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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 my favorite time of day getting to spend time with you prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. Listen, we are just racing to the end of March here. We're almost to April. Well we're ha we'll have our first of two annual Share a Thons. This is a time where American Family Radio comes to our listeners and thanks you for your support. And we are a listener supported ministry and we ask you to continue that support. And right now we are gathering stories to play during that spring Share a Thon and we'd love to hear from you. If the Lord has used American Family Radio, this program or any other program on American Family Radio to reach you at just the right time with just the right word, all you have to do is call our listener storyline. It's 877-876-8893. That's 877-876-8893. Just leave a message for us and you never know, you might hear yourself on shareathon when we share. Now listen, if you've been listening to AFR today as I was just listening to AFR News right before we went live here, you are hearing about a very big court case and I want to say something about it because this is something I've been following really carefully that I think is going to make tidal waves in your home on Fridays. I talk about home front headlines coming to you here today, not on a Friday, but this is an important one to know about. Now this case centered on a young woman who was identified in court with her initials. Now she began using social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube around age 10. Now for most of those platforms, the age of use is 13 or 18. But we see frequently that we just kind of normalized violating those terms of use. And she started using it early. And over time she described developing what her attorneys called a compulsive addictive pattern of use with depression, anxiety, sleep disruption and self harm. And her legal team argued that it wasn't accidental or coincidental that companies like Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook and YouTube. The the case said that they knowingly designed their platform to keep kids addicted to it, to keep them hooked on it. Now this was about a six week trial that's been going on and the jury saw internal company documents, testimony from experts and whistleblowers and even testimony from Mark Zuckerberg and other high level executives. Now here's the thing about this case that makes it unique. It did not focus on harmful content. The focus of the case was on the product design. Saying that the design of social media is to keep you infinitely scrolling to autoplay videos, to play forever and ever, to have algorithm driven recommendations, to have constant notifications. So this legal strategy with was key. Instead of blaming the content which is often protected by law, the case argued that the design itself was dangerous and addictive. And after nine days of deliberation the jury just came back and ruled that Meta and YouTube were negligent. And you're talking about an award somewhere in the $300 million range. Now of course this is all going to continue in the courts. This is not the end of the story. But this case is pulling back the curtain on something m that many families have have felt that the platforms are not just entertaining but they're engineered systems designed to captivate their kids attention. And when we see that evidence in the trial suggested companies did study how kids behave online, they had some knowledge of that and they optimized those features to increase time spent on the app. And in some cases some of the testimony suggested they knew there were some mental health risks but didn't clearly warn users. One of the powerful phrases from that case described kids developing a compulsion to engage. A compulsion to engage. I want you to remember that phrase because that is something you're going to hear again. And for families this reframes the struggle because often you see it as a discipline issue, a self control issue, a boundaries issue, just kids making bad choices. But what it is is kids interacting with highly persuasive habit forming technology during their most developmental year. So I really encourage you to pay attention to what's going to happen to this course. on this case you're going to see thousands more similar lawsuits. You're going to see legal pressure on tech companies and maybe platform changes that happen. But again what families can do right now is just be wise in that area of digital Life, making sure that you're pulling that online world into your real world discipleship. Now, these are things that we're seeing parents face. This summer I will be focusing all on healthy habits and tech. If you listen to the Friday show, we talk about healthy habits. This summer will all be tech. You can listen to last summer I covered tech as well. But things are evolving and changing so we'll be talking about some new things. And the bottom line is this case didn't just assign blame, it really is explained exposing a system. And for families, it is a wake up call. So parents, if you have ever felt overwhelmed trying to raise your kids in today's culture, you are not alone. You are not without help. And what we're going to talk about today is a very practical form of help. Now I know there are lots of churches all over the country who are, putting on great conferences, who are giving programs to help families. And I've been speaking at many of those already this year, have traveled to Oklahoma, to Pennsylvania, to North Carolina. But we're talking about a conference that's happening here in Houston. We're going to highlight this particular conference is in south Houston and it's called Parent Summit at Bay Area Church. This is going to be on Saturday, April 18 from 9am to 2pm so if you live in the Houston area or even, you know, if you're Texas people, you know how Texas works. If you live in College Station, you're close enough. If you live in Waco, you, you're close enough. If you're anywhere in a, about a three hour drive, us here in Texas, we think, oh, that's pretty short. That's, that's pretty close. You will hear from dynamic speakers that we, many of whom we've featured on the program here. I will be speaking there as well. The keynote speaker is author Rhyen Rush, who talked about family, family dinner. We've had him on the show before. So whether you're raising toddlers, teens, grandparents, even empty nesters, somewhere in between, this event is for you and there's even an event for your kids. And today we're joined right here in studio by a trusted voice and family discipleship and someone who has spent decades investing in the spiritual lives of families right here in our community. I was just talking with my guest here before the show and talking about how we love to have perspective from leaders in the trenches who are working in churches and communities and facing real families who are facing real issues in real time. Eric N. Davis. And he holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master's degree from South Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He currently serves as the Family Discipleship Pastor at Bay Area Church in League City. And he brings over 34 years of experience in family ministry. He is deeply rooted in his own family. He is a husband and a father of three that I know he's so proud of, and I'm sure he'll tell us more about. And Eric, so glad to have you here. Thanks so much for joining me.
