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 pound250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com/AFR $28 may not sound like much, but to a scared mother considering abortion, it can help provide something incredibly important. A real opportunity to pause and see her baby for the first time. Today, a woman facing an unexpected pregnancy can reach for her phone, search for abortion pills, connect with a provider online and have the pills delivered directly to her home. She can move from fear toward abortion incredibly quickly. But your gift can help create another opportunity. For just $28, you can help provide a free ultrasound through a PreBorn Network clinic. There, a woman can see her baby, talk with people who will listen to what she's facing, receive compassionate support and consider another choice before abortion becomes her answer. And when women see their babies through an ultrasound at a PreBorn Network clinic, 80% choose life. $28 can help provide one ultrasound $280 can help provide 10. Reach her before the pill does with your strongest gift. Today, dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250 baby or visit preborn.com/AFR that's preborn.com/AFR all gifts are tax- deductible and PreBorn is a five star rated charity. preborn.com/AFR hello and welcome to the Doctor Nursemama 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. I'm so happy to be with you today. I've got such an encouraging message. This is going to warm your heart. But more than that, I hope that it will inspire you and encourage you to take a leadership role in your home to bring the word of God to your family. Now you hear me talk all the time about how our children are encountering messages not just about what they should buy, but who they should be and answers to the questions that all people ask in life. Who am I? What makes my life valuable? What gives me worth and meaning? And the There is no shortage of advertisers waiting to rush in, being very intentional about the way they're trying to Capture your family's heart and a video tells them what makes someone worth following, how many followers they have, who's following them. An advertisement suggests this is what's going to make you happy. You didn't know that you needed this, but actually you do. You'll be discontent until you get it, but if you get it, oh, it will change your life. And somehow that never seems to work out. A conversation at school raises questions about belonging and what is truth and what does success in life look like. Even a very ordinary television show offers a picture of what family should look like. These messages are giving us something that we need to engage in active thinking about. As parents, as grandparents, as other committed adults who are leading the young people around us. Are we helping our children recognize these stories that are shaping their lives? Are we giving them opportunities to discover not just a Bible story here and there, not just a, cherry picked Bible verse, but the larger arc of scripture, the story of the gospel from beginning to end, who God is, what he has done, and what it means to follow Jesus. Now I know if you're like me, for many Christian families, the desire is there, the intent is not a problem like, but my best intentions just don't always turn out for the best. The difficulty comes when we try to turn that intention to turn that desire into something that's actually manageable. On a Tuesday night, between soccer practice and dinner and piano lessons and homework and whatever it else is that we have. Someone's tired. Our kids are at different ages. We open the Bible and we just wonder where to begin. Is, is this even working? And there's also a quieter concern. Will this just become one more thing we feel guilty about if we don't do? Will our children experience scripture as an invitation to know God or just another lecture about how to behave? Another checklist that they have to check off on their list of being a good Christ? Now those things sound right, but those are really the thoughts on our mind. And today we're making room for God's Word in our homes. We're talking about an approach that uses warmth, relational warmth and curiosity and consistency. Not perfection, but. And not rigid adherence, but consistency. We're talking about a book today that I'm really excited about. It's called the Word in Our
The Word In Our Home: A Family Plan For Exploring Every Book Of The Bible
Home. A Family Plan for Exploring every Book of the Bible. Isn't that fantastic? And we have, the authors today is the Reaoch family. We have Stacy Reaoch You may recognize her. She's been on the show before. She is an author. She's A mother of four, she is in seminary. She's passionate about helping women apply biblical truth to everyday life. She's the author of Beautiful Freedom and the co author of Making Room for Her. She's joined today by her husband Ben, who holds a PhD from Southern Seminary and he served as leader of Three Rivers Grace Church in Pittsburgh since 2017 2006. He loves teaching God's word. He loves helping families grow in their faith. And he's joining us today. Now, before we start, I do want to let you know the other author of this book is Barbara Reaoch Now Barbara is Ben's mom. And Barbara went to be with the Lord not too long ago. And Ben and Stacy have honored her legacy of teaching nearly 30 years of the Bible, her experience to this project. She had 11 years directing the children's division of Bible Study Fellowship International, which I know a lot of you will be familiar with. And her work reflected a passion for helping people understand and experience the life changing truths of the gospel. And I so look forward to honoring her legacy with you both. Ben and Stacy thank you so much for joining us. I am delighted to have you here.
Ben Reaoch Good to be here. Thanks for having us.
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, thanks for having us.
Dr. Jessica Peck Well, Ben, let's start with you because we talked about your mom and you credit her on the book. I would just love to hear about her legacy of faith and what led you and Stacy to bring that legacy to life in this book.
Ben Reaoch Yeah, my mom was a wonderful godly woman. my parents became Christians when I was 2 years old. So I got to kind of watch them grow in their faith as I was growing up. And as my mom grew quickly in the Lord, she really developed a deep desire to study God's word and ended up teaching other women and teaching others how to teach the Bible and teaching, through Bible study fellowship, children's leaders of how to teach children the Bible. Well, shortly after Stacy and I got married, my parents moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where they served as missionaries there for a number of years. And so as Stacy and I began having kids, my mom was wanting to disciple her grandkids from afar. And so she actually started writing some of these devotions for parents to use, with their kids, specifically for Stacy and me to use with our kids. And then that grew and, you know, has turned into other devotionals, that many families have used. And then as my mom's health was declining, kind of her culminating project and vision that she wanted to complete was this full Bible family devotion. And so she had been working on this for some time, for years, writing different devotions for different contexts. And so as we realized her health was really declining and she may not have too much more time left, she and I sat down one morning for a couple hours and just kind of looked over all of these files on her computer, transferred those over to my computer with the, plan that, you know, Stacy and I would likely be the ones to kind, of take the baton and bring this through the finish line.
Dr. Jessica Peck Ben, that is just. I almost have no words. That's so beautiful. And thank you for inviting us into such a tender space. I can't even imagine what that was like. As your mom knew that her earthly life was, was, you know, going and she was looking forward to her heavenly home. Having that moment with her and then having now this full circle moment of being able to bring that vision to life and not only impact your family, but families around the world, that is just, that's a beautiful thing and I think a legacy that anybody would aspire to have. And I'm so grateful for those faithful examples that inspire us. Stacy I know you had, you had co written with Barbara. What was it like coming into this family? What would you like to say about your relationship with Barbara and the impact that she had on your life, your family, your kids?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, she had an incredible impact. I did not grow up in a Christian family and so, so, you know, going to Ben's house, we met in high school. We started dating our senior year of high school. So I remember one of the first times going to their home and seeing her sitting on the couch with her Bible open on her lap with this big smile. And I remember seeing things like a list of things to pray for on their kitchen table, which just seemed so bizarre to me. Just, you know, my family prayed before Christmas dinner or Easter dinner, so it was, you know, very different to see kind of a daily faith lived out. So she really had an incredible impact. And I loved her love for the Word and her love of teaching the Word to others. I became a believer then my freshman year of college, and, we did not date the whole time. We broke up a couple years. But even when we were broken up, I actually went back and visited Barb because I liked her so much as, as a friend and liked spending time with her. I was excited to tell her about my new faith in Christ. so she really has had an incredible impact, not just on us, but also on our kids.
Dr. Jessica Peck Tell me more about that. I'd love to hear about how Your kids are honoring her legacy. I mean, what a beautiful thing for that to live on. What has been like for them to know their grandmother and the impact that she had on them personally. But now to step into this ministry and to be. Share. Sharing this, this, resource so broadly with other families, what has that been like for them?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, well, using those devotions that mom wrote, that was. That was one way that they were hearing from their Oma. My parents have gone by Oma, and, so from. From a young age, you know, that was. That was their kind of way of hearing from M. Oma was through some of these devotions. And then my parents moved back to the States. We've never lived in the same city, but, you know, they obviously were able to see them more often. And on some of those visits, sometimes our kids would go and visit my parents during the summer for, several days. And, my parents would always kind of have certain things in the word that they were going to be working through over those days. And so those are some of their special memories with Oma was, you know, being in the word, talking about the word, so they got to experience that firsthand. And. And now that this book is out, it is, you know, it is very special for our whole family to see this come to fruition. And part of her legacy, it's a reminder, you know, of how much we miss her. but it's also a way that we're, you know, kind of able to continue to visit with her as we. As we read these.
Dr. Jessica Peck I think that's such a beautiful legacy that will be there for generations to come. And it's so encouraging to hear, you know, Ben, you come from a family with a legacy of faith, and Stacy you're that first generation, and, and to see you come together and to see the impact that she clearly had on your life and then now to see that growing in your children, I. I think that's what we all aspire to. And, you know, when I was talking at the beginning of the show, as Christian families, we all have that good intention. I mean, everybody listening is thinking, man, I want to be an Oma just like that. Like, I want to be a mom just like that. So that my children would talk about that legacy. But then the honest truth is, now Ben and Stacy life gets in the way and it gets really hard. And we kind of think that that spiritual instruction is in those times where we actually sit down, just like you described, almost. Stacy you know, there are times when we're going to see a Bible open on a parent, on a grandparents lap. Or we are picturing, you know, the perfect Advent where everybody's sitting around and behaving beautifully and, and engaged and just saying, oh mother, thank you so much for the spiritual formation. This is just a beautiful time and I appreciate it. May I. Our family in prayer. But really one of the things that that comes from m.
