Interview with Elizabeth Johnston (The Activist Mommy) - Raising Children in a Culture of Death

0:00 I Am Yours, I am yours, I am yours s and me, Lord, I am your. Welcome to the Gospel Center pro life podcast and this episode we're going to talk with Elizabeth Johnston, the activist Mommy, about how to raise children in the culture of death. Hope you're blessed as you listen to this episode. Stay tuned. I felt show passis touch your heart. Use me well. Welcome to the Gospel Center pro life podcast. I had with me today the activist Mommy, Elizabeth Johnston, and she's going to share her heart about raising your children in the culture of death. We talked about the culture of death. You know, primarily this is a this is a prolife podcast. We're talking about the issue of abortion in light of the Gospels. We're going to focus on that issue and her heart is, you know, toward that issue, saving babies and proclaiming the Gospel, but also might touch on even some other larger cultural issues, because we live in a culture of deaths or when it get into some of the nitty gritty of that.

1:11 But introduce yourself just real quick on your people probably know you. They've heard the activist Mommy thing and they've seen some of your your information or some of your social media stuff out there. But introduce yourself and, yeah, my name is Elizabeth Johnston and I've been married for twenty years and my husband and I have been blessed us to give birth to actually sixteen children. Six have gone on to be with the Lord or miscarried and we have ten living children, okay, and we have really raised our children on the front lines of abortion clinics, long before I was ever the activist Mommy, okay, we've been taking our children to abortion clinics ever since I've been married, yeah, and going and praying and offering help and hope to the women, men and women going in and honestly, it's one of the greatest things we could have ever done as a family to teach our children the difference between right and wrong, teach our children what's important in life, show our children what happens when you live a broken and sinful life, how sin, yeah, leads to brokenness and how you want to avoid that in your life. Teaching our children to become passionate toward those who are in broken situations and hard situations.

2:23 Honestly, so much of that has been learned on the sidewalks outside abortion clinics these last twenty years. It's not something you can just teach with a book. Yeah, you know, you have to show and not just tell. Yeah, and that's one of the greatest ways parents today can be involved in a life changing ministry and at the same time be changing the lives of their children probably eternity. Yeah, so, I mean you sort of jumped right in there talking about bringing your kids. You have ten kids and you're bringing these ten kids out to an abortion clinic and some people think you know. No problem to me. My kids been raising from an abortion clinic to but some people who are listening might think you know and that's that's that's a little extreme. You know, we teach our kids you bet abortions bad, but take them out to an abortion clinic. That's sort of like, you know, that's taking it to the next level. What would you say to people who sort of that's that's a barrier for them, like I'm not going to take my kids to an abortion clinic? Well, abortion clinics are the darkest place, yeah, any city, and they need the light of the Gospel more than any place in the city. And so I think it's a wonderful opportunity to have your children. They are learning how to Minister Hope and Minister The Gospel to people. You know, we named our ten child after a woman named Eva Adol okay who survived a concentration camp as a child and now she's in hers and she's actually been arrested many times for her pro life work here in again America, once she had moved here. But Eva talks about

3:59 how she wishes so much that when she was suffering in a concentration camp, and a brutal, brutal suffering. Yeah, Kenny, wouldn't even be able to discuss the suffering here on your podcast. She talks about how she wishes so much that Christians, not a couple of Christians, but Christians by the thousands, had laid their bodies on the train tracks that were harding people made in the image of God, you off to these concentration camps. How she wished that they had sacrifice because you know, the the authorities wouldn't of a cared if it had been two people laying on the tracks, but if thousands had had come to their aid in unity as the body of Christ, so many lives would have been saved and so you know, I don't want my children to ask me twenty years from now, when abortion is outlawed, just like slavery is outlawed now, and and they ask me, mom, Dad, what did you do? Yeah, you know, they were, they really killing babies on main street. Yeah, they were actually doing the imagine.

5:00 Imagine it's outlawed twenty years from now and it's unthinkable. We can't even fathom that this is happening, just like we can't fathom, you know, kidnapping people and and, you know, putting chains around their necks and their feet. Right now we can't fathom this. There's going to be a day, Lord Willing, that we're going to have the same victory over a board. Yeah, Amen, when our children asked us, what were you doing when they were killing babies, and all you can say is, well, I was going to work every day and I was voting Republican and I was going to chanse on Sunday. I mean, don't we want to be able to say that we did more than that, that we were willing to risk a little something for the sake of these people made in the image of God?

