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Speaker 1: Hey, it's Jesse Kelly. When you need a break from

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Speaker 1: listening to the greatest radio host of all time me,

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Speaker 1: try out Love What Matters. It's a podcast that's packed

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Speaker 1: with stories of hope, compassion, kindness. I know, I know,

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Speaker 1: it's not exactly my show. It's very, very different, but

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Speaker 1: we need these uplifting stories, and at times like this

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Speaker 1: we need them more than ever. It's the perfect palate cleanser.

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Speaker 1: How about that for a big college word, Love What

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Speaker 1: Matters is one I would check out immediately. Real people

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Speaker 1: sharing stories about overcoming challenges, getting through tough times, and

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Speaker 1: Lord knows we are in for some tough times. Maybe

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Speaker 1: we're going through them right now. You can listen to

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Speaker 1: an episode of the Love What Matters podcast coming up

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Speaker 1: in just a moment. You like what you hear, Follow

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Speaker 1: them Whatever your favorite podcast app is, subscribe follow them.

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Speaker 1: New episodes come out every Tuesday and Thursday. And now

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Speaker 1: here's Love What Matters. Have you ever.

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Speaker 2: Received a text message that changed everything how you lived,

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Speaker 2: who you loved, and most importantly, how you view the world.

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Speaker 2: For Autumn Moore, that message arrived on a sweltering July

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Speaker 2: day in twenty nineteen. Those few lines of text would

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Speaker 2: lead her to redefine the very meeting of family and

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Speaker 2: set in motion a journey that would touch not just

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Speaker 2: her life, but the lives of everyone around her. I'm

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Speaker 2: Colin balf and you're listening to Love What Matters Today.

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Speaker 2: We're diving into a story that will challenge everything you

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Speaker 2: thought you knew about love, sacrifice, and what it truly

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Speaker 2: means to be a parent. Will take you on a

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Speaker 2: journey through the complex world of foster care and adoption,

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Speaker 2: where dreams collide with reality, and where the concept of

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Speaker 2: family is stretched, tested and ultimately transformed. This isn't just

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Speaker 2: a story about fostering a child. It's about fostering hope.

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Speaker 2: It's about one woman's lifelong dream, a husband's reluctance, and

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Speaker 2: a teenage girl who had all but given up on

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Speaker 2: finding her forever home. So settle in, because what you're

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Speaker 2: about to hear might just change the way you see

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Speaker 2: the world, and who knows, it might even inspire you

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Speaker 2: to change someone else's. Imagine wanting something with every fiber

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Speaker 2: of your being, not just wanting it, but feeling it

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Speaker 2: call you from the depths of your soul, a desire

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Speaker 2: so strong it becomes a part of your identity, as

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Speaker 2: essential as breathing. This is how Autumn More felt about

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Speaker 2: fostering children. From her earliest memory, Audam had dreamed of

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Speaker 2: opening her home to children in need. It wasn't a

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Speaker 2: passing fancy or a fleeting thought. It was a calling

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Speaker 2: that had taken root in her heart, growing stronger each

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Speaker 2: passing year. I have always believed every child deserves to

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Speaker 2: be loved, unconditionally, cherished, and truly seen for who they are.

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Speaker 2: Autumn shares, but dreams, as we all know, have a

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Speaker 2: way of colliding with reality, and reality, in this case,

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Speaker 2: wore the face of Autumn's loving but skeptical husband, Josh.

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Speaker 2: From the outside, Autumn Moore seemed to have it all.

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Speaker 2: A loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a comfortable home

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Speaker 2: in a nice neighborhood. It was the kind of life

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Speaker 2: many people spent years striving to achieve. But beneath the

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Speaker 2: surface of this picture perfect existence, there was an emptiness

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Speaker 2: avoid that couldn't be filled by material possessions or society's expectations.

