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 : and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show, prescribing Hope for healthy families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there friends, and welcome to my favorite time of day, my favorite day of the week. It is Friday. Yay, friends, it is Friday. So happy to be with you on this Friday. I hope you've had a great week. Wherever you have been, wherever the Lord has taken you, whatever you're going through, whether it be good, whether it be hard, whether it be a little bit in between, I am praying for you and so grateful that you're here today. I know that there is no such thing as coincidence and that God has arranged for you to be here right at this very moment. And I pray that what we will share with you today will be really encouraging. And we'll be talking as it's Friday about this week's healthy habit. It is Ask doctor Nurse Mama Friday. I will be answering questions about some Homefront headlines I've been following in the news so that you don't have have to. I'll tell you what you need to know and how it's impacting families and how you can respond to it. But before I get to all of that, let me give you some exciting news, something that American Family association is doing. They are hosting Activate Summit. This is July 16th through 18th of this year, this summer in Tupelo, Mississippi, 2026 at the Cadence Bank Conference Center. And you can register now. You can go to afa.net/Summit and you can register for the main session. It's $175 for those ages 13 and up. Activate Kids is $75 for ages 6 through 12 and 5 and under is free, although no child care is provided. You can bring them with you. And the regular pricing is going to end on April 30th. And we have some fantastic speakers, some of whom we've been featuring this week. And that is really exciting to see. And I'm also excited to tell you that I will actually be one of the Speakers for the event. I'll be specifically about the impacts of technology AI on children and their families, how it is influencing their worldview. This is something that's been deeply concerning to me. If you've been listening this week, I've been talking about it. I will be talking about it in July and I really hope that you will join us for that.

Every Friday, we introduce a habit for healthy families

And with that, let's dive into the show today. If you've been following along, you know that since January we every week, every Friday, we've been introducing a habit for healthy families. This is a about small steps toward incremental change toward building a healthy, strong family culture. I'm telling you, things are changing so quickly that it is impossible for us to keep up. But we don't have to be afraid. We don't have to be fear based. We can be faith informed. And that is what these habits are designed to help you do. We started in January with basic spiritual disciplines. Prayer, memorizing scripture, going to church, getting plugged in there, playing worship music. And then we've been in a series now where we talked about some rhythms that will really help your family. Kids thrive on consistency and honestly adults do too. And so some of the things we can do to help keep our families consistent and moving towards healthier habits, that are relational, that are social, that are emotional, that are psychological, that are even physical. We're talking about daily devotionals, morning routines, evening routines and sleep hygiene. This week we're talking about family dinner. And this is something that seems so simple. And actually the research on this is very, very simple, which is encouraging. But somehow we make the implementation so incredibly complicated because the pace of modern family life is just absolutely punishing at times. We have dual working parents, we have shift work. I've definitely been there. Sports schedules, we've got trying to manage schedules for different blended families. We've got single par households who feel like they're holding the weight of it all. We've got extracurricular overload. We've got screens everywhere. And maybe this is just you sitting at home and you say, okay, well we don't have kids at home, but yet you're just sitting there watching the screen. It's like the 1950s have come back and we're just sitting with our TV trays. Ever our TV tray is now our phone where we're sitting there streaming while we're missing out on connection. And families want that meaningful connection. No Christian family is going to say, yeah, you know, I don't really want that. We're Doing everything that we can in our family to discourage connection and, and doing everything we can basically to tear that down. Nobody is going to say that, but somehow we all feel like we're failing when it comes to many of these habits. And one of those places of feelings of failure is when it comes to shared meals. Now it's not about perfection when we think about a habit. Now that we are raised in the age of social media and comparison culture, when we start to think about something we implement at home, we immediately put a Pinterest filter on it. And that is not right. We think we have to have this nightly sit down dinner. Of course, to do that, we're going to go to need to get a new dining room table with matching chairs that matches everyone. And oh, now we're going to have to redecorate the dining room because who wants to sit in that dingy old place? And oh, now we're going to need new dishes because I really don't like my dishes. And now a new sound system because we probably should be playing classical music or maybe jazz music. Something that is going to give us a backdrop for this intellectually stimulating conversation that's going to go over perfectly behaved kids, an Ivy League or seminary worthy conversation. And again, we would say that is not what we're trying to achieve. That's not what we think. And yet these are some of the things that we use as barriers to think, well, I'm failing because I'm not doing that. That's not what it is. That is turning a family dinner into a performance. And maybe it's just a performance for your own home. It doesn't matter. That's performance.