5:41 And that's what these babies are inside their mother's wombs, and so you know, I'm it's not any more dangerous than any other ministry. You do outside really to to peep bol regardless of what it is, and you know you have a constitutional right to stand on the sidewalk and exercise your free speech rights and you don't have to be aggressive. Again, you can just come and pray. You'll be amazed if you just show up and make yourself available. How you know? Possibly within hours you could have a woman talking you, telling you that her pimp brought her here to get an abortion and she wants help and she wants out and she doesn't want to kill her baby. It's incredible the situations you'll find ourselves. The statement just show up is a very relevant statement when it comes to being at an abortion clinic. So sort of what I hear you saying is and a lot of Christian parents, I mean, listen, as Christian parents we need to be teaching our kids the word of God right. We need to be teaching our kids what Jesus taught and Jesus law, which is the law of Love, Love God and love your neighbor. But what I hear you saying is as that as Christian parents, we don't just need to teach our kids that from the Bible. We do, but we need to show them that where other people need to be loved. Right, we talk about love, we talk about our desire and our need to love our neighbor, but where our neighbors are being killed, let's go love them. They're absolutely faith without works is dead. Yeah, and so how impressive is your faith to your children when they don't see works accompanying it? Yeah, and and honestly, in order to be salt and light, you got to get out of your house. Yeah, how are

7:13 the how are you salt in life? You're never out of your house. And you know, I'm a part of the homeschool community. I have homes gold every one of my children, all the way from the beginning. Yeah, and we've, you know, gone to homeschool conferences and I'm speaking at homeschool conferences, and this is actually when you probably have homeschoolers listening to your podcast. Yeah, this is one of the witnesses, I would say, in the homeschool community. Is that the salt is in the Shaker. Yeah, and it's not all. I like that. Like you bring that point up, because you're right. It's like we homeschool to shield our kids. And you know, listen, people talk about helicopter MOMS and dad's and shielding our kids. We need to shield our out of it, to shield our kids from sin. No Shame, course. Yeah, but it doesn't mean that we're not. They're going to be exposed to sin, it's just in the proper context. Yes, so I like that you brought up. In the homeschool movement people want to shield their kids. Yes, and as people people ask me, you bring your kids to an abortion clinic and people are cussing and yelling and on it. It's like this. My kids are going to hear cussing. It's better for me that they heard in that contest and they heard in some other contexts, because they at least can see the distinction between light and darkness. You kind of get that same let them hear it in the context of Mommy and daddy reproving it of yeah, and daddy shedding light on the situation and bringing the truth to the person. Absolutely my kids have been exposed to all kinds of things, all kinds of arguments, whether it be arguments for sexual anarchy, arguments for abortion, arguments for evolution, we love our children to be exposed to those things. We're not threatened or intimidated by that at all. Let it be in the context of you being right there with them on the front lines of the right issues. And those

8:46 things have just shaped my children into really warriors. You know, my kids, my older kids, they are passionate about this. They're not like uninterested bystanders. You know, mom's dragging me out of the clinic. Oh No, no, no, no, let me explain. They are waking me up to go to the abortion clinic. They are saying mom, get, get your mom out of bed. Yeah, let's get out there and rescue children. Yeah, because you know they've they've felt that feeling that calms when you save a child from abortion. Yeah, I mean it's addictive. There's nothing like that feeling about those saving a life. And would you rather your kids to be addicted to fortnight or or love that feeling so much they get when they see a child saved from from abortion? My kids love it and and they're not into video games and stuff, because frontlines ministry is exciting.

9:39 You know, there's nothing, nothing better than that, and I would I would like to say that as parents, are our duty is to God first and our marriage is super important and we need to be willing to put our children first and and very important ways and be weird in the culture if necessary. For the I've only been the activist mommy for like three years, okay, as far as that title in that platform or whatever. Before that I never intended on being a public figure in any way. I was just a diaper bag carrying homeschool mom who poured everything into my children and my husband and their giftings and their passions. Yeah, and I want to say to the young mother's listening right now that that is super important and you have to say no to a lot of things if you want a godly successful family. You have to say no to a lot of things that are going to pull at you in this culture, in ministry, in Church, you're going to be asked to volunteer, to do this and that and the other, and I've seen so many moms like segregate themselves from their children because the moms are doing all of these wonderful ministry activities but they're not spending the time that it absolutely takes to nurture your children in the Lord, to train them in the word to discipline them, to teach them to be, you know, Amazing Warriors for God, you've got to say no, you got to be willing to

