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Every Friday, we talk about a healthy habit for healthy families
And welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show, prescribing hope for healthy families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Hey there, friends and welcome. Welcome to my favorite day of the week. It is fry. Yay. Everybody, it is Friday. We have made it to the middle of January. Can you even believe that? I know I've been talking about that all week, but I just can't believe already that the first month of 2026 is half gone. But we have so much left to go, so much opportunity, so much, so many places to find hope. And I hope that you will find hope today in our Healthy Habits series. This is our third year of doing this. Every Friday, we talk about a healthy habit for healthy families. It is in these small daily disciplines that the legacy of your family is going to be made. And it doesn't matter your age, your stage of life, your family composition, what stage your family is in, whether you're married, you're single, you've got kids. These are great disciplines for us all. And the good news is we're just getting started. We talked last week about the importance of prayer. And so I hope that you're finding a way to pray every single day. It doesn't have to be a big performance. It have to be something really formal. It can be just as simple as when you open your eyes in the morning or you close your eyes at night, that you start to pray, that you pray before your meals, that you pray in the car. Wherever your prayer journey is starting prayer is the foundation for everything. So if you're just getting started, you can listen back to last Friday about our encouragement on how prayer really does change things. Prayer is the building block for family health. And this month in January, we're talking about basic spiritual disciplines. And today we're talking about scripture reading and scripture memory. Now, again, these are not things that require rocket science, which I get a lot of jokes about because I'm married to one. And my kids will say, this isn't rocket science, mom. And I'm Glad it's not. These are things that are simple. And when you're thinking about your life, have you ever been in a m. Moment of need and you just wished that you had exactly the right words to speak? Have you ever been in a place where someone. Someone just says a scripture and you think, oh, I wish that was me. I wish that I knew what to say. Have you ever listened to someone pray and heard them just pray scriptures that they know and you think, oh, I want that to be me? Well, that won't happen magically. That won't happen overnight. But scripture is full of wisdom and comfort and guidance. And memorizing scripture, especially together as a family, it can be one of the most powerful habits that you develop. Because when we store God's Word in our heart, it is not only a source of strength for our ourselves, but it's something we can speak over those who we love, our children, our spouses, our parents, our co workers. Words that bring peace and truth and encouragement. And of course, many of you know the scripture from Psalm 119:11 that says, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. The more that we internalize God's word, the more it shapes our hearts, it shapes our actions, it shapes our thoughts. Thoughts. And it shapes the way that we can speak life into those around us. So I want to ask you a question. What if you made memorizing scripture a family habit? And you can start low. You can start with maybe one verse this year. Even if you're just starting that way, you can start one verse this month, you can start one verse until everybody knows it, something that you just do together at the start of each week, at the start of each day, at the end of each day. Imagine the impact of speaking God's truth over your children, shaping their hearts with the wisdom of his word. Now, whether your kids are toddlers, teens or grown adults, just imagine when your spouse is going through something to be able to give them some. Scripture is really, really powerful to say to them. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Of whom shall we be afraid of? God is for you, who can be against you. Those are such powerful words. And when we are living in a world of chaos, constant change, Scripture is the one thing that never, ever moves in our life. And our families are in need of that kind of security. They need to see us rooted in it because we are raising families in an age of very unstable truth, of relative truth, of live your truth. There's no absolute truth. And we can see Cultural norms shift rapidly. What is popular 10 years ago, 10 days ago, and sometimes 10 minutes ago is a of a sudden canceled. Values can be redefined overnight. And there is an endless, unprecedented source of information. But let me tell you, wisdom feels very, very scarce. I can find any kind of information on the Internet, but finding reliable sources of wisdom, I'm not going to find those anywhere. Like I'm going to find them in God's word. And we have kids today who are absorbing screens before scriptures. They are basing their choices on opinions over absolute truths. They are prioritizing feelings over foundations of God's words. So families don't just need rules or routines. This is not about a rule, about a routine, about something that's rigid. You need roots. This is about healthy habits that are creating roots for your family. And Scripture provides stability when times are uncertain. It provides authority that is kind. It is God's kindness that leads, leads us to repentance. And it's truth without trends, which I think we all need. And if everything around us is changing all the time, there is something that never does. The Bible is a book that is unlike any other. A book that was written over a period of 1500 years, give or take, authored by more than 40 writers across three continents in multiple language, yet it tells one unified redemption story. It is absolutely amazing. If you want to know more about the Bible, there's a lot of sources that you can look at. But Worldview Wednesday is a series that we did in 2025, and you can look for those episodes where we really unpacked the miracles of the Bible, how we can trust its accuracy, how it is unlike any other book and books that, you know, I've seen books based on major classics, one of which is coming out this year. And we know the Homer, the it, the Iliad, the Odyssey by Homer. But even when you look at the veracity of the Bible, it's absolutely astounding. The Ark of the Gospel covers creation, the fall, redemption and restoration, that hope that we will have, that one day things will be made right. Every book in the Bible points to Christ. Every one. I have a notebook that I'm keeping of all of the revelations that I have had. And looking at those and learning those things, it is amazing. No other text in history has survived such scrutiny.