Family dinner is something that we do really poorly in American culture

We are talking about the concept of presence. And throughout scripture and church history, tables are really the places of formation. These are where stories are shared, where identity is shaped, where gratitude is practiced, where meals are taken, where faith is passed on naturally. And this is something actually that we do really, really poor, poorly in American culture. When I had the first opportunities to travel overseas doing some mission work, some consulting, some traveling, one of the things that is so different in other cultures is their, the way that they gather around the table. It is an event. It is two hours long. And you linger over food, you linger over the conversation. It's not just a feast of delicious foods that are brought to you, that are made for you, that are shared with each other. It is the feast of fellowship. It is a feast of conversation. And that's something I think that we really need to do better here in American culture. Because God does really fantastic, amazing, miraculous, transformative work around ordinary tables, not elaborate, settings. When you look at the tables that Jesus sat at in the Bible, he, He sat at very ordinary people's tables and, and he just taught and he talked. So for you, if family dinner feels impossible right now, hey, this conversation is for you because I think you'll find it both hopeful and helpful. And if your family already eats together sometimes, this conversation is going to encourage you, to really make you realize that it matters way more than you know. And if your family looks different from the ideal, if you think we are just failing miserably on this, you are not behind. You are welcome to sit at this table today because I have prepared a feast for you. Did you see that? I feel like here come all of the dad jokes. But I won't apologize, but we really have to start by understanding why it feels so difficult today.

For centuries, family meals centered on what food was available

How has family life changed? How did we get here? So we look back. For centuries, family meals were really a necessity. It wasn't a, strategy. They centered on what food was available, what daylight was available, to prepare the food and working together. Children would work alongside their parents, their grandparents, and the meals followed work rhythms where they would take a break in the midday and then finish their workday and come home. But industrialization and really later, right now, technological advances have changed everything because work moved away from the home. So instead of, you know, having dad plowing the fields, right. If we want to sound really traditional and coming in for lunch, we have dad downtown an hour and a half commute away. These are just natural changes that happened with technological advances. We also have kids who are involved in multiple activities and we, that, that changes that, that rhythm. And parents work non traditional hours. I'm one of those parents, and I think you'd be glad that I did as a nurse waiting for your baby to be born and the wee hours of the morning. I wouldn't change that for anything. But it does, it does impact family life. It absolutely does. So shout out to all of the night shift workers out there, whether you're working at a refinery or a hospital or law enforcement, whatever you're doing, thank you so much for what you're doing. But we have technology that's competing for our attention. We don't have a routine 6pm dinner like we used to see, on the shows back in the 1950s. Now many families eat together, but it's not necessarily around the dinner table. Sometimes it is in front of the tv, sometimes it's just standing around a Kitchen island. I have definitely lived this stage of life with busy teenagers where we just all stand around the island and that is better than nothing. Or sometimes you eat in shifts. I mean, we say this, this term like it's normal, like, okay, tonight we're eating in shifts. It, will, here's how dinner is. Here's where you can find it, and just, just eat when you are available.

One in four Americans may eat all of their meals alone, according to research

Other cultural shifts to think about, though, is that solo dining is rising, especially among young adults. And one report indicated that one in four Americans may eat all of their meals alone. Now, recently I went to a, conference at a university, and I was eating lunch in the cafeteria. One of the best things I think that they did in this cafeteria was as I went, there was no place you could sit alone. There were literally only rows and rows of long tables where you had to go insert yourself into somebody's conversation. And it was really great because I feel like I had lunch with the Big Bang theory guys, honestly, if you've ever seen that. I sat down and ate lunch with some really amazing postdoc postdoctoral students who were working on PhDs and, who had had PhDs in chemistry and, and astrophysics and all of these amazing things. And just sharing a meal with them, it was so much better than if I just found a little corner to sit by myself and scroll through my phone. And so I ended up asking them about their views of academics and universities and higher education and the public attitude towards that. And they asked me, would you believe it or not? They said, one of us just got married. When do you think's a good time to have kids? And I was so happy to engage in that conversation. And for those of you wondering, what in the world did I say? I said now. The short answer is now. It's always a great time to have kids when, when, if you are married and thinking about wanting to have kids, just take the plunge. But we also see other cultural shifts of takeout and convenience becoming cultural norms. We just, just eat out to go containers. And that's what you see really at college dining halls is that rise of, let me just take it to go, because I'll just sit by myself and eat this and watch my phone. These are not just occasional choices. These are cultural norms. And you can see even eating establishments being wired for this, being constructed for this. We also know that older adults, and that is, okay, this is going to hurt a little bit, but just. I'm sorry, this is what the literature says. Older adults are considered Those over. Over 50 years of age, I apologize in advance and again, but they report, ah, far higher rates of regular family dinners compared to younger adults. This was just something that was more normal for baby boomers and even Gen X. And we see millennials and Gen Z saying that, hey, this we can learn something from the older generations. And now among adults in their early 20s and 30s, far fewer have grown up with regular family dinners. And that is a pattern that's going to carry over into their families. And partially that's due to cult and economic pressures. But the big picture, one of the biggest disruptors of family dinners today, and you know, since I've just been stepping all over your toes already, I'm just going to step all over your toes some more because I've lived this as well.