11:13 be weird if necessary. Maybe your kids aren't going to necessarily go to the youth group or the Sunday school class and you're had to make hard decisions that your children won't always understand in order for you to do what you believe is best for their their souls and best for their upbringing. And so I just want to say to the younger mom's listening that don't feel guilty that you're not doing all the stuff that I'm doing right now. I'm in a different season of life where I've got all these older children who are helping me. I would have never done, I repeat, I would have never done and what I'm doing right now if I just had four or five little stairstep young children. Yeah, I poured everything into those young children and it has everything to do with where I am right now as a parent and how we're all now working together in in ministry. It has everything to do with any success that I have had. And and don't feel guilty. Don't don't go out and save the world and lose your children. Your children have to be before the world. Yeah, yes, one of the things that we make sure with our volunteers. We do have some homeschool moms that are volunteers and some young moms and and some dads too, and we make sure, hey, listen, your first ministry is to your family. If you have the neglect that to come out here, then you're not you shouldn't be out here right.

12:22 And so you know, that's that's a good word, getting good encouragement. But this, you know, this battle, you know, not just in front of the abortion clinic, because you're involved in more than that. You're doing stuff nationally, you're speaking nationally. You did the day of morning. I did want to bring the day of morning thing up in New York, when the governor and the the legislature there past some of those radical pro abortion legislation. Ever, speak a little bit about your burden with that, that event, the day of morning thing, and just you know, a little bit of how the Lord Progress that thing, because that was that was an amazing movement. It was a pivotal moment in our nation. I think that a sleeping church suddenly woke up. Yeah, it shouldn't have taken that we should be just as outraged at a five week old in the uterus being murdered as a forty week old baby. Ye, murdered. But unfortunately, because of the lethargy and the compromise in the church, this is what it took.

13:22 And so when governor Cuomo signed that outrageous piece of infantaside legislation, and all, a probortion legislation is outrageous, I should add this, this particularly upset the sensibilities of Americans and of believers, and so there was a huge outcry and there was there was a huge cry even to me individually, Elizabeth, what are we going to do about this? Yeah, from people who follow what I do and and we prayed about it and I got a team together and said, you know, what is our response to this? What should God's people response be to this? And we just said, you know, second chronicle, fourteen, morning morning, repenting sackcloth and ashes and apologizing to the Lord for what we've done. If my people, who are called by my name, will homma themselves and pray and seat my face and turn from their weeked ways, then, and only then, well, I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land, and we all know that we desperately need healing in our land, and so that was our response.

14:24 We called for the entire nation to fast and pray on that day in February and we also held a large service in all beny, New York, right in the belly of the beast there where the legislation was signed at the State House. And Wow, Daniel, I know you watched to be a live stream here, what a powerful anointed time and the way the Holy Spirit was with us as we cried out to God. And we've seen a lot of legislation and and a lot of pushback came after that and a lot of people going out onto the front lines to pray and to offer help to men and women as a result of the day of mourning. And what happy I think you somebody said that in that legislation and then the other several pieces of pro, radical pro abortion legislation that came out like the devil overplayed his hand.

15:16 Yeah, God's people got stirred up. Of course, our prayers that continues, not just a onetime thing. Yeah, we've had we've seen an influx and people who are want to be involved with us as a ministry. And I think, Nashally, we've seen the tension. I'm sure you've gotten some some feedback on your facebook and social media all that, from people who just stirred up and there. You know, they've been in the dark, or not in the dark maybe, but just been asleep for a while. Yeah, and they're just waking up to these to these things. And during the day of morning, we work together on a website called, yes, sidewalks for life, yeah, calm, with the number for sidewalks for lifecom and plug in there, yeah, and which we're trying to provide resources in training, even video training, that we have there on the website. And you help. We work together on that because we we realize, you know, what are we going to do with all these people? Like Friday, four thousand people came calling you to action, but we don't have an actually for yeah, to the all of New York, day of morning and Fortyzero, we're watching be a live stream all one time. And like, what do we do with all these people who are ready to do something and put feet to their their prayers? Yeah, of repentance and and so sidewalks for livecom is a great resource for your podcast listeners to go to and get some training and even what to say and what not to say when you're out there.