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Speaker 2: Autumn's dream of fostering wasn't just about helping children, It

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Speaker 2: was about completing her own sense of purpose. This feeling

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Speaker 2: led her to confide in a friend who worked at

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Speaker 2: a local teen shelter. Over coffee one day, Autumn leaned

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Speaker 2: in and said, Hey, if you ever come across a

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Speaker 2: girl who needs a home, just let me know. It

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Speaker 2: was casual, almost offhand, the kind of remark we make

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Speaker 2: without fully grasping its potential to alter our lives forever.

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Speaker 2: But Josh, well, he wasn't so sure. He'd heard all

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Speaker 2: about the horror stories, he'd seen the grim statistics. We

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Speaker 2: have our own children to think about, he'd argue, his

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Speaker 2: voice tinged with concerned. What if she's a bad influence,

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Speaker 2: what if she doesn't fit in? These weren't unreasonable concerns.

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Speaker 2: Fostering a child, especially a teenager, is no small undertaking.

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Speaker 2: It requires patience, understanding, and a willingness to open not

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Speaker 2: just your home but your heart. And sometimes even that

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Speaker 2: isn't enough. Autumn reflects on those early conversations. Josh and

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Speaker 2: I had spoken about fostering many times throughout the years.

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Speaker 2: He and I had even gone to speak with an

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Speaker 2: agency a few years prior so we can learn more

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Speaker 2: about the process. I felt it was my calling. He

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Speaker 2: felt it was not his. But Autumn held on to hope.

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Speaker 2: I truly believed in my heart that if God gave

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Speaker 2: me this man to call my husband, and also gave

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Speaker 2: me this calling tugging on my heart almost daily, that

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Speaker 2: away would eventually be made. Years past, tension simmered between them,

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Speaker 2: Autumn's dream, deferred but never forgotten, continued to pulse beneath

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Speaker 2: the surface of their otherwise happy marriage, And then, on

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Speaker 2: July fifteenth, twenty nineteen, came the text that would change everything. Hey, Autumn,

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Speaker 2: are you still interested in foster care? Remember when you

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Speaker 2: said to let you know when I thought I had

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Speaker 2: someone who would potentially be a good fit. Well, I

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Speaker 2: think I have someone. In that moment, time stood still.

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Speaker 2: Autumn's heart raced as she read and reread the message.

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Speaker 2: This was it, the moment she'd been waiting for. But

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Speaker 2: was she ready? Was her family ready? The girl's name

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Speaker 2: was Mara, sixteen years old, a child on the cusp

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Speaker 2: of adulthood who had already experienced more pain and disappointment

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Speaker 2: than most people face in a lifetime. She sat in

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Speaker 2: a shelter, surrounded by other forgotten children, one more stop

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Speaker 2: in a journey that already stretched far too long. And

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Speaker 2: as Autumn absorbed this information. A mix of emotions washed

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Speaker 2: over her. Excitement, sure, but also fear doubt. What if

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Speaker 2: Josh was right? What if this was too much for

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Speaker 2: their family to handle. But beneath those swirling thoughts, a

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Speaker 2: quiet certainty began to take root. This was meant to

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Speaker 2: be somehow she knew it. Just days after receiving the text,

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Speaker 2: Autumn attended a Rachel Hollis conference. There, attendees were asked

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Speaker 2: to write down some of their dreams and goals in life.

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Speaker 2: At the top of Autumn's list was fostering. The whole weekend,

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Speaker 2: Autumn recalls, all I could think about was this teenage

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Speaker 2: girl sitting in a shelter without a place to call home.

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Speaker 2: I just knew we were supposed to welcome her into

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Speaker 2: our hearts and home, but there was still one obstacle

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Speaker 2: getting Josh on board. The thought of broaching the subject

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Speaker 2: again filled Autumn with a mix of hope and trepidation.

