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 : 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. And we have a lot to talk about today. Listen, last week I was at the National Religious Broadcasters Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Got to meet a lot of the guests that we have had on the air, and it was just so encouraging to walk the floor of the convention halls and to meet person after person who has you in mind. Yes, I'm talking about you. Because there were so many ministries and so many people who are working to say how can we engage, equip and encourage the body of Christ and in so many different ways and so many different capacities. And the first night that I got there, when I got on the elevator, I happened to run into a man and his wife named Don and Karen Stroud, who also work for afa. We had never met before, but just happened to meet in the elevator and had a conversation and met several times throughout the week. And when my producer, Stephanie and I met Don and saw what he was doing as the director of Strategic operations for Ivoter Guide, working with American Family Association, AFA Action it was we just thought, we just need to have a conversation with Don on the air because you'll be so encouraged by him and by the work that he is doing. And we do have election primaries that are going on across the country. We are in a big midterm election year and you need to be informed and know that there is such a tremendous resource for you. An I Voter Guide. But more than talking politics, we're going to talk the practical and how do we talk politics with our family?

Don Stroud is the director of strategic operations for  iVoter Guide

So I'm very pleased to introduce to you Don Stroud, officially, who serves as the director of Strategic operations for I Voter Guide. This is one of AFA Action's three divisions whose three pronged objectives are informed voters, effective statesmen and women, and constitutional judges And Don's grassroots political experience and civic engagement spans over 40 years. He served as precinct chair, election judge, elections commission member, city councilman, campaign consultant, regional education leader, teen court advisor and candidate vetting committee chair. You name it, he has been there. And now he has. He is here to help you to vote for the candidates that we need in office. I was able to meet he and his wife Karen. They're celebrating 41 years of marriage and homeschool their four kids. So Don I am so grateful that you were able to join us. I know you're on the road today and we're just thankful that you're carved out some time for us and for our listeners.

Don Stroud: Jessica, thank you so much for having me and giving me the opportunity to speak to this audience. This is a like minded audience and those that really want to apply objective truth, their life and living it out in a way that glorifies God. And if we can do that even in the sphere of civic engagement and being good stewards of our citizenship, to elevate the, the principle and the core value of objective truth founded in, in scripture, then, to God be the glory.

Dr. Jessica Peck: To God be the glory, indeed.

Don: Tell us about your political background and coming to know Jesus

Well, tell us a little bit about you, Don I talked a little bit about your political background. Tell us about that and how it intersected with your faith journey, coming to know the Lord and what you're doing at AFA today.

Don Stroud: Well, Jessica, thank you for that invitation to tell about my life because I grew up in a mainline presbyterian church in West Texas, thought, I knew, what I needed to, knew, needed to know to do all the right things, check the boxes. went off to college and was exposed to those that really challenged me in my faith. And over the years, God has put one individual after another, one saint after another, what I call Ebenezers, those standing stones of his faithfulness that were inflection points in my life and those, those Ebenezers get larger in the rear view mirror as you get older. And it's interesting that radio had a huge impact on my life when I was in the, in outside sales in the early and mid-80s. So I had my radio on quite a bit. I even heard commentary by Don Wildmon, the founder of afa, and had no idea, no clue that I would be involved in, in the grassroots political activity and then end up working with AFA or Division of AFA Action 40 years later. So, a lot of things we, a lot of angles we could go off on that. But it was about seven years ago that I was invited to serve as a volunteer panelist for ivoterguide. And then they asked me to come back as a research lead for covering about four or five states for the 2020 election. And then it's just no looking back. And now I've been in a leadership role for several years helping guide the strategic operations of AFA actions. I, voter guidelines and we have the opportunity to engage with so many people at the grassroots level as well as the leadership level on a national basis. And it is having an impact everything from statewide and federal races as well as down ballot to the school board and local elections. And it's exciting to be able to be a part of that. I'm just very humbled for that opportunity and also to encourage others that they don't have to do a lot, they can do a little. And if they just take time to vote and vote wisely based on factual information that we aggregate on candidates and providing a voter guide to every residential address in the United States, if they will use that information then the outcome can be profound. And the more people that are like minded that utilize this resource can really transform the, the makeup of those that sit in the seats of civil authority.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well we're going to talk about I voter guide and exactly how our listeners can use that resource if they're not familiar with it. And, and what maybe you know, new changes that people should be aware of as we're going into election season. But before we get there, Don let me ask you one more question.

