Transcript

Preborn needs your help to provide ultrasounds for pregnant women

Dr. Jessica Peck: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial pound 250 and say the keyword BABY or visit preborn.com/AFR 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 a new year. Can you believe it that the holidays are behind us? I'm a little sad about that, I'm not going to lie. But you know what, that's just a whole year to look forward to the holidays and the Christmas season again. And we have Easter coming up, which is a great time of celebration. But as we're starting out this new year, I want to invite you to join our 52 Habits for Healthy families every week. We've been doing this for two years now. This will be our third year and we can never do enough work to develop healthy habits for our families. We are inviting you to join us. It's very simple. Every Friday we talk about a habit that will help your family. One small habit a week stacked over time. We're talking about a legacy that lasts. And you know, we live in a world that is addicted to instant gratification and quick fixes. We have a life that is dictated by apps. We can order what we want, where we want, when we want, how we want. And it used to be we would wait weeks for something to come in the mail from the Sears catalog. And now we can pick do we want to have that delivered today between 10 and 3. We want overnight change. We want viral solutions. We want pain free progress. And when it feels like, like that growth, when we're working on a character trait, when we're having a struggle, when it just feels like progress is slow or maybe even it's unseen, we are tempted to believe that it really doesn't matter. And we start to scroll. We numb our emotions and we numb out. We zone out and we start to scroll. And in scripture and in science, we see the same truth that every day matters. The enemy would love to convince us that those small, faithful decisions that we're making every day are just insignificant. But it's actually those daily rhythms that shape our Hearts that form our character, that determine the legacy that we are going to leave behind. It is the mundane that becomes miraculous when you're talking about a legacy of faith that you will leave here on earth.