Youth sports are reshaping the rhythms of daily family life

And I'm going to talk about youth sports. I know some of you are listening saying, okay, I hope she really goes there. And some are saying she better not go there. So let's see how this goes. Because youth sports, the fact of life is that they have become a major part of our evening routine. They are hugely popular and American families and they can be a positive force. They help kids get outside and get active and get off their phones. I am all for that. They teach kids teamwork. They teach kids self discipline. They teach kids how to interact with others, how to follow rules and how to solve conflict, how to have discipline. But the downside of that is the schedules and time demands of practices and games and travels. These are all literally reshaping the rhythms of daily family life. And I don't think that we give enough time and thought and attention to that because we know that youth sports schedules often are multiple times a week. And how are we going to have dinner? I know this is a major conversation in my house. How are we going to manage dinner? Especially if you have more than one kid and more than one sport and more than one practice, how do you clone yourself? I haven't figured that out, but I have figured out out some things that may be helpful to you. I'll be right back on the other side of this break, continuing to talk about family dinners. Abortion moves fast. And right now in our communities, women are being pressured to make irreversible decisions. In moments of fear and panic, they're told to act quickly or risk losing support. And many feel they have no other option. But because of you, they do. At preborn network clinics, a woman receives what the abortion industry will never offer compassion without pressure, clarity about the life growing in inside her and real support to welcome her baby and the hope of the gospel. She's given a free ultrasound and space to breathe. And more than 80% of the time when a mother sees her baby on a preborn ultrasound, she chooses life. This March, PreBorn is believing to save 6,800 babies. But it will take 124 partners saying yes every day. I'm asking you to pause your busy day for just a moment and become a. yes. Right now. Just $28 provides one ultrasound. $140 helps five mothers. Every dollar helps save babies and share hope. To donate pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250 baby. Or visit preborn.com/AFR- that's preborn.com/AFR.

I Believe You by Megan Woods: I'd be lying if I said that I'm, okay. Cause right now I'm lost And lost count of the broken prayers I've prayed? And it's true that some days it'd be easier to doubt? but your word has never let me down? so I believe you when you say you're fighting for me? I believe you when you tell me that my story isn't over? You promise me that I will make it through? And I believe you.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is I believe you by Megan Woods. And I do believe that the promises of the Lord are faithful and true. And there are so many promises that he has for you. We're exploring those through the lens of healthy habits. And every week, on Fridays, I've been sharing with you a habit that will really help your family be healthier. Healthier families are stronger. They're more connected. They are better positioned to be able to face the trials and the traumas and the tragedies that the world will try to throw at you. And I firmly believe that healthy families can fit face anything this world has to offer. And these are ways that your daily faithfulness can really build a strong family fabric that will stand the test of time. So this week we've talked about, well, already we've talked about spiritual disciplines, we've talked about rhythms, and that's where we are.

