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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, it may be a Monday, not my favorite day of the week, maybe it's yours. But it's any day is a good day to sign up for the Activate Summit. This is a summit that will be hosted by the American Family Association. I am actually going to be one of the speakers for the summit that's happening in July in Tupelo, Mississippi. It's July 16th through 18th. I'll be talking about a biblical worldview and how kids are being impacted by AI, how technology is not neutral and it is impacting our kids worldview. You can go to register at afa.net/summit. That's afa.netsummit. lots of other really great speakers and parents and grandparents and other people who are just engaged in serving their families and doing the best that they can. Now we're talking today to someone who left a very successful YouTube channel to serve his family. We're going to get to that in just a second. Don't go away. You're not going to want to miss this.

From YouTube to streaming platforms, kids today are really being formed by Technology

We all know that we are raising children in a world where content is constant. Kids have access to more streaming than they ever had. No more do we have the Star Spangled Banner saying go off the tv. Actually not too long ago we were watching some old sitcom and the Star Spangled Banner played and they said, okay, we gotta go to bed. And they said, what just happened? Was that a game starting? I'm like, no, actually the TV used to go off. That's what used to happen. That's not happening anymore. Algorithms are shaping attention. Screens are discipling our kids. I've been talking about that. Often more hours a day than we are. Often many more hours a day than we are. From YouTube to streaming platforms, kids today are really being formed by Technology because they're being formed by the stories, the humor, the messaging that comes through those technology modalities. And it often prioritizes not your child's wellbeing, but not their spiritual growth, but speed and clicks and marketing and virality. Going viral over truth, imagination, and character formation. And for Christian families especially, this raises an important question. Are we settling for what's easy and what's available, the electronic babysitter? Or are we intentionally choosing what is shaping our children's heart? Because here's the reality. These stories are not neutral. What our kids laugh at, who they admire, what captures their imagination, what they want to go back and see over and over again, the words that are being spoken, spoken. That's all part of who they are becoming. And today's conversation is not about fear. It's about empowered formation. It's about reclaiming creativity, raising discerning families, and rediscovering the power of meaningful storytelling.

Justin Stuart is a wildly successful YouTube creator and co founder of the J Stu channel

Now, my guest today knows this world from the inside out. Justin Stewart is a wildly successful YouTube creator and co founder of the J Stu channel. It has reached millions of families with more than 3 billion views. But after more than a decade inside the world of viral content, Justin experienced a shift not just in his career, but really in his calling. Instead of chasing the next viral hit, which is so tempting to do, he stepped back to create something far more lasting. Stories that his own children could grow up with. And that's. That journey has led him to the Blobs, a, creative, imaginative, and deeply intentional graphic novel series built not just for entertainment, but for formation. Hallelujah. For that. What began as doodles alongside his kids turned into a meaningful discipleship experience and a powerful reminder that the stories we give our children really do matter. Justin, welcome. I'm so glad to have you here.

Justin Stuart: Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to have a conversation and talk about all these, important topics and things that we're going to be discussing.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, you know, I shared with you right before the show. You know, I definitely am familiar with your YouTube videos, especially during COVID I had kids around the age that that was a good target for, and so I had seen those, and I am really anxious to hear the story behind what happened in all of this. I mean, you've lived on both sides of the digital world creat content for millions while wrestling with what that content was doing to family.

Let's talk about the beginning of J Stu's YouTube channel

So let's start. Let's start with the beginning of J Stu. Let's talk about. Because I know there's Going to be people out there who think, wait, J who? And there's other people who are saying, oh, my goodness, it's J. Stu, where have you been? So let's talk about the start of the creation of your channel.

Justin Stuart: I mean, I've always loved being in front of the camera, holding a camera, creating, telling stories ever since I was a kid. And so my parents had, if you can remember, those cameras that you put the film in.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, yes.