Eric Davis: Well, thank you, Jessica. It's always a privilege to be able to spend some time with you and to be able to do it on your show. Today is a wonderful opportunity.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, you know, whenever I have conversation with you about your ministry, it gives me such hope because people will often ask me, how do you find hope in a world that's so dark? We're constantly seeing struggles that families are having. We see doom scrolling. And I tell them when I talk with ministers like you, whose whole heart, whose whole life you have given your whole life to serve families, that's something that is going to definitely encourage me and give me hope. So I would love for you to share with our listeners a little bit about who you are and how you came to know the Lord and how he called you into ministry and how you're sitting here with a heart for parents.
Eric Davis: Yeah, sure. you know, my call into ministry happened when I was in high school, but I was. Had the privilege of being able to give my life to Christ at 9 years old in my own home. So this was back when, church, most churches still had Sunday evening worship.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, yeah.
Eric Davis: And so I was sitting in Sunday evening worship. And I remember the pastor Horace Story was his name, gave a message that was just a clear salvation message. I knew it was for me. And at the end, kind of walked forward to say, hey, I want to give my life to Christ tonight. And he was so excited. My mom was up in the choir. My father was sitting in another location in the worship center. Center. And it was so exciting when we all came together. And then we got home and I was like, hey, so help me unpack. What does this mean? And it was so funny. I remember sitting on my mom and dad's bed. My dad was taking his towel. Yes, he still had a towel for a Sunday evening worship. He was taking that tie off. And he said, hold on, wait right here. And he literally ran out of the room, Jessica. And so it felt like forever. I was sitting on the corner of my mom and dad's bed. But he went down the hall to get my mom. She was putting my younger brothers to bed, and she wanted to be a part. And he wanted to be a part of this opportunity to further explain what it meant to give my life to Christ. And so, you know, a lot of those spiritual foundations in my life started in the home. my mom, m and dad had the privilege of leading my brothers to Christ as well. And so it was just a, you know, a spiritual legacy that was set at a young age in my life. And it was exemplified through my mom and dad and still is this today, to my kids as well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I love this story, Eric, because I'm sure your mom and dad, you know, when your dad's taken off his tie, he's not thinking, I'm about to etch a permanent memory in the heart of my son. And I'm about to really imprint the spiritual legacy he's just, just serving you in the moment. I think that's encouraging for parents now to remember that. I would never dare to guess or say how old you are. We're not discussing our age. Right. But you are, you know, you are an adult. You are seasoned, and yet that still is so imprinted on you. And I think that's encouraging for parents to remember that the work that they're doing now is so important and so encouraging.
Eric Davis says the pace of family life has changed dramatically over time
Okay, so then how did you get called to the ministry?
Eric Davis: Yeah, so, you know, when I was in high school, I was just trying to figure out what is God calling me to do? And then I had an opportunity to go to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and spent time in there majoring in Eastern European history. Okay, it was the 80s, all right,
Dr. Jessica Peck: so, yeah, that's not the Cold War. I get it.
Eric Davis: Right. Seen the Berlin Wall, all that sort of thing. And, and that was my major. But I knew that there was more being called of me than just being a history teacher because I felt like this is where God's going to want me in the education world. And, you know, I remember sitting down with my pastor and just saying, help me understand what it means to really vet out my call into ministry. And, and I remember us making a tea graph that I still have on a, on a post it note that he gave me years and years ago that just said, okay, let's look and see what God's doing. Let's look and see what you're doing. Let's see where that matches up. And he leaned into that and he spent time just helping me vet out my call it gave me an opportunity to, begin ministry and internships as summer interns. Right. And those sort of things. And so it was exciting. Beginning to ministry. There was never this wheels off, aspect to my life necessarily, but there was always this call of I wanted to be making a difference in somebody else's life. Right. As God had made into my life.
Dr. Jessica Peck: And now you are serving families. Tell us what that's like today and how have, how has that changed over the years? Because I'm sure that just as I see in pediatric practice, you and family ministry now for many years, you have seen things change and the challenges facing families today just seem harder for some reason.
