Hello and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. Here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner. And mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite part of the afternoon, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. And we've got a great dose of it for you here today. Today we are talking about God as the architect and creator of science. Now, I am a science nerd. If you've ever seen the credentials, after my name, all of those letters listed, some people think, oh, wow, look at those credentials. And I say, yes. Do you know what they spell? They spell. I need a new hobby because I am a nerd. I love learning, I love science. And as a nurse, I really appreciate the intersection of faith and science. And I know that science is just always working to catch up with scripture, things, things that we learn, scientific advances, they're there in the scripture. And we look back and think, yes, God told us that he knows this and now we are just learning how. Like looking at even one of the things that amazes me most about science is mapping DNA, mapping the human genome. Now I am dating myself here at at great peril, but I will do it. I will step out on a stage of humiliation and say, I am older than the mapping of DNA. I went to school before I got my master's degree as a pediatric nurse practitioner. The human genome was even mapped. And we're learning so much about science and we're seeing that support for that in scripture. I've talked about that so many ways. Even one of my favorite verses is from Philippians in everything, give thanks. And it goes on to say that the peace of God when we do this, the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And now we know that God wasn't just talking about your proverbial heart, like your warm fuzzy feelings. He, he was talking about our, literal blood pressure, our literal blood pressure and blood vessels. Because we know when we practice intentional gratitude, it improves our heart health, not only emotionally, relationally, but also physically. So scripture and science go hand in hand. And today I have a special treat for you because we're stepping into a world of faith and fun. As I was just chatting with our guest, I said, yes, I may know science, but I. You don't always know how to make it fun. So today our guest is bringing the fun. He's an award winning author, family science enthusiast, Brock Eastman, and he is best known for his Imaginative books like Faith and science with Dr. Fizzlebop and the beloved Quest for Truth series. And Brock is on a mission to show kids how God's creativity is revealed through science. From bedtime stories to backyard experiments, he is sparking curiosity in kids of all ages. So grab your safety goggles if you want and get ready to be inspired and have some fun. If you are watching our live stream on YouTube or on Facebook or on the streaming platform for American Family Radio, you'll see he's joining us from his lab. And welcome, Dr. Fizzlebop Welcome, Brock. We're so. Brock, we're so glad to have you here.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): Hey, thank you. Thank you. I'm excited to join you, and it was fun meeting you in Houston. And, now. Now we're here on. On the show together, so I'm excited. Thank you for having me.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That's right. We both got to serve at the same parenting conference, and that's where I learned we both have a heart to equip parents. We meet parents all over who really want to engage with their kids, but we need creative resources. And so I'm sure, Brock, that growing up, you didn't think, oh, I want to grow up, and I'm going to be Dr. Fizzlebop when I grow up. How did your story. How did your life story bring you to this platform of ministry? Tell us about you.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): Oh, that's a great question. We can be here for a few hours if you want to for that conversation, but, no, I'll keep. You're ready. You're in. You're in. you know, it's interesting, growing up, you know, I like to tell kids when I go speak, and parents, too. I know we'll unpack a lot in this hour we've got together, but, yeah, reading, writing, I like science and math. I didn't actually like reading and writing a lot. And so a lot of times I'll get from kids about being an author. Like, how do you. How many books did you write? Like, I didn't read or write anything until I was in college and challenged by my future wife to read something. That's when I started reading and then decided to write. But, I always liked science and I always liked math, and I was. I was fairly good at it. And I went to school in. In, actually, I was a first, second grader. Okay. In my. In my school, that could spell paleontologist. I wanted to be a paleontologist. And you can see me, I'm wearing a dinosaur shirt. And to this day, I love dinosaurs, so I want to be a paleontologist. And then I got a little older. You know, that's like second, third grade when you really know what you want to do. And I moved into middle school. Like, I don't know if I want to spend. I watched a movie that was, had showed the opening scene of this paleontologist out in the desert, and he's, you know, brushing off some dust from bones. Like, do I want to do that? That doesn't look very fun. But this is not chasing dinosaurs around. I don't know. So I changed my mind to the next best, thing, and that was become an aerospace engineer. Because I loved drawing airplanes and I thought it was that simple, that I could just draw an airplane and I'd hand it to a guy and they build it and wow, like multimillionaire right there. Right. And so I had a stack of pictures of airplanes. And so I was all set. I was ready. Then I got to high school and reality kind of started to set in. I still was going to be an aerospace engineer. I applied for some school, some colleges, got accepted. Junior year, here's. I'm off Embry Riddle, going to go. And I got cold feet. And I'm like, I just don't think this is what I want to do the rest of my life. I don't think I want to sit in front of drafting board and work on one small piece of an airplane. what do I do? And I, like, I'm really close to