No other text has been translated so widely. And we see unprecedented translation efforts
No other text has been translated so widely. No other text has changed so many lives. And we see unprecedented translation efforts that are reaching unreached people groups. It's amazing. And the influence of the Bible, it transcends culture. it transcends politics, it transcends time. It is not just an old dusty book from dead authors. This is the living word of God.
Bible sales are reaching record highs, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom
And one of the encouraging headlines that I've seen this year is that Bible sales are significantly up. They're reaching record highs, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom last year. We see sales Approximately doubling since 2019. A lot of this is driven by first time buyers, people who have never bought their own Bible before, people who are spiritually curious and want to know what is it that people are talking about. There is also a deep seated anxiety that is running through society now and people are wondering about that. Many of you saw the headline of the Dilbert cartoon creator who lost his life tragically to cancer. Ah, professing Christ at the end of his life, saying what do I have to lose? There is a market constantly for various new editions of the Bible, new versions of the Bible. That's important to know about. And we see that growth of Bible sales from last year, they're estimating it's going to surpass the year prior, a, 20 year high. There is a strong demand for religious text in uncertain times. And we saw, well, 2025 saw about 19 million Bibles sold in the United States. That is a lot of Bibles.
Children are craving predictability. And when we have predictable inputs, it helps with emotional regulation
And we have an opportunity here to talk about that, to address that curiosity that is there, to talk about what comfort we find in an unchanging word and an ever changing world. That is so true. Scripture is an anchor. Hebrews 13:8 tells us Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. And God's word does not evolve with culture, it doesn't opinion, it doesn't expire with generations. It's not outdated. Children are craving predictability. And all children of God are. I don't care how old you are. I know, I feel that way. I just want a day that is predictable, something that is trustworthy. And where I find that's in the word of God. No other place will you find such security for your soul. And we know that neuroscience, child development, science shows that consistency builds emotional safety. And when kids feel emotionally safe, they're going to develop the best, they're going to thrive, they're going to learn. And most of all that faith is going to be deep seated in their heart in such a genuine, authentic, healthy way that they're not going to walk away from it. And when we have predictable inputs that helps with emotional regulation. So when we teach ourselves, when we're anxious, go to Scripture. When we're fearful, go to Scripture. When we are sad. Go to scripture. When we're happy, go to scripture. Go to gratitude. It's a. It can be a great family exercise for you to have an emotion wheel where you create scriptures that go with those emotions and train yourself to go to the word of God for wisdom. That scripture is providing moral clarity. And most importantly, in today's world, it's providing identity. Who I am before what it is that I'm supposed to do. That's a lot of times what we focus on. What's God's will for my life? Meaning I want to know what's going to happen and what I need to do to make that happen. But so much of our identity in Christ is based on, on the identity of God. Until we know who God is, we, can't fully know who we are. And kids need those powerful words spoken over them. We need hope beyond our circumstances. That's what you'll find in the Bible. You'll find the most desperate circumstances and human emotions that have lasted the test of time. You'll find family problems, dysfunctional families. You'll find out addiction. You'll find jealousy, adultery, greed, murder. All of those things that are still just as relevant today. And when families, when, our families are looking to us, going to the word of God, they are not just listening to what we say. They are watching. Where are we going to? And I think we need to be very transparent about this and not in a showy way about reading our Bibles. Like, it's time for me to have my Bible time. Let me be pious and let you praise me. No, no, that's not it at all. But isn't there something so powerful? I've heard so many testimonies from so many of our guests, from our listeners who talk about the power of waking up in the morning and seeing their parents sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in their Bible, just quietly going about their business, but just reading at nighttime, going into their room, seeing a Bible on their nightstand. We need these visual cues. It matters. It makes us trustworthy that we need to show our families that this is where I'm going. When life gets hard. It's not about checking a box, impressing others. It's not about spiritual performance. It's just about faithful presence. And there are so many obstacles and excuses. We say, I don't have time. But the honest, tough truth is that we make time for what we value. We make time for what is important. And if it's not important, we're not going to make Time for it. Now we have this accountability on if you have an iPhone, it gives you a weekly breakdown of your screen time. And if you think you don't have 5 minutes to read the Bible, I'm sure you're wrong. I'm sure you're absolutely wrong. I used to say that when you're wanting an accountability