Your book is that from the Deuteronomy 6 that we're really teaching a lot more as we get up, as we lie down, as we walk along the road
Your book is that from the Deuteronomy 6 that we're really teaching a lot more as we get up, as we lie down, as we walk along the road. Can you talk, Ben, let's, let's come to you first and talk a little bit about how we make that realistic. How we make the most of our time and integrate this into what we're already doing. Not just make this another legalistic check mark or something to feel guilty about. If we, we try it, we start, we fall off, we start again. How do we balance that?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, right. Yeah, those are the challenges as parents and as Christian parents. I mean it does start with our own walk with the Lord and is there a vibrancy there that we are seeking? The Lord spending time in his Word, in prayer and then, and then out of that overflow, just kind of weaving that into different parts of life and yeah. Thinking of drive time, you know, and we're going to soccer practice or here and there and thinking about how to intentionally you know, use those, those moments and, and then you know, teachable moments in life when there's disappointments, when there's hard friendships, difficult things going on at school, confusing things in the news and, and how to talk about that, bringing the word of God to bear upon that and thinking about that in terms of a Christian worldview.
Dr. Jessica Peck Well, Stacy you're, you're a busy mama of four. I, I relate. I have, I have four kids myself.
What do you see as some of the practical challenges and how do you see this book The Word In Our Home helping meet parents where they are?
What do you see as some of the practical challenges and how do you see this book the Word in our home helping meet parents where they are?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, I mean I think busyness just all of us being over committed to things and, and sometimes I think also having the wrong priorities of, of you know, kids sports becoming more important than their spiritual training. Those are things we really have to fight against, I think especially in American culture. but you know, discipleship is like you were saying, so much more than just reading a devotional, but it's you know, modeling to our kids our own faith, them seeing our own excitement in studying the Word of. Look at, listen to something I learned in my devotional today or something that you know, God used to speak to me. I think that's a huge part of it. And I think with the Word in our home, we did design it so that it's just a very accessible resource. We're all busy. Everybody feels like we can't add one more thing to our plate. So this really is designed to be just an open and go. There's no preparation needed. You know, it gives you the scripture, it gives you a very short commentary to read, and then it gives you like three or four questions that you can discuss with your kids. So for our family,
Dr. Jessica Peck you know, I'm gonna hold you right there, Stacy We're already at our first break and I want to hear about how you use this in your family and how we use it in our families too. And Stacy I gotta say, you just delivered some very tough truths in a very sweet way with a smile on your face. But what you said, it really is convicting. We'll have more with Ben and Stacy Reaoch right after this break. Hello, I'm Jessica peck, host of Dr. Nursemama. did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. And that's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.net/give that's afr.net/give
What a God You Are by Andrea Olson Valley the Lord held on to me when I'd had enough, Almost given up in my weakness. The Lord held on me. What a God you are. You are strong and true. There is, there's none more faithful and there is none like you. What a God you are. Your presence is secure. Nothing is more certain. Your promises are sure. What a God you are. What a God you are.
Dr. Jessica Peck Welcome back, friends. That is what a God you are by Andrea Olson. And we're talking today to Ben and Stacy Reaoch husband and wife, co authors of a book called the Word in Our Home, a family plan for exploring every book of the Bible. It's great to start anytime, but this would be a great resource to start in the new year. It's co authored also by Ben's mom, Barbara Reaoch who has gone to be with Jesus, but whose legacy lives on in the lives of her son, her daughter in law, her grandchildren, and those who loved her. And before the break, Stacy we were just talking about how, you delivered some very tough truths in a very sweet way. But it is true, if we look at it, we have good intentions, but we often let other priorities get in the way. We would say our main priority is discipling our kids, but our calendar, our credit card is going to tell on us honestly and say, well, you spent a lot more time on sports, as you mentioned. And I do want to mention to our listeners, we've been doing a series with sports ministry leaders Brian Smith, Brian, Uszinski and Ed. I'm sorry, Brian Smith and Ed Usinski. And that would be a great resource because we've been talking about and exploring a lot of those tough truths in the youth industrial sports complex. But you said, Stacy that this is just open and go. So I would love for you just to walk us through a typical reading and the Word in our home. What would a family read? Read and discuss and pray. How can we use this on the go?
Ben Reaoch yeah, yeah,
The format here is you know, there's at least one devotion from every book of the Bible, you know, so starting in Genesis 1
the format here is you know, there's, there's at least one devotion from every book of the Bible, you know, so starting in Genesis 1. And there's just usually a short scripture passage to read. So, so this is meant to, you know, be opened up alongside a Bible and you could have, you know, ask one of the kids or, or one of the parents, you know, depending on the age of the kids. But someone reads that short passage of scripture and then there's just about a paragraph here of some explanation and kid friendly, friendly language to kind of draw out the main points and it provide some explanation. And then there's just about, you know, just three questions. And usually the first question is just kind of a reading, comprehension kind of question of, you know, are we listening and are we getting some of the, the, the main details here? And then another question, you know, usually related to God, something we're learning about God and then some kind of application question to, you know, how does this apply to our lives? And there's some prayers included in here as well. So, so yeah, that's what we mean by open and go. You know, the parents, we don't need to put in some prep ahead of time but, but you know, just to have this resource to there on the table or near the kitchen table. We usually do these as we're wrapping up dinner and before we kind of break to clean up and move on to whatever's next in the evening. But yeah, that's how we, you know, hopefully to kind of bring down the expectation level of what parents need to put into this. I mean we want it to be a priority in our lives and want there to be consistency, but it doesn't have to be us, a long drawn out family devotion time, but you know, 10 or 15 minutes and working that in, a few times a week. And having that consistency can really have a huge impact over time.
Dr. Jessica Peck Yes, that's the key word is consistency, not perfection. It doesn't need to be social media worthy, it just needs to be consistent. And I found Ben and Stacy with my four kids as they grew up and now they're, you know, emerging into that young adult stage. It was really helpful for me to put them in charge of it and just to say we're going to rotate. And they loved that, that gave them some ownership and they could lead us. And so if we were driving in the car, which had happened in that busy stage of parenting, and we had a devotional book, which we had several series that we would do, they pass it around, we'd keep it in the car and whose ever turn it was, we just do it in the car while we were driving. And that consistency I think really matters. And one of the things that I love is that you explore every book of the Bible. When we think about teaching children, we think, we think about the Bible stories of the new test of the Old Testament, we think about Daniel and lion's den and Noah's Ark, which is actually kind of a scary story for kids. But somehow, you know, that, that, that decorates nurseries. I always think of Tim Hawkins comedy bit when I, when I think of that, we may think of, you know, reading them this from the Psalms, the Proverbs, the Gospels, but you're like, nope, let's go Lamentations, let's go, you know, let's go to Malachi, like every book of the Bible. And in this age of short form content where kids are scrolling through social media, we may encounter scripture, which is good, but seeing it fragmented like that, we really miss the arc of the gospel narrative. And I really do think I've heard a lot of leaders in this space talking about a crisis of biblical literacy and I can see this resource as helping with that. So Ben, I'll ask you, what do you think we miss when we just kind of pull fragmented versions of scripture instead of examining the scripture, the whole arc of the gospel?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, well, I think some of those stories you mentioned are so captivating and, and amazing, you know, and can be helpful very young kids to, to begin to develop an interest in God's word and some of the amazing things God has done. But as they're growing up, we want to help them see the whole counsel of God and understand that whole storyline of redemption and so kind of piecing things together of how God has worked throughout time from creation and through his people in the Old Testament and then to the New Testament with the coming of Christ and looking ahead to Christ's second coming and seeing all of this in a Christ centered perspective and seeing that all of scripture is about Christ and helping us to learn about who he is and what it means to have a personal relationship with him. That's really valuable to help our kids. Yeah. Be exposed to the whole of the, the Bible storyline.
Dr. Jessica Peck Stacy what was your experience in that? Teaching your kids all the way from Genesis to Revelation? What, what benefit do you see in that?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, I think, you know, kind of like what Ben said of showing them that all of scripture is useful for teaching and training in righteousness. You know, second Timothy talks about that it's not just the New Testament, it's not just Jesus's words, but everything from Genesis to Revelation that, that God is unfolding his story for us and the biblical storyline and, and seeing, you know, how our lives still relate and we still can learn things, that are applicable in the Old Testament and, and like Ben said, also like seeing Christ in the Old Testament, seeing how it points to Christ, I think it helps them understand that this is God's big story, that God has a purpose for humanity and a purpose for our world that can be found in the Bible.
Dr. Jessica Peck One of the things that caught my attention is that when you're reading this book, I mean, when we're telling kids Bible stories, we usually give them a character application which is really good. I mean, we tell them, be brave, be kind, we give them those character formation messages. But I think your book brings out a really important point that we just kind of translate immediately the characteristics from the character in the story to what our kids should be skipping over the character of God, who he is. Because we are made in God's image. And the more we know God's character, the, the more that we know him to be faithful, to be trustworthy, and the more we can emulate those characteristics and see them reflected in us. So, what, Stacy what is your experience in having, you know, kids? What's a simple, simple question that moves kids in that direction, pointing them continually back to the author of the book, back to the God who created them?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah. I think one simple question we can ask when we're studying a passage of the Bible is what do we learn about God? How do we see God in this scripture verse? How do we see Jesus. And, and how does this apply to my life? I think, you know, just, you know, looking for those things, looking for how we see God the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, will help us learn who he is.