Eric Davis: Yeah, it really does. In a lot of ways. It's. The pace of family has quickened. And, you know, so many families are rushed in the morning, they're hurried and exhausted at night. Their schedules are piling up. And as they do, they are looking for times to be able to lean into the things of God, but they run out of time because they're looking for those perfect moments to do it. And like my dad sitting as I sat on the corner of my bed, that was an imperfect moment. He didn't have everything scripted out, ready to say to me. He was just leaning into what God was doing at that point and wanted my mother to be a part of it. And so what we're trying to do is help families today utilize those imperfect, perfect moments. Right. And to be able to take advantage of those as they go, go through their daily actions. So, yeah, the family pace has quickened a lot. you know, a lot of what we're seeing is kids who are making decisions for Christ at an earlier age, if it's in their home, and then slipping past that age that most, most kids do between the ages 7 and 11 because they're unaware of what, what step they need to take. And so, yeah, that, that pace of family has really changed more than anything.
Dr. Jessica Peck: I, and I really. The pace and the, the compulsion to be perfect. And I think sometimes parents, you know, they think in their mind, oh, I'm going to start a family devotional. And it has to look perfect. And then when you don't feel like you can accomplish that, I just see families kind of disengaging and just kind of giving up and just saying, like, okay, well, we'll do that later, but, you know, tomorrow. But tomorrow becomes next week, and next week becomes next month, and next month becomes next year. And then all of a sudden, you haven't done it. I think this is something that earlier generations did so much better than us. And I can remember being in my granny's house, you know, and so many of the spiritual lessons that I learned were just spent. When we stood side by side, she washed dishes and I dried because there was no dishwasher. You know, those kinds of things. Well, listen, when we come back, we're going to talk talk about some of the speakers at Parent Summit who will be there, some of the issues that are facing families. Many of these will be so familiar to you. And you can either join us at Parent Summit or listen to some of the shows where we feature these guests talking straight to real families about real issues in real time. We'll be back with more from Eric Davis right after this break. Don't go away. Abortion moves fast. And right now in our communities, women are being pressured to make irreversible decisions. In moments of fear and panic, they're told to act quickly or risk losing support. Many feel they have no other option. But because of you, they do. At PreBorn Network clinics, a woman receives what the abortion industry will never offer, compassion without pressure, clarity about the life growing inside her and real support to welcome her baby and the hope of the gospel. She's given a free ultrasound and space to breathe. And more than 80% of the time when a mother sees her baby on a preborn ultrasound, she chooses life. This March, PreBorn is believing to save 6,800 babies, but it will take 124 partners saying yes every day. I'm asking you to pause your busy day for just a moment and become a, yes. Right now. Just $28 provides one ultrasound. $140 helps five mothers every dollar. Help save babies and share hope. To donate, dial pound250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound250 baby. Or visit preborn.com/AFR- that's preborn.com/AFR.
I Thank God by Housefires, JWLKRS Worship, and Ryan Ellis : Wandering into the night wanting a place to hide this weary soul
: this bag of bones I tried with all my might But I just can't win the fight I'm Slowly drifting a vagabond and just when I ran out of road I met a man I didn't know and he told me that I was not alone he picked Me up and turned me around and place my feet on solid ground I thank the master, I thank the Savior because he healed my heart and changed my name Forever free I am not the same I thank the master, I thank the Savior I thank God.
We're talking about an event called Parent Summit that's designed to equip
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is I thank God by Housefires And I thank God for you. And I thank God for people like my guests. And today I'm speaking with Eric Davis, who serves as a family minister at Bay Area Church. We're inviting you, those of you who live in the Houston area, or if you have friends in the Houston area, We're talking about an event called Parent Summit that's designed to equip and encourage you for every stage of parenting. It's going to happen on Saturday, April 18, from 9am to 2pm and we are featuring many of the. Many of the featured speakers we have featured on the program, and we're talking about that. And Eric was just sharing his wonderful story of his testimony of being raised in a Christian home and accepting Christ in an early age.
Eric tells a great story about his mom during family devotionals
And Eric, during the break, you were telling me you have a great story about your mom during family devotionals, and I would love for you to share that with everybody else.
Eric Davis: Yeah, sure. You know, it was. It was when we were younger, so I have two younger brothers, and, we would gather around this coffee table in our front room, and my mother had on that coffee table this very large, white, picturesque Bible.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Right.
Eric Davis: It's that family Bible. Right. And so you were knowing where we were going. Right. She was going to break out that Bible, and we were going to dive into God's word and see what God's word had for us. Now, whether she had a rhythm or not, I don't know. But it always seemed to be what needed to be said to myself and my brothers oftentimes. And so there were nights to where we were like, oh, I just hope she opens up to one of those colorful pictures. Right. So it gave you something to look at. But. But day after day, day after day, she kept at it. And there were many nights to where we would be rolling around on the floor and she would be frustrated, and she had slammed that Bible shut. Right. We were done for the evening. That is just real.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Uh-huh.