check on your values and what you say is important to you, look at your calendar and look at your credit card statements. Now I say look at your screen time too. That's going to show you what's most important. Your time is the most precious resource that God has given you to invest. And if you are not making time for what you value, then you're really not valuing it. And your family knows that too. So start small, just one verse, one psalm, one proverb. It does not have to be an hour long reading session. Even if you're just reading the Bible one verse at a time. Do anything that feels consistent and if you miss it, just catch right back up. And some people will say another excuse, I don't know enough. Listen, you don't have to be a, ah, theologian to be faithful. Go to church. That's what we'll talk about next week. There are plenty of resources you can ask your pastor for credible resources about how to read and understand the Bible. But if you're just starting for the first time, try psalms, try proverbs, try the Gospel of John. Those are great places to start. And reading alongside your children and saying I don't know everything, I don't understand everything that teaches humility and curiosity and possibilities, postures you for lifetime learning and sanctification. And you might think your kids won't sit still. But scripture, thankfully does not require silence or perfection. God's word works even when kids are fidgeting, when toddlers are throwing a tantrum, when teenagers are rolling their eyes, you can be consistent. Consistency grows from a place of grace, not guilt. And spiritual habits grow the same way physical health does. We are to going, going to get strong through small repeated choices that lead to habits. Listen, when we come back, I'll have some practical tips for you and Homefront headlines. I'll see you on the other side of this break.
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Oh But God by Davy Flowers : your freedom Cause you were the one that I needed oh but God resurrected my heart from the ruins and my rescue came through like the morning and now this is my sure testimony oh but God, oh but God. How you love me too much to let me stay lost
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is oh but God by Davy Flowers and But God or my two favorite words together in the history of ever. Oh but God but God. I'm so grateful for God's rich mercy that gave us his son Jesus and gives us hope for forever. And because of that hope, we can have hope for healthy families. And that's what we're talking about today on this Friday. Yay. We're talking about healthy habits. We just got started this year for 2026. Friends listen. And for last week you can catch the 1 minute version on the Dr. Nursemama coaching minutes at afr.net or on any podcast platform. We'd love for you to like and share our podcast and help us share hope with as many families as we can.
Today we're talking about memorizing scripture. Last week was prayer. This week is scripture
And today we're talking about memorizing scripture. We're just getting started. Last week was prayer. This week is scripture. And I think of so many scriptures that have come to my mind at just the right moment in just the right place. And I remember one time walking into a very, very scary medical situation and thinking of Isaiah 12:2. Surely God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. And those words are so incredibly comfort comforting. And if you are not reading your Bible, I encourage you to do that consistently. It has been life changing for me. This is one habit that really isn't a chore at all. I cannot wait to get up, and to read my daily devotion. I'm following along with a chronological reading of God's word this year. And then I'm also also doing a book study where we progress. Right now I'm actually in the book of Esther and that book, a study which is one of my favorite Bible studies. But there are some practical ways for you to live a scripture saturated life. And we live a life that is saturated with so many other messages that's given to us through music, that we listen to, through the radio that we choose to play, the media we choose to stream, the people around us, the digital messages and advertising that's constantly thrown our way. You have got to make it a habit to make sure that scripture is saturating your life. Ways that you can do that. Just reading God's word aloud as a family, even if it's super short. Memorizing scripture together, one verse per month. I know some, of my kids, they have scriptures on their dashboards just written on a notebook, note card on their dashboard. And I remember once being, I drove my daughter's car to the grocery store and she has a scripture on a note card on the dashboard. And I was walking away from the car and I, I heard a mom with, with young girls walking by and they said, look, mom, look, look at that scripture right there through the window. That is, that is my scripture. That, that's a sign. That's a sign from God that he loves me. And I, I think that we just forget how those little acts of obedience God can use to bless so many people. So memorize scripture together, hold each other accountable, make it fun. You can use repetition. You can use songs. There are so many, children's music resources that have scripture in them. I know. I love listening to songs that are just scripture. I think you all know if you're a regular listener, I am such a fan of hymns. I think hymns are such deep theological truths that often have scriptures. Pray your scripture back to God. Here's a way you can have it stacked. Just open your Bible to psalms and just pray a scripture out loud. That can be your prayer. It can be in the morning to set the tone for your day, at your meal time, just a short scripture, a blessing at bedtime. You can read psalms, you can read gospel stories in the car ride. You can listen to memory verses. You can listen to the Bible on audio or audio scripture. Put scripture everywhere. Put it in your kitchen, on your wall, on your bathroom mirror, in your Kids rooms. I know, when my kids were going through that, those preteen years, I would put scriptures and sticky notes on their mirror, giving them messages of identity. When the world is telling them, you're not this enough, you're not pretty enough, you're not, not thin enough, you're not smart enough, you're not popular enough, counteract those messages with, you are the apple of God's eye. You are a masterpiece. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. And when my kids come to me with those messages, I speak over them. The truth of God's word. Let God's word become a part of your environment, not just hidden away. And listen, let me tell you, especially in my parenting, the word of God shapes how I speak and how I lead. It's a game changer because scripture provides wisdom for how do we discipline without anger? That is so much easier said than done. How do we correct our kids without shaming them? How do we encourage them without giving them excessive flattery and just trying to make them feel good? Scripture fills us and our language softens, our reactions slow, our prayers deepen, our insight increases. And we can do this through speaking identity over our kids, praying scripture when we're feeling afraid or in the middle of conflict, and letting God's word guide your responses instead of letting your emotions drive you to react. And I'm telling you, this is the most significant game changer for my family. And during my first half of my mothering journey, I have shared this before. It's been a while since I shared, but when my oldest daughter turned 13, we just reached a point of crisis. I couldn't do it anymore. I was trying to parent on my own power, my own wisdom, and those things are helpful. But when you are not fully surrendered to the Lord, when you are not relying on God's power, you are going to find yourself frustrated. And these are the first two places that I started. I started with praying that God would help me, that God would bless my family. And I started going to God's Word. And it didn't just inform me, it formed me, it formed us, it formed my family. And.
Having a paper Bible reduces your digital distraction in church
And before I leave talking about reading Scripture, I want to say something. I say a lot. I think it's really important to have a paper Bible. It's perfectly fine to use online resources to use the Bible app, but I'm telling you there is something disconcerting about sitting in church and thinking about kids and looking around and just seeing all these adults on their phones. I don't know. Are you Watching football Sunday? Are you distracted by a text message? Are you scrolling through your email? So tempting. Those digital distractions are so tempting. And you don't know a version could change. Having that paper Bible reduces your digital distraction. It creates a physiologic cue in your brain and your body that, hey, this is, this is sacred right here. This is important. This is different. And it gives visual memory of where verses are on a page, what that looks like. And it gives our kids a visual imprint of us going to the word of God. That is different from going to our Bible. It differentiates worship from scrolling and it models reverence for our kids. Now, reading scripture is, lowers your stress. Scientifically, we know this reading and, scripture and meditation are associated with lower stress, better emotional regulation, greater resilience and faith practices. Lower the risk of anxiety and depression. Helps your family stick together. It gives you hope, it gives you purpose, it gives you meaning. So I encourage you wherever you are, what can you change in your heart and your home? What would change? What are the possibilities if God's word became the primary voice shaping your family? There's so often we are going to AI, we are going to Internet search engines. When we have a problem. What do we do about this? We Internet search everything from how to get out a stubborn stain out of laundry or on our grout or we are looking for, how do we handle this health problem? How do I handle this relationship problem? How do I talk to my kid? We need to train ourselves to go to God's word first. That can be really hard to do in a world that is bombarding us with headlines. Gone are the times of the 6 o' clock news. And I know so many of you are so sad that news is not delivered to us by Walter Cronkite anymore. We are getting news from all over so many sources. And that's why this year in 2026, I'm introducing a, Friday segment called Homefront Headlines. I'm going to share with those headlines that I have been paying attention to that I see as shaping family life. And I'll give you some guidance on how to respond to those headlines. Because when we see headlines, there really aren't just headlines. These are signals that are being given to us about where our homes, our kids, where our culture is headed. And it starts to generate some fear, some anxiety, and if we're honest, a lot of times, anger. We can look at those headlines and they can really spin up anger in a hurry. We're angry about what's happening. We're Angry at injustices that we see. We're angry at violence that's happening. We're angry at so many things. We're just angry about how people are choosing to respond, how people are choosing to respond to the people who've responded, and we don't. We want to respond carefully instead of just reacting.