Justin Stuart: So I was making home movies with my sister with that, and even my neighbor Andrew, who is my business partner in the J Stu business. and so he was my neighbor, and we would go out and just film stuff, have fun. And one day my parents got me a digital camera because they saw I was using the camera all the time. Not very convenient to always have to change out stuff. And there wasn't an easy way to get it on computer. You know, technology was slowly starting to advance. And so I got that camera and that kind of shifted it for me. I mean, at that point, I still dreamed of being an actor. That was my dream. And this gave me the opportunity to just kind of create and have fun. Like, I, I, I didn't get into YouTube thinking, I'm going to turn this into a business, I'm going to turn this into a huge organization. It was literally, quite literally the opposite. It was just, let's make fun videos, upload them to this new platform, fairly new YouTube at the time, so that way we can show it to, our friends and family, these goofy things we're doing. And then from there it just started to grow and turn into what it is now, today, which I'm very, very grateful for.

How did your faith intersect with YouTube creation over time?

Dr. Jessica Peck: And how, how did your faith intersect with that, Justin? How did you come to know the Lord? And where was your faith in that creation? Was it just like a parallel track, digital content? Was it, did you see it as integrated? How, how did those things work together?

Justin Stuart: It's grown and shifted a lot over time. I, I was raised in a Christian household, and I've been a Christian my whole life. But as you know, the journey with the Lord, the journey of sanctification, we're always changing and growing. So, you know, I started off like, kind of not really thinking about it, although, like, behind the scenes, I'm still actively pursuing the Lord, but, like the baby steps of being a Christian. And so as I began to create and grow a following, I would express, you know, who I am outside of just this goofy guy on the Internet through means of Instagram. We'd Mention things in videos, we put things in the description. And even eventually our motto on the channel was Laugh Daily, which came from Proverbs 17. And there's a verse that says, a joyful heart is like medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. And so everything we're doing as youtubers kind of stems from how are we impacting the culture in a positive way. And so my faith has been a big part of it. Even if I haven't been loud in the videos about like, hey, I love Jesus. I think that shines through because as a light in the darkness that you can tell when, when someone has been changed by Jesus, you can tell. And that was always our goal is like, we're Christians and we're making amazing content.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah, it was good to see like just so much of it was just wholesome fun, just good fun, you know, that you're having and inspiring some adventures. And I'll say some of your videos inspired some messy adventures at my house. But the good news is I'm a mom that loves messy. I do. I, I, we never had video games in, in my house growing up. That might mean that, you know, some things went missing from the garage and some things I didn't ask questions about. But I love that spark of creativity, you know, Justin, to say these videos were wildly successful. Like when you, you first, you know, started that first wave and things really started to grow and build it, the reach was massive because you were right at those early days of YouTube and what did that season teach you about influencer culture? And because you were right at the beginning of it, it, we really had no idea what was to come. What is your perspective now, looking back at that?

Justin Stuart: I mean, I have a lot of different perspectives because in high school I had a flip phone, social media, a thing, you know.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah.

Justin Stuart: And so I kind of grew up in this era of like, technology was not really a big part of my life. And as it started to become a thing, it then became a big part of my life. And so I understand both worlds very well. And I, can see the good and I can see the bad. And so at the end of the day, social media can either be a gigantic waste of time or it could be a mission field. And so I've learned to, to look at the work that I do as an opportunity to do missional work for the kingdom. And oftentimes I think as Christians we can get tripped up and be like, well, the work I'm doing isn't like missional because I'm not talking about. About Jesus, but I think the. When you think about a relationship, it's like with Jesus, a relationship with friends. It's, it's, it's about engaging with each other. It's about the little things, it's about the big things. And, an example I like to use is I can show the world around me that I love my wife. Not by always and constantly being, hey, guys, I love my wife, and here's how I love my life. Look, I got a ring. Like, when I'm around, like, I can show people around me that I love my wife based on how I act, based on the little things. And there will be moments where maybe it's necessary that I share that I love my wife, but I can show the world, as a Christian, that I love Jesus based on how I act in my videos, based on the content that I make and the gifting that I, that he gave me. And so my perspective has grown quite a bit, and I'm here today a better person because of where he's brought me and what I've learned along the way. And there's just so much to that. Right?

Dr. Jessica Peck: But, yeah, well, you know, when I think about your channel, I think about other channels, like, dude, perfect. You know, other really popular, content creation for kids that's just generally wholesome, fun content that's clean. Because then, you know, we see there are definitely alternatives that are not those things. There are alternatives that are not modeling, you know, Christian values, Christian behaviors, roots of the spirit, all those kinds of things. But for you, at some point, there was a moment where you said, okay, I'm. I'm going to walk away from this to some extent. I'm going to, I'm going to shift my, my focus and my attention. Can you take us to that moment?