All politics is local and being engaged in local politics is important

I, I do have to say it is, it is. It makes me smile to picture you around in your car listening to afr, having no idea that the Lord was already preparing your path to join them one day. Which I think is really great. But you know I teach policy, I teach health policy and the college level and I've always been very engaged in a civic level. Even now I'm a policy advisor, especially for issues of human trafficking. And I've always been just very involved. My, I grew up, my papa served as a mayor and so I've always had a sense of civic engagement. I think people maybe do not realize the impact of the saying. I'm sure you've heard that all politics is local and we tend to look at those high line elections, the presidential election or maybe you have a statewide race but you served as a precinct chairman, you've served in some of those local levels and that is the place where there's a lot of Power. There are a lot of decisions being made, but there's also often not a lot of people at the table there. Because when I've gone and participated on that precinct level, I mean, you're talking about like, me and maybe two other people kind of pulling over by the water fountain in the city hall and having a conversation and signing a paper. I mean, it is that grassroots of a level. What would you say about politics on that level and being engaged in local politics?

Don Stroud: Well, local politics is probably the most powerful because in many jurisdictions, and particularly here in Texas, the entities that determine what you're going to be paying in property taxes are your local school district, your city, your county, and so on your tax bill, you've got a line item for the tax rate that is being set against your property. So that tends to get your attention if you're, if you're making a one lump, some, payment at the beginning or the end of each year when you pay your property taxes and you think, where's my money going and who's using it? Who's making those decisions? And when I woke up January 1, 1995, running for office was not on my top ten things to do. And I got my arm twisted to running for city council in a little community outside of Austin. Only had about 3, 500 people at the time. That was leander. And I told those that were wanting me to run, I said, look, I'm going to be gone the week of the election, so y' all are going to have to campaign for me. So they, in a, in a campaign that turned out maybe a couple hundred votes, I won by 13 votes.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Wow.

Don Stroud: And we made a, a number of policy changes that are in place to this day. And those type of elections take place all the time. And only those that show up win. And it doesn't take many to do it. It can be just a few people on your block or in your neighborhood or in your precinct. It could be your local church congregation, if they are informed and will just pay attention to when the elections are and do their homework and take time to get to know the candidates and then show up and vote. There can be a tremendous change at some of these, in the local, in the local political scene. And those that may not share our values have been at this for many decades, using that as their farm team for higher office, going up to state legislative and even federal, and and even, judicial races. So we need to pay attention. We need to be good stewards, the resources that God's entrusted to us and recognize that there's been a price paid for us to be able to have this freedom. So I live with that every day and wanting to pass on a legacy for my own children and grandchildren because what we do today impacts generations to come, along with it. On that.

Dr. Jessica Peck: No, no. It's such a great story. I remember, Don, when I was. I was just starting to date my husband and my papa had been in a mayoral election. And we went. I brought my, my, My boyfriend at the time, who I was dating. I said, oh, my papa is going to be sworn in as mayor. Let's go to city hall and we'll go to this, to the ceremony. And they announced that he won like 60 something, 30 something. And my husband, my now husband, he looked at me. That's a pretty good percentage. I said, well, it is a percentage. It's also the actual number of voters because it was less than 100 voters in there that who had voted. And, and it was eye opening. It's eye opening to see. And yet, like you said, there is such tremendous power and decisions being made, whether it's about your taxes, what your kids are being taught in school, what city ordinances you're going to have, what businesses are coming into your city, what kinds of businesses will get zoning permits. I mean, all of these things that affect our daily lives are impacted by that local level of politics. And these are people that we see at the grocery store, who we go to church with, who we see a kid drop off, who we see in the park on a Friday night, you know, at a community event. It's really important to get engaged.

Don Stroud:  iVoter Guide was founded by Richard Ford

And one of the things I appreciate about the work of AFA Action is the thought that you put behind the mission. And you shared a story with me, Don when we were at NRB about, about really seeking the Lord on the direction that this effort was going to take. And I would love for you to share that with our listeners.

Don Stroud: this is the one about core values.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Yes.