Dr. Jessica Peck Ben, my producer, Stephanie, is a longtime children's minister. And I know with you as a pastor in this space, you probably relate. One of the things that, you know, she would see, that she observed is that most of the time when parents came to pick up their kids from children's ministry and they had been engaged in a Sunday school lesson, they would ask parents ask one question when they pick up their kids. And that question is, did you have fun? And it's not a bad question. It's kind of a natural question, you know, but when we really think about the intention that we have and the opportunity for those micro moments when we're asking, did we have fun? We're conveying, when we come to church, my expectation is that you have fun. And the measure of success is fun. Instead of asking simple questions like, what did you learn about God today? And what did you learn about God's word today? What did you learn about character today? And. And really, like, we want learning to be fun. And so I. I'm not shaming any parents who ask that question because I've asked that question myself, but it's just an example of that. What do you see in church ministry, Ben, that, that, you know, reflects this concept? And how do we. How do we carry the gospel from the. Those children's ministry environments into our home every day?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, well, you know, the world we live in, there's a lot of troubling things. There's things we see on the news, things we hear about in our communities that are deeply troubling. And so we want to have a foundation to know how to process these things and how to. How to still have hope when it sometimes feels like the world is crumbling around us. And so there's. And yeah, I mean, we do want to have fun, too. I mean, life is enjoyable. There's a lot of. Of great things to enjoy in God's creation and a lot of things to laugh at too. And, you know, we want to have that as part of our church, community and our family, experience as well. So, yeah, trying to find that right balance of seeing humor even in God's word, seeing the humor in different stories and being able to laugh at ourselves and laugh together, but also to have a seriousness and a weightiness of, you know, God. God is real and he's in control. And he's been in control from the beginning of creation. And. And we can have hope in him because he sent his son to die for our sins and he rose again. And. And so in. In the midst of whatever might be going on in our lives, we can. We can look to him and we can see that in story after story and passage after passage throughout all the books of the Bible.
Dr. Jessica Peck You know, I. I do believe that. And I do believe that God has a sense of humor. Maybe it's just me reading the Bible, but when you read things like, you know, John's account of the resurrection and one disciple outran the other, wink, wink, it's like I was faster. I want to make sure I get that in there. That strikes me as funny. But there are. You're right, Ben. There's things in the world that are not funny at all. And our kids are being exposed to those things more and more and more. It really breaks my heart that I have to sit here day after day behind this microphone and prepare parents to expose their kids to things earlier and earlier. Because we have the choice between a controlled exposure where we intentionally expose them to things in a developmentally appropriate way as best as we can, while still protecting them as fiercely as we can, but recognizing we live in a world that's saturated by smartphones and screens and the bad news of the world comes to them through the mouths of their peers, through shoulder surfing, through even younger and younger and younger. But we want to position ourselves as the experts, as a trustworthy lighthouse. Lighthouse. Parenting is really the. The style of parenting that I'm resonating with because it's not changing. It's reflecting the light of the lor. Reflecting the truth of God's word on those unshakable foundations, helping our kids to navigate those cultural currents and the stormy currents that they're on. And so, Ben, when our kids see those hard things that are happening, I feel like they're asking us some really hard questions that can strike a lot of fear in parents hearts. We're like, oh, they're questioning their faith. Oh, no, no, no, that must be. I'm failing as a parent. I'm not doing enough devotionals. And we just kind of have this reactive rush of, fear where we want to shut those down. But I think now more than ever we need to invite those. What does your research resource the Word in the home M. What does that do to help invite those questions and say, yeah, God is big enough to handle your questions and I may not know all of the answers to those. And that's okay too. We can wrestle together. How do you see that, that skill being developed in families through the Word in our home?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, that's a good point. That we don't, you know, we don't need to have all the answers. We certainly don't have all the answers.
But we want to come alongside our kids as fellow learners. We're on this journey together.
But we want to be coming alongside our kids as fellow learners. We're on this journey together. I'm continuing to learn from God's Word together. We're going to learn from God's Word. But with that consistency, it's establishing an expectation that when these questions do come up in life, God's Word is a place we can go to for those answers. And so as, as our kids, you know, are thinking through and wrestling through, different hard things in life, you know. Yeah, let's, you know, I don't know the answer to that question off the top of my head, but let's, let's learn together. Let's search God's Word, for wisdom, on these things.
Dr. Jessica Peck I mean, I'm sure that you wrestled with that when your mom was sick. And seeing such a godly woman, like, why would God allow this to happen? Those are, are very real things that, that children are going to wrestle with. But I think knowing more about the character and nature of God and seeing his faithfulness in His Word and seeing his faithfulness in our own lives, when we look back to those times that God has been faithful to guide us through that, and then God brings that scripture to mind because we know that God's Word doesn't return void and we hide His Word in our heart that we made not sin. And I have found so much that, you know, I'm grateful because I came from a heritage of faith where I was in church all the time. And God's Word was hidden in my heart for sure. And there's so many times where I would, a question would arise in my heart and I feel like God's word would just come back to answer that. That word, that scripture would come back and then I would reflect on the faithfulness of God and it would give me such comfort. And I'm so, appreciative of that. Making space for questions helps us understand our kids, what their fears are, what their thought process is. We can meet them where they are and we help them understand who God is. So coming up next, how to build a rhythm that survives busy schedules or if you miss a day or ten and the imperfections m of family life. We'll talk a little bit more about this Faith, rhythm, that your family can keep. We're talking about the Word in our home with Ben and Stacy Reaoch We'll be right back. A discipleship minute with Joseph Parker.
Joseph Parker He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress. My God in him I will trust. Psalm, 91, verses 1 and 2. In a perilous world, so many people are afraid, they're fearful. In a world where inner cities and many other communities are just simply dangerous places to be, we see the drug trafficking, human trafficking, muggings, murders, physical and sexual abuse. There is a place of safety in this world, and it's found in God. It's found in that secret place, that intimate relationship with God. No one can protect you like God can. But it's important for us to do our part to appropriate, to place ourselves in that secret place. Praying Psalm 91. Every day is a very wise thing for all believers to do. No one can protect you like God can.
Jesus Loves by Zach Williams All the renegades, the rebels and the runaways, all the prodigals who got a little lost along the way and all the backsliders up on outers down in a rut, these are the ones who are the ones that Jesus loves. Every dream shattered, bruised and battered, barely hanging on Every heartbroken lonely soul sitting all alone and every outcast, took in their past scared of letting go. These are the ones, the ones that Jesus chose. So come on in, the door is open in the savior zones are too the table stairs. Come on in and you will find that you don't have to be enough to be someone Jesus loves.
Dr. Jessica Peck Welcome back, friends. That's Jesus Loves by Zach Williams. Today we're talking to Ben and Stacy Reaoch They've written a book called the Word in our Home, a family plan for exploring every book of the Bible. This book is co authored by Ben's mom, Barbara, who went to be with the Lord not too long ago. And they are honoring her legacy and helping to remember the, the fruit and, and to bear the fruit of the seeds that she planted in them. By creating a love for God's word and a desire to know God's character. We're talking about how we can teach the whole word of God, the whole ark of scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, and we can help our families to know God, to love God, to love others and serve others others. Now, if you've been following along this show, if you're a Regular listener. You know that every Friday we do habits for healthy families. And I, start in January. Habit one is prayer. Habit two is getting in God's word, memorizing scripture and hiding God's word in your heart. Habit three is getting it plugged into a church. And habit four is listening to Christian music and using that as a discipleship tool. But habit five is a, daily devotional that is the first, first rhythm that we recommend for your family. So if you want to go back and catch those shows, go back and look at the first part of the year. Habit to Habit 5. Or you can catch the one minute version on the Dr. Nurse, Mama coaching minutes, because this is such an important foundational rhythm for your family. And many families, they start a devotional with really good intentions. And maybe that bookmark is just, you know, in the third or fourth page or maybe three fourths of the way through, but you just kind of watch the routine disappear because our best intentions are. Or just overcome by the realities of our busy life. And starting again kind of feels discouraging because you feel like, okay, here I am picking it up. But I think we need to normalize some of that. It's really more about consistency. Okay, maybe we drop it for three or four days, but over time. Did you do it pretty regularly over the year? Missed day gives us an opportunity to return. So we're going to talk about some, some practical help for building a rhythm that families can come back into. So Stacy let's talk about, for the famil, just kind of starting from scratch or maybe, you know, they're don't, they don't do a devotional. They've never done a devotional. Or maybe they do one, but they just keep, you know, kind of dropping off. And, and we know that, you know, Advent season is coming up and families may have dreams of that. What would you recommend they do this week? What's a realistic first step for families to take?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, I think starting small, so choosing one night even that the calendar is maybe a little bit more open and you have 15 minutes after dinner that you can open up God's word together and, read a short passage of scripture. So if you have the Word in our home, then there's some selected readings for you. but kind of what you were saying, it's really about consistency over the long run, over the long haul. So none of us do this perfectly. None of us have our, nightly devotions, you know, every single day of the year. There are busy seasons, but just, you know, trying to find a time in your family schedule. Or maybe it's before the kids head off to school in the morning that you open up God's word and you read a psalm together and you pray together. Something as simple as that. Or asking the kids at the dinner table, how did you see, see God working today? What was the way that you saw God working at your school with your friends? Or was there an answered prayer that you had talked about from another night? How did that math test go that we prayed for? All of those things are, are simple ways that we can start discipling our kids.