16:36 It's a great resource and help you feel a little more comfortable if you've never been out to an abortion clinic before. Yeah, so I think we've touched on the activist part a lot and I think we could probably touch on a lot more of that. You know, talking about the LGBTQ, X Y Z three Po Agenda and how you how you fought that sort of thing. But I want to talk about the mommy part. You mentioned some of that and with that just awesome encouragement for MOMS to do the main thing. But what does it look like on a daytoday basis for an activists mommy from for a mother like many Christian moms, like every Christian mom, who's passionate about the stuff that Jesus is passionate about, yeah, and is passionately opposed to the things the devil's trying to push. But but really, day today they've got kids that they've got a they've got a ten too, and they've got a train and they've got a teach and that's their first ministry. What does it look like on a daytoday? Base Im, and I'm not talking about break down your day and what serially eat in the morning that, but just, you know, just kind of nets and bolts. You know, MOMS are amazing. MOMS are multitaskers. Nobody can multitask like a mom.

17:42 Yeah, and honestly, I can change a diaper, Cook up some Bacon and organize a drag Queen Story. Are protest faster and most men can probably read one email. Probably. I don't mean for that to come across the wrong way, but there's something about MOMS that they really do have a knack for multitasking, and so that's what the activist Mommy is doing. Yeah, is cooking for children in the kitchen, reading emails, sitting down on the couch. I am working with my young ones, who can't read real fluently yet, so we're still working on phonics and we're adding and subtracting with their school books, and while I'm doing that, I may be taking a couple phone calls and then, you know what, come twelve o'clock, I may be telling my seventeen year old we watch the children, I have a quick interview and I run into the bathroom and hide and I do a quick interview with fifteen minutes. Then I come back out and you know, we're continuing on with our day. I personally make sure that my homeschooling functions without me, mostly, yeah, that the children work very independently on their schooling.

18:48 I pick things that do not require a lot of me because of this season that I'm in, whereas used to and the in the first ten, fifteen years of home schooling, you know, my homeschool day might have lasted most of the day and till to a clock or something, whereas now the only ones that need me are like the the five year old and a seven year old, and the rest of them are all doing all of their school independently. It's amazing, yeah, how easy it is to make your home school work that way. Yeah, and you know, you don't have to grade papers every day. It's something you can do once a week, once a month. You can utilize programs that do the grating themselves, so you don't have to do that. There's so many amazing resources out there where you can have your children at home, you can be training them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. You can be protecting them from the absolute evil insanity that they're getting exposed to in the public schools. You can be doing all of that and at the same time, you know, you could be maybe going to your school board meeting that evening to fight the transgender bathroom policy in your in your school. And you can do it as a family, and I highly encourage you take your kids to do these things with you. That is I don't know why parents think they have to go do these things without their children. Know you want your kids and toe. These experiences are life changing. They will never forget seeing their MOMS stand up at the at the school board meeting and and fight for truth. You know, don't miss those life changing moments. Take them with you. There's so many things you could

20:19 do and I would just say do what it is that God is laid on your heart. We are all a different part of the body of Christ. Someone's the Pinkies, someone's the you know, the nose, and do what he's laid on your heart. Maybe you need to run for school board, maybe you need to deal with an issue with the city council, maybe you need to be at the soup kitchen. Whatever it is that God has put on your heart. Be Obedient in that thing. Don't fear and be obedient. And and it's like David when he when he slayed the lion and the bear, you know, with his bare hands and and he used his faith and courage in God to do those things. And then God said, all right, I'm gonna give you Goliath. You know, if you'll be obedient in those little things, you might be amazed in just a few short years, which is what I have seen happen to me, not asking for this to APP and how God might bring giants to slay your way if you'll just be faithful. He's looking for faithfulness. I mean be faithful in the nursing, the midnight nursing and the diaper changes. There's not one diaper change you do that God isn't seeing. He's seeing every bit of Your Mundane, Boring faithfulness around the house or whatever. Maybe you're a working woman, whatever the situation is, He sees your faithfulness. Be Courageous when he gives gives you something. You something's burning on your heart and man, you know you better watch out because God's about to do great things. Man. So I hear you say in you know, find out where God has called you and you

21:52 create. Me If I'm wrong about this, but bring your kids along. Yeah, US always, I think in our society, you know, even the church, the church probably is one of the most segregated entities on the face of the planet. We segregate based on race, we segregate, even if within our programs, based on your male and female and age group and all that stuff. Excuse me. Some of that stuff, I guess, can be appropriate and there can be appropriate times to have, you know, men's Bible studies or whatever, but for the most part it seems to me that we need to be serving together and doing stuff together. And when you have a mom who you know, sometimes the husband, listen, sometimes men have to work nine to five and it just can't be there and involved in all those things. But right when I see you guys and I see you family doing stuff on a regular basis, it's like you take everybody you can and everybody's inteen passenger. Vani pull off. That's right, because this is like we're serving God together as a family. So sort of, if you can speak to that mentality and how to sort of because it, because it is you know, we live in a culture of death and I wanted to kind of get to that point. We're talking about a culture of death.