Justin Stuart: Yeah. I actually had had several moments over the years where I wanted. I felt like I needed to stop. and I remember one moment I, I felt, honestly, I was living maybe pretty legalistically because I was, like, creating these fun YouTube videos. And as a believer, I'm like, I'm not doing enough. I'm just making this goofy for video. And I'm. I'm not talking about Jesus, so I'm not doing enough. And I almost wanted to, like, give up and go the route of, like, I need to be doing pastor work. Thank the Lord that he didn't bring me to that place. And I learned a lot through that season. but I, I learned just so much in these moments of struggle and learning. To slow down when, when I was dealing with that struggle of like, man, I feel this internal struggle. How do I, I deal with it? And we all go through changes, right? Like even from being for me, living in my parents house to, then getting married, then to having kids, like throughout our life, we are going to face change. And we either choose to change or we choose to stay the same. And I would say most people, including myself in the past, have chosen to stay the same because it is comfortable. on the other side of change is fear. Whether it may be fear of, well, if I change my job, am I going to get money? It might be fear of relationships being lost or the list goes on, right? But I felt that as I've been growing up and as I've been maturing and growing my family. I have three children and I looked at my work and I was like, I don't, I don't know why. I have this internal feeling in my heart that I'm like, I feel like it's shifting, but I gotta listen to that. And it took a while because, like, me walking away from YouTube was not like, ah, well, I'm done. It was like, wow, this is a big decision because we have, we have friends, and employees that work for us. We have a, we have all the success, we have money, we have followers, we have fame. Why would anybody walk away from that? But I think God doesn't always call us to just be comfortable. And, I learned that I want to, I want to live a life with God. And life is an adventure. I love stories. And so this is an amazing story to be like. I feel like he's doing something in my heart. He's changing my heart just like he did in the past, many different times. And I'm going to go on.

Dr. Jessica Peck: We're going to hear more of your story after this. First, because it is really hard to walk away from that. And it strikes me, Justin, to hear you say talking about slowing down when viral is all about faster, faster, faster. We'll talk about that and the impact it had on your relationship with your kids. When we come back,

 : Candace talks about finding out she was pregnant. Thankfully, an ultrasound provided by preborn allowed her to hear her baby's heartbeat. The sonogram sealed the deal for me. My baby was like this tiny little spectrum of hope. And I saw his heart beating on the screen and knowing that there's life growing inside. I mean, that sonogram changed my life. I went from just Candace to M. Mom. Thank you. To everybody that has given these gifts. You guys are giving more than money. You guys are giving love.

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Living Hope by Phil Wickham: imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages step 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 salvation in your name. Jesus Christ. My living hope.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is Living Hope by Phil Wickham. And we are talking about the living hope that we have today. And because we have a living hope in a Savior who is the same yesterday, today and forever we are. We can stand the test of cultural technology changes that seem to be washing over families and leaving us in waves of confusion thinking what is going on? Is it screen time? Is it not? Should we let our kids have a phone? Should we not listen? All of those things are really tough to grapple with. But one takeaway that I could give you today is one of the most important things that you could do for screen habits with your family is to co view with your children. We have really had a cultural shift and the way that we watch media together. It used to be in the 1950s and 60s, everyone would gather around the one television set, all watch the same show. And you know how it goes when the commercials come and someone has to go to the restroom, like you're telling them, tell me when it comes back on. And you're running as fast as you can because there's no pause, there's no record. And then now. And we knew all of the things, we knew all the pop culture together. But now with the streaming platforms, with YouTube and other countless streaming options and endless streaming content for days, everybody's watching different things. And you may not be aware of what your kids are streaming and how it is impacting their worldview. I'm talking to someone who knows this world very well. We're talking to YouTuber Justin Stuart. He was wildly successful YouTube creator with that with a channel that reached millions of families with over 3 billion views and Justin, we were just in the middle of talking about you walking away from that. And when we were just talking in the break, I, I said, how is it? You said it, I'm fine now. But it was some of the hardest months of your life. And you said, I could say that on air, we could talk about it. Let's walk through that. That decision to to walk away, why you did it, why it was so hard and why you're good now.