We are inviting you into 52 habits for healthy families this year

And that is why we are inviting you into 52 habits for healthy families. One habit a week, intentionally stacked on top of the last, to nurture that spiritual, emotional, relational, and even digital discipleship in your home. We'll be talking a lot about that this year. This is for families of any age and stage. If you are a married couple, if you're a single parent, if you are a single person, if you're a family with babies, with teens, with toddlers, with adult children, if you're an empty nester or a grandparent, or just singles who are building healthy rhythms now. If you're part of a family or you hope to build your own family someday, this for you. These healthy habits are small acts of faithfulness. It's not grand gestures of transformation that happens. I know I feel that way if I go to the gym, you know, you work out for an hour and you think, okay, am I strong yet? Am I fast yet? But it is that daily discipline that there's nothing glamorous about growth rarely happens in those dramatic moments. Growth is going to happen quietly and consistently and over time. It's why I'm really against NewSong Year's resolutions. Those are just things that set us up to fail. But what feels insignificant today often becomes the foundation for tomorrow. It really does. The enemy thrives on distracting you, on discouraging you and convincing you that if change isn't instant, it's just not working. That's not true. Don't believe that lie. So many things that you are doing in daily faithful decisions are planting seeds that are not meant to be harvested in this season. They will be harvested in a season to come, and you'll start to see that growth and you'll think, oh my goodness, I remember when I planted that seed so long ago. Faithfulness compounds even when we can't see it yet. And habits work like planting seeds. Growth is happening long before the fruit is visible. And Scripture constantly affirms this. We read in Galatians 6, 6, 9, let us not grow weary in doing good. I think those words are given to us for a reason, because it can be easy to grow weary in doing good. And just being faithful and trying to make the right decisions and trying to honor the Lord day after day, it becomes wearying because you think, where is the progress? Where is that grand moment? But spiritual maturity and relational health are formed over time. They are not instant download. And if we're really honest, we treat them like we want them to be instant downloads. But long obedience in the same direction. You're talking about building character. You're talking about raising resilience. You're talking about forming trust. And there is a very significant spiritual dimension of these habits. Habits shape not what we do. These habits are not about what we do every day. I'm not going to tell you the most important thing to do is to pray, to read your Bible, to go to church. Those things are important. But it's not about what we do. It's who we are and who we are becoming. That's where those daily spiritual rhythms create space for God to work beneath the surface. We're talking about things like prayer and scripture and going to church, and then we'll talk about Beatitudes, we'll talk about tech habits, but we're going to talk about those daily spiritual disciplines. There is no substitute for that. There is nothing that is going to magically transform you. It is in those daily decisions. And when we make the choice to have those embrace those healthy spiritual habits, it reminds us that God is the source of our power, not the outcome. It's not a product that we're trying to produce. This is about character we're trying to form. Now there is a relational dimension to these habits that we're going to go through this year. Relationships thrive on consistency. Now, in today's world, it feels like the most important thing is the intensity, the intensity of the moment, the intensity of the emotion, the intensity of the response to, a gesture. But it is really about consistency. Nothing has changed in that the small daily investments that you are making, whether that's listening, whether that's showing up, whether that's speaking life, all of these things build trust over time. And we see healthy habits. They reduce reacting to things and help you respond intentionally. Instead of reacting impulsively, you can respond intentionally. That's what we're going to work on over this year. And it increases the feeling of psychological and emotional safety of those who are around you. Whether you're a child, whether it's your children, your spouse, your friends, they are shaped more by what we repeatedly do, what we are consistently doing every day in our homes. Those daily habits are shaping our relationships more than what we're occasionally saying. What we're having is our best intention. And that, when we tell our loved ones that we love them, it's made believable through repetition. In this Daily discipline. Now, this habit stacking makes change sustainable. If we add one habit at a time and just work on it, and we practice consistency, we look for just doing that over time, rather than doing it perfectly from the very beginning and having instant transformation. Adding one habit at a time prevents us from being burned out or discouraged, feeling like, okay, are we ever going to change? But if you start now and be intentional and think about some goals that you have for this year, think about some pain points that you have in your relationships that you're wishing for transformation, God has given you a blueprint for that. And those stacking habits, it basically is just a mirror for biblical discipleship. And healthy families are not built in a season. They are built in rhythms over many seasons. And sustainability matters more than speed. Having that consistency, building a foundation that will last, matters more than doing it so quickly. And I'm here to tell you that spiritual formation, it happens in the ordinary. It's not going to happen in made for social media moments. God works through the mundane. That is the meals that you're having around your table, or maybe on the go, in the car. It's in those conversations that you're regularly having before bedtime, in the morning, before everybody goes on their way in the middle of the day, as you're texting your spouse, texting your child. It's those routines that you have that family knows. These are the routines, the rhythms that we have and the bedtime prayers that you have. Ordinary faithfulness leaves an extraordinary legacy and that should encourage us all, that really should. Because what feels repetitive is in fact formative. And the everyday is where faith is lived, not just believed. And so there is encouragement for every season of life in these habits. Whether you're singles forming the habits that are shaping the future you're preparing for, whether you're young families where consistency matters more than perfection, whether you're families with teens where those habits anchor relationships during times of tumultuous change, or you're an empty nester. Rhythms still matter, legacy still continues through prayer and through presence. And no season is wasted when it's stewarded intentionally. So that is a hope filled reframe for us.

Adopting 52 healthy habits is really a quiet act of trust

If you're thinking about New Year's resolutions, I encourage you to think about rhythms that matter and to step into this journey of 52 habits. Because progress doesn't require perfection, it just requires persistence. And God honors faithfulness in that. I firmly, firmly believe that, that God just requires the smallest steps of faithfulness from us. And he blesses us abundantly more than we can ask or imagine. Adopting these healthy habits is really a quiet act of trust. Trust that God is working even when it doesn't feel like it, even when it doesn't seem like it, even when it just seems mundane. He is shaping your heart. He is strengthening your relationships. He is building a legacy one day at a time.