Don Stroud: Uh-huh. Yeah. Okay, so I, Voter Guide was founded by Richard Ford up in Dallas back in the, Well, it goes back to the 1970s when he was producing print butter guides. So fast Forward to about 2007, 2008. a friend of mine introduced Jim Snaringer and Richard Ford. And Jim was a former IBM programmer and had had a Bible, software program called Word Search. He had sold that, and he was wanting to figure out a way to impact, the, bring that technology into the political realm. And so they teamed up and they formed ivotorguide, being able to take all the work that Richard was doing to be able to put it online. So, that, had just continued to expand. We continued to grow in our breadth and depth of coverage. And then in, 2021, 2021, AFA approached Richard about taking on ivoterguide as their project. So we had core values that were fairly well aligned between AFA and ivoterguide. And we were trying to. We, overlapped on four of the five, and we were trying to land on either faith, biblical values, or morality.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know what, Don I'm going to hold you right there. We are going to pick up this story right on the other side of this break, and you're going to see what it means for you and how I Voter Guide is working through the American Family association to equip you as an informed voter. There are a lot of things that ivoterguide can do for you. It is so easy to use. I have used it. I have sent it to my kids. You will want to know when you're going to the election booth, how and where to access this resource. We'll be right back with more from Don Stroud.

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Nothin' Sweeter by TobyMac: there's been so many times I got it so wrong and a couple that

 : I got it just right I've seen the view from the top of the world and the sorrow by the bitter graveside I've seen some prayers get answered and I've heard my share of no's but there's never been a moment

 : that you let me go I've been uptown I've been downtown in the spotlight I've been broke down I've seen so much Might not know much but there ain't nothing sweeter than his love in the good times through the hard times Fill my pockets full of sunshine I've seen so much of the good stuff but there ain't nothin' sweeter than

Dr. Jessica Peck: his love welcome back, friends. That is Nothin' Sweeter by TobyMac And you know what?

Dr. Jessica Peck: I think there's nothing sweeter than, meeting a fellow believer who shares their testimony of how God has radically changed their lives and how they are using their gifts and their talents and their time to serve the Lord by serving others. And that is one such person we are bringing to you today. I am talking with Don Stroud, who's the Director of Strategic operations for iVoterGuide Now, this is one of AFA Action's three divisions, but I Voter Guide is a guide for you to help advise you on candidates that you can be an informed voter. And before the break, Don was right in the middle of telling a story about how he spoke with the Lord, and the Lord gave him a vision for the values going forward. So, Don, I'll let you pick it up right where you took it off.

Don Stroud: Okay, great. Let's see if I can make this real quick. So we were trying to land on this fifth core value, and we were debating on whether it should be biblical values, morality, or faith. And I recall a conversation I had with George Barna. about only 17% of those who attend worship on a monthly basis in America have a biblical worldview. And what that told me is that if you go into any given congregation and you ask 50 to 50, 100 people what they believe to be about or, their definition of faith or biblical values and morality, you may get a wide range of responses. So I was thinking about where we are at this point in time in history, in our culture, that we're at a point where people are denying reality. So it just occurred to me that I, think God put it on my heart to land on objective truth as a core value. And the tagline on that is, we seek to glorify God by applying his unchanging, authoritative, holy word to every sphere of life, including family, church, enterprise, and civil government. So I roll that out to, some. Some of my brain trust just to see if it resonated, and then presented it to Walker Wildmon's CEO of AFR and AFA Action, and also Abraham Hamilton. And Walker said it. He said, let's make that a core value. In fact, let's make that our number one core value. So so Objective Truth has been a tremendous opener in all kinds of conversations with individuals across the spectrum of ideology in a very civil manner. Without getting into some of the M. Christianese or other. Other terms that maybe have some baggage or preconceived ideas about the definitions of those of those terms and and even engaging with the media. It's been really positive. So anyway, that was the story about how we landed on Objective Truth. And you can see that on our website. That's our number one core value.

Dr. Jessica Peck: That's really important for voters to know, for those who are listening, who are voting to know that you are committed to that objective truth and to equip them. And so I would love for you to tell them now, Don about I Voter Guide. For those who maybe think I've never heard of this, this is the first time that I'm hearing about this. How do those core values that you just talked about and the mission of AFA Action, how do those converge into this very specific tool that can be used by families to make informed decisions on very local elections like we were talking about? I mean it goes down to school district level. It is a tremendous, tremendous resource.

Don Stroud: Yes. So iVoterGuide publishes a free online nonpartisan voter guide, founded and grounded on objective truth for every residential address in the United States, including the address for every listener right now on Doctor, Nurse, Mama

Dr. Jessica Peck: I love it.