Eric Davis: But guess what? The next night, we did it again. And she stuck with it and my father alongside her, and they just kept sticking with sharing the gospel with us and trying to share what it meant to have a spiritual legacy in our lives. And they early on, were exemplifying really what it meant to be the primary faith provider in our lives. And, even though we were frustrated oftentimes and she was frustrated, and oftentimes we ended up being sent to our rooms. Right. As the Bible slam. Go to your room. That was the next step. But it was so encouraging. We look back on that now and can still see that Bible in their house. And and we all three look at that and go, I remember those days. So it makes a difference without all the tools that we have today, right?
Dr. Jessica Peck: Yes.
Eric Davis: So that's part of what Parent Summits is all really about, is equipping people and encouraging people, parents and grandparents, to be able to be that primary faith provider in their child's life and to be able to give them tools for their tool belt, to be able to impact their family as, as God needs them to do.
Dr. Jessica Peck: So, you know, as parents and grandparents walk into that summit, it is really encouraging to look around and to see, hey, these are people here. Because they're admitting, I don't have it all together. I could use some encouragement, I could use some tools, I could be equipped better to do this better. And it's really great to kind of roll up our sleeves and say, okay, what can we learn today and what can we take home? And I know you will be leading one of the breakout sessions, Eric. What are you going to talk about?
Eric Davis: Yeah, I'm going to be talking about generation to generation, transferring faith from one generation to the next. And of course we're going to use as our primary, text Deuteronomy, 6. Right. So everyone notes that passage, but I build it off of this story about a painter. He's an American born painter, Benjamin West. And so from the late 1700s to the early 1800s he was alive and painting. But there's this story of when he was 9 years old and his sister was 7, that mom and dad were out of the home. He found some bottles of ink, he found some paper and he decided, I'm going to become a painter, I'm going to paint my little sister's portrait. So mom then walks in and sees ink blotches everywhere, spilled on the furniture, spilled on the table. And picks up this messy piece of paper and looks at Benjamin west and says, oh, it's Sally kissed him on the head and moved on about her business. So with that one sentence, that one kiss, and that one opportunity to make a difference in his life, it did. And he would go on to say, after all my formal training, what made me a painter was my mother's kiss. And so to have an opportunity like that as parents, those imperfect moments, she could have come in completely different. I'm not saying every parent, every time should walk in like that, but in his case, it changed his life, it changed the direction of his life. And so that's what we're going to be talking about is using those imperfect moments to that one sentence, that one kiss, that one opportunity to encourage your child through the scriptures, to build that heart connection, to be able to spark faith in them that's already in you, to be able to lean into just repeatedly, like my mother did, continue to lean into the word of God. So that's kind of where I'm going to lean with, with my session.
Sometimes parents feel like the issues that we're facing are so new
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I want to come to your session. I don't know, it might be awkward if I don't show up to speak at mine and come to listen. But that's such a great story. And one of the things that I was thinking as you were saying that is that this is a, young boy who was growing up in the 1700s, you said. Right. Because I think that sometimes parents today feel like the issues that we're facing are so new. But what you just described is a relatable moment for every parent walking in and finding a mess and having a choice about how to respond, how to nurture that, you know, God given personality, that God given gift, or to really, you know, have a meltdown about the mess. And I think that's something that can really encourage us because the heart issues are, of all these things Solomon said, there's nothing new under the sun. There are new ways in which we experience it through culture, but really, the heart of the issue is the same. And another issue that is really impacting families today with the pace of life that you talked about, is sitting together at the dinner table. And this is what the keynote speaker, Ryan Rush, who we have had on the program, is calling families back to the dinner table. This is nothing revolutionary. This is like having that white Bible, that antique kind of Bible on your coffee table, or, you know, nurturing talent through the mess. Calling families back to the dinner table is something that needs to be said.
Eric Davis: Yeah, that is one of the things that I love about Dr. Rush is that he's so real. In his book Restoring the Table, in talking us through, hey, take advantage of those moments that you have in the rhythm of your life. And one of those is oftentimes the dinner table, he's not saying, hey, it's got to be seven nights a week. He's saying, let's shoot for four. Let's start there. Because if you get four out of seven, you're. You're beyond 50%. That's great. I'll take that. And so what he's saying is, hey, you have opportunities to instill faith around the table. Through common conversation, through intentional conversation and really lean towards the things of spiritual opportunities for your children, to be able to have that opportunity to, from a parent's perspective, to share faith with your children. I know it's scary because sometimes you're like, I don't know what to say. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you need to lean into the things of God and utilize those moments that are built in. That's really what he's talking about there. Read Reclaiming the dinner table for that. Right? Putting devices away. Right. Allowing conversation to occur around the table and why not make that around the things of God? He's got some great tools that he's going to share with us to be able to help advance that conversation around the table in that first session. And so we're excited about that part of it.