Justin Stuart: Yeah, it definitely was one of the hardest times of my life because. Well, for one, walking away from a business that I built with my friend for 14 years was like I've said before, the break was a difficult decision and took months of processing and. But when I decided with Andrew that we wanted to end it, that was a like a six month, month lead up into the end announcement video that we dropped. It wasn't like right away, hey guys, we're ending. It was like, okay, we're gonna plan ahead. So that way we give our employees enough time to find a new job, a six month Runway, and we have time to plan for the future. And so we were all on the same page. And when the video dropped, the response was not what I expected. It was the opposite actually. I, I received quite a lot of hate and a lot of comments from people. Yeah. And like literally I was not expecting that. And so from that to hurt from friends, during the process of this, like it ended up being the hardest thing that I had to walk through for months because I was trying to still navigate it. Like with ending it, I have these things that I want to pursue that I am pursuing and moving states as well. So having to start over in a new state with trying to new friends, everything, it was. Felt pretty alone and confused, because why, why were people hating? And I, I understand, you know, looking back in hindsight, I, I see why. Because you know, we, we were making videos for 14 years and then it was taken away from people, the people who watched our videos. It felt like ripping away of a close friend. but nonetheless it was, it was very hard for me. And thankfully the Lord is with us in our hardships and in our struggles. And so he used it for, for good. And I'm good. But that's, that's where I was.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know.

Justin, I got some questions about people's attachment to you through YouTube

Justin, I got some questions. you know, I really don't know what to say, say about the negative reaction. It, I'll be honest, that just feels inherently uncomfortable because here are these people. I mean, I mean I know we won't be able to answer this here, but it just makes me wonder. I'll ask the rhetorical question about people's attachment to you through YouTube. Feeling entitled to your content creation, feeling entitled to your life, feeling such an emotional connection to you that they would be angry with you and address hate towards you for taking that away. And at the same time the word that you just used that you felt was alone. And I think that, you know, these are just some of the realities that we have. You said it really well at the beginning. There's good and there's bad in social media. It's a double edged sword there. It can be used for good. It can also, have detrimental consequences. But sitting in the, in the messiness of all of that and the kind of paradox like viral is about going faster and more micro content and you know, all more availability and yet you're called from God to slow down. I don't know. Do you have any observations or help at insight with that? Because that seems like a big old mess to me.

Justin Stuart: Yeah, no, it definitely felt like it. but I think there's so many Bible verses that can accompany, accompany hardship. Like even just one that comes to mind. When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Like m. God does not promise sunshine and rainbows for us in this life. And so we can feel on top of the world when everything's going good and then all of a sudden bad things start to happen and then we start to, you know, question the Lord, which is totally normal and okay, but it's not a surprise. And nothing's a surprise to the Lord either. So I, use it as an opportunity to strengthen my faith and know that God works all things for the good of those who are called according to his purposes. I believe that. And so even though I may feel alone and I wish I didn't feel that way, I wish I didn't have to walk through a difficulty, but I believe he has a plan and he's not going to leave me this way, that he is shaping me and he is growing me in ways that I can't see. And so if I would just have faith, if I would feel that emotion of difficulty, if I would sit in it and not rush past it, then I would know that he is there with me, just with his arm around me. Even, that, that I really am not alone, even though I might feel like it. And that he can handle my emotions. He can handle that Difficulty. So I would just encourage anybody to know that, like, your emotions are okay. If you feel, like, really frustrated or angry at the Lord, it's like, he can handle that and he's going to walk with you through it. Just like with my kids, if they're going through something difficult, I'm gonna walk with them. I'm gonna let them feel their emotions, and I'm gonna reach my hand out big. Hey, whenever you're ready, let's go. I got somewhere we're going.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, you're so right. God is not pacing the throne room of heaven, wringing his hand, saying, oh, no, J. Stu's ending. What next? What's going to happen? You know, I mean, that utterly ridiculous. But, you know, Justin, I think regardless of whether someone is listening, is a YouTube creator or they're a banker or whatever profession they are, I know that there are some people listening who feel the Lord calling them away from something. That seems like the easy answer. That seems like, you know, this is. This is where success is. This is how the world defines success. This seems easy, like, I should just stay with this. But to follow God's calling in your life and to step away is something that takes courage. But when you've done that, you know, now you've moved states and you're with your kids, how did that. Stepping away from that fast pace that, the. What you felt like God was telling you to step out, how has that impacted your relationship with your kids?