Don Stroud: So everybody's got their own voter guide. You just go to ivoterguide.com, put in your address and you can pull up either the races that are currently, published, on election in your area, or you can go back and look at previous elections. But we are going to be covering the primaries for every state at the federal level, all federal races. And then in 36 states we go down ballot to all the statewide, statewide judicial races and all the legislative races. That's the state house and state senate. And then when increasingly we are selectively targeting local elections as well as local school board elections, There are about 15 different data points that we look at to determine whether or not to cover a local election. Because you have over 13,000 school districts. So we have to be fairly selective.

Dr. Jessica Peck: well, you've already covered every detail, haven't you've already covered every address in the United States, you know, just cover every single possible election. I mean the scale is astounding. So yes, so for some of those, when you go, it's that easy to use too. You just go to ivoterguide.com put in your address and it will give you all of the elections that they have covered, which may or may not be every single election that is happening. But it is going to be a great starting point.

 Politics can bring spirited discussions on the home front

And Don one of the things that you and I talked about at NRB and that you have graciously agreed to talk about today is that you are a father and you referenced the verse to me. You, you were talking about a verse From Ephesians, Ephesians 6:4 to be precise. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. And perhaps no other subject than politics is one that tends to bring spirited discussions, shall we say, on the home front. And I think as parents we want very badly to our values and for our children to share our values. That's what we really want. But the communication around that can be very, very difficult. And so one of the things that I voter guide does and I love, you know, I want to bring in your personal perspective because you said that you have walked this as a father, is something called dinner bell discussion prompts, for this, these can be for educators, for families, for small groups. But let's talk about talking to kids about politics because so often we say that they just want to disengage. And how do we do it in a way that doesn't provoke our kids to anger?

Don Stroud: Absolutely. Well Jessica, this is a passion for me to equip families to help them, really disciple their children, shepherd, them gently. And as you mentioned that verse, fathers, don't exasperate your children. So I'm looking at our voter God and we have this massive repository and knowledge base on thousands of candidates across elections and in all 50 states. And it needs to be used for something other than just five minutes before someone walks into a voting booth. So what is a way that we could utilize that to encourage parents to have civil discussions with their children and everything from looking at to the scripture to see what it says about, all the issues that are addressed in our, in our questionnaire to developing a biblical review and evaluating worldviews, of those seeking civil, authority. So one thing I did was take discussion prompts that could be used along with our candidate questionnaire. So we have about two pages of issues that are typically covered in our candidate questionnaires. And you can go on to any candidate profile and see that. So these discussion prompts are a way for, let me just tell you the process. I did this with dads in mind. So first of all, take one night a week, clear the table, have dinner together. I mean that's a step for a lot of families just to be able to have dinner together and clear the table, take about 15, 20 minutes, turn off all the screens and distractions and then pick one of the questions or one of the issues from our candidate questionnaire and apply two or three of these discussion prompts. And one of those is to open up our Bible and to see what the Bible explicitly says about this issue. If it doesn't, what can be implied based on what we know about the character of God in our relationship with the Lord, and our sin nature. So ah, and then look at those issues and see what are the different positions and what are the different, what are some different responses that candidates have given. And one of the practicums is to go find three or five candidates across different elections, different offices, different states, and see how they've responded to that particular issue and what does that tell you about their worldview and how they might use the authority of the office they're seeking. So we as parents, we have our understanding or our position on those, on those issues. But for middle and high school age students, you want to help them think critically, let them take ownership, help them, give them the tools to research and, and base their positions on foundational, objective truth rooted in scripture and so they own it. And you can just guide them along in helping them think through with open ended questions. So you're using the Socratic method, you're helping them with critical thinking skills, you're helping them research skills, you're, you're discussing worldview and even applying that into the realm of civil authority and how, when and what kind of society we're going to live under, based on how people vote and how those that have authority in the different offices how they're going to use that authority.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well Don when I read this guide I just, it brought such a smile to my face and I thought, I want to tell all the families out there listening, this is the way, this is the way to engage your family, to engage your children in being active voters, being active, engaged citizens and being invested in their community, in their state, in their country. This is the way. And some of the recommendations that you have specifically listed out on this guide are keeping the discussion civil, that it's not a time to lecture or rant. Don't exasperate your children as you've already said. You said make it a team effort, which I think it's a great idea to let kids pick. Say here's a list of topics. You pick the topic, you pick the candidate off of this list. And sometimes when they have some buy in, they don't feel like it's something that's all being dictated to them. And sometimes, honestly, Don you know, they may come up with something, thinking, ooh, I'm gonna ask. I'm gonna throw mom or dad this hardball. Like, I'm going to try to trip them up. This is going to be really a tough subject to do. And being willing to say that because your next recommendation is, it's okay to say, I don't know, let's research the different sides of this issue together. Which is so true. Asking open ended questions is so important. You mentioned the Socratic method. I use that all the time in teaching and it's so helpful. And just instead of lecturing or arguing, just saying, okay, like helping them walk that out. Okay, you, you believe this about this civic issue. All right, let's walk that out and see what that would look like. Okay, if we did this, then what would happen next and then what would you do about this? And having them come to that, their own conclusion on that is really powerful. The last two recommendations you have are let students search for answers, even though you may know them, and teach them to think critically, logically and biblically. And we're going to link this guide. We'll link it on our Facebook page and link it in the show notes here so that you can get it. But Don anything else to add about those specific recommendations for how to have the discussion?