Dr. Jessica Peck Ben, let's talk about. I know, you know, this would probably never happen to most listeners, but if there was by chance, chance, a kid somewhere who maybe had a bad attitude, I mean, I'm just throwing it out there. I know that that's not very common, but maybe a kid who just resists and thinks like, oh, do we have to do that? And, and, and maybe, honestly they're just difficult during the, the family time. Maybe they disrupt. Maybe they, you know, hit their sister again. I know these things are like, way out there, theoretical, but how do you stop it from making a power struggle? What are some practical responses that we can have when our best intentions, we can think, oh, we planned this. Like, we want it to go beautifully, and our kids are just like, not today, Mom. Not today, dad. Not. Not going to happen.
Ben Reaoch Yeah, Yeah. I think, I remember some of those moments, you know, the milk spills, or kids are squabbling with each other, or someone has a case of the giggles, and then it's just hard to kind of calm down and focus and. But yeah, I think on a, you know, case by case basis, kind of knowing when it's, when it's time to just kind of say, okay, this isn't working tonight, you know, we'll try again tomorrow night. I mean, obviously, if things are consistently an issue, there's going to need to be some parental, you know, kind of intervention there to kind of get things on track, but to try to create that expectation that, hey, we're not here to make this a, miserable time for everybody. We want this to be fun and engaging for everybody and, and, you know, appealing to our kids. Let's, you know,
This is God's word, this is important, and let's respect His word
this is God's word, this is important, and, let's respect His word. Let's, let's learn from him. But, yeah, I think trying to take some of that pressure off, I mean, I, I can't take myself too seriously or kind of have too high of expectations of what's going to be accomplished on. In this particular devotion, but kind of having that long view, and trying to let God's word really do the heavy lifting, you know, I mean, I can't convince our kids of the truth of God's word or the wonder of the gospel. You know, I can't work that miracle in their lives. I certainly pray for that. But to just try to get the word of God open in front of us, to get us thinking together about it, talking about it, and then praying that the Holy Spirit will really work in their hearts works.
Dr. Jessica Peck That is really good advice because yeah, so often I think we try to do things in our own strength. And then when it doesn't go well, we just take that because we are not immune to immediate gratification parenting. We think, oh, I must not be doing it right. I must not be doing a good enough job. Like my kids aren't, you know, engaging in this. I think we need to have a more measured reaction and think just parent for the long game and just work through some of those kinds of struggles, emotionally regulate ourselves. And this is where it does, does help to make it fun and make it a point of connection, not just something, we gotta do this before we go to bed. But hey, we get to connect. We get to have just a few minutes just to be together. Let everything else sit for just a minute. Like, let's have our family connection time. So often I think it's in how we frame it. And one of the things that can happen in that conversation, it's really important to connect something we're reading in those moments, something we're talking about in those moments with something that happens later. Oh, remember we talked about this. Oh, I see this principle happening here. Oh, I see God developing this characteristic in you. I see God preparing you to meet this moment. Stacy how do we think about and just not have that checkbox that's just lives in its own little isolated bubble at night or in morning or whenever you're doing your reading together. But we connect it and infuse it throughout our life lives. How do you find some practical strategies to do that?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, that makes me think of like Deuteronomy 6 help. That we're to be teaching our kids the word all the time. Right when we're walking, by the way, and we're sitting. so devotions are one great way to do that. But also just trying to have spiritual conversations with your kids, you know, when you're driving them to practice or picking them up from school. Of just talking about, oh, remember that, you know, thing that we prayed for? You know, how, how is go answered that? What do you see God doing? and I think also again, modeling as parents, the priority of the word and prayer in our life.
Do your kids see you reading the Bible? Do they see you praying for them?
Do your kids see you reading the Bible? Do they see you praying for them? Those are also ways that we're spiritually investing in discipling our kids just by how we live our life. and then, of course, finding times to read the Bible together, to pray together. I also just wanted to say, you know, depending on the ages of your kids, kids, this looks different. So when, when our four kids were little, we were using colorful children's Bibles, we were using music to sing or scripture memory songs. And I'd be doing crazy motions and the kids would be doing that. or even when we go on vacation, we had a little more time. We would, we would read, the story of David and Goliath and then we'd act it out at the end of the week. And that was like a really big thing. We'd like, like make costumes with our beach towels and whatever we had laying around. And we still. Now the kids love to watch some of those video clips because they're just funny, but it was a way that we were making the word become alive to them and not just this dusty old book sitting on the shelf, but, but a word that was filled with wisdom and adventure. And the Bible is not boring, but applies to our life and is relevant. Relevant.
Dr. Jessica Peck Well, you know, I, I, that just makes me smile so much to think of that. What a great memory and legacy to have. And Ben, I can't help but think that there are people out there listening who think, I don't have a mom like Barb Reaoch I don't have that legacy of faith. My spouse is not leading in this area as much as I would like to them maybe like them to. Maybe there's people who are listening whose spouse is not even a believer or they're a single parent or their grandparent raising their kids kids. How can the local church and trusted adults support them in practical ways? I'd love to ask your experience as a pastor and as a dad, how do you lead in your home even when you don't have the full support like you're describing is in your family?
Ben Reaoch Well, yeah, that does highlight the importance of a local church to be a part of and to have that extended family of other believers who can come alongside you as a parent who may be a single parent or a parent Whose, spouse is not a believer, but to have others that were in this together. And I'm not alone. And I think back to my parents who became Christians when I was 2 years old, and just some of my earliest memories of them. They were still very young in their faith, but they were wanting to pass along to me, me, some of the things they were learning. And I even remember this, this goofy thing my dad did one time when I was five years old. And he was trying to illustrate to me, trust, in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. And he kind of. There was this little mattress over in the corner and he kind of would lean on it and then fall to the floor. And I thought it was hilarious. You know, he was just illustrating this verse in a way that me as a five year old could understand. And I still remember that to. But, so, yeah, I think, you know, wherever you're at as a parent, you know, what is God doing in your life and your heart? And how can you just in, in simple ways talk about that with, with your kids? That's a, that's a place to start.
Dr. Jessica Peck You're reminding me of a Bible teacher that I had when I was in high school who, I guess the class looked bored because he jumped up on his desk and just took a flying leap off of it. And it was, it was a lighthearted attempt to talk about a leap of faith. But, I mean, here I am. High school was quite a few decades ago, and I still remember it and I still talk about that. I think sometimes we do need to have fun and just be silly. And God has given us that kind of creativity, which is, which is a beautiful thing.
Stacy I'd love to know from you just some last encouragement about what faithfulness looks like
Stacy I'd love to know from you just some last encouragement about what faithfulness looks like. Even if somebody was to start this this week, they think I'm trying, it just feels like I'm on the struggle bus. What, encourage encouragement would you give to them personally here on the air?
Stacy Reaoch I would say to just keep going and that the Lord gives us grace for all our parenting failures and the, the things that we wish we would have done better. Do, what you can use, use the time that you have to impart spiritual truth to your kids, whether it's, you know, reading some passages of scripture or praying for them before they go to bed at night or asking them, them, you know, what's, what's their biggest worry for the week and then taking that to the Lord with them. Those are all ways that we can just very simply be, discipling our kids and imparting spiritual truth to them.