Dr. Jessica Peck: One of the encouraging things to me about this is that I want our listeners to hear is that this, I'll, forgive me for the joke here, it's not rocket science. I know you have a rocket scientist in your family I'm married to a rocket scientist. But the encouraging thing is I think in today's world we often just make things so overly complicated because the problems seem so overwhelming. We don't understand the technology changes that are coming. We don't understand often the social pressures that, how to navigate those. And so often we have that kind of fight or flight or freeze response. We're scared of those things. And so you either just have that, that impulse to just fight it and be, you know, really confrontational in your home or just to kind of ignore it or just kind of freeze and disengage. But the things that you're offering in Parent Summit are encouraging families daily devotional take those imperfect moments and, and, and really you can use them perfectly. And coming back to the dinner table, all of these things are, are the solutions are really simple and time tested spiritual truths. How are you seeing that in your real life ministry? When families are coming to you with problems, what kinds of problems are you seeing and how does it encourage you to be able to give them answers that really are just about daily simple steps of obedience?
Eric Davis: Yeah. Ah, so you know, I don't, I don't think it's an over exaggeration to be able to say that people today really are disconnected. Right? Families are disconnected. They're disconnected from their loved ones. They're, they're not leaning into conversation at all. And I'm not just talking about elementary kids, middle school kids, high school and even collegiate Age kids, I'm talking about adult children, still disconnected from their parents, still wanting to lean into having a true relationship with their parent. Right. to be able to have that blessing placed upon them, you know, that's not only for today, but for the future as well. And to do that there takes some intentionality behind it. Right. Scripture tells us to do diligently teach the things of God to our children intentionally, consistently. That's the key, I think, Jessica, more than anything is the consistency that parents lose due to their hurried schedules and their exhausting evenings and their rushed mornings and everything else that goes along, with their schedules throughout the day. And so we're just wanting to lean into that, to be able to help people connect within their own family and to be able through Parent Summit, to connect family to family. Right. So that you're not in it alone. You're not the only one going through this, that there are others in your same stage of parenting, journey, age of life, that are leaning into, the things of God. And you need people around you to be able to come alongside you and to support you that to connect in community.
Dr. Jessica Peck: You really do. And so often we just live in a silo and these even in our own home, we live in digital silos where everybody's scrolling their own devices. And we live in a society that's very relationally disconnected, even though we are digitally connected through technology.
Christian parents need to be intentional about investing in children's spiritual lives
And you said something earlier that intrigued me that I wanted to come back to because you said, you see this pace of life that seems to be the theme, the pace of life increasing and it's very chaotic. And I think most families would say, yeah, most of our evenings, it's, there's going to be some chaos. If you've got kids in the home, you're trying to do homework, get them to sports, practice, like do all the things. It's chaotic. But you said you've noticed there's always a rhythm. I would love for you to explain what you meant by that.
Eric Davis: Yeah. you know, like I said earlier, when you're talking about your mornings being hurried and your, you know, your evenings being exhausting because you are going to these extracurricular events and honestly, church becomes one of those. Right? It's just one. It's not the, because we are such a performance driven culture, that our children have to be better than the child next to them or our family has to appear as if they've got it together more so than the next. And so leaning into that and being able to help parents say, hey, you can unpack some of that out of your kids lives. Right? We're not comparing, but that goes back to that digital world you're talking about. The comparison is constantly there and they're scrolling and they're looking and going, but they've got and they do and this and that. And we're thinking, yeah, but that's not of God, right? That's not the things that we want to accomplish within our own family. Now the things of God I think is a slower pace. I think to be able to just dwell on the things of God is a slower pace. And that's uncomfortable for parents because they don't know what to say. And so Parent Summit gives us an opportunity to equip them, throughout various, breakout sessions, to be able to help them come alongside and know that they're not in it alone, to give them tools and to be able to say, yeah, I can do this and I'm okay with a slower pace. I'm okay with the silence that might be in the room for a moment. to keep that pace at a minimum I think is more than, what's necessary to be able to lean into the things of God.