my family, small town in Illinois, 5,000 people. And so I decided, I tell kids, I decided to go into the one field that every child dreams of doing. And this is usually where your audience would say, you, wanted to be an author. No, that's not what I decided. I went into marketing. Marketing, but he wants to do marketing, right? No, no, not at all. But what marketing does is, is it's everywhere. I tell kids, look at your shoes, there's a logo. Look at your shirt, there's a logo. Look at that toy you like, that brand, that series. Everything is logos, everything is marketing. Everything is brand. And so that's actually what I went to school for was, marketing and brand and not science. so we're fast forwarding quickly. So we're not taking the three hours, we're taking the four minute study here. Right here on. I am, interrupt me if I'm going too long. Of course. But, I, I ended up, met a wonderful woman and we got married. and she challenged me to Read some books. And so we read that book series together. Like, wow, there's, like, this whole world here of writing. There's characters you can build. And so I. I wrote a book. Like, you know, anybody might think I could do this if, you know, whatever. I wrote it. I've got over here on my shelf, published three copies. You know, one for her, one for me, one for my mom and dad. Yay. and then that was like, 2000. That was like 2005, 2006. Okay. So I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm getting ready to graduate college. and, and this book is sitting on my shelf. So I actually worked for a small company in Peoria, Illinois, and in marketing, like, what I was planning on doing. And still to this day, I can't tell you when I applied for the job. I don't know when I applied for. I don't even remember applying for this job. I got a phone call from somebody at Focus on the Family in it. And she goes, we saw your application, and we'd like you to interview for this role. I'm like, what? It. I don't. I. So I did. I asked my wife. We just been married for three months. Three months. Said, hey, babe, what do you think? Maybe going interviewing for this job and maybe moving to Colorado, because she's from Illinois, too. And I think it was the adventure of our lifetime. And I'll, talk about that in a minute, too. But anyway, so I go, I get the job, and I work it in it for a year, and a year in a job opens up doing marketing for Adventures in Odyssey.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, my goodness. That's a dream job.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): That's the dream job. And I'll still tell you today, it was my dream job. I worked for them for seven years, six years as a brand. my final role there was to, be a producer for their streaming service. And you know what was amazing was, you know, God just opened doors. Doors that I was not thinking of or even ready for or expecting. and I think the attitude was, okay, let's take this next adventure, the door that God is opening for us. not feeling deserving of it. Right. As we do often. And so I did that for six years. And during that time, I went to a show called icrs, International Christian Retail Show. It doesn't exist anymore, sadly. But I would walk. I walked this conference, and I'm looking at all these publishers and all these booth. And I thought, I wrote a book back in 2005, I wonder if I could get that published. And so I did what you're not supposed to do as an author. So any future authors here, hey, they tell you not to do it. I did it. It worked. Do it. So I'm going to encourage them, who's listening to us, that if you've got that book and God's put a story in your heart, go get it published, because you can. And your story, somebody needs that story. If you were. If God compelled you to write that story, somebody needs that story. Get it out there. So I looked around, I sent out some emails, which you're not supposed to do. I sent some emails to some publishers, and some responded to me, and they got back and said, we'll take a look at that proposal. I ended up getting a couple offers on my Quest for True series that you mentioned earlier. And it went from a book to five books. And that was the start of me writing and starting to explore fiction and kids stuff. And we'll fast forward a little further. But as I go, I, end up going to Compassion International for seven years, and now I'm in a publisher called David C. Cook. But all through that time, outside of my general work, I was writing stuff. And, my wife and I, our family began to grow. So, you know, we were in Colorado, and then we had one kiddo in 09. Then we had another 11, another in 13, another 15. So we have three girls and a boy. And they are my life. And, And so much of what my wife and I think about and do every day is around them as, you know, as a mom. Right. Kids, they, their. They're all consuming, but also in such a great way. And, you know, when we invest in them, we see that fruit that comes out that's. I'm bringing it to. I'm landing the plane here, I promise. Here.
Brock Eastman says there's a disconnection in society of faith from science
So, the thing is, with Dr. Fizzlebop one thing that we kept running into over the last few years is this disconnection in society of our faith from science. They can't be. They don't. They don't belong together. They can't be together. They're impossible. You're going to get laughed out of the college if you think God is real. And I just thought, that's terrible. That's not how I grew up. That's not what I was told. Why are we telling kids that? And why are scientists, you know, pitching that, probably? Or why are scientists who are Christians feel like they've got to hide in shame or get in the closet. And like. Yeah, you know. Yeah, I agree with your theory. Yeah, that sounds great. And, and kind of hide what they really believe at times, you know, because culture now we call it canceling. But that's what was happening. Even though we weren't calling canceling back then. People were getting, blacklisted and pushed off and saying, you cannot be a scientist and believe in God. That's not possible. And, and now I think we've, we're correcting that. But I think as a dad, I want to make sure that the