Dr. Jessica Peck I am so grateful to you both. Thank you, Ben and Stacy for sharing this resource, for sharing your hearts, for sharing your family legacy. The book is called the Word in Our Home, A Family Plan for exploring every book of the Bible. And I just encourage you, if you are not already, if you are doing this, fantastic, all the virtual high fives, I am so grateful for you. That legacy really matters. And if you're just starting, just choose an existing moment that you have every day. Everybody eats at night, everybody goes to bed at night. Maybe around there. Just read a short passage, ask a thoughtful question, listen with curiosity, pray about what you discussed, and then just do it every day you can, if you miss a day, pick it back up. And if you've been waiting until you know more, until you feel more confident or you have a calmer household, or it's a calmer season, let this be your invitation to begin that today is the day. Open the Bible, ask a question, listen to your kids, Let them see that you too are learning to trust and follow Jesus, that you're learning about the character and nature of God. And as you do, I pray the Lord will bless you, keep you, make his face to shine upon you. I'll see you tomorrow. We'd like to thank our sponsors, including PreBorn. PreBorn has rescued over 400,000 babies from abortion and has seen over 100,000 commitments to Christ. Will you join PreBorn in continuing this good work supporting young moms in crisis? Save a life today. Go to preborn.com/AFR
Jeff Chamblee the views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
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 pound250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com/AFR $28 may not sound like much, but to a scared mother considering abortion, it can help provide something incredibly important. A real opportunity to pause and see her baby for the first time. Today, a woman facing an unexpected pregnancy can reach for her phone, search for abortion pills, connect with a provider online and have the pills delivered directly to her home. She can move from fear toward abortion incredibly quickly. But your gift can help create another opportunity. For just $28, you can help provide a free ultrasound through a PreBorn Network clinic. There, a woman can see her baby, talk with people who will listen to what she's facing, receive compassionate support and consider another choice before abortion becomes her answer. And when women see their babies through an ultrasound at a PreBorn Network clinic, 80% choose life. $28 can help provide one ultrasound $280 can help provide 10. Reach her before the pill does with your strongest gift. Today, dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250 baby or visit preborn.com/AFR that's preborn.com/AFR all gifts are tax- deductible and PreBorn is a five star rated charity. preborn.com/AFR hello and welcome to the Doctor Nursemama 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. I'm so happy to be with you today. I've got such an encouraging message. This is going to warm your heart. But more than that, I hope that it will inspire you and encourage you to take a leadership role in your home to bring the word of God to your family. Now you hear me talk all the time about how our children are encountering messages not just about what they should buy, but who they should be and answers to the questions that all people ask in life. Who am I? What makes my life valuable? What gives me worth and meaning? And the There is no shortage of advertisers waiting to rush in, being very intentional about the way they're trying to Capture your family's heart and a video tells them what makes someone worth following, how many followers they have, who's following them. An advertisement suggests this is what's going to make you happy. You didn't know that you needed this, but actually you do. You'll be discontent until you get it, but if you get it, oh, it will change your life. And somehow that never seems to work out. A conversation at school raises questions about belonging and what is truth and what does success in life look like. Even a very ordinary television show offers a picture of what family should look like. These messages are giving us something that we need to engage in active thinking about. As parents, as grandparents, as other committed adults who are leading the young people around us. Are we helping our children recognize these stories that are shaping their lives? Are we giving them opportunities to discover not just a Bible story here and there, not just a, cherry picked Bible verse, but the larger arc of scripture, the story of the gospel from beginning to end, who God is, what he has done, and what it means to follow Jesus. Now I know if you're like me, for many Christian families, the desire is there, the intent is not a problem like, but my best intentions just don't always turn out for the best. The difficulty comes when we try to turn that intention to turn that desire into something that's actually manageable. On a Tuesday night, between soccer practice and dinner and piano lessons and homework and whatever it else is that we have. Someone's tired. Our kids are at different ages. We open the Bible and we just wonder where to begin. Is, is this even working? And there's also a quieter concern. Will this just become one more thing we feel guilty about if we don't do? Will our children experience scripture as an invitation to know God or just another lecture about how to behave? Another checklist that they have to check off on their list of being a good Christ? Now those things sound right, but those are really the thoughts on our mind. And today we're making room for God's Word in our homes. We're talking about an approach that uses warmth, relational warmth and curiosity and consistency. Not perfection, but. And not rigid adherence, but consistency. We're talking about a book today that I'm really excited about. It's called the Word in Our
The Word In Our Home: A Family Plan For Exploring Every Book Of The Bible
Home. A Family Plan for Exploring every Book of the Bible. Isn't that fantastic? And we have, the authors today is the Reaoch family. We have Stacy Reaoch You may recognize her. She's been on the show before. She is an author. She's A mother of four, she is in seminary. She's passionate about helping women apply biblical truth to everyday life. She's the author of Beautiful Freedom and the co author of Making Room for Her. She's joined today by her husband Ben, who holds a PhD from Southern Seminary and he served as leader of Three Rivers Grace Church in Pittsburgh since 2017 2006. He loves teaching God's word. He loves helping families grow in their faith. And he's joining us today. Now, before we start, I do want to let you know the other author of this book is Barbara Reaoch Now Barbara is Ben's mom. And Barbara went to be with the Lord not too long ago. And Ben and Stacy have honored her legacy of teaching nearly 30 years of the Bible, her experience to this project. She had 11 years directing the children's division of Bible Study Fellowship International, which I know a lot of you will be familiar with. And her work reflected a passion for helping people understand and experience the life changing truths of the gospel. And I so look forward to honoring her legacy with you both. Ben and Stacy thank you so much for joining us. I am delighted to have you here.
Ben Reaoch Good to be here. Thanks for having us.
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, thanks for having us.
Dr. Jessica Peck Well, Ben, let's start with you because we talked about your mom and you credit her on the book. I would just love to hear about her legacy of faith and what led you and Stacy to bring that legacy to life in this book.
Ben Reaoch Yeah, my mom was a wonderful godly woman. my parents became Christians when I was 2 years old. So I got to kind of watch them grow in their faith as I was growing up. And as my mom grew quickly in the Lord, she really developed a deep desire to study God's word and ended up teaching other women and teaching others how to teach the Bible and teaching, through Bible study fellowship, children's leaders of how to teach children the Bible. Well, shortly after Stacy and I got married, my parents moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where they served as missionaries there for a number of years. And so as Stacy and I began having kids, my mom was wanting to disciple her grandkids from afar. And so she actually started writing some of these devotions for parents to use, with their kids, specifically for Stacy and me to use with our kids. And then that grew and, you know, has turned into other devotionals, that many families have used. And then as my mom's health was declining, kind of her culminating project and vision that she wanted to complete was this full Bible family devotion. And so she had been working on this for some time, for years, writing different devotions for different contexts. And so as we realized her health was really declining and she may not have too much more time left, she and I sat down one morning for a couple hours and just kind of looked over all of these files on her computer, transferred those over to my computer with the, plan that, you know, Stacy and I would likely be the ones to kind, of take the baton and bring this through the finish line.
Dr. Jessica Peck Ben, that is just. I almost have no words. That's so beautiful. And thank you for inviting us into such a tender space. I can't even imagine what that was like. As your mom knew that her earthly life was, was, you know, going and she was looking forward to her heavenly home. Having that moment with her and then having now this full circle moment of being able to bring that vision to life and not only impact your family, but families around the world, that is just, that's a beautiful thing and I think a legacy that anybody would aspire to have. And I'm so grateful for those faithful examples that inspire us. Stacy I know you had, you had co written with Barbara. What was it like coming into this family? What would you like to say about your relationship with Barbara and the impact that she had on your life, your family, your kids?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, she had an incredible impact. I did not grow up in a Christian family and so, so, you know, going to Ben's house, we met in high school. We started dating our senior year of high school. So I remember one of the first times going to their home and seeing her sitting on the couch with her Bible open on her lap with this big smile. And I remember seeing things like a list of things to pray for on their kitchen table, which just seemed so bizarre to me. Just, you know, my family prayed before Christmas dinner or Easter dinner, so it was, you know, very different to see kind of a daily faith lived out. So she really had an incredible impact. And I loved her love for the Word and her love of teaching the Word to others. I became a believer then my freshman year of college, and, we did not date the whole time. We broke up a couple years. But even when we were broken up, I actually went back and visited Barb because I liked her so much as, as a friend and liked spending time with her. I was excited to tell her about my new faith in Christ. so she really has had an incredible impact, not just on us, but also on our kids.
Dr. Jessica Peck Tell me more about that. I'd love to hear about how Your kids are honoring her legacy. I mean, what a beautiful thing for that to live on. What has been like for them to know their grandmother and the impact that she had on them personally. But now to step into this ministry and to be. Share. Sharing this, this, resource so broadly with other families, what has that been like for them?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, well, using those devotions that mom wrote, that was. That was one way that they were hearing from their Oma. My parents have gone by Oma, and, so from. From a young age, you know, that was. That was their kind of way of hearing from M. Oma was through some of these devotions. And then my parents moved back to the States. We've never lived in the same city, but, you know, they obviously were able to see them more often. And on some of those visits, sometimes our kids would go and visit my parents during the summer for, several days. And, my parents would always kind of have certain things in the word that they were going to be working through over those days. And so those are some of their special memories with Oma was, you know, being in the word, talking about the word, so they got to experience that firsthand. And. And now that this book is out, it is, you know, it is very special for our whole family to see this come to fruition. And part of her legacy, it's a reminder, you know, of how much we miss her. but it's also a way that we're, you know, kind of able to continue to visit with her as we. As we read these.
Dr. Jessica Peck I think that's such a beautiful legacy that will be there for generations to come. And it's so encouraging to hear, you know, Ben, you come from a family with a legacy of faith, and Stacy you're that first generation, and, and to see you come together and to see the impact that she clearly had on your life and then now to see that growing in your children, I. I think that's what we all aspire to. And, you know, when I was talking at the beginning of the show, as Christian families, we all have that good intention. I mean, everybody listening is thinking, man, I want to be an Oma just like that. Like, I want to be a mom just like that. So that my children would talk about that legacy. But then the honest truth is, now Ben and Stacy life gets in the way and it gets really hard. And we kind of think that that spiritual instruction is in those times where we actually sit down, just like you described, almost. Stacy you know, there are times when we're going to see a Bible open on a parent, on a grandparents lap. Or we are picturing, you know, the perfect Advent where everybody's sitting around and behaving beautifully and, and engaged and just saying, oh mother, thank you so much for the spiritual formation. This is just a beautiful time and I appreciate it. May I. Our family in prayer. But really one of the things that that comes from m.