Dr. Jessica Peck: It goes back to what you said about intentionality. I mean, these things take intentionality. And as Christian parents, we would all say our children's spiritual formation is most important. But I often say, if you look at your calendar and you look at your credit card, you're going to see where you're spending your most valuable assets. And that's your time and that's your money. And probably it's not going to rise to the top of your credit card report and you're spending the most money and discipleship books or discipleship training or curriculum or you're not investing most of your time. Like you said, even going to church is one of the things, it's not the thing. But if we want to get better at it, we think we want our kids to get better at things. We invest in academic coaches and sports coaches and college coaches and all of these things. We really need to be intentional about investing in their spiritual lives. And one of the ways that you can do that is by engaging in your church. If they're having a parenting event. It's so encouraging to me, Eric, to walk in and to see this event that you put on that is just really nice, honestly. And to have people come in on a Saturday morning knowing all of the things that they said no to. You know, they may have said somebody else take baseball practice or we're going to miss that today or whatever. Or I'm not going to have my Saturday just to watch sports or March Madness or whatever it may be. No, I'm going to intentionally come and invest in my kids. I truly believe that the Lord honors that, that he honors those steps of obedience and faithfulness. And there's so often I've never been at a parent summit or frankly, any parenting conference where I haven't had one parent come to me with tears in their eyes and say, God met me right where I was. I was feeling overwhelmed. I was feeling discouraged. I was feeling like I was in a rut, and he met me right where I am. Listen, we have a lot more to talk about with Eric Davis when we come back. We're going to. To talk about some of the other guests who are talking about things and just scrolling through and looking at some of these topics that we're talking about.
Parent Summit equips and encourages parents for every stage of parenting
Parenting in a season. You never planned for identifying God's key voices in your relationships, building emotionally and spiritually healthy families, even things as specific as helping your children with adhd, all kinds of things. There are so many ways that parents need to be discipled and encouraged. And that, is what Parent Summit is doing, equipping and encouraging you for every stage of parenting, because it never ends. I know this. My kids are launching, and I feel like we're entering into one of the most challenging seasons yet. And I'm here for it. I love it. And we'll be right back after this break.
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How Great Thou Art (Until That Day) by Matt Redman: Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee how great thou art how great thou art Then sings my soul, my savior, God to thee how great thou.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is how great Thou art Until that Day by Matt Redman And that is what we're looking at. I think more and more parents and just people in the world are saying, come, Jesus, come quickly, because the world seems to just get a little more scary by the moment. But God has not given us a spirit of fear, but A power and love and a sound mind. And we know that in this world we will have trouble. But we can take heart and be of good cheer because God has overcome the world. We know how the story ends. We are just running the race that is set before us. And we can fix our eyes on Jesus. Thank goodness. Thank the Lord, who is the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, is now sitting at the right hand of God. And until we get there, we are running that race with our children. Today we are featuring. Featuring an event called Parent Summit that's happening in the Houston area. So if you live somewhere around there, it's gonna happen April 18, 9 to 2. You can go to bayarea.church and learn about how to register for that event. Really a very affordable event for families. $20 per attendee and $10 for an additional spouse. I mean, really, you are not going to get better bang for your buck and in that kind of investment. And I encourage you wherever you are, if there is a church that is hosting something that is to equip your family, to spur them onto good words, to draw them into discipleship, go. I encourage you to go. We're talking with the family discipleship pastor, Eric Davis. And Eric, I know you know you pray about this event that you've been hosting annually. You pray about it for months in advance, and the Lord gives you inspiration and vision for those things that you see that the needs that your families have. Tell us about a few more of the speakers and some of the topics that you wanted to curate for this event to equip families.
Eric Davis: Yeah, sure. you know, one of the people I'm really excited about is Valerie Ellis,
Dr. Jessica Peck: who has been on your show, as has her husband.
Eric Davis: As has her husband. That's true. Josh is great as well. We're hosting Valerie in, to be able to talk to our younger families. she's an author of two amazing books that we want to put in people's hands. And so we're actually working with her publishers to make those available to those who attend her breakout. But one of the one is praying over your children and praying with your children at a young age. Helping them understand and seeing you pray for them is really what she's going to lean into in one of her sessions and being able to capture the importance of story in her other session. And I think both of them are just going to be really powerful. Just the fact of she's willing to say you need to, at a young age, be praying over your Children, and as they get a little older, praying with them, we take that for granted a lot of times, and we're just hurrying to put them to nap or put them to bed for the evening, and it's just like, but taking that moment and allowing your child to see them, see you as the parent, to be able to pray over them and to see and experience that, it helps, allow them the opportunity to be able to lean in and understand that this is part of transferring of faith. So we're excited about having Valerie with us as well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Those two devotionals are called Wild Faith and Go Go Bible Adventures. They'd make great Easter gifts if you want an, Easter gift for a little. They're so precious. One is about the intersection of faith and science and how God made animals, and then one is about trucks and all things with wheels. And so we know. I raised boys. I know that. I wish that I had had that when they were. When they were smaller. So that's really great. What else have you got on the schedule?