You can shift from resolutions to rhythms by focusing on family rhythms
So with that, let me get dive in and tell you about some of the headlines I've been following. Headline number one is, is New Year's resolutions. We've been talking about resolutions. And the headline is revealed to us what Americans really want. And I was encouraged initially when I saw the headline, to see family time and prayer make up the top 10, which is great, but this survey said in the top 10 is only 15%. 15% of people want to spend more time with their family. 15%, that's a 15 want to pray more. And 9% want to focus on spiritual matters. That is kind of a pitiful number. And many Americans are just skipping resolutions altogether. But the resolutions, what they're expressing that they want, we see a very deep longing here in this country for meaning, for connection and for faith. We want to live out our faith in our public and our private lives. And we want to connect. Connect with people who share the same values that we do. And we see that this matters because all of that cultural noise is creating this longing that we have for belonging and for peace and for spiritual grounding and for truth. And we just, We want a world that seems like it doesn't exist anymore, maybe it never will exist. And we just feel this ache for something that's missing. So one thing that we can do. What can we do about this? Well, you can shift from resolutions to rhythms. Resolutions are so hard and fast. They're rules of what you're going to do. But rhythms are how you're going to live. Rhythms are those just daily choices that you make. And we'll be talking about a lot of family rhythms this year on Fridays again, those simple things. There is no rocket science. There is no magic here. There is no. No instant fix. We're talking about things like eating a meal together, at least once a week, three times a week is even better. And it does not have to be gourmet. We'll talk about that. Praying together as a family, reading scripture together as a family, making your faith practices visible and shared, going to church together, talking about what you're learning spiritually, choosing that connection over perfection and just starting small, but starting intentionally. Those kinds of things are really, really important. And when we See these headlines? If you have a rhythm of going to God's word when you feel fear, that can be so, so helpful. So let me give you an example. Headline number two. One of the headlines that really caught my attention this week is about actually melatonin, of all things. Get ready for a whirlwind tour. Here we are looking at melatonin use in young children. It's rising. Now these are the kinds of things that start to make us feel afraid. We start to think, wait, what is that? Do I have that in my house? Is this going to be something that's there? Here's the summary of the headline. Melatonin is actually now the leading cause of unsupervised medication overdoses, accidental overdoses, kids who are taking stuff by accident in children ages 0 to 6. Now there's a lot of factors involved here. One of those may be because melatonins often come in gummies and that looks just like fruit snacks to kids. And we see a lot more prescribing, a lot more long term use because we see a lot more screen time use. And screen time use decreases blue light emission. It decreases ah, serotonin in your brain, it decreases dopamine when we have that melatonin there. And the blue light is not good for sleep. And so instead of turning off the blue light, we're looking for an instant constant fix there. And that can, that is problematic in and of itself. And so we know that it's really important to talk to your primary care provider. Melatonin has shown some scientific benefit for children with certain neurological conditions. But I talked last week about the importance of finding a primary care provider you know and trust because you are literally trusting that person with your life safe. And now we see this shift where we're going to Internet searching and then we go to the healthcare provider because we want them to confirm our Internet search. And sometimes that's not possible, sometimes we see information that is inaccurate. And so it's really important to look at those basic health, the building blocks of health. Making sure that you're sleeping well, we'll talk about that this year. Making sure you're eating well, we'll talk about that this year. But it make sure that you are going to your primary care provider even for supplements. That's really, really important because you might think, oh, this is over the counter, it's harmless. But for kids it can be complicated. And I know that sleep struggles are real and we want those quick fixes but there can be risks involved. So make sure that you're talking to someone you trust about that. That's really important. And it's also a good time just to remember to put, put all medications up and away from kids, any, anything that is over the counter. Make sure that they are completely inaccessible, ideally in a locked cabinet to make sure that they can't accidentally get a hold of those. That's really important. And make sure that you are treating any supplement, any vitamin, any anything like it is. Make sure that you're treating that like it could be a potential danger to keep kids, especially kids who get into it accidentally. Make sure you look in your purse and your gym bag, all of those kinds of things. And that is important to do. And as I said, we'll be talking about the importance of sleep strategies, making sure you have a consistent bedtime routine. What can we do for this sleep crisis that's there? We'll have help coming up on that this year. And when we come back, I'm going to give you some more Homefront headlines. We'll talk about AI health tools that are being used. I'm also going to talk a little bit about the rise of gray collar roles. Have you heard about this? And media literacy, all. that and more when we come back on this Friday where we're talking about habits for healthy families. Join us along. Just listen in on any Friday and just pray that God would help you to develop rhythms that lead to habits that lead to healthy families. I believe it's possible. I'm here to help. I'm praying, I'm cheering you on and I'll see you right on the other side of this break. The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the oil in your vehicle or get rid of carpet stains. It won't walk the dog won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net Listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app.