Justin Stuart: It has strengthened my relationship with my family because when I talked about earlier, like, feeling comfortable, I went from, feeling comfortable to then feeling uncomfortable. But I think in the uncomfortable is where the growth happens. Because in that uncomfortable season, it's like we're rallying together as a family. And I'm not in it alone. The kids are walking with me through. Through this situation, my wife walking with me as well. And, we're able to grow closer because I want to live at the end of the, integrated life with them. I want to be able to take them through these situations in life and be like, hey, this is how we're going to handle it. Here's where we're going. And even if I don't have all the answers, it's okay. Like, and so I've been able to just connect with them and be with them more, and it's been quite fun.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, you know, that's. And again, that's just the beauty of the paradox that you're saying. Like, it was the, some of the hardest things, hardest months that You've been through and it was tough and people were unkind and you felt alone and you were unsure. And yet you are standing so firm in your faith and saying, this has been good for my family. And I think that is just the, the, the beauty of the goodness of God. It's through those times of struggle where we grow, where we're refined, where, you know, I, I say this verse all the time. Justin. You know, you mentioned several scriptures, including Romans 8, 28. One of my favorites. One of my favorites is Psalm 84:11. The Lord God is a psalm, sun and a shield. He gives grace and glory. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. And it kind of takes some of the pressure off because you think, okay, I just need to walk uprightly. Like, I don't need to make this specific decision today. I just need to walk with the Lord every day. He'll be a sun to light my path. He'll be, a shield to protect me from, from those haters, you know, that, that are out there, that can happen. And now that you've walked away from it, one of the things that you've been talking about is this philosophy you call dino nuggets versus fine dining philosophy for getting a new perspective on, on content. So can you walk us through this and, and tell us what you mean by it?

Justin Stuart: absolutely. I mean, when I talk about YouTube and what I've learned is like, and this probably applies to many different businesses, but you have to play the game in order to succeed. Succeed as in get views and, and whatnot. And that can be very difficult. And after a while, it's like, at first, it's like, it's fun. Yeah, we're playing the game and let's make viral videos. but I did that for years, month, week after week, making videos that really, sometimes I'd like a video and sometimes I wouldn't like a video. And it felt like I'm just like, feeding this machine and I want to be creating art that I love, that I care about, that, is speaking to me now in this season, maybe month, maybe years ago, you know, I was making videos that did speak to me in that season and that I, I was, am proud of. But as I've been changing, I look at, okay, I love stories, and I want to tell stories that mean something to me.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Me.

Justin Stuart: Not that the work I ever did was not meaningful. I'm not saying that. But, And so anyways, when I started to get into writing books and thinking about my Future. I'm like, I feel like a lot of the content that we consume on social media, I mean, it's definitely social media. I'd say a majority of the content we consume is dino nuggets. Meaning, yeah, it tastes good, but is it really that good for you? Does it really have that much depth and nutrition? No, I don't want to be eating that all the time. I don't want to be producing that. I don't even want to be giving that to my kids. Sure, on occasion, have a dynamite. It's not a big deal. It's not the end of the world. but when I look at the other stories that people are writing and they're really successful, it frustrates me seeing these dino nuggets being the thing that is served to the masses. When I believe not just kids, but everybody deserves that fine dining experience. What is a fine dining experience? A plate that is full of nutrition. You got, let's say a steak, good protein, a vegetable, a carb and maybe a nice drink. And then the cherry on top, a dessert, a well balanced meal that you can enjoy, that has depth, that has different flavors. I want to be producing work that feels like that to me. And so that was like how I went into writing my book series and how I kind of reference the work that I see and what I want to be producing moving forward.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, you're right in that, you know, there's a season and there's an ark, and God calls you and, and there's different platforms and different messages for different seasons. But why do you think families, especially Christian families, are settling for low quality content? Like just. We've just accepted this as the normal, that it's real after real after real after real. And now we don't even have to scroll up because AI just autoplays everything for you. Why are we doing this? What is perspective on that?