Take an honest look at youth sports and what that is doing to family dinner

Welcome back to talking about family Dinners. I was right in the middle of stepping on your toes and offending many of you. And that's okay. I'm all right with that. Because we really need to take an honest look at youth sports and what that is doing to family dinner. Because we know. I know I have lived this. I. And I have. I have kids who loved being involved in youth sports, a husband who loved to coach youth sports. But the fact is it did impact our family. So we had to be really thoughtful about this because most of the time what's going to happen is you have a, you rush through meals like eat really quick or you're going to eat in shifts like some people in this practice will eat. Then some people eat a little later, some people eat a lot later, or you just eat on the go, you eat fast food, you get takeout, you just run through somewhere and you eat literally on the run and that becomes normal because you're driving kids from school to practice to games and meals are often happening in the car. Ask the floor of my minivan how it knew that there were kids eating in there. Or maybe you're eating at the practice fields or just between activities, you're just wolfing something down rather than around a dinner table. And many times you find yourself eating out multiple times a week. That can impact your budget because if you really start to look at how much you're spending on food on the go, you're just doing the best that you can to keep everybody fed during those obligations. And one recent survey found that over half of youth sport families eat out at least two to four times a week because of those sports schedules. Now that is not, that is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a, it is a thing that we should question if we're doing it as a coping, coping strategy instead of an intentional strategy. And being intentional about how, when and what our family is going to eat because parents feel pressed for time and energy and meal planning absolutely goes to the bottom. Just this last week I was speaking at a very large conference, over a thousand people who were there talking about the impacts of AI and technology on families. And I spoke with a mom who was, was working to make some AI empowered solutions and she said the number one concern for families that I see is planning dinner, meal prepping, shopping. And we still like just say it cannot seem to get this right. It's really really hard. And you gotta feed multiple kids, you gotta drive, you gotta juggle your work commitments and sometimes you just skip meals and that's not great either. You just eat irregularly. You find yourself going through the drive thru at 10:37pm Let me just tell you that hits different when you're over 40. It really does. Like 17 year olds, they can do that and be fine. If you're trying to chug a burger and fries, you know, in the drive thru that late, it's just, it's not going to be optimal. Let's just leave it at that. Can we agree on that? But let me re emphasize I do believe that sports add positive structure and opportunities. It, it's ah, a shared experience. There's something really special to me. I think about my own experience and watching my kids cheer on another kid on the sideline like o that is just, that is a beautiful thing as a parent to see. And there's memories that bring families together in ways that are meaningful and bonding even if that doesn't happen during dinner time. And many parents say how much they love watching their kids compete. And sometimes you see families who are just making this their lifestyle so they know where the picnic dinner where the picnic tables are at the sports field or they know how to make a good bleacher picnic. all of those things are really great. That can become its own form of meal togetherness. And participation in sports also encourages, as I said before, physical fitness and discipline. And it really helps say we prioritize our physical health and our emotional and mental health because sports in a healthy way really does help that. Even if the timing of your meals is a little bit different. And when families adapt you can be intentional and and then find out, okay, how do we get nutritious portable meals that we can eat together that will keep our family fueled but allow for connection at maybe unconventional times and places? That's completely fine. But that double edged impact is really balancing the sports and the family routines because we know you're less likely to eat together, you're more likely to have fast food and we can make. So in response to those things, I'm encouraging you to consider being intentional about making creative adaptation your norm. That's what's consistent. You may feel like, oh, we're just always trying to figure it out. But if you frame it as hey, what our family does during sports seasons is we're going to creatively adapt. That's the consistency is each night is going to be a little bit of an adventure and that in its own way can become a routine. Maybe it's just eating early. Maybe the way your family adapts is hey, we eat dinner at 4pm and then we'll have a healthy snack before bedtime. Maybe it's healthy snacks before the activity and maybe a small meal after. Maybe it kind of split it up so you're eating a smaller dinner but you're eating before. Maybe it's you're packing meals together to serve it and eat at the game. Maybe. And this one will be the least popular of all with kids. I Already hear them cringing and groaning and saying, please don't say it, but I will say it. Maybe it is the crock pot, maybe it is the slow cooker. Although you will see plenty of reels where kids say that is their least favorite thing. But hey, if you've got great crock pot recipes, share those with a friend. Need those to preserve our parenting. I appreciate that. But really the.

Research on family dinner is very clear. Families who eat together have better nutrition patterns

I want to acknowledge the reality that most families today feel pulled in a lot of different directions. Maybe it's sports, but maybe it's dance lessons, maybe it is academic coaching. It's, it's anything. Maybe it's the reality of your, of your work schedule. And it, it makes that 6pm Whatever it is, it makes that classic 6pm dinner just less common. So we can, what can we do? What are the practical workarounds? What are the ways you can intentional and being consistent in inconsistency? And the bottom line is that it is about faith and presence over perfection. It doesn't have to look a certain way to be meaningful. it doesn't have to be a certain food. It doesn't have to be look a certain way, be in a certain place. It's about consistency. And so we may see that all of those activities are reshaping our dinner time in our place, but they don't have to undo the, that family connection that's really important. So it's important. The reason that it's so important is because research is absolutely clear on this. There are a lot of where, places where research is less clear, but the research on family dinner is very clear. Children who share meals with caregivers, they report feeling heard and supported and loved. They're generally mentally and emotionally healthier. They have lower rates of anxiety, depression and loneliness. Families who eat together have better nutrition patterns. They have better healthier relationships with food. And here's some fascinating research that again is very clear. When you share meals regularly together, your kids and your family members are less likely to use drugs, to use substances to cope in an unhealthy way. They have decreased risk taking behaviors. They're going to generally make safer, healthier choices and their decision making is better. And it's not because the food is superfood, okay, or it's all organic, whatever. It's because of the relationship and the monitoring through that connection. So dinner tables, when you're sitting around the dinner table or the kitchen island or even the minivan, you can have those natural moments for gratitude. Stop and pray, give thanks before your meal. You can tell Stories, just what happened today, and those generational stories that kids love to hear over and over again. It can gives a safe space for questions and doubts and prayers. You don't need a formal devotional, although it can be a great time to build that into your rhythm. You just read a devotional as your kids eat, or you listen to a certain song, or you say a certain prayer. Your presence is really that ministry. And so family dinner is not just to nourish the body, although it does that. It shapes hearts and habits and homes. And most of all, it gives hope.