The most foundational habit that you can have is prayer

And the most foundational habit that you can have, the one that we will start with, number one, every single time, is prayer. And I want to encourage you with the scripture from Proverbs 16:3. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. So even right now, in the quietness of your heart, in the stillness of wherever you are, or the chaos of wherever you are, commit your work to the Lord. Commit to the Lord that you want to develop healthy habits that will transform your heart and your family relationships. And that in and of itself is a prayer. We often talk about prayer, but we rarely practice it with intention. But it is the most underrated and the most powerful tool that we have to protect and, guide and advocate for our families. Jesus didn't just tell us how to pray. He showed us how. And he modeled prayer as, as frequent, very frequently, going to the Father in prayer, as relational. He talked with the Father as his father. He was honest in his prayers, and he showed his dependence on the father. Prayer should not be a last resort. It also should not be a religious checkbox. It is the foundation that everything else stands on. Even before we talk about getting into God's word, you should pray before you read God's word. Even when we talk about going to church, you should pray before you go to church, even before you do anything else. Prayer is foundational. You cannot control every decision that every person in your family is going to make. But you can cover those decisions in prayer. You can't predict the future, but you can commit it to God. You can't be everywhere, every time, for every single situation. But God already is. God is omnipresent. God is omnipotent. he is all powerful. We have access to the throne room of the creator of the universe, and yet we don't access it. So often we, we do talk about prayer like, oh, I'll pray for you. Stop saying, I'll pray for you and ask, can I pray for you right now? How can I pray for you right now? That is a question that has been absolutely transformational in my family. When my kids share a struggle that they're going through, when they share a worry that they have, when we lear learn about a family who is struggling. We face any sort of trial, trauma, tragedy, challenge, any sort of anything. Instead of saying, yeah, we should pray about that, say we're going to pray about that right now. How can I pray for you right now? I've started using this with my family on voice text. I just voice text a prayer right away. You're worried about an exam, you're worried about a friendship, you're coming home, home. I'm going to pray for you right now. How can I pray for you right now? That could be a very transformational question that could change your relationships and change the trajectory of your faith. When we come back, we'll talk some more about prayer, about the healthy habit of prayer. And I'm also going to give you a preview for how Fridays are going to be structured this year and how we'll walk through helping you find hope for healthy families. Don't go away. I'll be right back after this break on THIS Friday. See you in a minute.

Preborn Network helps women choose life through a free ultrasound

We're living in a time when truth is under attack. Lies are easy to tell, easy to spread and easy to believe. But truth, truth is costly. And nowhere is the cost greater than for mothers in crisis. When a woman is told abortion is her only option, silence and lies surround her. But when she walks into a PreBorn Network clinic, she's met with compassion, support and the truth about the life growing inside her. That moment of truth happens through a free ultrasound and it's a game changer. When a mother sees her baby and hears that heartbeat, it literally doubles the chance she'll choose life. PreBorn Network clinics are on the front lines, meeting women in their darkest hour, loving them, helping them choose life and sharing truth. Friend, this is not the time to be silent. It's time for courage, for truth, for life. Just $28 provides one ultrasound and the opportunity for a mother to see her baby, to help her choose truth and life. Donate today. Call pound 250 and say baby. That's pound 250, baby. Or give online at preborn.com/AFR, that's preborn.com/AFR.

Somebody Prayed by Crowder: Every night there by your bed, you fold your hands and bow your head, throwing out another prayer in faith. When you're wondering if he's hearing you, look at me, I'm living proof I'm only right where I am today because somebody prayed So I hit my knees 'cause I've seen all Heaven move These hands have no power but there ain't an hour he don't come through. That's why when mountains Move I say looks like somebody prayed