Your book is that from the Deuteronomy 6 that we're really teaching a lot more as we get up, as we lie down, as we walk along the road
Your book is that from the Deuteronomy 6 that we're really teaching a lot more as we get up, as we lie down, as we walk along the road. Can you talk, Ben, let's, let's come to you first and talk a little bit about how we make that realistic. How we make the most of our time and integrate this into what we're already doing. Not just make this another legalistic check mark or something to feel guilty about. If we, we try it, we start, we fall off, we start again. How do we balance that?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, right. Yeah, those are the challenges as parents and as Christian parents. I mean it does start with our own walk with the Lord and is there a vibrancy there that we are seeking? The Lord spending time in his Word, in prayer and then, and then out of that overflow, just kind of weaving that into different parts of life and yeah. Thinking of drive time, you know, and we're going to soccer practice or here and there and thinking about how to intentionally you know, use those, those moments and, and then you know, teachable moments in life when there's disappointments, when there's hard friendships, difficult things going on at school, confusing things in the news and, and how to talk about that, bringing the word of God to bear upon that and thinking about that in terms of a Christian worldview.
Dr. Jessica Peck Well, Stacy you're, you're a busy mama of four. I, I relate. I have, I have four kids myself.
What do you see as some of the practical challenges and how do you see this book The Word In Our Home helping meet parents where they are?
What do you see as some of the practical challenges and how do you see this book the Word in our home helping meet parents where they are?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, I mean I think busyness just all of us being over committed to things and, and sometimes I think also having the wrong priorities of, of you know, kids sports becoming more important than their spiritual training. Those are things we really have to fight against, I think especially in American culture. but you know, discipleship is like you were saying, so much more than just reading a devotional, but it's you know, modeling to our kids our own faith, them seeing our own excitement in studying the Word of. Look at, listen to something I learned in my devotional today or something that you know, God used to speak to me. I think that's a huge part of it. And I think with the Word in our home, we did design it so that it's just a very accessible resource. We're all busy. Everybody feels like we can't add one more thing to our plate. So this really is designed to be just an open and go. There's no preparation needed. You know, it gives you the scripture, it gives you a very short commentary to read, and then it gives you like three or four questions that you can discuss with your kids. So for our family,
Dr. Jessica Peck you know, I'm gonna hold you right there, Stacy We're already at our first break and I want to hear about how you use this in your family and how we use it in our families too. And Stacy I gotta say, you just delivered some very tough truths in a very sweet way with a smile on your face. But what you said, it really is convicting. We'll have more with Ben and Stacy Reaoch right after this break. Hello, I'm Jessica peck, host of Dr. Nursemama. did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. And that's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.net/give that's afr.net/give
What a God You Are by Andrea Olson Valley the Lord held on to me when I'd had enough, Almost given up in my weakness. The Lord held on me. What a God you are. You are strong and true. There is, there's none more faithful and there is none like you. What a God you are. Your presence is secure. Nothing is more certain. Your promises are sure. What a God you are. What a God you are.
Dr. Jessica Peck Welcome back, friends. That is what a God you are by Andrea Olson. And we're talking today to Ben and Stacy Reaoch husband and wife, co authors of a book called the Word in Our Home, a family plan for exploring every book of the Bible. It's great to start anytime, but this would be a great resource to start in the new year. It's co authored also by Ben's mom, Barbara Reaoch who has gone to be with Jesus, but whose legacy lives on in the lives of her son, her daughter in law, her grandchildren, and those who loved her. And before the break, Stacy we were just talking about how, you delivered some very tough truths in a very sweet way. But it is true, if we look at it, we have good intentions, but we often let other priorities get in the way. We would say our main priority is discipling our kids, but our calendar, our credit card is going to tell on us honestly and say, well, you spent a lot more time on sports, as you mentioned. And I do want to mention to our listeners, we've been doing a series with sports ministry leaders Brian Smith, Brian, Uszinski and Ed. I'm sorry, Brian Smith and Ed Usinski. And that would be a great resource because we've been talking about and exploring a lot of those tough truths in the youth industrial sports complex. But you said, Stacy that this is just open and go. So I would love for you just to walk us through a typical reading and the Word in our home. What would a family read? Read and discuss and pray. How can we use this on the go?
Ben Reaoch yeah, yeah,
The format here is you know, there's at least one devotion from every book of the Bible, you know, so starting in Genesis 1
the format here is you know, there's, there's at least one devotion from every book of the Bible, you know, so starting in Genesis 1. And there's just usually a short scripture passage to read. So, so this is meant to, you know, be opened up alongside a Bible and you could have, you know, ask one of the kids or, or one of the parents, you know, depending on the age of the kids. But someone reads that short passage of scripture and then there's just about a paragraph here of some explanation and kid friendly, friendly language to kind of draw out the main points and it provide some explanation. And then there's just about, you know, just three questions. And usually the first question is just kind of a reading, comprehension kind of question of, you know, are we listening and are we getting some of the, the, the main details here? And then another question, you know, usually related to God, something we're learning about God and then some kind of application question to, you know, how does this apply to our lives? And there's some prayers included in here as well. So, so yeah, that's what we mean by open and go. You know, the parents, we don't need to put in some prep ahead of time but, but you know, just to have this resource to there on the table or near the kitchen table. We usually do these as we're wrapping up dinner and before we kind of break to clean up and move on to whatever's next in the evening. But yeah, that's how we, you know, hopefully to kind of bring down the expectation level of what parents need to put into this. I mean we want it to be a priority in our lives and want there to be consistency, but it doesn't have to be us, a long drawn out family devotion time, but you know, 10 or 15 minutes and working that in, a few times a week. And having that consistency can really have a huge impact over time.
Dr. Jessica Peck Yes, that's the key word is consistency, not perfection. It doesn't need to be social media worthy, it just needs to be consistent. And I found Ben and Stacy with my four kids as they grew up and now they're, you know, emerging into that young adult stage. It was really helpful for me to put them in charge of it and just to say we're going to rotate. And they loved that, that gave them some ownership and they could lead us. And so if we were driving in the car, which had happened in that busy stage of parenting, and we had a devotional book, which we had several series that we would do, they pass it around, we'd keep it in the car and whose ever turn it was, we just do it in the car while we were driving. And that consistency I think really matters. And one of the things that I love is that you explore every book of the Bible. When we think about teaching children, we think, we think about the Bible stories of the new test of the Old Testament, we think about Daniel and lion's den and Noah's Ark, which is actually kind of a scary story for kids. But somehow, you know, that, that, that decorates nurseries. I always think of Tim Hawkins comedy bit when I, when I think of that, we may think of, you know, reading them this from the Psalms, the Proverbs, the Gospels, but you're like, nope, let's go Lamentations, let's go, you know, let's go to Malachi, like every book of the Bible. And in this age of short form content where kids are scrolling through social media, we may encounter scripture, which is good, but seeing it fragmented like that, we really miss the arc of the gospel narrative. And I really do think I've heard a lot of leaders in this space talking about a crisis of biblical literacy and I can see this resource as helping with that. So Ben, I'll ask you, what do you think we miss when we just kind of pull fragmented versions of scripture instead of examining the scripture, the whole arc of the gospel?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, well, I think some of those stories you mentioned are so captivating and, and amazing, you know, and can be helpful very young kids to, to begin to develop an interest in God's word and some of the amazing things God has done. But as they're growing up, we want to help them see the whole counsel of God and understand that whole storyline of redemption and so kind of piecing things together of how God has worked throughout time from creation and through his people in the Old Testament and then to the New Testament with the coming of Christ and looking ahead to Christ's second coming and seeing all of this in a Christ centered perspective and seeing that all of scripture is about Christ and helping us to learn about who he is and what it means to have a personal relationship with him. That's really valuable to help our kids. Yeah. Be exposed to the whole of the, the Bible storyline.
Dr. Jessica Peck Stacy what was your experience in that? Teaching your kids all the way from Genesis to Revelation? What, what benefit do you see in that?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, I think, you know, kind of like what Ben said of showing them that all of scripture is useful for teaching and training in righteousness. You know, second Timothy talks about that it's not just the New Testament, it's not just Jesus's words, but everything from Genesis to Revelation that, that God is unfolding his story for us and the biblical storyline and, and seeing, you know, how our lives still relate and we still can learn things, that are applicable in the Old Testament and, and like Ben said, also like seeing Christ in the Old Testament, seeing how it points to Christ, I think it helps them understand that this is God's big story, that God has a purpose for humanity and a purpose for our world that can be found in the Bible.
Dr. Jessica Peck One of the things that caught my attention is that when you're reading this book, I mean, when we're telling kids Bible stories, we usually give them a character application which is really good. I mean, we tell them, be brave, be kind, we give them those character formation messages. But I think your book brings out a really important point that we just kind of translate immediately the characteristics from the character in the story to what our kids should be skipping over the character of God, who he is. Because we are made in God's image. And the more we know God's character, the, the more that we know him to be faithful, to be trustworthy, and the more we can emulate those characteristics and see them reflected in us. So, what, Stacy what is your experience in having, you know, kids? What's a simple, simple question that moves kids in that direction, pointing them continually back to the author of the book, back to the God who created them?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah. I think one simple question we can ask when we're studying a passage of the Bible is what do we learn about God? How do we see God in this scripture verse? How do we see Jesus. And, and how does this apply to my life? I think, you know, just, you know, looking for those things, looking for how we see God the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, will help us learn who he is.