Even one or two shared meals a week makes a measurable difference

So some of the myths that we tell ourselves, the lies that we flat out tell ourselves about family dinner is that, well, I, we don't do it every night. It's got to be every night, and it's not on a consistent night every week. That is a lie. Because the reality is, even one or two shared meals a week makes a measurable difference. And consistency matters way more than frequency. So if you're once a week, even though the day is floating, but you know once a week, you're going to get together and have that dinner. That's great. The myth is that the dinner has to be homemade and healthy. The reality, Pizza counts. PB and J counts. Mac and cheese counts. Chicken nuggets counts. Whatever it is. Of course, we'll be talking later in the spring and summer about some nutrition choices, but breakfast for dinners counts. Leftovers count. I mean, real eating off of paper towel. It all counts. The goal is connection, not culinary excellence. Okay. Another myth that we have is my kids don't want to talk to me anyway. We sit at the dinner table, they're on their phones. It's miserable. We'll talk about that, too. But the reality is that silence, even eating together in silence, still builds familiarity, and it still builds safety. And trust grows by simply being together. Another lie we tell ourselves. Our schedules are just impossible to manage. We just can't do it. That's not a reality for us. But the real reality is that dinner doesn't have to be at dinner time. You can find other ways to do it, whether that's an early dinner or rotating schedule schedule. You can find creative ways to have rhythm so that family dinner isn't about removing every obstacle, about curating it so it's ready to post on social media. It's really lowering the bar, honestly, so that you can step in with consistency. So we've talked about why it's important. Let's make it doable. Let's be really practical. So redefining Dinner. When we think of dinner automatically we do, we think place settings, we think sitting down, we think two hours. Let's just make it realistic and defining dinner as Hey, 15 minutes. 15 minutes where we're going to eat together however many times a week you're going to do it. If it's going to be takeout, if it's going to be where it is, if it's going to be one parent, one child, married couple, all of us grandparents, whatever it is, a shared snack before evening activities. Even if it's just a shared snack time, maybe after school, that would be that would be an accomplishment. And let me give a shout out here to intergenerational dinners because that can be a really powerful way that grandparents can step in. Do, do you know if you happen to be blessed enough to live next to your families? Do you know the power of a phone call? If you know that your kids are really busy and you say, hey, I would love to make dinner for you one night a week, this is something I'd love to do for you. I understand if, if that's not going to work, if you don't want to accept that now because sometimes that may cause people to be defensive, Think, do you think I'm a bad cook? Do you think I'm managing my schedule badly? Like just offer it and, and then just let it go. Like no pressure, no guilt, no nothing. Just say, you know what, it may not be right for right now, but if you ever change your mind the offers on the table and invite them to come over or bring them dinner or say, hey, I'll show up and I'll bring sandwiches for everybody on the bleachers. I'm telling you, in the context of a healthy relationship or if you offer that over time, that can be a real relationship break. Bridge builder and grandparents have that wisdom to share. They may have stories to share. They may have time in a way that parents don't have time. It may be really special that kids can go over to their grandparents house. I know when I went to my granny's house, she would always host Sunday lunch after church. It was just a thing. Like you knew if you needed lunch you could go to her house. If you didn't show up, that was fine. She wasn't going to guilt you or say I made all this food and nobody ate it. She would just package it up, up and freeze it and we were gonna get it again the next Sunday, but that was okay. And if we showed up, we would be fed and that was just that, and I remember the thing that she had was cloth napkins. I mean, it absolutely blew my mind. Like people actually eat in their homes with napkins that you wash. I mean, it was fascinating to me and made me feel pretty special, to be honest. So, grandparents, I encourage you to lean into that. What's one way that you could connect with your family through mealtime? So may one night a week maybe that's building around what's, already working and protecting that time gently, not, you know, rigidly holding onto it, saying, nope, we're trying this new rhythm and we're going to do it. And if we don't do it, I'm going to be really upset. Just make that conversation easy around the dinner table. Use low pressure prompts.