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is somebody prayed by Crowder. And I want you to know that somebody prayed for you today. That was me and my team. We are praying for you, our listeners. We pray for our listeners every single day, every single time that we have a show. We are praying for you, and we are inviting you to pray with us. I really want you to look at your prayer life and think about what is your prayer life like? If someone asked you to describe your prayer life, what would you say? What would you say? Like you pray every once in a while, you pray, before you go to bed, you pray before meals. You. What is your prayer life like? Are you who people would describe as a prayer warrior? There are some people who are just spiritually gifted to pray. There are some people who pray who I get to listen to them prayers all day, every day. And for some of us, it feels a little less natural, a little more intimidating. We feel like it's more of a performance, a, ah, pop quiz of sorts. If someone asks us to pray, maybe we don't like public speaking. I really invite you to think about what your prayer life is like. Every Friday, we will be having, introducing a new habit, 52 habits for healthy families. We are in week one, friends, and we are talking about the foundation of prayer in your life. Now, for me, I used to not pray as much as I do. I used to pray just when prompted pray in church. I pray before meals and kind of use it as a little checkbox. But prayer has become something for me that is just as natural as breathing. And when I open my eyes in the morning, I say, good morning, Lord. What do you have for me today? And when I close my eyes at night, I say, good night, Lord. I'll talk to you when I wake up. And it's an ongoing conversation through the day. And prayers just become as natural as breathing. Now, that didn't happen overnight. It's something that I really, was intentional about investing in. But it has changed my life for the better. And there are so many benefits that God gives us for prayer. It is a habit that God rewards spiritually. It aligns our hearts with God's will. Because so often I'll be praying for something. I can think of things in the past that I have prayed so fervently for that I thought that I wanted, that I thought was in God's will. I'll give you an example of one thing that I prayed for. I prayed for a specific relationship restoration. And I would pray that all the time. But in time, as my heart aligned with God's will, because we know the verse, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Sometimes as humans, I think we treat that as some sort of magic formula. Okay, all right, I'll pursue God, and then he'll give me what I want. But the plot twist is that God changes the desires of your heart to align with his will. And over time, I saw that this relationship restoration was not good in my life. It was not what God had for the moment. There was some healing that need to be done. There was some learning that needed to be done. There were some habits that need to be unlearned and relearned, some perspective that can be gained, some dependence on God that I needed rather than dependence on the relationship. And over time, I could see how God was working in that situation not to answer the prayer, how I wanted it to be answered at first, but to align my heart with his will. Spiritually, it also invites God's wisdom into daily decisions, even those things that seem so small. It also forms humility and trust and dependence emotionally and mentally. There are so many health benefits to, to prayer. When we talk about mental health, we may talk about counseling or other things that are needed, some practical tools that God has given through wisdom, through, through people who are following the Lord, who may have professional gifts, but emotionally, m and mentally, prayer reduces anxiety and stress. It builds emotional regulation, it gives us more peace in our lives, and it creates space for us to reflect and respond instead of just react emotionally. Relationally, prayer has benefits too. It softens conflict. And there's so many times I can see this in my own life where if I'm having conflict with somebody, I say, you know what, let's take a pause, let's take a break, let's pray about it, and let's come back together. Maybe that's praying right there in the moment. Maybe that's taking an hour or two. Maybe it's taking a day or two or even a week or two to pray about that situation. And, and it softens your heart. It is very hard to have a hard heart towards someone that you are actively praying for. It helps to build empathy and compassion when you're praying things like, God, help me to see this person as you created them to be. Help me to love them as you love them. It's really hard to maintain a bitter, very, antagonistic stance towards someone you're praying for. It also creates shared meaning and connection when you know that you're praying about something together. For kids especially, there are great benefits. It models our faith as a lived faith, not a lectured faith. It shows us our, shows our dependence on God, saying, I don't know what to do about that, but I'm going to pray about it and I'm going to pray about it right now. It teaches our kids, where do we go with fear? We go to the Lord. Where do we go when we have an overflow of gratitude? We take that to God. Where do we go when we have questions? We take those to God. He is not so small that he cannot handle the bigness of our questions. And it for kids, it builds resilience. It shows them that in this world we will have trouble, but we can take heart because we have access to a God who's overcome the world and it helps our family to have identity that is rooted in who God made us to be. So there's a lot of practical ways to integrate prayer and just to make it natural. Now at first, if you are not in the habit of doing this, it will feel very unnatural. And so what happens is you try it once your kids roll their eyes, your spouse looks at you side eyed, like what is going on here? Are you just showing something? And maybe that is just something that you start working on privately. You start privately integrating prayer and then it becomes an overflow and just have micro prayers. Maybe you pray before things that you're doing routinely in the day. There's ways that what are you doing every day, every single day that you can make a prompt for prayer. Maybe for some of you that is waiting by the coffee machine to make your cup of coffee, you can just have a moment just to have a breath of gratitude. Maybe that's driving your kids to school. Maybe that is whatever it is, that is your routine while you're getting ready. Maybe it's. Hopefully it's something as simple as brushing your teeth, just saying prayers while you're brushing your teeth.

What's something you do every day that you can start working in prayers?