We're halfway through January of 2026, which means spring is coming
Oh Death by MercyMe: You said my fate was sealed. You said my days were numbered. Case closed with no appeal. My future six feet under messing with my head in ghost fashion. My heart was holding its breath terrified of taking my last one. Oh, death, you scared me to death. Whoa, you ain't my king. Oh, where did your sting go? Oh Death I will not be afraid. In the end you will lose. I will dance on your grave with the one who buried you. You ain't nothing but a stone? That my savior rolled away? Set you straight and set me free. Oh, death You are dead to me.
Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is Oh death by mercy me. And isn't that a great message for us today on this Friday? Hey, friends, we're halfway through January of 2026. Can you believe that? That means we are just a little bit closer to spring, which I love. And then that means we're closer to summer. That means we're closer to Christmas. No, I won't go there because I still don't have my Christmas tree down. If you're feeling, guilty because you're thinking I haven't put away my Christmas stuff, I haven't either. And that's okay. And thanks to my, my husband who's been so patient to wait for me to have time to get all of that done with having all the kids home. Hey, welcome back. We are talking this Friday about home front headlines. These are headlines that impact your home and I am scanning the headlines and looking at what's concerning me and what you can do about it, why it's important to your family and but most importantly what, what you can do about it. And we've been talking about some headlines about New Year's resolutions and I just talked about about the rise of melatonin overdose, accidental overdose in kids. Headline number three I'm talking about today is AI health tools. We are seeing an explosion of this, including things like chat, GPT health, but there are all kinds of other AI help tools and millions and millions of people have already used these to ask questions about their health. It's accessible. You don't have to wait online, you don't have to worry about if you're going to be charged for it. You don't have to call and be put on hold and wait for a call back. The temptation of that instant access is really real and some of the potentials are really exciting. Being able to connect to some fitness apps, being able to upload your health data straight to your healthcare provider or review your lab trends or medications and get some kind of baseline information when you're just waiting, when it seems like those answers are certainly would not be classified as instant in most cases when you're talking about from your healthcare provider. But here's the thing, the disclaimers on these are very real, but we are very acculturated, as a society when we see a disclaimer when we say, you know, accept the terms of Use. We do not read those. We just scroll, scroll, scroll to the bottom. Yes, yes, yes. That's annoying. Let's just move on with it. And it does give you a disclaimer. AI is not a licensed healthcare provider. It is not HIPAA compliant. So it is not guaranteed to protect your and it can control that data access for you. And really how they're positioning it as a, what they're calling a digital front door for health information. It's kind of a good starting place to see where you should go. But it really shouldn't replace that relationship you have with a licensed healthcare provider because AI is experimental. That's just the bottom line. It can make errors and it doesn't have the experience or wisdom of a clinician. And frankly, it's not as invested in you as a primary care provider who knows you and your family. So if you missed that show, go back and listen to it from last week. This matters because while AI can help explain information, especially medical terms and jargon, that can seem scary and not understanding and it can help you understand it better. It does not replace clinical judgment of a human. It does not know or care about your child like your healthcare provider should. And over reliance on it can make you, you delay care. You think, oh, this isn't a big deal, I don't need to get this checked, I've taken care of it myself. Or give you some false reassurance because you take the answer that you're given. So there are some healthy boundaries that you can have. Just as a starting reference, let me give you some guidance here. Use AI as a tool, not as a substitute for a healthcare provider. Use it as a question generator rather than an answer finder. That's a good framework to come in. What questions should I be asking here and who do I need to ask those to? It can give you some guidance in that way, but not give you all the answers. Because so many times for me as a healthcare provider, now I see, can patients come in thinking I found this on the Internet. I feel pretty good about what I found and I'd like you to confirm it, please, so that I can move on with my day. And sometimes that's just not the case. Case. So always connect back to your trusted primary care provider and teach kids that technology supports wisdom, it does not replace it. And that relationship based health care really, really matters. So that's something to be concerned about.