23:00 We're talking about a culture who basically sees children as a burden, yeah, and sees, you know, pregnancy as a disease. How do we? Even in the church, people have embraced this mentality. How do you? How do you cast that mentality off and say, you know what, I think having ten children is a blessing, not a burden. Yes, how do you throw that thing off and just walking what God's Word says? Children are blessing from the Lord? Yes, and embrace, I think, a biblical mentality that we need to be serving as a family and children aren't asset rather than a hinderance? It takes effort, yeah, it takes energy, because what it is is completely swimming against the current to do this. Yeah, even in Christians Society, Christians circles I'm talking about. If you are not willing to swim against the current, even in the church, you this, this is one way where you'll just be like everyone else. Yeah, and so definitely as a family, pretty much, if we haven't been able to do something as a family over the first twenty years of of our parenting we haven't done it. Yeah, we have chosen to do ministry related activities that we can bring our children along and even when my husband's had to travel arrive, I've had to travel, we always try to take at least one child. If it's an expensive plane ticket or something, try to take one child with it and, yeah, with us and let it be a time of, you know, bonding. But this is something that was challenging for

24:33 us the first twenty years and thank God we stood our ground and we stayed the course on this, because the Lord was really speaking to us about this that we didn't want our children necessarily to be pawned off to the children situation or the youth group. We wanted them to experience the big boy and big girl anointing in mom and dad's service. Yeah, and I think that that has an impact on on our children. And so we were always weird like we our kids didn't go to children's church, they didn't go to youth group because not because we didn't think that the teachers were awesome. The teachers were awesome, they were amazing, but there is something to be said for a lot of interactions that take place between peers, when parents are not their supervising and when you are assuming that everything is okay. Everything's not always okay.

25:25 Yeah, even at Church, oftentimes your children are being exposed to things and they don't you never hear about it, you will never know what they were exposed to, and so you're not able to counter it, you're not able to shed truth into that situation because you're not going to come to you and tell you about things that are that are uncomfortable, that they were exposed to, because then they feel like they're part of the problem, they're guilty of doing something wrong. And so we always had our children with us and we were weird, yeah, because to the church, at the church, you'll be greeted by greaders telling you right where to take your children, and we would always, with a big small on our face plight was say okay, thank you very much, and then we marked our children right there and with US two services. I can remember very distinctly being a part of a small group. You know, churches have home groups, yes, small groups throughout the week, and we always tried to be a part of a small group if a church offered that. Being a part of these small groups where we would go with our children and how, even if that meant you got to entertain them a little bit, you got to have coloring books and crayons and things to keep them quiet while the Bible study is going on. And no one else ever had their children. Yeah, not even their teenagers. The teenagers were maybe at a youth group, kids were with a babysitter or somewhere else. Maybe it's some children's thing and the kids are never there. Yeah, and we were always the only ones with our children and I just I think it's one of the best decisions, honestly. Yeah, we made as parents and has shaped our you know, my kids are very you can attested this. My children very comfortable around adults. Yeah, right, very conversational,

26:57 confident around adults, and I think that when you're always putting children with other children, it's not natural for children to be comfortable around adults. And and we we should be training our children for a future and how it's going to be in the workplace or in ministry. And so that was a weird thing that we did and it was definitely against the current, even in the body of Christ. Yeah, and I think it was a very important decision and one that we continue to operate in. You know, we go to we go to a family integrated church, as some would call it, where the children are are in the service with the parents and feeling the same anointing and getting the same type of teaching. And that's what I want for my kids. Yeah, so it takes. You know, I would say from my experience and what you share with me, it takes some intentionality and again, not just flowing with the with the current of society. And you know, as it you pertains to the issue of abortion, and not just teaching your kids and abortion is bad, but teach them because here's here's my thinking is, we don't just teach our kids something it's bad, we teach them how to address the issue. Right. So this is not just a bad thing, let's stay away from it. This is a bad thing and we are called to address it. And so what are you are you saying is like take some intentionality. Yes, so, so in our kids lives, to help our kids to be the salt you mentioned before. You know, so many in the homeschool movement or whatever. The salt is still in the Shaker and you're talking about we need to be intentional about getting it out right,

28:30 getting the salt out of the Shaker in our in our families. What are some like? I don't know, just practical things, just basic practical stuff that people can do for their kids in their personal life too, and and and of course in their family life, to be countercultural, but but really to be going against the grain, but only because society is going against God's grain. Yes, yes, well, what we were just speaking about is one issue in which we see how even the church is allowing some anti child thinking, okay, to seep in. Right now, the kids go over here right, yeah, they're not with us in the in the big service. You know there that that it lot in a lot of ways can be not always, but can be rooted in an anti child mentality. Yeah, and so we you know what, if you don't like us being with our kids, then we're not going to be involved in what you're doing.