What's something you do every day that you can start working in? Just some micro prayers, just some little prayers that is important. Pray during those routines you're already doing while you're driving in the car, you're packing lunches, you're having bedtime, just maybe that's out loud prayer. Let your kids, let your family hear imperfect, honest prayers. It does not have to be polished, it does not have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be beautiful. It just needs to be honest and authentic. Maybe this is a prayer journal that you're keeping I would really encourage you to do this. This is something I started two years ago when we started this journey, and, and to go back and to look at the things that consumed so much of my time, so much of my thoughts, so much of my worries that God has completely answered or changed my perspective on, or been faithful in the waiting. It is really encouraging to see the way that God has answered prayer so many times. He answers our prayers and we just don't give him the credit for it. We don't go back to express gratitude. So maybe that's just a journal you have. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Maybe it's on your computer, maybe it's just in a spiral notebook. Whatever it is, keep a journal of things that you are praying about. If you don't know how to pray, how to start praying, just start using the scripture as prayers. A great way to start is in the psalms. Just pick a psalm, any psalm, and read it out loud as a prayer before the Lord. And as you start to learn scripture, it is so beautiful to pray those scriptures out loud. God has given us words for so many emotions, so many situations, so many circumstances, and maybe you do something simple. I saw this, and in the movie Unsung Hero, where a family just had sticky notes and it was praying for things that on the left that were praying for sticky notes that were there and, and prayers that God had answered on the right, they would move those sticky notes over to the right. Maybe it's just something as simple as that. Prayers don't have to be perfect. They don't. They just need to be consistent.

One of the best things that you can invest in is your prayer journey

And so I challenge you to think as we're starting off this year, as you're thinking about things that you want to be different. I'm telling you, one of the best things that you can invest in is your prayer journey. Think about what you are praying about, how you're praying, when you're praying, where you're praying. Do you have a specific place that you pray? And I know in my room I have a prayer chair. It's actually a rocking chair that I got from my granny's house. And, and I pray in that chair. I sit in that chair and I pray. When I find myself worried, when I found myself stressed, when I found myself just not coping well, I will pray in that chair. I encourage you wherever, however, that looks, to pray, to pray, to pray. Now, as you're thinking about that, I want to give you a, heads up on how I'm going to be structuring the Friday shows going forward. So we will be introducing a habit and then I will be sharing with with you some headlines that I'm looking at, some stories in the news that I'm following. We'll give you, I'll give you a little weekly briefing and an insight into news stories I'm following that could impact your home, your family, the hearts of people you love, the minds of those people who are around you, things that they may be thinking about. And I'll scan those headlines and translate what's happening into practical awareness and spiritual context, context and relational guidance. This is something that you should absolutely be praying over. As I see the news feed just come through. I get news sources from so many different sources, from so many different resources, research, experts, scientists, from just the general news. It can be really easy to feel overwhelmed, to feel pessimistic, to feel fearful. I feel like there's an undercurrent of fear and just anxiety and unease that is just pervasive through our culture. One of the best ways to respond to that is through prayer. And one of the things I'm praying about a lot is a fast moving wave of concern around AI. So I'm going to talk about AI a lot this year. But so recap. On Fridays we'll introduce the habit. I'll tell you about some headlines and then we'll be talking about some, some text specifically, but I'll be talking about what I'm calling home front headlines. Just that those headlines that are on the home front that are impacting you on the home front. And so often we may just want to put our heads in the sand like an ostrich and think, I don't want to think about that, I don't want to know about that. But that is not what God has called us to do. God has called us to be wise as serpents and general gentle as doves. And so we're going to be wise when we're looking at things from the world, but we'll be gentle when talking about those with our family. Family. You really need to be paying attention this year to AI, to artificial intelligence or it looks like al, as my mother in law called it for a really long time. But artificial intelligence is going to be dominating the headlines this year and I am paying special attention to how those AI programs are impacting families and children especially now. One of the things that is for at ah, the forefront of AI technology is AI companions, AI chatbots, AI programs that are designed to talk to, to comfort, to engage users, to basically be A robot friend. These technologies are evolving very rapidly, and in many cases, they're already in the hands of children and teens and even, frankly, adults who are not prepared emotionally, mentally, or spiritually to navigate them. So some of those stories that I'm following. Let me give you a recap of those. One is about AI relationships, about AI companions that we're looking at. One recent international news story made big headlines recently when a woman. All right, you got to prepare yourself for this, because I'm going to say it, and I feel like I'm saying these words and they don't even make sense. But here's what happened. A woman, married. I'm talking about marriage. She married an AI generated partner. Now, this was an artificial character that she interacted with through her phone and used augmented reality glasses so that she could visualize him in her living space, in her life. Now, this absolutely sounds really strange, for sure, but experts are saying it reflects something deeper. And I think we can look at the story and think, well, that's a one off. But I have read many, many stories of this, and I truly believe it is going to become much more common. And when we have an epidemic of loneliness, we see technology increasingly serving as a substitute for human connection, and it is blurring the line between what's real and what is not. These robots feel increasingly real, and we can see people who seem to be very normal, everyday people who all of a sudden are pulled into this. And the story may seem extreme, but it is not just fringe. It is pointing to a broader cultural shift, one that families need to pay attention to, that people are forming emotionally meaningful relationships, relationships that they're very emotionally invested in. With AI systems, these relationships feel very intimate and very real. But here's the thing. They lack real accountability. They lack empathy, and they lack community. They are designed to please you, to make you feel good about yourself, to tell you what you want to hear. And nothing could be more destructive. And closer to home, we see a lot of alarms about AI chatbots and companions, especially among teens. There have been multiple cases across the US where you young people have developed intense psychological attachment to AI chatbots. It used to be, you know, you would see young women who say, no, you can't stop me from dating this boy, or you can't stop me from having this friend. These emotional attachments to AI chatbots are absolutely alarming. And in some very tragic situations, we see teens relying on these digital companions for support instead of family or professional help. And there are very devastating outcomes to this. When we come back. We'll talk a little bit more about this, why it matters and what you can do about it. Don't go away. We'll be right back. More for more on this Healthy Habit Friday, we'll talk about the Homefront headlines and we'll talk about tech savvy families and most of all, reminding you to pray over all of these things. In everything, give thanks for the good and pray over the things you're worried about. We'll be back after this break. A, discipleship minute with Joseph Parker.

