or Facebook or email gracefultruthunscripted at gmail.com. Alright, y'all. Time to spread the sunshine wherever you go. See ya.