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TranscriptIntroduction
It’s 2021, you’re still here, and — if we’re going to believe what we hear online — because it’s 2021, all of the problems from 2020 have magically disappeared.
Well, we’ll see about that. My name is Aaron Michael Brewster, I’m the president of Evermind Ministries which includes Truth.Love.Parent., The Celebration of God, the TLP Biblical Counseling Center, and a bunch of new projects in the works. I love families. I love the whole idea of what God created. I love how He created it to work, and I love helping families reach their God-given potential. I’ve been serving families full-time since 2007. My experience with parents and their kids has kind of made me a jack of all trades. I’ve been a biblical counselor, Christian school teacher and associate administrator, martial arts instructor, author, camp director, boarding home director, preacher, podcaster, discipler, conference speaker, and trainer. I love what I do, and I’m honored that you have allowed me to influence you and your families in this small way, and I hope to interact with you more in 2021. Now, the vast majority of TLP’s over 400 podcast episodes are evergreen. That means that they will remain relevant and practical until the Lord returns. Because they’re rooted in the Bible, they will never go out of style regardless of what the world says. However, a few years ago I started doing these new year parenting trends episodes, and they’ve been a big hit. After listening to the show, you can head over to TruthLoveParent.com to access the transcript of the show as well as any other resources that compliment our discussion today. You can also check out our blog for a list of 2020’s Top 10 podcast episodes. Now, let’s talk about parenting in 2021. Topic
I wish I could say there are a lot of good changes on the horizon. And — to be fair — any time God is factored into the equation, everything that comes from it is good.
But — more often than not — God’s glorifies Himself despite us. That means that even though the nations rage and try to break His bonds, God will still receive the honor and preeminence that He deserves. Like Satan trying to slaughter the Messiah was used by the Father to purchase mankind’s redemption, the foolish choices and Failure Philosophies of 2021 will be used in the exact same way. But we don’t have to be forced to glorify God despite our futile attempts to the contrary, we can willfully choose to cooperate with God and live a life pleasing to Him so that — when we see Him face to face — He will be glorified by our good and faithful service. And that’s what these episodes are all about. We want to acknowledge the good and the bad that’s coming at us in the new year so that we can intentionally and premeditatedly be disciple-making Ambassador Parents all to the glory of God. So, here are our predictions for family life 2021. 1. We can expect even more family time. Now, I have been very careful not to speak directly to the insanity of 2020 that was the coronavirus and lockdowns. I honestly feel dirty even saying the words on this show. I want this content to remain evergreen, so I’ve avoided saying much about it because God’s Truth stands regardless of these tiny ripples in time. As long as we know, understand, and live God’s Word, no virus or governmental mandates are going to stump us. But, this is a very event-specific show, and I want to take a moment to thank God that He has used our government’s ill-advised measures to force families to spend more time together. And I think that’s wonderful. It’s a beautiful example of God redeeming man’s foolish attempts to control his destiny. Instead of accomplishing what they hoped to accomplish, God reminded billions of people how much they’ve missed. Some of these reminders were sweet — parents and kids reuniting and finding that they really enjoy each other’s company. And some of the reminders have been painful — necessary, but painful — as parents took a real solid look at their kids and their parenting and have finally come to the conclusion that something is desperately wrong. This whole time they thought their kid’s teachers were over-exaggerating the problem, and now they’re seeing it first hand. And the insightful ones are realizing that something is missing. How should we approach this potential increase in family time? Embrace it! Use this time to know your kids better, understand God’s Word better, and apply what you’re learning to being the best parent you can be. And that leads to number . . . 2. We can expect the number of families embracing virtual learning and homeschooling to increase. This too, I believe — is wonderful. I strongly encourage you to listen to Episode 70, "What's the Parent’s Role in their Children’s Education?” You should also check out TLP 82: Should You Consider Homeschooling this Fall? | Scott and Becky Aniol Interview. And there are some very important discussion points concerning education in my most recent interview with Ken Ham in Episode 410, “Will Your Children Stand?” You can listen to the at episode or watch the interview. Just check out TruthLoveParent.com/ken-ham. I love this because even if you choose to delegate elements of your children’s academics to other people, God is going to hold parents ultimately responsible for their children’s education. First and foremost, they will be held responsible for their kid’s spiritual training, but they will also be accountable for who they allowed to proselytize their kids. Christian parents who allow their children to be brainwashed by the secular humanists of this age will stand before God one day and give an account. So, playing your children’s education as close to your chest as possible is — Lord willing — going to be a vital part of your family’s maturity. What should you do about this potential increase in at-home learning? Embrace it as much as you can! I understand that there are many factors that would prevent people from being able to educate their kids at home or even simply facilitate that education at home. But I believe there is great benefit from God’s people exploring how this change can benefit their families. But it won’t just be education that is going to continue to be virtual. Let’s talk about health and wellness for a moment. 