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Speaker 2: How could she convey the depth of her conviction? How

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Speaker 2: could she help Josh see what she saw? What she

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Speaker 2: desperately saw not just a troubled teen, but a child

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Speaker 2: in need of love and stability. The weekend after the conference,

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Speaker 2: Autumn and Josh attended church. It was during their annual

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Speaker 2: at the movie series, where the pastor uses film clips

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Speaker 2: to create a theme and message. In that particular weekend,

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Speaker 2: the movie just happened to be Instant Family, a film

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Speaker 2: about fostering and adoption. Autumn, having already seen the movie,

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Speaker 2: found herself uncontrollably sobbing from the very first frame, and

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Speaker 2: as the story unfolded on screen, a story of fear, hope,

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Speaker 2: and unconditional love, something shifted in Josh. He watched not

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Speaker 2: just the movie, but his wife, seeing her transform before

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Speaker 2: his eyes. It was in that moment Josh realized the

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Speaker 2: depth of Autumn's calling. This wasn't a whim or a phase.

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Speaker 2: This was a part of who she was, as essential

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Speaker 2: to her being as breathing. And as those credits rolled,

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Speaker 2: Josh turned to Autumn, his eyes shining with a new understanding. Okay,

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Speaker 2: he said softly, his voice cracking with emotion. Let's do this.

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Speaker 2: Six days later, Autumn drove to the shelter to meet

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Speaker 2: Mara for the first time. Her heart pounded as she

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Speaker 2: walked through the doors, wondering what this girl would be like.

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Speaker 2: Would they even connect, would mar even want to consider

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Speaker 2: living with them. As they sat in Autumn's car, Mara

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Speaker 2: began to share her story. She spoke of entering the

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Speaker 2: foster care system, of all the different homes she had

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Speaker 2: been in, of the experiences that had shaped her young life.

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Speaker 2: And as she spoke, she picked at her skin, a

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Speaker 2: nervous habit Autumn recognized in herself. I heard for her,

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Speaker 2: Autumn remembers, tears welling up in her eyes. I wish

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Speaker 2: she had never endured so many of the things she

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Speaker 2: had in her young life. In a moment of pure emotion,

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Speaker 2: Autumn stopped maraa mid story. I needed her to know

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Speaker 2: we already wanted her as part of our family. She says,

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Speaker 2: she was already chosen. Tears filled both the rise as

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Speaker 2: the weight of those words settled between them. For Marra,

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Speaker 2: who had known too much rejection in her young life,

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Speaker 2: it was a lifeline. You're already chosen For Autumn. It

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Speaker 2: was a promise to Maura, to herself, and to the

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Speaker 2: dream she had held for so long. We had a

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Speaker 2: good cry that day together, Autumn recalls, her voice, thick

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Speaker 2: with emotion, and I walked away knowing I was capable

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Speaker 2: of loving this girl, and the same way I loved

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Speaker 2: my other two girls. Three weeks later, Mara and her

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Speaker 2: caseworker arrived at the More home with all of my

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Speaker 2: Maara's belongings. The family was about to embark on a

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Speaker 2: journey that would test their patients, expand their hearts, and

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Speaker 2: redefine their understanding of family. As Mara settled into her

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Speaker 2: new room, a space hastily prepared and painted colors of

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Speaker 2: her choosing, the reality of this situation began to sink in.

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Speaker 2: This wasn't just about providing a roof over someone's head.

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Speaker 2: It was about healing wounds, building trust, and showing Maraa

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Speaker 2: that she was worthy of unconditional love. But as Autumn

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Speaker 2: helped Mara unpack, a realization hit her. Mara had been

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Speaker 2: in the foster system since she was twelve years old,

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Speaker 2: and for four years she had bounced from home to home,

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Speaker 2: never knowing if she would ever find a place to

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Speaker 2: truly belong. Could the Moors really provide what MARAA needed?

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Speaker 2: How would Mara, who had given up on the idea

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Speaker 2: of adoption, respond to this new chance at family, Autumn

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Speaker 2: admits the first week, well, it was a little strange.