next generation, who we call gen Alpha, these kids know that that is not true. And I say theory incorrect. It's absolutely not true. And I'm not a scientist. I'm a dad. I'm a writer and I'm a marketer. And that's what you hear from me right now is the marketing. Right. But I want my kids to grow into a world that they can explore whatever field they want to. My oldest wants to go into forensic science. I. I want her to go into forensic science confident that whatever she studies and does and her beliefs as a Christian are not going to get laughed out of the classroom or get her blacklisted or not get her job. That's not right. Because when we look at the intricacies, I'm going to have to ask you to go to some of these details because you are a scientist. you know, when you look at the intricacies of how God created the world and how he designed us as humans, every little detail, he created each piece to work the exact way it does. He made it all to happen. So the science that we study, as you said earlier, that sometimes science is, sorry, God is a creator, is ahead of science. Right. And that's the absolute truth. We are discovering the things that God put in motion at the very beginning. That's what we're discovering. And I think as we start to accept that, we'll have even more breakthroughs and even more discoveries because we'll start to understand that, oh, the Creator did it that way. That makes sense. So I'm going to pull back for a second here because that's my quick, fast. Here's who I am and how I got here. but yeah, yeah, I'll leave it there for a second.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I think it's fascinating, Brock. I love hearing people's stories because it's always God taking you on a path that you didn't expect. And if you're willing just to say yes, you're just open to the journey. It's amazing to see what God can do. And you never expected leaving Illinois, going to Chicago, all of those kinds of things. And I don't know, Brock, all, you know, I heard you say a lot of words there, but the most important words I think I heard you say were it all started when a girl gave you a book and said, hey, read this. So, shout out to your wife for encouraging you, to Reed for supporting you to write that book. And then now here you are, which is so amazing. and for those listeners who may not be familiar, I do want to give a really quick shout out to Adventures in Odyssey. That is a radio series, a long running radio series by Focus on the Family. I definitely listened to that growing up myself and growing up with my kids. That was a, staple for us on road trips with Mr. Whitaker. I know there's some listeners out here saying, oh, yes, we love Adventures in Odyssey, but if your family hasn't discovered that radio drama. I think radio dramas are so great for kids because they spark. So speaking of science, they spark their brains in a different way because their brains have to create the picture where the picture's not given for them. So I will definitely give a shout out for that. And, Brock, believe it or not, we're already, coming up to our first break, but we are just getting started because you are delivering on your promise to bring the fun. I've already been laughing so much. And, you know, for me, as a scientist, I may have the brains, but my kids will assure you I don't always have the fun. That's where their dad comes in. Now, ironically, as we talked about, he is an aerospace engineer. He is a rocket scientist, but I don't know how he still brings the fun, but I try. But when we come back, we will talk, some more about the integration of faith and science and the ways that you've been able to market that to make it fun to teach to our kids. You won't want to miss it. We'll be right back with more from Dr. Fizzlebop, who is Brock Eastman. See you. On the other side of this break. Candace talks about finding out she was pregnant. Thankfully, an ultrasound provided by preborn allowed her to hear her baby's heartbeat. The sonogram sealed the deal for me. My baby was like this tiny little spectrum of hope, and I saw his heart beating on the screen and knowing that there's life growing inside. I mean, that sonogram changed my life. I went from just Candice to Mom. Thank you. To everybody that has given these gifts. You guys are giving more than money. You guys are giving love.
>> Jeff Chamblee: PreBorn currently has clinics that do not have ultrasound machines. Would you consider a leadership gift and sponsor a machine today? These life Saving machines cost $15,000 more than most centers can afford. Your donation will save countless lives for years to come. Dial pound250 and say the keyword baby or go to preborn.com/AFR.
>> Good Day by Forrest Frank: Okay, okay, okay. I'm about to have a good day. No matter what they say. The sun is shining down on me Birds are singing praise I'm about to have a good day in every single way. the God who made the universe.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is Good Day by Forrest Frank. I hope you're having a good day wherever you are. I'm having a great day talking to Dr. Fizzlebop here. And speaking of Forest Frank, I don't know if you saw, but he has been posting a series of videos about how he broke his back on a skateboard. Now, I have to say, the nurse in me saw no shoes, no helmet. So good time for a good reminder for all of those safety reminders. But we certainly wish him well. He fractured his vertebrae and he is even just sharing good vibes and good day and good hope even from his bed. He, he's been, writing a song called God's got My back while his back is broken. It is hilarious and touching and inspiring. So I encourage you to lift him and his family up in prayer. But today we're talking about what you get when you mix a love for God, storytelling, and science. Well, you get Dr. Phineas Einstein Fizzlebop and the real life dad behind him who you've just heard his story, Brock Eastman. He is the creator of Fizzlebop Labs and author of dozens of books that help families grow in faith while exploring the world around them. And with the help of his four kids and a whole lot of fizz, Brock is lighting up imaginations and, and turning family time into discovery time.