Justin Stuart: I think a lot of people are losing, their ambition for life. I think people don't appreciate or maybe haven't activated their own imagination or their own creativity. and there's beauty in good art. And again, if you just reference the dino nuggets. If you're eating dino nuggets every day, that's going to affect your health. And I think people just, frankly are just too lazy nowadays. We all have moments of laziness, but I like, it's easier to consume things that are fast and that just serve us where we are versus, like, taking the time. Think of how easy it is to make dino nuggets throw it in the microwave. Is it easy to make a fine dining meal? Absolutely not. It takes way more effort if you want to do it right.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Justin, you didn't give me warning to tell the audience to put their tough suit on, because those are tough words. But I think words that need to be said, you're right. We are lazy and we are apathetic. I think that is true. We're overwhelmed. We're numbing out. We're not, coping effectively. And I think that we need to raise the standard for what we're looking for and think about curating our family's content stream with intentionality and purpose. We'll talk more about that and the power of storytelling and discipleship in your home when we come back with Justin Stuart.

Dr. Ligon Duncan says the Bible accurately diagnoses our sin

 : Here's Dr. Ligon Duncan from the American Family Studios documentary the God who Speaks.

Dr. Ligon Duncan: I think the most striking thing to me about the Bible is that it not only reveals God to me, it is God speaking to us, revealing himself to us. But in the process of teaching us about himself, he reveals so much about who we are. I often tell people that one of the ways that I know that the Bible is true is the way that it diagnoses my sin. I'm often reading through a passage and I'm thinking, this was written 3,000 years ago, and yet it perfectly diagnoses the state of the sin of my heart. The only way that can happen is if my creator is actually the author of the book.

 : Visit thegodwhospeaks.org

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

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is somebody prayed by Crowder and somebody did pray that somebody was me and my team. We prayed for you today as we do every day, and I pray that you're having a good day and I'm glad that you have tuned in today with so many options for streaming. We are glad that you are streaming this show and we hope to give you help and encouragement to have hope for healthy families when we look at streaming. To the best of my knowledge, from what I could look up when we think about YouTube, there are about 720,000 hours. That's 82.2 years of continuous footage that are uploaded to YouTube. And every day, 82 years of content every day. That's about 30,000 hours of content per hour, about 500 hours per minute. That is an insane amount of content. And we're talking to someone who knows this world very well. We're talking to Justin Stuart. Many of you know him as J. Stu. He ran a very successful YouTube channel and has recently walked away from that to start a different life. And really what he's written now is a series of children's books, a. A story created. It's called the Blobs. It's a story created alongside his children that became more than a project, it became discipleship. So Justin, when we are looking at just kind of the, like we talked about really being lazy, being apathetic, just letting our kids stream things without thinking about it, how did that translate to your vision for creating the Blobs and creating a story that you feel like is worth telling?

Justin Stuart: I wanted to just connect, with my kids in, a unique way through storytelling. Because I think that's how we. How we all connect is like, by telling stories and when it comes to reading books. And I feel like that's almost like a lost art, especially with AI Nowadays. It's like, oh, you read books. It's like, I feel like the percentage too is going down for kids who read. And I'm like, well, that's not okay. And so I just wanted to tell stories that have depth and excitement to them, that the depth has to be drawn out from their reading experience. It's not always handed to them. I think there's a time and place to like, really hand things to people and be like, hey, here's this scripture. Here's this very clear on the nose thing. But I feel like sometimes the best stories are things that make you think. And, even Jesus did it when he would share stories with the disciples and the people, he wouldn't just always be clear with. And sometimes he would, but like, he'd give, you know, parables and tell stories. And that's what I want to do with my kids. And for a reader, be like, what. What can you draw out of this? How did this character grow? How do you think they handled that situation? m. Even if, because my kids are 7 and 5 and I have a 2 year old, even if they can't fully grasp it right now, they will and they'll see it and it'll impact them as they grow older. So that's kind of the process.

Dr. Jessica Peck: And if I, if my understanding is right, I think it was you sitting down and doodling with your kids one day that turned into the Blobs. Is that right?