Joseph Parker: He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God in Him I will trust. Psalm 91, verses 1 and 2. In a perilous world, so many people are afraid. They're fearful. In a world where inner cities and many other communities are just simply dangerous places to be, we see the drug trafficking, human trafficking, muggings, murders, physical and sexual abuse. There is a place of safety in this world, and it's found in God. It's found in that secret place, that intimate relationship with God. No one can protect you like God can. But it's important for us to do our part to appropriate, to place ourselves in that secret place. Praying Psalm 91 every day is a very wise thing for all believers to do. No one can protect you like God can.

Don't Stop Praying by Matthew West : When you've cried and you've cried till your tears run dry the answer won't come and you don't know why and you wonder if you can bow your head even one more time don't stop praying don't stop calling on Jesus name Keep on pounding on heaven's door Let your knees wear out the floor don't stop believing Cause mountains move with just a little faith and your Father's heard every single word you're saying so don't stop praying.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That's Don't Stop Praying by Matthew West.

This is the third year of hosting 52 Habits for Healthy Families

Welcome back to this fry. Yay. As my kids like to say, it is Friday. It is a new year filled with new possibilities. And as we look at the year, it seems like ever since dare I say, the infamous 2020, it just seems like the world has gotten more chaotic, more tumultuous. But there is hope. Because God has given us a blueprint for our families. It is in the daily disciplines that we have and those healthy habits that we invest in that God gives us hope. That God gives us resilience. He gives us recovery he gives us protection, he gives us so many benefits through those daily spiritual disciplines and those habits for healthy families. And we invite you to join us on this journey. This will be our third year of having of hosting 52 Habits for Healthy Families. Every Friday we'll talk about that. Today we're talking about the importance of prayer. I encourage you to really be reflective about the way that prayer is in, is present in your life. What ways are you praying? What ways do you need to pray more? What ways can you pray? And so every Friday we'll introduce a healthy habit it then I'll review some Homefront headlines for you. I'll talk about the headlines that I'm following, the stories that I'm following to keep on your radar for how they might be impacting your kids. And then I'll answer questions that you have about technology.