You talked about the importance of presence during family time because we're distracted
And Brock, just behind the scenes here during the break, you and I were chatting about the importance of presence during family time because we're so distracted. And you were talking about even listening to my show last week and talking about that phenomenon of us being distracted, especially by our screens. And I think it's so inspiring, especially to hear you as a dad, talking about being intentional and in your presence. And so what do you see in your own life as a dad, and how do you leverage that in giving tools to other families to engage with their kids? In fun science experiments.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): No, that, that, that's great. You know, and I, like I said, I was listening to your, your, your, your, interview for A3 a few days ago that you talk about the subject. It really just hit me because, you know, we, we had the conference we were at together where we met. I do two tracks. I do the Fizzlebop track for the kids, and I do the fun experiment. And we, we do, we do things and make things bl of fun sense stuff and connected to our faith. And then I also talk to parents about what is Gen Alpha, who are they and what do they need from us and how do we connect with them? as a dad of Gen Alpha, my oldest will argue she's a Gen Z Alpha, which is a. I love it. Yeah, she's really a Gen Z, but she has all Alpha brothers and sisters. Right? So she, is a Gen. I call her Gen Alpha. She says she's a Gen Z Alpha. But anyhow, I tell you that because, you know these kids. And we'll go, we can go into this. they, you know, we don't like talking about Coven, the pandemic. We try to put that in our, our past rearview mirror as much as we can move past it. But it was such a significant time on these kids and all the research I've done on this and, and by the way, my wife just got her master's degree in counseling. She's the smart one in the family, I'm going to say that. So if some of what I'm going to tell you are things she has told me and I have learned through osmosis, and I'm going to be putting back out her words in Fizzbot form. But, I, you know, these kids in the pandemic kids who we go to a school called a classical school, which means there's no digital devices in the school at all. Our kids do not have screen time learning it doesn't exist. So when code hit, we had to rush out and buy iPads so they could learn remotely. We're like, what is this? How do we do this? and so as a family who didn't do it, it was a big shift for us to have our kids suddenly on screens all the time. And there's a lot of signs. I'm m going to mess with his name. Jonathan Haidt, I think is his name. I forget the ancient generation as he talks about these kind of how they're impacting kids in ways. Well, Covid was this year where all Of a sudden everybody was forced to go on technology, but not just go on technology, but be on technology on a regular basis for everyday things that they usually couldn't. Right? And this really didn't. It's not just the screen time, it's the separation of these kids from their friends is taking them out of communities, taking them away from in person time with trusted adults as teachers, right? As we got had to go home and spend all our time in a digital format, right? In interaction, we lost that physical, tangible interaction that you have with people. Even right now on Zoom with you, I can't fully read your body language and your personality and how you're interacting with me in person. That's. That's different, right? You can see so much more, you can experience so much more. There's this sense in this field and I feel as though that is what has impacted these kids. So I tell you that because my little guy, Declan, when growing up, you know, he was always around us and I had, I had my phone, you know, I had my smartphone, but I didn't notice how it was impacting him until he got a little bit older. And the story I was sharing with is, that I have realized now that he, the moment I pick up my, let's say he comes in my office, he's talking to me. The moment my ah, text goes off, so I go to respond to it because I think, okay, I can respond quick. He just shuts down. His face, his demeanor, it all drops. He goes, he walks away. If he tries to keep talking to me, within seconds, like, you're not listening to me, dad. You're not really listening to me. And it just, you feel this brokenness, this is crushed. And as a dad, I don't want to do that to my children. I don't want that. And I'm not trying to guilt any parents out there listening to me right now. I'm talking from a very personal experience. And that's very important because you probably have had it happen to you and not maybe didn't realize it. Your kids begin to no longer come and talk to you, ask you questions because they know that this is m. More important to them. Your phone is more important. You're going to pick it up and respond to it without listening to them and you're not really there. And I, and I, I just find that. So I'll, I'll let you add to that. But I, I find that so, disheartening and sad and, and my family tries to focus a bit More on being less device free, like being more device free. But there are a lot of families that aren't that way at all. Like devices are the center of their world. And so I'm thinking I'm seeing just a little bit of that and I can only imagine what that is on expanded scale with more and more kids.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I appreciate you sharing that so transparently because it is a common struggle and to hear someone call it out and to say even the observations you had, that it changes his demeanor, you know, and that's what we see. And I was sharing with you from a scientific perspective and I've talked about this on my show before. We call it phubbing P H U B B I N g phone snubbing. And there you can go to the scientific literature and you can look and see the impact it has on our kids. It impacts their level of respect for us. It shifts the authority dynam. It makes them have indigestion while they, when they see the presence of the phone because their anxiety increases knowing that they don't have that connection that they need. I mean, we're talking about some really convicting stuff, Brock. And I think as collective parents of Gen Alpha and Gen Z, we all struggle with that. And so I think just acknowledging it, naming and claiming it is important. But the thing that I really appreciate about your platform is that I'm, not all about, you know, doom and gloom and, you know, just always conviction and limiting screen time and being the phone police. We've got to provide a compelling alternative. We have got to engage our kids. It's not just, okay, get off your phone. We've all gotten off our phone.
Tell us about how you make science fun for parents
Well, now what. And I think the now what that you brought is fun in science. So tell us about. I have to read this again. Dr. Phineas Einstein Fizzlebop Tell us about that and how you make science fun and what tools parents might have to engage in learning with their kids. And something that is in person and that is about science and learning, but also ultimately points their faith back to the one who created science.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): Yeah. No way. M okay, you hit on so many things because. And I was just at a homeschool conference and doing a big thing and I, I start with that kind of talk about, here's Genoff and here's the, here's the challenges we have as parents trying to. Because our heart is to minister them right. We want. And maybe we're a little bit over the top. Like we are spread more thin than maybe our parents were because we Want to be at everything all the time. Like, we want to. We want to win at this parenting thing really well. And I've got four kids. Like, you have four kids. And that, you know, we're not playing man on man anymore. We're playing zone defense. Right. And they're all in things. We don't want them to be held back. We want them to be able to experience the things they want to as an individual, as opposed to. You can't do that because this one's doing that. Like, we don't want that. So we work harder, you know, we work harder to that. Yeah, you're raising your hand, you know, And. And so. But. But what. What I find with, that intentionality is then the gaps we have between all the craziness and business that exists is taken up by this device or something like that. And so your question is, when we have. Let's say we have that device time, we're like, okay, we're not gonna. We're gonna put that away. We're spend time. What does that look like? What do we do? That in itself can become overwhelming because as parents who want to be involved in everything, we want to do stuff. Great. Like, 15 minutes. What can I do? What's gonna make this be amazing? How can I compete with the things they're used to. Watching YouTube or listening to music or their friend? How can I compete as a parent? I'm just not cool enough for that. That's the challenge. And so, one of the things I talk about, my parenting talk, is a lot about, story time. Okay, so I'll go into the science, too, here, but story time. Having intentional time with our kids. One thing my wife did in our family was she loves to read. I told you. I did not. She loves to read. All of our kids are voracious readers. That's because when they're very little. And I would challenge parents right now. Listen to this. And I'm not saying, like, just babies up to 7, 8, 9, 10. I still do read aloud with Declan and Waverly, and Waverly's 11. Have intentional read alouds with your kids. A chapter book, a chapter night, anything like that. Engage with them. You don't have to do any work. All you got to do is read. If you can't make funny voices, that's okay. If you try, they'll think it's even better. But to create that connection with your kids. You mentioned earlier the trust. Having trust with kids. Right. You're only going to get trust and relation with kids. When you spend time with them, when you spend time doing something with them, interacting with them.