29:27 You know about like our kids are part of the package. If we go, they go. Yeah, sure, and so that that's important, I think as a family. Obviously, living the Christian life in a real way in your home on a seven basis has to be there. If you're living a hypocritical life. If your kids see one thing on Sunday and another thing throughout the week, you're you're going to fail. Yes, a parent, it's going to be a very, very toxic in your ability to try to ever speak into your child's life, because they will lose all respect for you. And so consecrating yourself to God and being faithful to God, seven and letting your children you know what, apologizing to your children. Yeah, that was going to mention that because, you know, we we sort of put out there there's these principles. You read the books, right. Yeah, I've read the the training manuals for kids. You know how to train your kids and and all that stuff, and it's like we're almost take this mentality and that, you know, we need to be perfect and we want to show any weakness. One of the things I've learned, and I think you're about to hit that point, is like repenting to your kids sometimes does more than even like having a pretended at least, to have it all in the road. Absolutely they've got to see that you struggle with the flesh just like they do, but that you, when you struggle with it, you do what God expects you to do. Yeah, you repent and you get restored.

30:49 You know, if you mistreat someone, for me it's normally losing my patience with my children and the activist mommy loses are paid. Yeah, yes, you know, for me it would be raising my voice in my children. Yeah, and so then needing to go back and say, I'm sorry, we forgive me and yeah, eat crow, eat a little bit of crow. You know, your child will respect that. They see you walking out a genuine faith in Jesus Christ right and a desire to be a good parent, and they will understand that you're going to fail and they will come back to those moments, you know, when they screw up, when they sin and they are at a cross roads of deciding how am I going to respond to this sin in my life? They'll come back to those moments that they saw mom and dad repent. And so, yeah, this isn't like some kind of fake you know, are you put up? Yeah, that that you're perfect. I'm talking about genuine love for God, day in and day out, trying to do your best for God, and that also will always include, at times, having to repent to the Lord, repent to people in your life. Sure, do you feel like, and I don't know you'll agree with me, says it's kind of like us us also softball.

32:00 But your relationship with your husband, we had we mentioned him a little bit. Dr Johnston. Yes, do you feel like that? That relationship? You know, I've told people that relationship, the husband wife relationship, is the most important relationship in your kids lives, right apart from obviously a relationship with the Lord, because that relationship, the husband wife relationship, it isn't going to need be what it needs to be unless we're in line with the Lord. But the husband and wife relationship and just doing practical stuff there you find the investment there also pays off in the children's lives. Oh my goodness, so much. I mean my husband I both come from broken families and and you know, we really said we planned on the family tree looking different from our marriage on, and both of our parents were divorced, and so it's something that you have to really, really work hard at. And obviously ten children brings, you know, everyday stress into your life and as kids get older and are dealing with bigger things and bigger issues and life decisions, and I haven't even entered grandparents stage yet. I as I enter that stage, I can't even fathom how much I'm going to have to be on my knees for grand babies and and and for my children. But yes, the the marriage relationship, I would say definitely try to have a one night a week, yeah, or day, whatever the situation is for you, a time a week where you have a date with your with your spouse, and just decompress. And from that means like upscale restaurant? No, we

33:30 can be peb and Ja and the backyard if necessary, if there's not a babysitter. Just an intentional attempt, and we've done it at home before. We've done something in our bedroom, you know, cook a meal and and have a candle light, Yep, and shut the door and kids are watching a video. Whatever. Does it have to be fancy? Just an intentional effort to have conversation more than where we going? What are we doing? You know? Yeah, Doctor's appointments, whatever. Intentional connection with your spouse is super important. And yes, obviously if children see a broken marriage, it can have a devastating effect on their lives. And Yeah, my husband and I have had to work very, very hard and may be very intentional about our marriage. It's not been easy and marriage is really the hardest ministry you will ever encounter. Absolutely, and and then second to that would be your children, and they are our most important ministry. And, like I said before, if we're failing at those and, as the word teaches, if we can't handle our own house, you know, who are we to try to be leaders in the House of God? Yeah, and so that that has to be our focus. Yeah, so, you know, we talked about again the culture of death and mentioned some one twenty seven children are blessing from the Lord. I think you mention about coming from a broken home and coming from divorced parents. Your your husband's parents were divorced. I feel

