Tim and I sit down with our friend Jeremy Janda and invite him to share his heart in this episode. As a husband and father, leader in his church, and 5th generation resident of Fayette County, Jeremy has sought to use his time, energy and resources to serve and invest in our local community. Over the past few years, he’s become increasingly more aware of the books that are lining the shelves of our children’s public libraries, of the resources our kids readily have at their fingertips. 

We pick up the conversation with Jeremy sharing a little about his growing up years and how his past has compelled him to actively engage in this controversial topic. My hope is that this discussion empowers parents to have more intentional conversations with their kids about what they’re consuming, raises awareness among adults about the content children are exposed to, and encourages communities to resist convenience in favor of pursuing what’s truly best for our children. 

Jeremy invites further conversation and questions on this topic. If you'd like to connect with him, email: [email protected]

Show Notes/Quotes:

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“Kids are not mature enough to handle these topics, children that are sexualized at young ages - there are plenty of studies that show it is not healthy, it leads to so many different problems in the future.” 

“The problem I have with the language is if it can’t be used freely in school then why is it ok to hand out literature that has that language in it?”

“It’s going into libraries before it’s sat in the hands of parents or people…books that were put into print very quickly…there haven’t been many adult eyes that have been able to look at this and go - ‘Is this good for our children’s minds? Is this good for our children’s hearts?’”

“I think it’s important if anything comes out of this podcast that parents realize this is not a big city problem, this is not another state’s problem, this is in Texas, this is in every school district.”

“If we promote or lead children down a path of sinfulness, I think that’s the worst form of hate you could give to anybody.”

“That’s what this argument is about - what’s appropriate for children and what’s not.”

“I do know that us not pouring into our children in this short time period that we have to do that, they are kids for such a short period of time…and our influence during that period of time is so crucial.”

“Parents have to stand up and say we’re not going to be complacent, we’re not going to be that generation of tolerating it.” 

“After 2 decades studying the religious, spiritual lives of American adolescents the evidence is clear, no other institution or program comes close to shaping youth religiously as their parents do.” -Dr. Christian Smith

“The influence that you have as a parent is from age 0 to 18. From 0 to 18 you would have already spent 85% of the time that you’ll ever spend with your child, has already been spent. And you will spend the rest of your life, however many years that might be, with that credit of 15%. That’s always resonated with me. As inconvenient sometimes as it can be to be a parent, I have to recognize that this is where my time needs to be spent right now.”

Jeremy invites any further discussion and questions on this topic! If you’d like to learn more or connect with him in more depth, email him at [email protected]

Verses: 

Matthew 18:5-9

Romans 12

James 4