Justin Stuart: Yes, absolutely. It came from that place of I was tired of feeding the machine and playing analytics game on YouTube that I'm like, I'm gonna create like a kid again. So I got my iPad out and I hadn't really done too much, illustrating on my iPad before that. Ah. But I got it and my daughter's sitting next to me. I'm just drawing these characters and I draw a character and be like, oh, what's his name? And she'd say a, name. And it was so fun that I loved it. The, the time we were spending together was awesome. And then one of the main characters names is because of my daugh. I was like, what's this guy's name? She said, goosebump. I was like, that is so perfect. You know, kids imagination, they're just like having fun. And so from there I got my notepad out and just wrote, picked my favorite characters, started writing the story, and the rest is history.

Dr. Jessica Peck: And more than being fun and imaginative, you really talk about deeper themes. You talk about courage and friendship and doing what's right. And we know from learning science that kids learn more when it's fun, which can be great because we want kids to learn, but it also can be negative because it can make them learn the wrong things. Because we know that media channels, media platforms, they use fun as a vehicle for engagement. That's why it's so important for us to look at those themes that are underlying. What is it engaging you with? But for the blobs, you. You've got some character traits that are anchoring the. The Blobs, right?

Justin Stuart: Yeah, definitely.

Justin says creating content with your kids is different from creating viral videos

I want to, I want to speak to like, in many different things throughout my series. Like I, have the first two books out right now, and each of them kind of leans into, you know, leadership team building. and I wanted to ensure that it wasn't. It didn't come across like, cringy, if that makes sense. I really wanted to show the reader these themes with depth of, like, how do each of these different characters respond when faced with a, leadership moment? And one character has to go through this journey of leadership and making mistakes while he's leading, while the others are watching him make mistakes, maybe unaware that these mistakes are being made, but then he has to Work it out so we get to see the character work out his mistake in front of them. How often do we all do that? And how often are kids going to go through that of like not doing the right thing and you're in front of other people. So I want them, I want my kids to take away that, that, that it's not always like easy. It's, it's hard, but it's still good and important.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, Justin, I, I can't help but think as you're talking that that process that you're talking about co creating with your kids, creating like a kid, you know, really having it come from your own imagination. Not AI generated, you know, but what God puts on your heart and really pushing through and wrestling with some of those deeper themes. What do I want this to teach them? What do I want them to learn from this? I can't help but think, Justin, that that is wildly different from the creation process that's associated with social media, which is all about speed and what's going to be viral. And the you you've referenced several times, the machine that is. How do you see? Can you give us a comparison and a compare and contrast of those two different machines that are feeding content to our kids? Like intentionally curated stories versus viral videos?

Justin Stuart: Yeah, they are definitely vastly different. And what's interesting is that they both require structure, but the structure, the result is so much different because like a good story is, is told, with intention. But I think the difference between a book and a video is that a video in YouTube specifically and obviously on Instagram and whatever other platforms, it's like, how can we keep the viewer on the platform as long as possible? A book's intention is not necessarily to keep them on the book as long as possible. It's just to, to create an enjoyable experience and story. If they want to read it over a year, sure. If they want to read it in one night, that works as well. But a YouTube video is like, if you're, if a person's thinking about clicking away, you've already failed. Like, and that's, that can play a toll. Especially when this, with the culture we're living in, fast scrolling and like hooks and stuff, all those are important. Storytelling is important and hooks and all that stuff. But, but it's gotten to a place of like, oh my goodness, this is messing with the mind in a way that's not healthy.

Dr. Jessica Peck: I think it's really brave of you to say that. Honestly, Justin, I think, you know, I'm a parent. I know there's a lot of parents out there listening. We have a lot of fear related to what's going on behind the scenes in social media. I don't think that that fear is necessarily a bad thing. I think that fear can be a good, healthy thing that God uses to, to change our behavior. If we feel afraid about it, then, okay, we need to move and to act with intention. But is there anything else that you could say just about giving that validation that, yeah, behind the scenes this is a powerful machine that deserves respect and attention and making sure that you're creating healthy boundaries for your family?