35:04 like that the the spirit of divorce, just like the no fault divorce sort of thing, is a part of that culture of death. Yes, right, this is like the culture that wants a culture of death. You mean you tell me what you think this means, but to me it's like the chipping away of the image of God. Yes, it's the devaluing of human beings, which is what we see at an abortion clinic, but it's also what we see nationally when we're talking about abortion, but also when we're talking about the transgender confusion, divorce, we're talking about you homosexual quote marriage and that sort of thing. But define for me, just give me kind of your take on on the culture of death. And, as you know, we're teaching our kids, obviously, to be in in the word and to know the Lord, and that's countercultural because we live in a culture of death.

35:52 So talk about the culture death and the influence of that can have on kids and then you know how, maybe you've seen some of your kids overcome some of that car but yeah, well, Satan obviously is going to do everything he can and pull out all the stops to attack really the greatest institution ever, yeah, designed by our creator, and that's the institution of marriage. Yeah, he's going to attack the the one woman, one man family, and that is what we are seeing. We're seeing this attack through, obviously, oh Berger fell versus hodges, when it was the Supreme Court decision, I believe, in two thousand and fifteen, was a massive, massive defeat for the natural family and for the God's God's design and attention. Before that was their marrying, homosexual quote marriage. That was case. Yes, yes, and you know, we warned, we warned. If we go down this road, mark our words, we will be seeing so much more evil. It will. It's like a damn of protection was broken. Yeah, and our nation and all manner of evil is now just flowing out and and just taking over our culture and, you know, to the to the point that now people can't figure out if there were a man or a woman.

37:14 We've got two hundred pound men in the private bathrooms and shower rooms and locker rooms of our little girls and just such depravity. And now pedophilia is yeah, honestly, but this isn't conspiracy theory, this isn't Alex Jones Info, wars information. This is now becoming mainstream, that there is now a push for pedophilia in culture. And to say, you know, what is just is just my preference, just like homosexual. I was born that way. I'm born preferring children. This is actually happening. Yeah, and our nation, I mean Sodom and go more the The Times of Rome and what happened to Rome. It was destroyed and we are no greater. I mean we are ripe for catastrophic judgment if we do not repent of our sin, repent of this. You know, murder that we're allowing to take place in our nation and still, you know, really experience a widespread revival, spiritual revival in our land. We're in deep, deep trouble. And so, yeah, there's there's obviously a real attack on on family and we just got to make sure, as God's people, that we are being, like you said, very intentional about protecting our family first from the onslaught of the enemy and evil. And you know what, one of the ways that really hits us right now as parents is through social media and through Internet and through things that your children are able to access. And I just want to say that no one would, in the sound of my voice, should have any child

38:45 on any device in their home that is not protected by something very, very strong that provides not only screening but accountability for you as parents and for us personally. We've always used covenant eyes. Okay, we have had issues and in our family we have had struggles. I have caught things, children have confessed things to me without being caught. My kids are real, just like everybody else is, okay, and because of that I love Covenant Eyes. It is a small fee every month and it we have like six devices on Covenant Eyes and what it does is if your child or anyone, husband, wife, tries to click on something where Covenant Eyes is installed and it is blocked, you will get an email telling you what was blocked. Yeah, and then it allows you to have that accountability conversation and find out what's going on. Why did you try to click that? You know, and find out what's going on in their heart. That parental conversation that needs to happen.

39:46 But seriously, seriously, if you do not have your computers protected, devices phones in your home, this is absolute negligence as a parent. I cannot express this strongly enough, because who, what kind of parent, would allow their children to carry around a playboy magazine all day and all night in their hand? Yeah, that is what our children are doing. So these cell phones that have Internet, that is what they're doing. When you think they're doing school on their computers. If you don't have your computer protected, I know you think your child's an angel. They're not. Yeah, yeah, they're not. Trust me, they're vulnerable. I appreciate you bring that, that subject up, because that is a it's still still ties into the culture of death sort of thing. The whole Perno pornography epidemic and you know, some have said, I think I agree, that if pronography didn't exist, an abortion probably wouldn't exist because, you know, these young men are spurred with with feelings and emotions and to do things they normally, at certain ages, wouldn't be doing when you're thinking about but these images and all this stuff, like sin, always takes you further than you then you really wanted to go, yes, and so I appreciate you bring that. It's all very connected. It's all interconnected and with the whole sexual revolution sort of thing and all of this. You know, it's rooted in sort of a godless mentality that God really is deleted from from society and really has no bearing own