Dr. Jessica Peck Ben, my producer, Stephanie, is a longtime children's minister. And I know with you as a pastor in this space, you probably relate. One of the things that, you know, she would see, that she observed is that most of the time when parents came to pick up their kids from children's ministry and they had been engaged in a Sunday school lesson, they would ask parents ask one question when they pick up their kids. And that question is, did you have fun? And it's not a bad question. It's kind of a natural question, you know, but when we really think about the intention that we have and the opportunity for those micro moments when we're asking, did we have fun? We're conveying, when we come to church, my expectation is that you have fun. And the measure of success is fun. Instead of asking simple questions like, what did you learn about God today? And what did you learn about God's word today? What did you learn about character today? And. And really, like, we want learning to be fun. And so I. I'm not shaming any parents who ask that question because I've asked that question myself, but it's just an example of that. What do you see in church ministry, Ben, that, that, you know, reflects this concept? And how do we. How do we carry the gospel from the. Those children's ministry environments into our home every day?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, well, you know, the world we live in, there's a lot of troubling things. There's things we see on the news, things we hear about in our communities that are deeply troubling. And so we want to have a foundation to know how to process these things and how to. How to still have hope when it sometimes feels like the world is crumbling around us. And so there's. And yeah, I mean, we do want to have fun, too. I mean, life is enjoyable. There's a lot of. Of great things to enjoy in God's creation and a lot of things to laugh at too. And, you know, we want to have that as part of our church, community and our family, experience as well. So, yeah, trying to find that right balance of seeing humor even in God's word, seeing the humor in different stories and being able to laugh at ourselves and laugh together, but also to have a seriousness and a weightiness of, you know, God. God is real and he's in control. And he's been in control from the beginning of creation. And. And we can have hope in him because he sent his son to die for our sins and he rose again. And. And so in. In the midst of whatever might be going on in our lives, we can. We can look to him and we can see that in story after story and passage after passage throughout all the books of the Bible.
Dr. Jessica Peck You know, I. I do believe that. And I do believe that God has a sense of humor. Maybe it's just me reading the Bible, but when you read things like, you know, John's account of the resurrection and one disciple outran the other, wink, wink, it's like I was faster. I want to make sure I get that in there. That strikes me as funny. But there are. You're right, Ben. There's things in the world that are not funny at all. And our kids are being exposed to those things more and more and more. It really breaks my heart that I have to sit here day after day behind this microphone and prepare parents to expose their kids to things earlier and earlier. Because we have the choice between a controlled exposure where we intentionally expose them to things in a developmentally appropriate way as best as we can, while still protecting them as fiercely as we can, but recognizing we live in a world that's saturated by smartphones and screens and the bad news of the world comes to them through the mouths of their peers, through shoulder surfing, through even younger and younger and younger. But we want to position ourselves as the experts, as a trustworthy lighthouse. Lighthouse. Parenting is really the. The style of parenting that I'm resonating with because it's not changing. It's reflecting the light of the lor. Reflecting the truth of God's word on those unshakable foundations, helping our kids to navigate those cultural currents and the stormy currents that they're on. And so, Ben, when our kids see those hard things that are happening, I feel like they're asking us some really hard questions that can strike a lot of fear in parents hearts. We're like, oh, they're questioning their faith. Oh, no, no, no, that must be. I'm failing as a parent. I'm not doing enough devotionals. And we just kind of have this reactive rush of, fear where we want to shut those down. But I think now more than ever we need to invite those. What does your research resource the Word in the home M. What does that do to help invite those questions and say, yeah, God is big enough to handle your questions and I may not know all of the answers to those. And that's okay too. We can wrestle together. How do you see that, that skill being developed in families through the Word in our home?
Ben Reaoch Yeah, that's a good point. That we don't, you know, we don't need to have all the answers. We certainly don't have all the answers.
But we want to come alongside our kids as fellow learners. We're on this journey together.
But we want to be coming alongside our kids as fellow learners. We're on this journey together. I'm continuing to learn from God's Word together. We're going to learn from God's Word. But with that consistency, it's establishing an expectation that when these questions do come up in life, God's Word is a place we can go to for those answers. And so as, as our kids, you know, are thinking through and wrestling through, different hard things in life, you know. Yeah, let's, you know, I don't know the answer to that question off the top of my head, but let's, let's learn together. Let's search God's Word, for wisdom, on these things.
Dr. Jessica Peck I mean, I'm sure that you wrestled with that when your mom was sick. And seeing such a godly woman, like, why would God allow this to happen? Those are, are very real things that, that children are going to wrestle with. But I think knowing more about the character and nature of God and seeing his faithfulness in His Word and seeing his faithfulness in our own lives, when we look back to those times that God has been faithful to guide us through that, and then God brings that scripture to mind because we know that God's Word doesn't return void and we hide His Word in our heart that we made not sin. And I have found so much that, you know, I'm grateful because I came from a heritage of faith where I was in church all the time. And God's Word was hidden in my heart for sure. And there's so many times where I would, a question would arise in my heart and I feel like God's word would just come back to answer that. That word, that scripture would come back and then I would reflect on the faithfulness of God and it would give me such comfort. And I'm so, appreciative of that. Making space for questions helps us understand our kids, what their fears are, what their thought process is. We can meet them where they are and we help them understand who God is. So coming up next, how to build a rhythm that survives busy schedules or if you miss a day or ten and the imperfections m of family life. We'll talk a little bit more about this Faith, rhythm, that your family can keep. We're talking about the Word in our home with Ben and Stacy Reaoch We'll be right back. A discipleship minute with Joseph Parker.
Joseph Parker He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress. My God in him I will trust. Psalm, 91, verses 1 and 2. In a perilous world, so many people are afraid, they're fearful. In a world where inner cities and many other communities are just simply dangerous places to be, we see the drug trafficking, human trafficking, muggings, murders, physical and sexual abuse. There is a place of safety in this world, and it's found in God. It's found in that secret place, that intimate relationship with God. No one can protect you like God can. But it's important for us to do our part to appropriate, to place ourselves in that secret place. Praying Psalm 91. Every day is a very wise thing for all believers to do. No one can protect you like God can.
Jesus Loves by Zach Williams All the renegades, the rebels and the runaways, all the prodigals who got a little lost along the way and all the backsliders up on outers down in a rut, these are the ones who are the ones that Jesus loves. Every dream shattered, bruised and battered, barely hanging on Every heartbroken lonely soul sitting all alone and every outcast, took in their past scared of letting go. These are the ones, the ones that Jesus chose. So come on in, the door is open in the savior zones are too the table stairs. Come on in and you will find that you don't have to be enough to be someone Jesus loves.
Dr. Jessica Peck Welcome back, friends. That's Jesus Loves by Zach Williams. Today we're talking to Ben and Stacy Reaoch They've written a book called the Word in our Home, a family plan for exploring every book of the Bible. This book is co authored by Ben's mom, Barbara, who went to be with the Lord not too long ago. And they are honoring her legacy and helping to remember the, the fruit and, and to bear the fruit of the seeds that she planted in them. By creating a love for God's word and a desire to know God's character. We're talking about how we can teach the whole word of God, the whole ark of scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, and we can help our families to know God, to love God, to love others and serve others others. Now, if you've been following along this show, if you're a Regular listener. You know that every Friday we do habits for healthy families. And I, start in January. Habit one is prayer. Habit two is getting in God's word, memorizing scripture and hiding God's word in your heart. Habit three is getting it plugged into a church. And habit four is listening to Christian music and using that as a discipleship tool. But habit five is a, daily devotional that is the first, first rhythm that we recommend for your family. So if you want to go back and catch those shows, go back and look at the first part of the year. Habit to Habit 5. Or you can catch the one minute version on the Dr. Nurse, Mama coaching minutes, because this is such an important foundational rhythm for your family. And many families, they start a devotional with really good intentions. And maybe that bookmark is just, you know, in the third or fourth page or maybe three fourths of the way through, but you just kind of watch the routine disappear because our best intentions are. Or just overcome by the realities of our busy life. And starting again kind of feels discouraging because you feel like, okay, here I am picking it up. But I think we need to normalize some of that. It's really more about consistency. Okay, maybe we drop it for three or four days, but over time. Did you do it pretty regularly over the year? Missed day gives us an opportunity to return. So we're going to talk about some, some practical help for building a rhythm that families can come back into. So Stacy let's talk about, for the famil, just kind of starting from scratch or maybe, you know, they're don't, they don't do a devotional. They've never done a devotional. Or maybe they do one, but they just keep, you know, kind of dropping off. And, and we know that, you know, Advent season is coming up and families may have dreams of that. What would you recommend they do this week? What's a realistic first step for families to take?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, I think starting small, so choosing one night even that the calendar is maybe a little bit more open and you have 15 minutes after dinner that you can open up God's word together and, read a short passage of scripture. So if you have the Word in our home, then there's some selected readings for you. but kind of what you were saying, it's really about consistency over the long run, over the long haul. So none of us do this perfectly. None of us have our, nightly devotions, you know, every single day of the year. There are busy seasons, but just, you know, trying to find a time in your family schedule. Or maybe it's before the kids head off to school in the morning that you open up God's word and you read a psalm together and you pray together. Something as simple as that. Or asking the kids at the dinner table, how did you see, see God working today? What was the way that you saw God working at your school with your friends? Or was there an answered prayer that you had talked about from another night? How did that math test go that we prayed for? All of those things are, are simple ways that we can start discipling our kids.