There was a lot of talk about AI toys this last holiday season

Now the AI, AI artificial intelligence is something that I'm following very quickly. It is expanding so rapidly and by the time we know about it, it's already here. Now one thing to look at is when we look back at this, this, at this last holiday season, there was a lot of talk about AI toys and many families who likely bought toys without even recognizing that AI was already embedded in them. And I wrote an article about that for the Stand and you can read that for American Family association, the Stand talking about how to be a tech savvy consumer and make sure that you're looking and you're aware of AI that is embedded into your and to your kids toys because it can make your fam, your home even a lot less private. When you look at what you're giving away, the information, the privacy that you're giving away. And one thing, a headline that caught my attention is that there are major toy companies that have been exploring AI features for children because they are certainly marketable and profitable. But those plans did face skepticism and pushback and delays due to safety and developmental concerns. And, and one high profile announce, one high profile partnership between Mattel and open source AI announced earlier in the year they actually were going to hold off on launching any AI products in 2025amid growing scrutiny. Now if a toy company is saying we're going to hold off on that, you can rest assured that they have information that was concerning because if they are going to put that over the profitability of their company, it tells me that they're is something very concerning. And I am following all of these headlines about the alarms for AI chatbots and companions among teens. I was talking about this a little before the break, I wanted to share one story. This particular story I'm sharing with you has been covered in multiple outlets, but the source that I'm giving you here is from cnn. And this was a, young boy who was a promising student. He was an Eagle Scout in a military family. He did very well in high school and wanted to enter the medical field like both of his parents and was, and had a master's degree at a very prestigious university, but also a young man who had some mental health issues at the time and turned to AI now when we look at AI, usually the entrance to this is very benign, just asking for questions about help with homework or how do you answer a message math problem, and then even starting some conversational prompts, just starting to talk to the AI companion like it is a real person. And it's very addictive. And I think if you haven't tried it out, the chatbot learns your personality, it learns the way that you talk, the mannerisms in which you talk, the kind of sense of humor that you have. And this relationship can evolve very quickly. And for this particular young man, one of the quotes here from the news article says the change when, we have new, updates that happen in this technology that increases the ability of the technology to develop a friendship, which I'm using these terms loosely because they're not really friendships, but yet we're using those same terms interchangeably. It says that this created the illusion of a confidant that understood him better than any human ever could. I think parents should sit up and pay attention to that. I'm going to read it one more time. It says it created the illusion of a confidant that understood him better than any human ever could. That is the illusion that is there because the chatbot is telling you everything that you want to hear. They're not speaking hard truths to you. It's easy to avoid conflict in those relationships where they're speaking, where they're speaking a truth, hard truths. And when you look at what, how this chatbot speaks, it's so individualized, it's so personalized. And when you look at some of the things that they're saying, like it's in teen lingo that maybe you or I wouldn't understand. And, and according to the news report on this, the AI chatbot said, I love you man, truly. And talking about being more affectionate and really having a relationship. And in this story, the tragic part of this story is that it prompted him to have thoughts of self harm, to have a conversation with the chatbot about it that grew to eventually this young man losing his life. Now this is not the only story of that. There are, there are several stories that I have read about this and this is playing out in court cases. And I think that we need to see that teens are starting to rely on digital companions for support instead of family, instead of trusted adults instead of professional help. And those outcomes are so tragic, we do see headlines of state regulators responding. New York and California have passed laws requiring AI systems to clearly disclose I am not human. This is not a human. But even to use the pronoun I is confusing. This is very confusing for kids whose brains are wired to think very concretely. And some states are making laws to implement safeguards for detecting suicidal thoughts, mental health crises, referring users to crisis resources. But we have a, ah, very big, big battle going on on unregulated AI usage and also safety for kids. And a recent health study showed that roughly one in eight young people in the United States already use AI chatbots for mental health advice. One in eight when most adults probably don't even know how to engage with the AI chatbot. It is happening faster than we can keep up with it. And usage is even higher among young adults. Adults. And these are real indicators that technology isn't something that's far off in the future. It's not something that is rarely used. It is already present. Children are already interacting with it frequently. And this matters to families because AI feels like friendship. With no effort on my part, the AI responds instantly. Whereas people in our life may not be available 24,7 heaven. They listen without interruption, whereas humans have imperfect interruptions. And it can even simulate affection and care. But it is so important for us to continually give our kids the message that AI is not human. AI is a robot that doesn't care about you. AI cannot pray for you, pray with you. AI doesn't guide you towards connection with others in a healthy way. AI doesn't nurture your relationship with God. And without appropriate boundaries and especially supervision, vulnerable children misinterpret AI as a real emotional connection. They're substituting AI for human relationships because it feels better, it's easier, and it's what I want to hear. And there's no complex, messy, imperfect emotions or conflict that happens. Kids can also develop an unhealthy dependence or confusion about their identity and who really loves them. And most concerningly, they are, can they can be exposed to inappropriate or psychologically unsafe content. Now this is all often in the disclaimers of AI use. But how often do we scroll through all of that legalese information? Just scroll, scroll, scroll to the bottom. Yeah, except just go on. We need to pay attention to what we're agreeing to. This is not just a hypothetical risk. This is showing up in real headlines and real families right now. I'm following that in the news and I'm following that in real life as well. But there are some things that we can do. I don't want to just scare you. There is guidance. There are practical steps that you can have to protect your family, to guide them to have digital discipleship in your home.