You mentioned playing games with your kids. Our family loves, Loves playing games
you mentioned off the off mike when we were talking earlier about playing games with your kids. Right. We love playing games with family, whether it be Skippo or you mentioned Monopoly Deal, one of our favorites. Just laughing and spending time. Those are not high tech, crazy, fancy things. That's me grabbing a chapter book and reading a chapter to them, or taking a picture book and looking at a few spreads together every night before bed. That's grabbing a card game that's already done for me and just playing a couple rounds. And those moments of times of interaction are the are have been our best for laughter, for asking basic questions about, like, how'd school go today? We're just playing our game together and we're talking about that. Building relationship and ultimately building trust. it's okay. Sorry.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: No, that's okay. I was just gonna say it's like we planned this because since January I've been doing 52 habits for healthy families. And every Friday we go, we dive deep into a habit for healthy families. And for the last 10 weeks. So 10 weeks out of 52, I am spending on technology and week one was about reading exactly that. And I think you're so right, Brock. Even in looking at the science of this, what kids are looking for. So often, we, we as parents, we view this negatively. Like when our kids are bothering us, when they're hanging around, when they're coming around, we think, oh, they're just wanting attention. No, they're wanting connection. That's what they're looking for. And in this world of infotainment, in this world of digital engagement, that is the one thing that that world cannot counterfeit. They cannot make connection like we make in person. So I remember when I was teaching this parenting class, I had one of my nursing students who came. I think her envisioning of what parenting class was going to be from me as a nurse was very different than what it was because it really was just about faith and rhythms. And so I talked about reading out loud and she said she had never done that with her boys. Her boys were school age. And she felt super awkward about starting. And she said, I'm just going to go home and do it anyway. I'm just going to go home and read them a Bible story. And so she did. And, and she said she was shaking, she was so nervous about it. And I thought, wow, this is really instructive, you know, thinking about just the ways that parenting have changed and, and even just Stepping out of your comfort zone when you've stepped into maybe a rut, you know, that you don't intend to be in, but you are. And so she said, I said, well, how did it go? And she said, you know, she said it was okay. It was all right. I was really nervous, but it was okay. Next week, she comes back to the class and she said every night after that, her son would bring her the Bible story picture book and say, can you read another one? Can you read another one? Can we read one tonight? They pick it up so fast. And it's not like, oh, this Bible story book is the best thing in the world. It's, hey, I want this connection. God created kids to crave that. And so to have that is just so great, Brock, to hear you talking about living that out on a practical basis. And it is so hard. It is so hard to do. So talk about. And you're right about the games. I, Our family loves, Loves playing games. There is nothing like a good sibling competition that will get everybody laughing and get everybody engaged for sure. But let's talk about. How do you. Does Dr. Fizzlebop come home? Do you have Dr. Fizzlebop at your. With your kids? How do you engage with your kids in science? And what does this look like?