Ordinary meals can carry extraordinary power to give messages of grace and mercy and hope and joy

What was one good thing from today? What was hard? Where did you see kindness today? We always say, what are the highs and the lows and the where did you goes? And tell me about your day. And silence is okay too, even if you're just sitting in supportive silence. Just be comfortable with that. as a nurse teaching students, I often tell them I'm really comfortable with uncomfortable silence. So don't worry. That's not bothering me at all. A shared prayer sentence that each person completes gratitude around the table. Maybe you even light a candle. Maybe you go there and just try to make it special. That's okay too. And extend grace to yourself. Some seasons are going to feel messy, messy. Some dinners are going to feel disconnected. It's showing up that matters. So I want to reassure you that God is not measuring your table. He's not evaluating your table. He's not judging your table. He's not grading your table. He is just present at your table if you invite him to be present. Ordinary meals can carry extraordinary power to give messages of grace and mercy and hope and joy and all of those fruits of the spirit. So this week, don't aim for perfect, just aim for present. Choose one small step, one meal, one moment, one prayer. Because when people come to, when families come to the table, they're not just sharing food. They are discipling each other and providing, shaping the faith and resilience of the, the next generation. And that is something worth fighting for.

You can listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app

When we come back, I'm going to tell you about some home front headlines up. first is doom scrolling and AI content discipleship. I'll tell you about it after the break.

 : The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the order 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.

Dusty Bibles by Josiah Queen: We got dust on our bibles Brand new iPhones no wonder why we feel this way. Hey, how, you been? It's been a while and I'm just checking in. I miss the way things used to be back, in 2017 and I just miss my friend. Hey, I've been fine I've been struggling to find some peace of mind. It's the problem of a nation and in our generation we're too busy, and can't find the time Are we busy or is it all a lie? We got dust on our Bibles Brand new iPhones no wonder why we feel this way.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is Dusty bibles by Josiah Queen and man, it is convicting to me. If you haven't heard that song before, it is spot on and really refreshes relevant to what we're talking about today. I'm going to read to you those lyrics just in case you missed them. We've got dust on our bibles brand new iPhones. No wonder why we feel this way. I mean that is very, very true. We walk with our eyes closed blind leading blind folks and I'm done with those idols and dusty bibles. Such a good message for us and something that I'm talking about today with Homefront headlines following the headlines that are impacting families so you don't have to. I'll, catch you up on what you do need to know and how it's impacting families and what you can do about it, how you should respond to it.