Dr. Jessica Peck Ben, let's talk about. I know, you know, this would probably never happen to most listeners, but if there was by chance, chance, a kid somewhere who maybe had a bad attitude, I mean, I'm just throwing it out there. I know that that's not very common, but maybe a kid who just resists and thinks like, oh, do we have to do that? And, and, and maybe, honestly they're just difficult during the, the family time. Maybe they disrupt. Maybe they, you know, hit their sister again. I know these things are like, way out there, theoretical, but how do you stop it from making a power struggle? What are some practical responses that we can have when our best intentions, we can think, oh, we planned this. Like, we want it to go beautifully, and our kids are just like, not today, Mom. Not today, dad. Not. Not going to happen.
Ben Reaoch Yeah, Yeah. I think, I remember some of those moments, you know, the milk spills, or kids are squabbling with each other, or someone has a case of the giggles, and then it's just hard to kind of calm down and focus and. But yeah, I think on a, you know, case by case basis, kind of knowing when it's, when it's time to just kind of say, okay, this isn't working tonight, you know, we'll try again tomorrow night. I mean, obviously, if things are consistently an issue, there's going to need to be some parental, you know, kind of intervention there to kind of get things on track, but to try to create that expectation that, hey, we're not here to make this a, miserable time for everybody. We want this to be fun and engaging for everybody and, and, you know, appealing to our kids. Let's, you know,
This is God's word, this is important, and let's respect His word
this is God's word, this is important, and, let's respect His word. Let's, let's learn from him. But, yeah, I think trying to take some of that pressure off, I mean, I, I can't take myself too seriously or kind of have too high of expectations of what's going to be accomplished on. In this particular devotion, but kind of having that long view, and trying to let God's word really do the heavy lifting, you know, I mean, I can't convince our kids of the truth of God's word or the wonder of the gospel. You know, I can't work that miracle in their lives. I certainly pray for that. But to just try to get the word of God open in front of us, to get us thinking together about it, talking about it, and then praying that the Holy Spirit will really work in their hearts works.
Dr. Jessica Peck That is really good advice because yeah, so often I think we try to do things in our own strength. And then when it doesn't go well, we just take that because we are not immune to immediate gratification parenting. We think, oh, I must not be doing it right. I must not be doing a good enough job. Like my kids aren't, you know, engaging in this. I think we need to have a more measured reaction and think just parent for the long game and just work through some of those kinds of struggles, emotionally regulate ourselves. And this is where it does, does help to make it fun and make it a point of connection, not just something, we gotta do this before we go to bed. But hey, we get to connect. We get to have just a few minutes just to be together. Let everything else sit for just a minute. Like, let's have our family connection time. So often I think it's in how we frame it. And one of the things that can happen in that conversation, it's really important to connect something we're reading in those moments, something we're talking about in those moments with something that happens later. Oh, remember we talked about this. Oh, I see this principle happening here. Oh, I see God developing this characteristic in you. I see God preparing you to meet this moment. Stacy how do we think about and just not have that checkbox that's just lives in its own little isolated bubble at night or in morning or whenever you're doing your reading together. But we connect it and infuse it throughout our life lives. How do you find some practical strategies to do that?
Stacy Reaoch Yeah, that makes me think of like Deuteronomy 6 help. That we're to be teaching our kids the word all the time. Right when we're walking, by the way, and we're sitting. so devotions are one great way to do that. But also just trying to have spiritual conversations with your kids, you know, when you're driving them to practice or picking them up from school. Of just talking about, oh, remember that, you know, thing that we prayed for? You know, how, how is go answered that? What do you see God doing? and I think also again, modeling as parents, the priority of the word and prayer in our life.
Do your kids see you reading the Bible? Do they see you praying for them?
Do your kids see you reading the Bible? Do they see you praying for them? Those are also ways that we're spiritually investing in discipling our kids just by how we live our life. and then, of course, finding times to read the Bible together, to pray together. I also just wanted to say, you know, depending on the ages of your kids, kids, this looks different. So when, when our four kids were little, we were using colorful children's Bibles, we were using music to sing or scripture memory songs. And I'd be doing crazy motions and the kids would be doing that. or even when we go on vacation, we had a little more time. We would, we would read, the story of David and Goliath and then we'd act it out at the end of the week. And that was like a really big thing. We'd like, like make costumes with our beach towels and whatever we had laying around. And we still. Now the kids love to watch some of those video clips because they're just funny, but it was a way that we were making the word become alive to them and not just this dusty old book sitting on the shelf, but, but a word that was filled with wisdom and adventure. And the Bible is not boring, but applies to our life and is relevant. Relevant.
Dr. Jessica Peck Well, you know, I, I, that just makes me smile so much to think of that. What a great memory and legacy to have. And Ben, I can't help but think that there are people out there listening who think, I don't have a mom like Barb Reaoch I don't have that legacy of faith. My spouse is not leading in this area as much as I would like to them maybe like them to. Maybe there's people who are listening whose spouse is not even a believer or they're a single parent or their grandparent raising their kids kids. How can the local church and trusted adults support them in practical ways? I'd love to ask your experience as a pastor and as a dad, how do you lead in your home even when you don't have the full support like you're describing is in your family?
Ben Reaoch Well, yeah, that does highlight the importance of a local church to be a part of and to have that extended family of other believers who can come alongside you as a parent who may be a single parent or a parent Whose, spouse is not a believer, but to have others that were in this together. And I'm not alone. And I think back to my parents who became Christians when I was 2 years old, and just some of my earliest memories of them. They were still very young in their faith, but they were wanting to pass along to me, me, some of the things they were learning. And I even remember this, this goofy thing my dad did one time when I was five years old. And he was trying to illustrate to me, trust, in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. And he kind of. There was this little mattress over in the corner and he kind of would lean on it and then fall to the floor. And I thought it was hilarious. You know, he was just illustrating this verse in a way that me as a five year old could understand. And I still remember that to. But, so, yeah, I think, you know, wherever you're at as a parent, you know, what is God doing in your life and your heart? And how can you just in, in simple ways talk about that with, with your kids? That's a, that's a place to start.
Dr. Jessica Peck You're reminding me of a Bible teacher that I had when I was in high school who, I guess the class looked bored because he jumped up on his desk and just took a flying leap off of it. And it was, it was a lighthearted attempt to talk about a leap of faith. But, I mean, here I am. High school was quite a few decades ago, and I still remember it and I still talk about that. I think sometimes we do need to have fun and just be silly. And God has given us that kind of creativity, which is, which is a beautiful thing.
Stacy I'd love to know from you just some last encouragement about what faithfulness looks like
Stacy I'd love to know from you just some last encouragement about what faithfulness looks like. Even if somebody was to start this this week, they think I'm trying, it just feels like I'm on the struggle bus. What, encourage encouragement would you give to them personally here on the air?
Stacy Reaoch I would say to just keep going and that the Lord gives us grace for all our parenting failures and the, the things that we wish we would have done better. Do, what you can use, use the time that you have to impart spiritual truth to your kids, whether it's, you know, reading some passages of scripture or praying for them before they go to bed at night or asking them, them, you know, what's, what's their biggest worry for the week and then taking that to the Lord with them. Those are all ways that we can just very simply be, discipling our kids and imparting spiritual truth to them.
Dr. Jessica Peck I am so grateful to you both. Thank you, Ben and Stacy for sharing this resource, for sharing your hearts, for sharing your family legacy. The book is called the Word in Our Home, A Family Plan for exploring every book of the Bible. And I just encourage you, if you are not already, if you are doing this, fantastic, all the virtual high fives, I am so grateful for you. That legacy really matters. And if you're just starting, just choose an existing moment that you have every day. Everybody eats at night, everybody goes to bed at night. Maybe around there. Just read a short passage, ask a thoughtful question, listen with curiosity, pray about what you discussed, and then just do it every day you can, if you miss a day, pick it back up. And if you've been waiting until you know more, until you feel more confident or you have a calmer household, or it's a calmer season, let this be your invitation to begin that today is the day. Open the Bible, ask a question, listen to your kids, Let them see that you too are learning to trust and follow Jesus, that you're learning about the character and nature of God. And as you do, I pray the Lord will bless you, keep you, make his face to shine upon you. I'll see you tomorrow. We'd like to thank our sponsors, including PreBorn. PreBorn has rescued over 400,000 babies from abortion and has seen over 100,000 commitments to Christ. Will you join PreBorn in continuing this good work supporting young moms in crisis? Save a life today. Go to preborn.com/AFR
Jeff Chamblee the views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
Pastor Ben Reaoch and Author Stacy Reaoch talk with Jessica about a plan for your family to explore every book of the Bible together in just 10-15 minutes per day.
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