Don Stroud: Well, I would encourage parents to think long term, think multi generational. It's not about just getting them graduated, and out of the house and so they get married, go off to this college, and have a great career. Every engagement with our children, we should be thinking about not just them, but how are they going to carry this into their families and how it's going to impact, generations to come. So we've got children that are going to be voting in a few years. We want them to be able to thrive and to be able to navigate all the different falsehoods out there and all the social media and the AI that's coming at them, distorting reality. We, need to help them stay grounded in in the truth. And the. The better we. The more we can do that and, and do it gently and showing respect and letting them take ownership of their positions and giving them the opportunity to defend their positions and not get rattled. As parents, even though you, you hit the panic button sometimes, you got to stay. Yeah, you got to be like that duck. That's. You're calm on the outside, but you're pedaling like crazy underneath that. You don't. You don't see, the feet pedaling. But, but you do have those moments that can be terrifying as a parent, because you're wondering, where am I? Where's my child going with this? But, God's got it. Let him know that he's, entrusted them to you for just a short window of time to have an impact not only on them, but generations to come. So look at it for eternity. Look at it with eternity in mind.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, Don that duck analogy is really good because that's often what we feel when our kids start exploring or thinking through new ideas or saying, you know, I'm wondering about this. And I remember having a conversation with Lee Strobel, not too long ago and talking about how God is not too small for our kids. Questions. And one of the things I want parents to know is that that is a developmentally normal part of growing up. How kids make their values their own is to start to question them. And it's kind of like when they're four or five, and they ask all those questions, like, why is the sky blue? And why is the grass green? And it just feels like you're living in that world of perpetual questions. All of a sudden, when they're 14 or 15, they start asking questions again. Except for you may wish for them to be asking, when is the sky blue? Because they're asking a lot tougher questions. But this is a great and healthy sign, meaning that they are wrestling with their faith and making it become their own. Not just believing what you believe because you believe it, but because they believe it as well. When we come back, we'll be talking more with Don Stroud about how do we talk to our kids about our values and share those values in a way that sticks, in a way that shows up in civic engagement. Go to ivoterguide.com to learn more, and we'll be back on the other side of this break.

The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations

 : The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change things. The oil in your vehicle or get rid of carpet stains. It won't walk the dog, won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device, or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net Listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app.

Living Hope by Phil Wickham: Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages stepped down from glory to wear my sin and bear my shame. The cross has spoken. I am forgiven the King of Kings calls me his own beautiful Savior I'm yours forever, Jesus Christ, my living hope. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope.

Dr. Jessica Peck: welcome back, friends. That is Living Hope by Phil Wickham.