38% of adults say doom scrolling makes their sleep worse, study finds

The first story that I want to bring to you is very relevant to that song we just listened to. And it's about doom scrolling. Now this is a new study that came out this week from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Clearly they're invested in the science of sleep. And this is what sometimes, if I'm going to be really honest, gives researchers and academics a bad name. Because when I get you this statistic, you're going to say, yeah, we already knew that. But this study found that 38% of adults say doom scrolling, which is scrolling through stressful news right before you go to bed makes their sleep worse. And we're like, we Needed research to tell us this. I think the telling thing about this is that finally 38% of adults were honest about it and said, yeah, I'm doing it and yes, it's impacting me ne negatively. That's really important to say. But because most adults, I'm going to emphasize most adults use their screens daily in their bed and a quarter prioritize screen time over recommended sleep. We know we should go to sleep. We know we should put the phone down. But you know, one reel and two hours of sports bloopers or cat videos or crafting, whatever you're watching that doesn't make a difference to anything. That is not edifying you. It's only pacifying you. It, it we, we can do it. It is that addictive. And it's because these platforms, these social media platforms have hired the best psychologists in the world whose job it is and they're very well compensated for it. Day and night is to figure out how to get you to stay on the platform day and night. And you think that's a fair fight when you're in there in your flannel pajamas, scrolling through your phone, like thinking, just thinking, not even thinking about those people who are thinking about you. We know that blue light suppresses melatonin production in our brains. We know that emotionally charged content keeps our brain alert. It disrupts our natural sleep rhythms. And this is important, this is impacting families because I've talked the last two weeks literally about sleep, about how to prep yourself for sleep and how to sleep well when you go to sleep. Sleep is foundational to physical, emotional and relational health. It is God given. And poor sleep is making parents really irritable. It is reducing your patience. It weakens our immune system, it increases our stress and it ultimately impacts our lifespan. And when adults or teens or even kids are scrolling late into the night, if you've got TVs in their bedroom, the households have less quality time together in the evenings, less presence at meals, more fatigue during the day. And especially teens and young adults are really affected because, Nearly half of 18 to 24 year olds report worse sleep due to doom scrolling. Everyone else is not being honest with themselves. If I'm just being so honest. And this impacts school performance, it impacts mood, it impacts family dynamics. So what can we do about it? Well, first of all, I'd encourage you to go back and listen to the last two Friday shows if sleep is an issue for your household. We talked about bedtime routines and we talked about sleep hygiene, but having that power down routine Thinking about just how devices power down. We need to power down ourselves. And there's just little things that you can do, such little things like dimming the lights and turning off the overhead lights and turning on a lamp, playing specific music, just brushing your teeth at the same time. There's just little cues that we can give our bodies to say it's time to go to bed. And having some of those shared tech habits. Now, I'll be talking about those all this summer, but I talked about them last summer, too. So if you want to preview and if you want to get ahead and you think it is finally time, we need to get control of that. You can listen to any Friday show from last summer where we talked about tech habits. But really, for now, I would encourage you most of all to be very mindful of the content that you're streaming. Don't watch the news or stressful feeds right before your bed. Focus on something. If you can't put down the doom scroll, at least make it a hope scroll. Think, okay, I'm gonna scroll through here, but I'll curate a feed. I'll just look at things that uplift me, that encourage me. Maybe that's your daily devotional. Maybe that's the time you read your Bible. Maybe this is the time you have calming content where you listen to that favorite podcast that you like. Or. Or maybe you're listening to this show and I'll try to. I'll try to be a little more calming if that's the case. But we've gotta model good sleep habits for our kids, because kids are learning from our rhythms. That strengthens emotional and physical wellness for the whole family. All right, second story I told you about. This is a new research that showed one third of practicing Christians in the United States, one third agree that spiritual advice. Okay, I need you to buckle in because I'm about to tell you something that's going to be really upsetting for. For some of you, and some of you are going to say, what's the problem? One third of practicing Christians in the US Agree that spiritual advice from artificial intelligence, or AI, is just as trustworthy as advice from their pastor. I just heard the heart of every pastor just crush into a thousand pieces. This is, This is a sentiment. Is even more common among Gen Z and millennials. And around 40% of Christians say is AI helps them with Bible study and prayer and spiritual growth. Many want pastoral guidance on how to navigate this technology. And that's kind of cruel if you ask me. We're asking pastors hey, can you help me figure out how to use AI to replace you? That's really not a fair question. This is impacting families because it reflects how technology influences spiritual formation and even decision making on discipleship content within your home. When you are looking to AI for spiritual insight, it is shifting the source, source of authority from scripture and from your Bible believing community to an algorithm. And that is something that it can be a good supplement, it can be a good help, it can be a good tool, but it has to be used when in the context of community and absolutely, absolutely under the authority of scripture. Because without any discernment, AI responses lack the relational, the contextual depth that a pastor or a family mentor provides. AI is not going to know, oh well, you faced this tragedy, you lost your parent when you were six or you saw this happen. And they're not going to know that intuitively like a relational person would. And that's going to affect how children and teens understand their faith and their moral grounding and their discipleship. So how do we balance the useful tools while maintaining a central role goal for our, trusted faith leaders and the authority of Scripture? Well, the first thing is use AI as a supplement, not a substitute. Okay, did you get that? Use AI as a supplement, not a substitute. Treat AI as a way to explore questions, but always cross check with actual scripture. And I recommend a paper Bible because you do not know if words are changed on an online platform, if translation is changed, changed, it is best to have. Ultimately, while you can use other electronic Bibles as a, as a resource, you should have a paper Bible that doesn't change. That's, that's just my opinion. Have family conversations about faith media. Just talk about it. What guidance is trustworthy? Who are you following? Why are you following them? How do you know that they're credible and encourage the pastoral leadership? Ask your church leaders, how do we navigate this? Can we talk about this? Because we don't want it to be like we're using it here, but it's completely separate. We're not talking about it at all. Church Teach critical discernment. Show kids how to evaluate advice through the lens of faith. That is so important.