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): Yeah, well, my, My poor kids. Okay, they, we, when we wrote this book together, they had to do all 52 experiments with me. If you look inside the book, love it. There is pictures and they had all the photography. They're in the photography here and there. They had to do them all. And then we started to do a YouTube show and life got really busy. Okay, so we've got the lab set up to do it, but I am my own, writer, director, teleprompter, producer, actor, editor, you know, so it slowed down a little bit on that. But, you know, but what we, we really were, we were doing the experiments together. And, you know, my 15 year old doesn't want to do them quite as much with me as she does unless they're really exciting ones. But, but she's the best person to go on a con. She went to my conference and ran my booth. Was amazing, right? But I, I say that because this, this book, the one we're talking about, faith and science of Dr. Fizzlebop 52, Fizztastically fun experiments and devotions for families. This book, as we have done it together, is designed for what you just said, that if you have 15 minutes with your kids, you can do an experiment and explore their Faith together. And I. I joke at conferences. I. I make the kids. Okay. And the parents. I say, do you have vinegar at home? And I. And the parents. No, I said parents, if you have vinegar, you raise your hand or I'm going to call you out. You say, yes or no. Baking soda. Do you have a plastic bottle? Do you have a balloon and a funnel? If you have these things, you have a, fizz inflator and that. Science. And I kind of go into it, but most everything, 99 of the things that are in this book, parents have in their pantry right now. The idea was, this is not a long prep list. This is not you having to think days and days ahead. If we're gonna do a physical box experiment, I gotta go to the grocery store. No, no, no. This is. You get home, dad just come from work. Mom just got from m. Work, whatever it might be. The kids are from school. You're like, let's. Let's spend some time together. Let's, like, go into God's word. Well, we don't. We don't want to pull out the full text Bible with no pictures and read that again. That's okay. Let's explore our faith from a different angle. And so you open up to any one of them. There's 52. Any one of them. And you'll find the list of how to do it. You have the ingredients, and you. I guarantee. Well, I shouldn't say guarantee. That's a dangerous word on live marketing. I 80% guarantee. 99. Whatever the clause is to get out of a full guarantee, whatever that is, is, it's going to be in your pantry, and you're going to have the tools to make those experiments. And you do the experiment together. And they're super simple. We love saying super simple science. They're really easy to put together. They're fun. They take 10, 15 minutes, and then it goes right into Dr. Fizzbop. What's happening? So mom and dad can be the hero they're not left with. Why did that do that? They read that, and the kids and you connect around a scientific concept about how this worked. Then it rolls right into devotion, devotional. And that devotional again, it makes the mom and dad the hero. They read this devotional to their kids. They're unpacking the science. It's connecting to this faith element. A Bible story, a Bible verse for them. And then they roll into some challenging questions. What happened in the experiment for this? What do you think that means when God says this? And then a Prayer. It's all built in to be a simply contained 10, 15, 20m minutes.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I love it. Brock. We're already at the second break. This show is flying by. We're having so much fun. I hope you are too. Listen more with Dr. Fizzlebop Brock Eastman right when we come back from this break.
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>> I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever by Sonicflood: M Over mountains and sea your river runs With a love for me now we'll open up my heart I let the heal us and free I want you to be in the truth and I will tear my hands For I will always sing now when your love came down I could sing of your love.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is I could sing of your love forever by Sonic Flood and you're thinking that's a flashback. Yeah, I'm right there with you. I. I could, I think I could really win any 90s or 2000s Christian music trivia. I'm definitely a fan, but I am a fan today of science. We are talking about the intersection of faith and science. If you're watching online, you can see me holding up this book, Faith and science with Dr. Fizzlebop These are 52 fizztastically fun experiments and devotions for families. So if you're looking for a devotion that uses things that are likely in your kitchen counter and as Brock said, almost guaranteed. Right. We'll be careful in our language and, and make sure we don't provide, you know, any, guarantees that can't be there. But I tell you, this will provide connection with your family and fun. And whether it's a devotional with a chemical reaction or a Bedtime story with biblical truth. Brock Eastman. He knows how to turn wonder into worship. He's the creator of this wildly fun series and the voice behind the award winning stories that bless in science and faith for kids and their parents too.
Jessica Peck: It is so important to read to your kids early and often
So we are diving into this colorful world and as I told you, for the last 10 weeks, every Friday, I've been talking about tech habits for family. The first one is reading actually the importance of reading physical media books in a digital world. And the second was engaging in faith based media with your family. And Dr. Fizzlebop would be a great place to start on that. And a lot of what Brock and I have been talking about, I've been covering on those Friday shows. So I encourage you, go back and listen to any Friday show this summer. We're talking about that tech. But one of the important things is engaging early and especially as we're talking about, Brock's kids and Gen Alpha or Gen Z Alpha. That's the first time I've heard that, by the way. Brock and I love it. Or my kids who are Gen Z core, very core Gen Z kids. It is so important in a world that is disrupted by screen saturation to read to your kids early and often. And Brock has books that. Board books, even from early on. And so Brock, we've talked about the devotional. I would love for you to tell parents about the board books that you have for those younger years.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): Yes, yes, we've got. So I'll tell two parts of the story. Because I always have at least two parts of the story. Right, Jessica? So, I have a book right now called Bed. I have one called Bedtime on Noah's Ark. It's not a science book. Okay. But here's why I'm going to tell a story. Because when my little guy was little, he didn't like to brush his teeth. How any toddler might not want to brush his teeth.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Teeth.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): And so I thought, how can we make this fun? And so I said stick your. Or I said open your mouth, wide, like a hippo. So he opened it as wide as he could and I got that. Important parts of his teeth. Okay, show me your tiger teeth. He closed them and growled. And I got the tiger teeth. And then I had him stick out his tongue like a giraffe because we were always told to rush our tongue. So we do. And so he did a draft. Well, it's fast forward. Okay. Our, my wife's best friend's out visiting us and Ashley, my wife, is doing this with Declan and Her friend goes, well, what are you doing? And he goes, oh, something Brock came up with just to kind of get Declan to brush his teeth and, and do it. And, you know, it works. And so that's a good idea. You know, other people should know about that. And I, and my wife told me that. I'm like, that's a book. It's a book. So I turned around to my publisher and said, here's this book idea. And they loved it. My best selling book, even more than Dr. Fizzlebop and Faith and Science, is Bedtime on Noah's Ark. It's a word book about how to go to bed. It's crazy. It's this cute, but it takes, ah, you talk about toddlers and the importance of toddlers in the story type. It's super cute. It's 20 pages, but you read through with your little toddlers. It takes you from the very beginning of putting on pajamas and taking, getting washed up and brushing your teeth and praying together and a nice big warm hug, you know, as you go to bed. All the little elements a toddler, a baby need from their parents are built into this book as a natural story time. That's probably why it's selling so well. But it's one of those books that just encapsulates what we're talking about. Finding a moment, especially before bed. When your kids are maybe little, they just need to calm down. It just brings them into a nice routine. And routines are important for children. You have a routine, bu. And they expect it and they go along with fun animals. So I'll, leave that for a second, unless you want to add anything to it. Dr. Peck. Sorry.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: No, that's totally good. And actually, Brock, you're going to bring some fun to the show. You're going to do an experiment right here on the air. We do have some people watching online, some people are listening on the radio, so a little narration would be helpful. But I'm going to give it to you to put, you know, put your, your, your feet where your faith is here and put this science to action. So show us how it's done.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): Okay, so we, I mentioned the thing called a fizz inflator earlier. Okay. So we're gonna make a Fizz inflator together. I love this. And, and Jessica, you have to correct me on any science I get wrong. Okay?