Use iVoterGuide to help your family discuss upcoming elections

Aren't you glad that we have a living hope In a world that seems dead a lot of the times and hopeless, we can have a living hope in a resurrected Savior who has conquered sin and death and the grave forever. We know how this story is going to end. We are just running our race. And today someone who is sharing their race with you is Don Stroud. Now he is with American Family Association Action and he is the director of Strategic Operations for I Voter Guide. You can go to ivoterguide.com all you have to do is just put it put the website into your Internet browser, hit enter, put in your address, and it will give you recommendations on the candidates that have been vetted by American Family association as a nonpartisan resource that covers every address in the country. And this is a great resource especially for younger voters, newer voters who are just learning how do we be informed? It's a great opportunity to talk with your family about when do we go vote? How do we know that it's time to go vote? What sources do we trust? Because let me tell you, when election time comes, you all know, because you're in it with me. Many of you who are in primary season, you start getting text messages. And one text message says, you know, basically this candidate is, you know, the next thing to the savior of the world. And then the next text message says, this candidate is the most evil person on the pace of the planet. And you get competing messages and competing, flyers in the mail, all kinds of things. And these political issues can make parents anxious, can make other adults around kids. It makes us all anxious. And so we Start talking about it and then kids check out. We are talking about how do we engage kids and dawn has shared already on the program how. there is a resource from I voter guide called Dinner Bell discussion Prompt. Now these can be used by educators, by family members, by small groups. It's great to use with middle school or high school age children. Just one night a week. If you're a family, having dinner around the dinner table would be great. No more than 20 minutes. Just picking three to five of these discussion prompts. Using ivoterguide.com as a reference to start to talk about some of the candidates who are being are up for election and talking about what do they believe and what impact does this issue have on my community and, and is it aligned with our biblical values. These are great resources to have. There are issues about right to life, economy, religious liberty, health care, national security, immigration, education values, elections, equality, energy, environment. I mean so many issues that are covered here and these are great conversations to have. Don, I said before the break that you had shared with me, you brought up to me Ephesians 6:4 and just talked about how this message was so on your heart not to provoke your children. And one of the things I appreciate about you is that you said very openly this has been me. I have struggled with this and I think there are a lot of dads and a lot of other people who would feel the same way. Can you share a little bit more about your personal experience and, and what your heart is to encourage others to have civil discussion about these issues?

Don Stroud: Well Jessica, I am exhibit A for one who really had the opportunity to exasperate my children, dragging them along, knocking on doors, putting out campaign collateral, maybe in the guise of showing them civil engagement, or civic engagement, and then that wouldn't have been so bad. But they would also hear me rant about candidates or office holders without anything that they could do, anything that my children could do anything about. And so what that does that raises an anxiety level in the home intention that our children don't need on things they can't control. So that's one of the reasons I came up with these discussion prompts in this process for using the Socratic method and using open ended questions and helping them think through issues from a biblical perspective rather than me just ranting about what's wrong and what needs to change and without taking any action and without taking any productive action in a I would say from a biblically guided approach. So that would be my Encouragement to dads to let your children see you, being calm and consistent. Because if you're talking about trusting God on one hand, but then you're talking about however things go falling apart in our society on the other, you're. You're really inconsistent. And then, Our children have hypocrisy meters.

Dr. Jessica Peck: And so, yes, they do.

Don Stroud: we. I've just seen so many children stiff arm their parents, politics. And they equate, they equate that with their faith. And so we've seen way too many of those, even children growing up in conservative, biblically grounded homes that have walked away from the faith because they have just, synchronized their. The political rants with With Some, you know, biblical epithets. And I, I just want to help dads and grandparents to be mindful on how they can help their children think clear without being. Without exasperating them on things they can't control on issues. And I have a lot of little, tidbits that I like to give dads particularly for helping them create an atmosphere in the home that is peaceful and tranquil and God glorifying everything. From. When you come home in the evening, you make sure that you hug your wife first before any of the children. You seek her out when you walk along the road with them or you walk along in the park with them. You reference scripture by looking at the At the nature and the world that God has given us and helping bring that to bear and helping our children just get that baked into their mindset. The flower fades, the glass grass withers, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Or if you see a dove in a tree, you can reference any number of scriptures about dove. And then when you take them to go vote, take them with you to go vote and let them know what you're doing and why you're doing it. That it's not just to punish an incumbent by voting against them or advocating for someone who may not, have a, character that was worthy of, emulating, but to help them think through the process of civil engagement. And that sometimes we're voting to lessen evil, not voting for the lesser of two evils, as John Stonestreet would say. So, those are a few practical tips that I would encourage. You know, that dads can apply and apply right away, and they can also be praying for their children. We have three children. We have one, Well, we have four. Four children, three daughters and one son. And from the time our daughters were born. We prayed that God raised up for them a man after his own heart who would love them as Christ loved the church. And we prayed for our son, that God would make him a man after his own heart. And I can tell you that God has been so faithful.

Dr. Jessica Peck: M.