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Speaker 2: Mara fit in easily, and we all got along fine,

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Speaker 2: but essentially we were still strangers. So while I'd like

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Speaker 2: to say that it felt comfortable right away, that wouldn't

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Speaker 2: quite be true. But as time progressed, feelings of normalcy

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Speaker 2: set in. Mara got a job, excelled in school, and

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Speaker 2: made new friends. She achieved milestones that many take for granted,

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Speaker 2: getting her car permit, then her license, and even her

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Speaker 2: first car. I remember the day Mara got her license,

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Speaker 2: Autumn recall's eyes sparkling with pride. We surprised her with

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Speaker 2: a used car, nothing fancy, but it was hers, and

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Speaker 2: the look on her face it was like she couldn't

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Speaker 2: believe someone would do some like that for her. In

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Speaker 2: that moment, I saw a glimmer of hope in her

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Speaker 2: eyes that I hadn't seen before. The dinner table became

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Speaker 2: comedy central as Mara and her new sister, Kaylee started

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Speaker 2: cracking jokes almost every night. Our family loves to laugh

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Speaker 2: and can be a bit sarcastic. Autumn shares so Marra.

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Speaker 2: She fits right in. She's like the queen of fast comebacks.

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Speaker 2: The girl makes me laugh with her incredible wit. But

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Speaker 2: it wasn't all smooth sailing. Fostering is messy, and sometimes,

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Speaker 2: as Autumn explains, essentially, you are bringing a child into

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Speaker 2: your home who has possibly called many different places home.

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Speaker 2: They've experienced many different rules and parenting styles, views within

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Speaker 2: the family, and cultural norms religion, so many differences. There

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Speaker 2: were challenging days, days when the weight of Marra's passes

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Speaker 2: experiences seemed too heavy to bear, Days when cultural differences

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Speaker 2: led to misunderstandings, days when the fear of rejection on

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Speaker 2: both sides threatened to overwhelm the progress they had made.

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Speaker 2: Autumn recalls one particularly difficult night. Mara had a nightmare.

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Speaker 2: She woke up screaming, and when I went to comfort her,

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Speaker 2: she flinched away from me. It broke my heart to

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Speaker 2: see how deeply her past traumas affected her. But we

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Speaker 2: sat there in the dark until she was ready to

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Speaker 2: let me hold her, and when she did, it felt

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Speaker 2: like a breakthrough. But through it all the Moors remained committed.

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Speaker 2: They saw help when needed, celebrated small victories, and always

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Speaker 2: always made Suremara knew she was loved. One day, during

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Speaker 2: a family drive, Autumn had a moment of realization. As

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Speaker 2: everyone laughed at one of Josh's corny jokes. She caught

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Speaker 2: sight of Marra on the side of your mirror, laughing hysterically.

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Speaker 2: I was overwhelmed with gratitude, Autumn recalls, her voice thick

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Speaker 2: with emotion. While everyone else was laughing, I was crying.

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Speaker 2: I realized that our new normal was exactly how it

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Speaker 2: was meant to be all along. The thought of Mara

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Speaker 2: not being there with us made me sad to even

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Speaker 2: think about. I couldn't picture our lives without her, and

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Speaker 2: I didn't want to. It was in this moment that

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Speaker 2: Autumn knew without a doubt that Mara was meant to

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Speaker 2: be a permanent part of their family. But there was

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Speaker 2: still one crucial decision to be made, and it wasn't

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Speaker 2: up to Autumn or Josh. When Mara was twelve years old,

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Speaker 2: her parents permanently lost their parental rights, making her legally

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Speaker 2: available for adoption. But at seventeen, the decision to be

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Speaker 2: adopted wasn't entirely up to Marra. At this point in

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Speaker 2: her life, she had envisioned aging out of the system.

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Speaker 2: Autumn explains she had given up on the possibility of

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Speaker 2: being adopted before even meeting us. Honestly, I think she

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Speaker 2: had given up on the possibility of people really loving

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Speaker 2: her for who she is. The topic of adoption was

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Speaker 2: a delicate one. Mara had been hurt too many times before,

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Speaker 2: and the Moors were careful not to pressure her. They

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Speaker 2: wanted her to know that their love was unconditional, whether

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Speaker 2: she chose to be adopted or not. After many open

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Speaker 2: and honest conversations, Mara made a choice that would change

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Speaker 2: all their lives forever. She chose to be adopted. She

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Speaker 2: chose to become a more. The day Mara told them

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Speaker 2: her decision, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

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Speaker 2: Autumn recalls the moment vividly. Mara set us all down

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Speaker 2: after dinner. She was visioning, she was nervous, and then

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Speaker 2: she said, I want to be a More for real forever.