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay. All right.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): I'll do my best times. Okay.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: So it's not human science. So, you know, I gotta say, it's not human science. I feel like you know my husband would be better equipped for this, but I will do my best. I just want to give that disclaimer there since we had the disclaimer about disclaimers, but go ahead.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): Okay. And since he's doing the job I wanted to do, I need to meet him next time in Houston. Okay.
You need vinegar, baking soda and a balloon to do this experiment
We need to have dinner. So if you have an empty plastic bottle, just normal water bottle at home, that's what you need. Okay. If you've got vinegar, get your vinegar, get your baking soda and then you need a couple funnels and a balloon, that's all you need. So first all we're going to do is we're not going to be scientific on measurements right now because we're going fast. You take your funnel. Okay, I'm putting my funnel into the plastic bottle right now and I'm being over explanatory because I know we've got some listeners together with me, right? So we're going to take the vinegar and we're going to pour it into the funnel. And I usually put like we'll just call it an inch. We'll say an inch for visual measurement, perspective of vinegar in the bottom of my bottle. Okay. You love this non scientific, scientific experiment. and then we're going to take our baking soda, we're going to put the funnel, we're going to stretch out the, the end, the edge of our balloon, the very end of our balloon a little bit. We're going to stretch out the mouth of the balloon and get it nice and loose. Okay. Then we're take a different funnel. Okay. Not the one use vinegar on, because guess what? Vinegar and baking soda reaction effect, not to give a spoiler alert, but we're going to put the funnel in the balloon just like that. And we're taking about a tablespoon or half teaspoon, whatever you want, something like that. It's always fun. I like to have kids do different amounts because then the end result is different. And then we guess why, we talk about why and we hot. We've hypothesized why it's different. So you pour that baking soda down the funnel into the balloon. Okay? So once you've got that all done, you're going to take the end of your balloon, the opening of your balloon, you're going to open, open it up and you're going to stretch it over the bottle so everybody can see this, right? I've got my balloon dangling from my bottle. I've got baking soda in the balloon and I've got Vinegar in the bottle. Vinegar is a. Dr. Peck, what kind of liquid? What is that?
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, my gosh. You're going to give me a pop quiz right here in front of everybody? Like I'm back in chemistry lab. I don't know about this. Okay, but you said you had the cheat sheet for parents in the book, right? Okay, but it is an acid. Yes. Okay.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): They'll know what it is. It's an acid Yes. She knew all along. She's just getting me going. We got an acid, and then we have baking soda, which is a, a base.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, gosh.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): This is interactive, Jessica
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay, okay. Sorry. Okay. All right. Okay. This wasn't part of the. The predetermined questions, but okay, I'll go with it. All right.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): We're having too much fun. Okay. So they're never gonna let us on together again. Okay, we got liquid, which is an acid, and we've got a sol. our baking soda. We've got a base that's solid, and we've got a liquid that is vinegar, which is an acid. Okay, now, this is the cool part. This is the scientific part. We're going to make something from m. A solid and a liquid. Are you guys ready?
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay, I'm ready.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): We're pour it together.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): And look at that.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: What's happening? The balloon is inflating, and I'm wondering, is it going to pop? And if I was a kid, I would hope that it would.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): It won't pop, thankfully. but what's fun is. And kids often, they get confused, and they flip it over, keep it upright. It's helpful. Vinegar is smelly. You don't want that on your cartoon. It. But what has happened now is we've made a chemical reaction. The acid and the base have gone together to make a gas. They've made carbon dioxide, which is a gas. So liquid and a solid have made a gas, and that's our f inflator. And if sometime we talk about the devotional side of it, it's really about the things we consume that they come back out in our life and ways. And we want that to be good things. We want to consume the good things of God and let that come out as, who we are in our life. So. So quick, wrap up there.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I absolutely love it, and, you know, I'm laughing a lot, Brock, because there's so many times on this show that we have to cover things that are so serious, and I think parents feel the same way. There is so much in the world that is so Serious. And we have to, you know, when we were growing up, we, when our, we were growing up as kids, we would, our parents would tell us about, you know, stranger danger and crossing the street and driving too fast and all of those things. And it just feels like, like when I'm talking with my kids, you know, we're both parents of four and your kids are kind of that younger teenage years, minor in that older teenage years. And I just feel like so often I'm telling them, okay, now think about this and be careful about this and worry about this and, and everything that I'm doing is instructional and it's lecture based when I'm trying not to be lecture based. Brock, I think it is so important for families to have fun together. There's not enough fun. And just like you talked about, sometimes the pressures even of doing something good, like I have all four of my K, who all have very, very different interests. You know, none of them are interested in the same sport or the same activity. And so we're trying to support that and sometimes just running that rat race, just doing the schedule and trying to get everyone where they need to be and feeling like all of the pressures of everything, we just miss out on time for fun. But it's laughter that bonds us together and it's makes those lectures a little easier to deliver because we've also built in some bonds there and some funds. And so I, I would love to, to just you to talk about the importance of having fun together as a family.