Don Stroud: We have we have seven grandchildren, five that we can hug and hold right now. And one of our daughters and son in law are in the process of going through embryo adoption. And then we just got a sonogram image today or text message from our oldest daughter, of our of their fifth child. So, God has been so faithful and blessing us, with beyond what we could ever imagine. But I want to encourage dads, regardless of what you've done, right or wrong, it's never too late, it's never too late to be trusting God with the things that are, either causing friction in your marriage or in your, with your relationship with your children. you know, obviously we, we had this conversation about voting and politics, but but there are a lot of practical tips that you can, scrape, from our voter guide and issues and, and just opening up civil discussions with with our family.

Don, I wonder if you know how rare it is to speak with transparency

Dr. Jessica Peck: Don, I wonder if you know how rare it is to hear a man speak with the transparency that you have spoken with you. I asked you a question and the first words that you said were I am exhibit A. And you shared very openly, you and your wife Karen. In my conversation with you, you shared openly, here in saying that, yeah, I struggled with this. And you even said some of the specific ways that that played out. And one of the things that I really stands out to me is that there's no shame in that. There's no, there's no defeat in that. In fact, you have only reaped blessing. And you're making me get all teary eyed, you know, just hearing about you speaking of the blessing of your family and the blessing of that investment.

 Don talks about having transformational change in his family

What was it that transitioned for you? Where did that moment of trans, transformation come? You said it's never too late. And I agree with you a hundred thousand percent. Where did that realization come? M. Because I'm sure that, you know, it's. It somehow happened where you said, okay, I realize that I struggle with this and I want to seek a new way forward. Was it gradual? Was it sudden? What was that, that change like?

Don Stroud: it was gradual. Just my observations and experiences. And then also, some, some pretty difficult conversations I had with my children, as, as young adults, knowing that I Probably could have done things differently. And even though we have great relationships with them now, every, every one of them. But, I needed to calm my tone and think through carefully how you're responding and sometimes you don't need to respond. And, we probably wore out our kitchen floor because that tends to be the place where we congregate and have these long midnight, early morning discussions. And I think, it was gradual, but there were certain inflection points where I realized I could have done a better job just listening rather than just dumping out my whole political philosophy without really seeking the Lord's counsel and letting him speak in those situations.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Don, I feel like this is such a powerful moment because that realization, even though the change may have been gradual, just the fact that you can speak so freely about it. I know this is something that families struggle with today. And I hear a lot from young people who express this as a frustration. Much as you just said, you know, that, that they just feel like their parents want to download the political, PAC into their brain. Like, okay, let me just download everything that you should think and believe with minimal effort, minimal conversation, minimal friction. Like, I just want you to believe like I do. And can you just accept that package, please? And then having some frustration when there is a, conversation there. But it's so much about relationships. And Don, I truly believe that you are someone who has walked what you've talked because I hear it in the emotion in your voice. And I know that your children, even in listening to this program and hearing their father speak with such humility and strength and love for them, is a legacy that every father listening would want to leave. And I thank you so much, Don for joining us today. I know your wife Karen is there with you. Hello, Karen. I will tell our listeners Karen and I had a moment because, you know, Karen is a name that has been adopted for some, sometimes not not flattering use. And apparently Jessica is the new generation. So we. We're saying hello from one very nice Karen and one very nice Jessica who thank. Who are so grateful that you are here listening. And Don thank you again. go to ivoterguide.com and you can see how great this resource is. Not only will it help inform you on how to vote in your elections, it can help you to have some of those dinner bell discussions and have that gradual change that Don talked about that he has walked in through with his own family of having transformational change and talking about political civic issues that impact families in a way that strengthen your relationship. And don't tear it down. That's ivoterguide.com hey, thanks so much for listening in today. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, voting, haven't voted yet. Going to vote, not your turn to vote. Whatever it is, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you, give you peace in the middle of this election season. And hey, I'll see you right back here tomorrow. We'd like to thank our sponsors, including PreBorn. PreBorn has rescued over 400,000 babies from abortion and every day their network clinics rescue 200 babies lives. Will you join PreBorn in loving and supporting young moms in crisis? Save a life today? Go to preborn.com/AFR the views and

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

Don Stroud shares tips for engaging middle schoolers-highschoolers about political candidates that will invoke thought without exasperating students and parents with Politics, Party, or Personalities. 

https://ivoterguide.com/