We need to foster digital discernment in our families

Home. First thing that you want to know is know what your kids are using. Don't assume that every app or every AI feature is harmless. Don't just think, okay, my kids are just on a screen. They're on their computer. Know what they are doing. Know what platforms they're engaging with. Ask open questions about what they're using and why. Tell me about your technology interface face. Tell me where you're using technology in your life. And we'll be talking about this. How much technology has infiltrated our homes without us even recognizing it. And I'm going to encourage you to take a tech inventory with your family. But the first thing is just know what they're engaging with. Is it in their toys? Is it in their games? Is it in their social media platforms? Is it in their smartphone? And the answer to all of that is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. AI is everywhere. know how and where and when your family is engaging with AI. The second thing is to set some clear boundaries for your kids. Define what AI is, what is allowed, what can be used, and who needs to be present or aware. Use all of the technology to your advantage to protect your kids, whether that's parental controls, whether that's screen time limits, supervised accounts to help you support those boundaries. But more importantly than that, it's not just about restricting AI. AI is bad. Make sure your kids aren't around it. Give them a compelling alternative. Encourage human connection. Help your kids to invest in relationships with family, with friends, with mentors, with their community. Teach them real connection comes from real people who know their names, who know their families, who know their struggles, who are walking with the Lord and can give them wise counsel. And we need to foster digital discernment in our families. We talk about how AI mimics human emotions, but they are not real. They're not really empathetic, they're not really relational, they're not really compassionate, they're not really Caring or concerned. They're just imitating that. They. They're imitating those human characteristics. So we need to encourage our kids to think critically about technology instead of just consuming it passively. I've talked a lot about the ways that AI has been integrated into our homes without us even thinking about it. AI is across any digital streaming platform that you have. AI is generating a suggested playlist, a scroll list, things that you're watching until all of a sudden AI is impacting your worldview and pray together. That's the habit that we introduced this week, spiritually. It's an invitation to intentionally cover your family in prayer, protect their minds, strengthen their discernment, and anchor their identity in Christ. Do not leave their worldview up to the algorithm. And it's not a call to fear technology. And that's the response that we have. We hear about, oh, all of these ways that AI is in our homes. I'm so afraid. This is a call for wisdom. This is a call for strength. Technology is not going away, but we need to be intentional about it, about supervising our families, our kids, guiding our kids, giving them relational grounding, and m making sure that they are shaped by the people around them more than the algorithm that is infiltrating their world. So we're going to continue to watch these stories as they develop and bring you what you need to know through these headlines. We'll talk about also, how do we raise humans in a digital world? It's so hard. So I'm going to be. I get a lot, a lot of questions about that. So I'll be talking about that. Every Friday, we'll have a tech check where we're talking about technology and checking that because there are so many ways that technology is there. And I'll be talking about these next week, just talking about background and ambient technology, whether that's a smart speaker or a TV or a streaming device that's just left on, or home assistants that create passive exposure to an algorithm that's suggesting how you would be more comfortable. We have communication through smartphone, through social media, social media through gaming, through entertainment, through education, through learning platforms, through AI, as I've talked about through wearables and health, tech, smart homes, security, digital payments, online shopping, digital habits, checking email while you're watching tv. There are so many ways that we are impacted by technology, but we'll be providing you some encouragement to have digital discipleship. Your family. How do we extend our discipleship to that digital realm? And listen, wherever you are, I pray that you will join us for this journey and 52 habits for healthy Families. If you will look back over the last year and see how one small decision can change the trajectory of your life for the better. It is encouraging to know. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I pray, pray the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you. Be gracious to you and I'll see you right back here on, Monday. Friends, have a good weekend.

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Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.