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): Yeah, it, it is. I think that's where that relationship grows. Right. And, and you know, we're going to have serious times in life together too. But it's that those fun memories, those ones that stand out. And you mentioned earlier about healthy. We were talking, I don't know if it was on, on mic or off mic that we were talking about health and how that euphoria that we come from good times together. And correct me when I'm saying all this incorrectly because I'm not a scientist, but it's those, those good, happy, joyful moments that do the best for our brain, our heart, our health in general. And our kids will remember those moments. The funniest moments my kids remember are the ones where my wife and I do something very silly to each other. And they will talk about that for the next two or three years. Remember that memory anymore, but it stood out for them. A moment of joy, as us as a family. And so playing games and going out and making fun of ourselves and making videos together, we make silly videos together. Those are all those euphoric moments that kids can remember. And they will, in the dark times in life that will come that we don't want as parents, that ever happen for our kids. But they will happen, whether that be in college or as their own adults. Those dark times, they will have a foundation of good, joyful moments with their family that they can reflect and turn back onto. And we talk about the prodigal son. If one of your children is a prodigal eventually and goes away at some point when they hit that rock bottom, they're going to remember that their parents were there for them. Joyful, happy moments. And that happiness is going to pull them back to. And if we're doing our job as parents and we're showing them who God is, that's going to connect to them too. They're going to remember my parents are joyful and they're filled with God and who he is in their lives. And I want that because I see that fun in them. So I think that's how we can do it.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I agree. And I think sometimes, you know, families. I know I've been in this way. Families can get in a rut. You can be in a really tough season where, you know, maybe one kid is struggling with something in particular, and you just kind of feel like you're that nag all the time, and you're just constantly harping on everything and just saying, yeah, but this isn't there, and this isn't there, or you're just in that season of kind of conflict. I think doing something fun and unexpected is a great way to shift the energy in your home, because it really gets kids attention. Just like you're saying, they remember that. They're drawn to that. They're interested in that. I know. I. My husband, I. I'll tell you, Brock, he. He is a. A rocket scientist. So you would think he's like this, that he wouldn't embrace fun, but he is way more fun than I would be. I rem. Where we heard a guitar playing. We're like, what is going on? And we went. He was standing on the kitchen island with the guitar, playing a song and, like, pretending, like he was Elvis actually is what he was doing. Sorry, honey. I just. I just told everybody, but we. Does he play the guitar? No, not really. Were we dying laughing? Yes. We just needed an energy shift in the house, and he knew how to provide it, you know, where everybody was kind of cranky and bickering and arguing, and he knows how to shift that and so that's a great way to do this. And I love what you said, Brock, about even. And you come home from work and you think, ah, let's fix dinner. What a great way to do a science experiment while you're making dinner. That is a great way to have a connect. It doesn't take. I think too. The other lie that we believe as parents is that it has to be some. You know, you have to have a Dr. Fizzlebop studio. You have to have a YouTube channel. You have to have, you know, something that is worthy to put on social media. But it's really just those simple connections that are there and just those simple moments of time together. And I'm sure that, I am sure, Brock, that we have inspired some families here. So how can they connect with you if they're thinking, I want to know more. I want to watch Dr. Fizzlebop's videos or get a copy of your books. Where can they find you?
>> Brock Eastman (Dr. Fizzlebop): Yeah, well, my books are anywhere books are sold. I always, I know the funny thing to say, but you can grab them, pretty much anywhere. But fizzlebop.com if you go there, you're going to find all my fun stuff. You go search fizzlebop on YouTube. That's where the videos are. And you know, they can really help me by in January of this coming year. I know it's crazy. I out releasing four brand new board books for Dr. Fizzlebop And the reason this is so important, Dr. Peck, is because kids at the early age zero to four, if we start connecting them with God as their creator and the one behind all the science early on, that that is where we're going to continue to win with these kids for the rest of life. That is foundational. And one covers weather, one covers space, one covers alphabets and animals, and one colors and countings. And I leave that with you because that's how you can support more and more of these types of products getting out to market. If those things sell well, then more will do. The them publishers don't, don't care about your kids. They don't. They just care about money. We see it all the time. If something sells well for them, they'll do more of that. And when they do more of that, that means more families, not just Christian families, will start being exposed to our creator as this wonderful designer, intelligent designer of who we are, and our world that we live in.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: So I love it and no, it's all good. And as a pediatric nurse practitioner, I endorse everything you said about development, and that's so important. And we want to point our kids to God as the architect and the creator of science. Thank you so much, Brock, for joining us. And if those books released in January, that sounds like an amazing Christmas gift idea for the little ones in your life. So check it out. And wherever you are, I hope you're having a great day. And I pray that, the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you peace and listen, I will say see you right back here tomorrow.
>> Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