Eric Davis: So, by the way, there was actually an animal in Wild Faith that I wasn't even familiar with.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Me too. By the way. I know even my team was saying in my ear, what is that?
Eric Davis: Yeah, yeah, I'll let the listeners purchase the book and figure out which one.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Right?
Eric Davis: That's right.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Exactly. It is great.
Eric Davis: You know our own pastor, Brian Haynes, who's also been, on the show as well. And so it's awesome to see him. He's one of the fathers of family ministry in a lot of ways. He. He created this legacy pathway years ago that, that we are continuing to shape and mold for this next generation of parents and grandparents to be able to capture those times to where we want people to understand what it means to have gospel foundations in a child's life. What does it mean to help lead a child to Christ and to be able to put a copy of God's Word in their hand, to point them towards key passages and key verses that are going to carry them through life, to be able to help them navigate faith later on in life as they grow older, to be able to find out who they are and whose they are and that rite of passage that comes from, from growing in your faith. And to be able to commission students as they graduate from high school into launching into adulthood, which is what we've got right between our two families, as we launch them in. Into adulthood, praying that blessing over them, giving that blessing, commissioning them to go do the things that God has called them to do and carry out the mission of the gospel with others. So we're looking forward to having Pastor, Brian be able to share as well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: That'll be really great. I mean, I'm looking. There's something for every family here. I mean, so many things. And my own radio producer, Stephanie Moses is going to be speaking as well.
Eric Davis: I love it. Stephanie is a great friend. And so here's, the. Here's one of the things I like about Stephanie. You will get her heart from the very beginning, whether she's challenging you to lean into leadership development for young children. Don't wait until they're older, lean in at a young age and leverage that for the things of God and for their spiritual development, as well as her background with ADHD and some of the, strategies that she has in place for that. I've seen that material and it's amazing. And I think people would lean into that one and would enjoy those as well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: And it reminds me of the scripture. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers. And I think, as a pediatric nurse, I see kids, parents, adults, society, they really underestimate what kids can do and the ways that kids can step up and lead. And especially as we see that childhood kind of extending and being a little longer. It used to be kids had to grow up faster, which, you know, to sound like extent, some of that is good, letting kids be kids, but. And but to nurture those leadership qualities. I love that. Another guest that you're going to have speaking is Mo Mays. Now he is a longtime firefighter, chaplain, has been in ministry has. He has been on our show and he and his wife Shari shared their story of just great personal tragedy. They have had so many things that have happened in their life. You think that it doesn't seem fair that all of that would happen to one family, but it did. And they shared their faith through that. And I know that he's going to bring a session, he's talking about two sessions about having mentors in your life. And also that connection between home and work.
Eric Davis: Yeah, that connection between home and work. Finding that balance, in that and not abusing it one way or the other. but it is a consistency. So we've been talking about consistency throughout the show today. the consistency that he's asking us to bring into our marriage. Right. One of the things he's talking about is the same seasons of marriage that we go through. How does that change in the way we parent as well. And so not, not getting kid centric, but being in our relationship with our marriage as well becomes an important part of that. And so Mo, we were talking about trench guys earlier. Yes, he's a trench guy for sure. And you will see that and experience that in his breakout. But you will experience a heart that's unlike any other you've, you've experienced unless you've sat under him to go, wow, they've been through a lot, yet God continues to use them and shape them and mold them to be in his image. And so he's going to encourage his, participants to be able to lean into that next season of marriage. That finding, that finding that Paul or that Naomi, those mentors in your life to be able to come alongside you. We oftentimes say that that really as parents we need our voices in our children's lives, coming alongside us, saying the same thing we're saying in our home. And I think he will be able to share a lot of that, as he works through his session as well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Mentorship is so important. And again, in social media we tend to go to electronic sources for advice. You know, it used to be, I have a 10 year old niece who told me I was old because she saw me opening Google and she said, no use chat like they use AI, like we used an Internet search engine. And they don't even know about things like movie phone, you know, I mean back in the dark ages, right? If you want to know the time even. How about that? Does anybody remember that? Or did that you have to call the operator and the time is now. Like kids would not understand that these days, but you need mentors that will help you in that season. I remember one particular mentor for me because I really actively sought out mentorship. I did not have a good relationship with my mom, Eric, and, and so I felt like I was, you know, kind of really trailblazing in that way. And, and I really sought out those mentors and I remember her telling me, enjoy every stage of parenting. Don't make your kids feel guilty about growing up. Love who they are just as much as who they are becoming. Don't love who they used to be more than who they are becoming. And that was something that I really kept with me and I really think made a difference in my mothering journey. But so often, and I feel like we keep our struggles to ourselves. It's like, oh, we don't want anybody to know that I feel this way. I have this insecurity. I Have this brokenness in my family. You know, those can be really difficult. You were talking about one of the guests talking about blended families, which is a reality that we see in the church. And meeting those families where there are is a really powerful thing to do.