3. We can expect for ever-increasing changes to our philosophy of health. I don’t know that the established medical community will ever return to a sense of normalcy in my life-time. I’ll keep praying that it will, but I don’t know what the Lord is going to allow. There are a lot of amazing medical professionals out there are who are upholding their hippocratic oaths and practicing medicine to the best of their ability for the best health of their patients. But — like too many industries — the decision-makers aren’t the front-line professionals. I used to work in food-service. I did it for over a decade. And I was always amazed that people who rarely — if ever — worked in the actual restaurant were in charge of deciding how food was to be prepared in the real world. There we were in our aprons with our knives and ingredients trying to make sense of the way the “suits” wanted us to construct this food in the middle of a lunch rush. Well, that’s too often how it works — especially in first-world countries. So, now many of our country’s medical decisions are being made by doctors who are also trying to play politics. Science and reason are being thrown out in favor of fear and social justice. So, not only can we expect that much of our mainstream health care this year will be as virtual as possible, we can also plan that the dictates that are passed down the line are going to continue to try to redefine health as we’ve known it. And one of the most discouraging philosophies that has gained traction over the past year is that sanitary = healthy. Now, don’t get me wrong. Though I don’t have my doctorate, I have studied viruses and bacteria for many years. I won’t go into all of the reasons right now for said study, but — let’s just say that — I’ve done my homework. I’m thankful that surgical rooms and implements are sanitary. I really am, but a lack of personal study, a loss of very important scientific principles, and the substitution of the fact that God created our bodies to work correctly for the belief that we’re evolving and — therefore — better off today than we used to be . . . has lead to one major misconception among the masses. And that misconception is that we will somehow be healthier if we interact with fewer and fewer viruses and bacteria. Now, don’t you dare take anything I’m saying today, make some ridiculous, uninformed decision, and then try to blame me for it. Allow me to use a common example to illustrate my point — chickenpox. It used to be that parents let their kids play in the mud, roll through grass, and swim in the creek out back. They would eat real food grown outdoors without washing it in various chemicals. And when a parent heard that a child on the block had contracted chickenpox, they would take their own child over to their house for a play date. They wanted their child to contract chicken pox! Why? Well, to make a long story short, God designed our bodies to fight off chickenpox, and — in the process — become stronger because of it. So strong — in fact — that if they child were to ever come in contact with chickenpox in the future, their body would have no problem fighting it off. However, an adult who contracts chickenpox will get far sicker than they would have as a child, and could even die. But what did our society do? Well, they developed a shot that would supposedly protect our kids from chickenpox. Of course, they need to get the shot more than once, and there’s no guarantee they will not have adverse side-effects from the shot, and there’s no guarantee they won’t ever contract chickenpox. And the more time that goes by, the higher risk there is. So, with that kind of thinking, the only answer is to put us in bubbles that will prevent our bodies from ever coming in contact with the varicella-zoster virus. But when we do that, we’re actually undermining the body’s ability to protect itself . . . not just from VCV, but also from other viruses we’ll encounter in life. Now, I’m not expounding some new information, nor am I suggesting you kiss every person on the sidewalk to come in contact with as many illnesses and diseases and bacteria as possible because you think you’re going to become superman. There are so many factors involved in this from diet and exercise to personal constitution to what health methods are employed to help the body defend itself. My point is that even though there were a multiplicity of studies and statistics that showed us that God’s plan for our bodies is generally working the way He planned, we’re entering 2021 believing that we need masks and social distancing and vaccines and drugs and hand sanitizer and germ-free bubbles to stay healthy. That kind of thinking is going to have a major impact on your family, the community in which you live, and your nation. Now, what should you and your family do about this continuing change in how we view our bodies, sickness, health, immune systems, and medical treatment? Well, I’ve probably already gotten myself in enough trouble as it is, so I’m going to invite you to do your research. Do not simply accept what you’re hearing on Facebook. In fact, there’s great importance in taking the time to genuinely research the other side of the argument. This is not biblical doctrines we’re talking about here. Ask questions, dig deeper, study, research, and allow yourself to doubt the talking heads that can’t seem to agree with each other and who frequently contradict what they said earlier. Also, find the people who are healthy and well find out what they’re doing. Why would America, a hyper-power that spends billions of dollars every year on health and wellness be one of the sickest countries in the world? Is it possible that our established medical authorities are missing something? Well, for the sake of your family . . . do find out. My kids and I will be swimming in the creek behind our house. Now, I have one more point to discuss today, but we’re only halfway done. Be sure to join us for part two next Tuesday. But allow me to end today’s show on a lighter note. 4. We might be able to expect an increase in magical children’s names this year. Today.com has a bunch of lists of trending baby names. They describe their very first list like this: “The defining names of 2021 have an element of magic to them. They’re the names of superheroes (and super-antiheroes), names that carry an incantatory power to protect and strengthen our children in these difficult times. Perhaps the most startling names in this group are those of mythic and outsized figures, both good and evil. For every Adonis, there’s a Kali. For every Titan, there’s a Persephone. For every Messiah, there’s a Lucifer. The mythological and biblical names that have been the dominant trend in recent years now include names whose power may have been considered too dark for a baby before this year when the world was fighting for its life.” In addition to the names already listed, and yes, Messiah and Lucifer are both on the list, here are some other’s you’ll find: there’s Brave, Cyrus, Delilah, Jupiter, Kylo, Loki, Noble, Oz, Pandora, and Titan. But then there are other categories of names that sound almost as magical. There are the Cottagecore Names like Bear, Clover, Faye, Opal, River, and Wilder. Japanese names are making a comeback. Of course, I won’t be surprised if our cancel-culture cries foul at a non-Japanese child being named Yuki. They will probably call it cultural-approbation. And then there are the Ever names like Ever, Everett, Everly, Evers, and Everson. And where would we be without the incoming flock of 2021 avian middle names including Birdie, Dove, Falcon, Nightingale, Phoenix, Sparrow, Swan, and Wren. Conclusion
We have a bunch more 2021 parenting trends coming at you on our next show. But — more importantly than that — our next episode is going to reflect even more on Scripture and how we need to approach all of the experiences we’re going to encounter this year.
Please share this episode on your favorite social media outlets, and join us next time as we open God’s Word to discover how to parent our children for life and godliness.
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