Justin Stuart: Yeah, I think the system is so much different now than it was years ago. Like the, the system of now is attention and keeping people on watching. If, if they can get you addicted to a platform, they win because they get more money. So that's what all it's about, is money. And that over a long period of time is like destructive. it can ruin your life. Like addiction to social media and creating consumable content that is so fast and so stimulating can ruin your imagination, can ruin your creativity that you end up just sitting on the couch doing nothing with your life versus using the gifts that you have been given to produce work that is intentional and slow. And slow is okay. You don't always need this fast in your face content in order to get people's attention. And I think now more than ever with AI too, it's like people are looking for often authenticity for real. And so there's a need. So are we going to, as Christians, fill the need or are we going to just add to the noise and keep consuming the content that is destructive?

Dr. Jessica Peck: What you said is just, it's honestly so convicting. I mean, I, I really don't feel like I can over emphasize the gravity of what you said. And it's like this warning, wake up call. But we're all so apathetic and numb by now. We're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we know it's bad. We know we should do something about it, but we're not. And Justin, I'm really encouraged by your personal testimony and story of, you know, seeing that concern, feeling the call of God in your life and then actually doing something about it. And if you want to think about real and authentic, sitting down with your daughter and doodling with her and co creating a story with her that is authentic and that is, that is something that she is going to cherish and that is a legacy, I think that you would probably agree is far greater than any legacy of any YouTube channel success. That you could, that you could ever do. So how, how do other people think? Okay, how do I, how do I follow in that? And, and just start creating cool, at cultivating creativity and, and having meaningful storytelling in an authentic way. To have those authentic connections in your home to turn off the scroll and really plug into those real life relationships.

Justin Stuart: Don't complicate it. It's very simple. Don't overthink it either. Like, the biggest stage as parents we are ever going to have is not in front of our Facebook friends, our followers, millions of subscribers, it's our family. So how can you create an integrated life with them? And it can literally be so simple. Think of how kids can be so easily entertained with this. Some of the most boring things that we as adults.

Dr. Jessica Peck: So true.

Justin Stuart: Like they, they're so simple. So like, just come up with the most random ideas and have fun yourself. Like if you're not having fun, then they're gonna notice that and they're gonna pick up on that. So it's like mix it up. Like, even if you need to take time to plan, like the night before, write ideas on a piece of paper. Just write every idea, good and bad. And that's how we, come up with ideas for YouTube. Every idea, and then just commit. So if you can't come up with ideas, get out of your house, go to hobby lobby and look around. There's like crafts everywhere. It doesn't always even have to be crafts, like going in. I remember one specific instance and I'll share it quick. I went on a date with my daughter. This was like three years ago. And she was like, hey, what do you, I was asking her, what do you want to do? Do you want to go out to eat? And she was like, I don't know, you pick. And so I'm like, okay, let's just go pretend we're on a mission and go, in the woods. And so we did. And she thought that was like the best thing ever. And I thought, I gotta go to the restaurant with her and maybe go to the store and buy or something. When in reality she just wanted to be with me and have fun. And I just, we pretended like we were spies running around and that impacted her. So again, it's not complicated. Just have fun.

Dr. Jessica Peck: That is a great piece of advice. Kids do. They just want our time. And, and so often I think, you know, as parents, it's hard to be distracted ourselves. We have our phones that are in our own faces that are distracting us from those meaningful connections. And not too long ago, speaking of art, I was at a conference called the Institute for Faith and Learning. And there was a, literature professor there who did, take on CS Lewis's the Screwtape letters. And he did the Screen Time letters and talked about how powerful it was to distract parents from connecting with their kids and how much that diminished the power of building faith. Well, the book is called the Blobs, the book series. It's by Justin Stuart. S T U A R T and I'm so grateful that you have joined in today. And I pray that, in whatever way the Lord convicted your heart today to connect with your family, that you would be a person of action and that you would act on that and. And you would seek connection with your family. Do it tonight. And as you do, I pray the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you. I'll see you back here next time. 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 Christ. 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.

Jessica talks with Justin Stuart about walking away from JStu, one of the most successful family-friendly YouTube channels that he co-created to pursue the calling into intentional fatherhood. He also shares about his book series entitled "The Blobs"

https://davidccook.org/books/the-blobs-vol-one-crash-land/