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Speaker 2: I don't think I've ever cried tears of joy like

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Speaker 2: that before. I'm often asked if it was hard to

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Speaker 2: bring a teenager into our home. If I'm answering, honestly,

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Speaker 2: the hardest part, selfishly was missing out on the first

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Speaker 2: sixteen and a half years of her life. The hardest

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Speaker 2: part is knowing the pain that she's endured in her

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Speaker 2: young life and knowing that I can't make any of

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Speaker 2: that go away. On May eighth, twenty twenty, via zoom

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Speaker 2: call necessitated by the COVID nineteen pandemic, Mara officially became

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Speaker 2: a More. Twenty twenty was a difficult year for so

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Speaker 2: much with COVID Autumn acknowledges, but for our family, twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty was a time for us to all grow closer

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Speaker 2: to one another. Twenty twenty was the year we officially

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Speaker 2: went from a family of four to a family of five.

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Speaker 2: The adoption day, though virtual, was filled with tears, laughter,

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Speaker 2: in an overwhelming sense of love. Autumn recalls the moment

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Speaker 2: the judge made it official when he said I now

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Speaker 2: pronounced Mara a legal member of the More family. It

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Speaker 2: felt like my heart might burst. I looked at Mara's

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Speaker 2: face on the screen, saw the tears in her eyes,

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Speaker 2: and I knew this was always meant to be. Today,

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Speaker 2: maraa is thriving. She's working ahead in school to graduate

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Speaker 2: a year early, holding down a job, and saving for

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Speaker 2: her future. Motivated to one day help children who have

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Speaker 2: experienced similar life situations, she tells me she will probably

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Speaker 2: spend the night at least once a week because she

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Speaker 2: will miss us Autumn shares, and while some days I

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Speaker 2: feel sad knowing that she will be moving out soon.

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Speaker 2: I am also excited to watch your blossom into an adult.

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Speaker 2: I'm ready to see what this next season looks like

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Speaker 2: for all of us. She pauses, and then she adds

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Speaker 2: with a soft laugh. You know, sometimes I catch her

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Speaker 2: looking at old family photos, the ones from before she

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Speaker 2: came to us, and she'll say, it's weird to think

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Speaker 2: there was a time when I wasn't a Moore. That's

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Speaker 2: when I know we didn't just change her life, she

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Speaker 2: changed ours. As for the Moors, they hope to continue

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Speaker 2: fostering children. Autumn also has ideas she hopes to turn

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Speaker 2: into action to improve the foster care system. I believe

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Speaker 2: we can do so much better, she says, not only

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Speaker 2: for the youth in our system, but for the biological

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Speaker 2: parents of the youth that are most likely a product

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Speaker 2: of traumatic childhoods they never healed from themselves. As we

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Speaker 2: come to the end of this journey, I want to

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Speaker 2: leave you with a thought. Every day there are children

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Speaker 2: out there waiting for their Autumn and Josh, waiting for

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Speaker 2: someone to see past their trauma, their challenges, their supposed baggage,

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Speaker 2: and recognize the beautiful, worthy human beings they are. Maybe

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Speaker 2: you're not in a position to foster or adopt, that's okay,

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Speaker 2: But maybe, just maybe you can be the person who

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Speaker 2: sends that life changing text. Because here's the truth. It

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Speaker 2: takes a village to raise a child, and for children

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Speaker 2: in the foster system, that village needs to be all

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Speaker 2: of us. Autumn's final words resonate with the power of

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Speaker 2: her experience. Love isn't always easy, it's not always comfortable,

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Speaker 2: but it's always worth there. Marra has taught us that

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Speaker 2: family isn't about bloody, it's about choice. Every day we

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Speaker 2: choose each other and every day I'm grateful for the

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Speaker 2: text message that changed our lives. Thanks for listening to

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Speaker 2: Loved with Matter