Eric Davis: Yeah, it's a growing, it's a growing area within a lot of churches, our blended families and single parent families. And. And so we have Joe Daugherty from Houston's first, coming in. He actually serves as the blended and single blended, family and single parent, pastor on their staff, which I think it's amazing they can do that and be able to lean into those families. but he's going to come, encourage them to say, you don't have to do it alone. You don't have to parent alone. There are people in your same brokenness, that can come alongside you and you can support each other because that's what it takes in that community and connecting to each other. And so I'm excited about what Joe's going to be able to bring, to be able to help our single moms, our single dads, be able to be encouraged. Because as exhausted as two parent homes are, they're more exhausted. And so if nothing else, we want them to come to Parent Summit and have a respite to be able to be prayed over, be able to be praying with other people, to be able to lean in again, grab those tools, to be equipped and encouraged, to be able to use the skills and the gifts that God's given you to raise your children. And so I'm looking forward to what Joe's going to have for us as well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: That's really great. And you know, one of the things that I've had a front row seat in my own family to a lot of broken families, divorce. And it always makes me sad when I feel like we kind of adopted that term of broken families is just to mean divorced families. Because the truth is we live in a broken world. Every family is broken in some way, some more than others. But you can be broken by by trauma and tragedy and generational dysfunction, by addiction, by abuse. I mean, so many things that can make, families broken. I think having that brokenness together, just experiencing that, just saying, hey, here's where we help each other and carry one another's burdens and in so doing fulfill the law of Christ. There's something really fulfilling about having somebody see you. One of the people I say that everybody needs in their life is somebody who's in that same boat. You need somebody who's going to give you wise counsel. But you need somebody who's walking that same path. Whether it is a path of divorce or a path of, you know, you have somebody in your family who's struggling with addiction or you're moving or you're the military or whatever it is. You need somebody in the same boat and that's what you're going to find when you come to events like this.
Tori Calvert is a public school educator with special needs
What have we missed? Anything else exciting?
Eric Davis: You know, one of the things that I'm excited about, we have Tori Calvert. She's from Pearland and she is a public school educator with special needs. So she's going to be tackling. What does it look like to raise children, with special needs and additional needs in your home? We are privileged to be able to have such a strong special needs ministry at our church at Bay Area Church. And, and she is a part of that and she has a student in that as well. And she's going to come and share her wisdom, her knowledge. She is someone that I think a lot of our listeners, can learn from and she's again, very practical. What we shape Parent Summit, to be is practical tips that you can go home and do.
How are you going to leave a spiritual legacy in your child this week?
What's that one thing that you're going to do to help shape your child's spiritual legacy this week? Right. How are you going to leave a spiritual legacy in them? There's a difference between building and leaving a legacy for a child and leaving an inheritance for a child. An inheritance is what you leave for them, but a legacy is what you leave in them. And that's really what we want them to kind of walk away from.
Dr. Jessica Peck: That's so good. Say that again. That's really good.
Eric Davis: A legacy is what you leave in your children and an inheritance is what you leave for them. And so we're leaning into that legacy side of things.
: Yeah.
Talk to those families who need to get engaged in church
Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I want you to use our last few minutes together, Eric, and talk to those families who really know that they need to get engaged in church but just haven't taken the plunge. So can you just give them a
Eric Davis: little last minute call, take that first step? Right. You know, you're. Again, all families are imperfect. All families are broken. No matter where you find yourself, find a Bible believing church in your area to be able to walk in that door and say, I can't do it alone. The spiritual life was never meant to be lived that way. Right. As individuals we, we are to have other believers around us as parents and grandparents. We want to be able to lean into that and to be able to grow in that aspect of things and take that first step. Is it difficult? Yes. But go find someone that and just say, hey, I'm broken. I just need to be able to hear from the Lord today, point me in the right direction. You know, if they come and they're a part of us at parent summit, maybe you're not going to attend our church, but we want to be able to point you to churches in your area that we know that will serve you and your family well.
Dr. Jessica Peck: And for our listeners who are regularly engaged in church, it's a great reminder to remember that most people, if you invite them to church, most people will say yes. And as we're approaching Easter here, I, really challenge you. I urge you, I encourage you, you to invite someone to come to church with you. Bring them with you. If you love your church, if you think, I have the greatest church ever, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with someone else and invite someone else to find the help, the hope, the healing, the community that you have found in your church. Thank you so much, Eric, for joining us. Thank you for listening and we appreciate you all so much. And I pray that wherever you are and whatever you're doing, that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you as you register for our parenting conference in your community. We'll see you next time.
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Jeff Chamblee: opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