Gen Z in particular is interested in gray collar jobs that blend tech and problem solving
All right. Headline number four, the rise of gray collar roles. Have you heard about this? This was actually a new term for me. I had not heard a lot about this, but these are jobs that are kind of a mix between blue collar and white collar jobs that blend hands on skills with tech and problem solving. We are seeing a big surge of interest in these in Gen Z in particular. And these roles, are roles that require technical skills, critical thinking, but you gotta be really adaptable and, and you have to have some digital fluency. And many of these don't require a traditional four year degree. There's a lot of interest in what is affordable, what is accessible, and what kids today are thinking right now is what jobs are going to be AI proof. That is a lot of questions that is going through because there are some jobs that will be replaced by AI already are, that already is happening. So some of these examples are advanced manufacturing, some health technology support roles, some skilled trades that use digital systems, logistics, robotics, infrastructure, those kinds of things. And it matters because the workforce is changing faster than our parenting narratives. And kids need skills, not just credentials, they need adaptability, not just achievement. And the college is a path for some kids, it may not be the path for all kids. And so this is important as we're looking around, as we're having opportunities for talking, it's a great opportunity. We can use all kinds of kinds of prompts for teaching. And so when you see someone doing a job that is different, if you go to get your car fixed, if you are encountering a different kind of business, you can talk with your kids about that, about the different kinds of jobs, especially for younger kids. That can be a great kind of I Spy game. How many people do you spy doing different kinds of jobs and what kinds of jobs do they have? What does that look like? How do you get that job? What kind of education or training is needed? What kind of stability is there? How will you support a family on that? And we should broaden the ways that we talk about success. I see this a lot in kids who graduate from high school and usually the natural question is okay, where are you going to college? And we forget that not all kids go to college. And so we can say, what are your plans? What are your hopes? What do you've got going on? What's on the horizon for you? Make your question a little more broad and value things like skill mastery or work ethic or problem solving. And we can expose our kids to trades and apprenticeships and technical and vocational programs and give them all kinds of options that encourage hands on learning. Leverage your network of friends to see what is your kid, what are your kids interested in? Do they have an opportunity to shadow someone for the day. if they're interested in ministry, could they shadow someone in ministry or go with someone to their job? There's all kinds of opportunities that are there that we can nurture in our kids while helping them feel equipped and empowered for possibility rather than pressured to make a decision. And we know that good work is honorable work and purpose matters. And so helping kids to do that is really, really important. And as they're looking at job markets, it's really important for them to have media literacy.