Start honest conversations with teens about drug use and mental health risks early

And when we start to look at influencing, that brings me to headline number three. One of the things that we're seeing, in the culture that's shifting and something that is really promoted as normal on social media, something that happens when we're not having family dinners, it increases the risk for substance abuse. There's two stories I want to tell you about as we're closing our time together that are really important. It, one is about cannabis or marijuana use and one is about alcohol. two studies that came out that I saw this week. One is a large longitudinal study which means they track teens over a long period of time. This, this particular study was more than almost half a million teenagers. So this is a big study and it found that marijuana use during adolescence, using marijuana as a teen, because marijuana today is nothing like marijuana of the baby boomer generation. It was linked to significantly higher risks of psychotic disorders and bipolar disorders, as well as depression and anxiety later in life. And these researchers, they took out any teens with pre existing symptoms saying that if you already had anxiety, depression, some sort of one of these classified psychiatric disorders that will take you out of there. We're only looking at healthy teens with no pre existing symptoms or clinical conditions. And that strengthened the case that cannabis use preceded the mental health issues that they use marijuana and then had had mental health issues. This is so important because with cannabis legalization, with normalization on social media, there is a perception that it's safe and many teens underestimate those long term risks. So families may see increased anxiety, mood changes, academic struggles, and not even really thinking about it. Because what I'm seeing, seeing is used most frequently for marijuana is through vaping. It's becoming increasingly normal to vape marijuana. And if we're not prepared to talk to teens about their substance use and mental health, then we are going to risk it going on longer because their brain is so fragile in this stage of teen development, it's much more vulnerable to the use of drugs, including marijuana. So early intervention for rewiring of their brain is critical because it's really, really vulnerable right now. So what can you do about it? Well, start honest conversations early talk with kids about drug use and mental health risks before that curiosity crosses the bridge to experimentation. I've seen this happen with great kids making poor choices. It may show up as somebody bringing a bowl of pills to a party and saying, hey, I got these out of my parents medicine cabinet. Let's just each take one and see what happens. These are real stories of things that I have seen or where, oh, just try this. You, you're having trouble calming down before a game like here, this helps me just take a puff of this vape, take a, take one of these pills. And that's why the the government has a one pill can kill initiative because we see that sometimes that experimentation can be really deadly even with a first time experimentation. So that's really important. We don't want to come at this from a fear based factor because fear only it generates fear. That's when we use fear driven tactics. The only way it works is making kids afraid, but it doesn't really change their behavior. So we've got to just have conversations about this and conversation and conversation. And it really should start probably earlier than you think. Not with all of the details, but just something like, hey, I've been reading a lot about kids experimenting with vaping, with smoking, with nicotine, with drugs, like, you know, marijuana or pills. If you ever have, when, when you have not if, but when you have that exposure, when you see that, when you see it on social media, when you see it at school, when it comes across your world, I would love for you to come and talk with me about it so that we can navigate that together. I don't want you to be afraid to come to me if you feel like you've made a mistake or you've made a decision that you regret. I want you to be able to come to me. That is really important. And again, early intervention is so, so, so important because the other study that we saw was linking also, alcohol use as well. And we know that no alcohol, no drugs, no substances, no nicotine, none of that that is safe for developing adolescent brains because when they have the neural response in their brain, it creates conditions that are very, very ripe for addiction and, very hard to overcome because those are hardwired into ways that their brain is maturing up until their early 20s. So it's so important to talk about this and even more than you think that you probably need to. I wrote about this in my book for who have teenagers who are facing some of these really toughest issues. It's called Behind Closed Doors, A Guide for Families to Navigate Life's Toughest Issues. And if you need more information or you're in that situation, I encourage you to check that out and to also go to your primary healthcare provider. I had a show in January where I talked about the importance of a primary healthcare provider and being someone who you trust with your life, who can connect you, you in times like this where you don't know where to go, you don't know who to talk to. There's a lot of fear and shame and stigma around these issues. And there doesn't have to be. It can be hopeful. There is hope for anyone in any situation. And I have hope because you show up here and you are seekers of hope as well. And that just gives me Absolutely. So much hope for the day. Listen, thank you for joining us on this Friday. Cry yay. I'll see you back here on Monday. But as you go into your weekend, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I sincerely pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and be so gracious to you as, ah, you're planning your family dinner, let me know how it goes. I'll see you next time. We'd like to thank our sponsors, including PreBorn. PreBorn is resting over 400,000 babies from abortion and every day their network clinics rescue 200 babies lives. Will you join PreBorn in loving and supporting young moms in crisis? Save a life today. Go to preborn.com/AFR the views and

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

It's Ask Dr. Nurse Mama Friday! Jessica talks about this week's healthy habit of eating dinner together as a family. She also answers the questions you are asking about Homefront Headlines.