Study out of Finland talking about teaching media literacy to kids
That brings us to headline number five. I saw a study out of Finland talking about teaching media literacy. Now this is knowing how to read the media. We talk a lot about literacy. We want kids to know how to read. And of course that's been a, long held value here in America for it's a family value. We want our kids to know to read and write. But that world has completely changed and there are actually some other countries that do a much better job than we do in teaching their kids about media and digital literacy. This particular headline I saw came out of Finland and Finland has actually taught their kids media literacy for a really long time. They start as early as three years of age. Is what I read. Differentiating an advertisement from a news source, understanding misleading headlines, it is really hard to do that. So many times you can see clickbait, like when you click on something that you think might be really a news but it's really an ad. So how do you tell when someone is trying to sell something to you? When someone is giving information, what is that differentiation? And they look at, it progresses through school. They learn how to compare sources, how to fact check something, how to ask critical questions. Who made this? Who was the author? Why was it shared? Shared? When was it shared? There are a lot of times where something, a story will go viral and it's really, when you look at it, it's maybe five years old, but all of a sudden it got shared again. But why was it shared? What's missing? These are conversations that you need to be having at home as a family about what information sources you trust. Because information sources on the Internet are getting better and better at, ah, looking credible. And some of them can look like they are faith based and then have terrible theology. And we need to make sure that we're talking about where are you getting your information from? So when we need to normalize that when our kids come home with information, even sometimes maybe when our spouses come home with information about a news story saying okay, tell me about the news source for that. And is this a trusted news source? Is this a source that we trust and we can share with our kids? Okay, tell me where you found that. Tell me who wrote, wrote it. Tell me why you trust them. And if they're, found to be this not a source that you can trust, help them find alternatives. Here's who I follow. Here's where I get my news. Here's the voices that I listen to. Here are the articles that I read. Here are the authors that I, that I pay attention to. That's really important. And of course we know that that can change because we see all the time where authors, speakers, spiritual leaders, influencers, that we learn things about them where they've had moral failings, spiritual failures, even criminal behavior sometimes, and it makes our hearts just crush a little bit. We have to recognize that this world is not perfect and people are going to fall, people are going to fail. And telling our kids that, supporting them through that, supporting each other through that, is really important. Finland. When they're talking about media and digital literacy, they're also talking about AI and deep fake education, which I've talked about extensive, extensively. Artificial intelligence and deep fakes, that is, Those are things that look very real when they're not. And many times when we are exposed to this technology, it's done through humor. You might see a, ah, football coach talking. He's not really him talking, but it seems like he's talking and he's saying things that are outlandish, like, but funny. And we think, oh, that's funny. Well, then that's not so funny. When a peer at school makes a deep fake of you saying racist remarks or saying something that is explicit or inappropriate or derogatory in some way. Because I think it's funny and it's not funny. We need to make sure that we are having conversations about Deepfake. I've written about that in the Stand magazine. You can find that online as well. And we've talked about that, that over the last year. And that's really important. We need to talk with our kids because we are swimming in information. And AI makes deception easier and faster and more convincing. Just yesterday I saw a demonstration of an AI app where you can become any celebrity you want. Deep fakes used to be a little more complicated. Now you can download any app and become any person to say anything. And it's hard, hard for people to know what is real. And discernment is now a life skill. It's not just an academic skill. This digital discernment is a life skill and it is a means of discipleship. We have so many interactions that occur online. We need to teach our kids how does that discipleship journey carry over into our digital lives? And we need to model that as adults around them so we. What families can do. What can we do about this? Well, we can start to have these conversations about digital literacy, about media literacy. You can seek out some resources to start some conversation about it. Teach kids to pause before they share something. I remember doing a show last year where a mom told me that her teenage son came home and said, I figured out what the lunchroom is. He said, it's really just like an information sharing booth. Everybody goes into the their information booth, into the Internet, like it's a phone booth. And then we come out and we share information that we have and nobody knows if it's true or not. So tell them to pause before sharing. Practice asking critical questions together. Normalize asking, where did you hear that? Is that a credible source? Without sounding judgy about it and compare headlines at the dinner table. What are you hearing? Where are you hearing it from? Decide together as a family what information sources you're going to trust and tell them not everything online is true, not everything that's emotional is factual. And we need to fact check because truth matters. Discernment is biblical wisdom. And we'll be talking a lot more about this in the summer when we spend all summer pretty much talking about habits related to tech. And if you want more information on that, you can listen to any Friday show from last year, especially those during the summer summer where we talked about those tech habits.
Well, that's it for Homefront Headlines for this Friday
Well, that's it for Homefront Headlines for this Friday. I have a lot more, though. We'll have to wait till next Friday, talking some more about AI toys and hello, cloning. You won't want to miss it. These are all things I'm learning right alongside you. And listen. Wherever you are in this habit's journey, I pray for you and I pray that you will make it a habit to read God's word. And I pray this scripture over you that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift his countenance towards you and give you peace. Thanks so much for listening in. Thanks for tuning in to find hope for healthy families. And hey, I'll see you right back here on, Monday.
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Jeff Chamblee: Opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