41:22 things, and it has to do with rebellion, obviously against God for those who have that mentality. And then always manifests itself in attacking the image of God attached attacking human being. Pornography is attack on the image of God, worst kind of misogynistic exploitation, you know. And and to think that the radical feminist out there who always throwing around those terms like misogyny exploitation, you know, and they are typically very pro pornography and call that free speech. Yes, very hypocritical, because it is a terrible type of exploitation. And now we have a massive portion, percentage of the population that is completely addicted, yeah, to sex, addicted to pornography, addicted to sexual anarchy, and more and more so. That pornography is very violent and it is even pedophilic in nature, and so much destruction has come through through not being aggressive at shutting that down. But parents, you you can do your part, at least until you know why our children are in your home. Yeah, to to train your children, not just obviously you've got to train them to want God. You've got to train them to want to be used of God and to want to have pure hearts and to want holiness. That's that's a massive part of it. But the truth is you've got to do both.

42:46 You've got to not only train them to avoid sin and to see the the terrible results of sin, you also need to provide that accountability and because, let's just face it, none of us, if we had been had the opportunity to do some of the things and be exposed as some of the things in our youth that children are allowed to be exposed to today. You know, we know that our lives very well might have been very different. Yeah, they are now. I can only imagine if I had, you know, a mini pocket computer that could carry it out everywhere, whenevers. A young PRA ajor who knows a garbage you know, I was already exposed to garbage right now, exposed. I went after it myself, right man, that's just, yeah, that's it's effortless. Now and again I say parental negligence. Yeah, if you are not making sure that all the devices in your home are lockdown sufficiently. Again, it takes energy, it takes effort.

43:43 You cannot be lazy, yeah, about parenting. Laziness will will end up resulting in a lot of Disciplin pointment for you. Yeah, a lot of pain for you. Ultimately, the energy put in is so worth it. Yeah, you know, seeing my kids be passionate about serving the Lord and leading in ministry now and saying no to evil, it is so worth all of the swimming against the current that I did. Yeah, yeah, you know, going with the current, just kind of sitting in the Lazy River of life, is the easy way to do it. But those are not the people that we remember in human history. Who just kind of went with the the tide and went with the currents. You're right, swam against it and we need to do that as parents on sort of a micro level.

44:31 You know, then the Lord can do I mean, I look at the life of a woman like Susanna Wesley, if you've ever read her life, I mean kids. They have like fourteens, yes, and she raises two of the most godly men, Charles and John Wesley, that we remember in history, and cheated some difficult stuff, you know, and I'm sure there was a lot of battles in the house and a lot of stuff, you know, going on behind the scenes. But we remember somebody like that, we remember the impact her kids had and and I think it gives us some fuel for the fire and in the mundane stuff, because that's really where the rubber meets the ready. Mundane is life. You know, you'll probably leave here and change some diapers when you get home. You still have kids and I have one in pull up, some one in pull up. Yeah, that's where we're at. To youngest is three. She's a nighttime pull up. So yeah, that's where we're at. It's sort of it's weird not to have a lot of diapers. It is, it's nice, it's weird, but it's also it's kind of sad to you. It won't take long, though. You're going to have a grand bas you never know, right. I appreciate you coming and shared is anything else you want to you want to touch on before we wrap this thing up, I just say, going back to what I said earlier about being faithful in the small things and in the mundane things. That should always be our priority. Yeah, whether someone's watching or whether they're not. What who are we? Yeah, when no one is watching. That should always be our focus and our hearts cry should just always be you know, Lord, I don't deserve anything. You've given me salvation and I deserve hell in the lake of fire, and here you are. You've offered me salvation of all. For me, Jesus, you've all from me, Eternity and Heaven and paradise with you. What can

46:06 I do to serve you? How can I be used in your kingdom if that's us behind the scenes all the time, even when we're struggling in our marriage, even when we're struggling in a crisis with our children? I promise you, God sees that and you know what you will be rewarded for that. You may be rewarded for that in this life or it may be a reward in the next life, but it does not go on sane and it does not go unrewarded, and so be encouraged with that. Yeah, Amen. Amen. Well, we appreciate those who have joined us and hope this, this podcast, was a blessing to you. Appreciate you, Elizabeth, for coming and take it some time away from your kids and your husband to come and do this, this is podcast with us. Do when are you mind? You, Elizabeth, brought it up earlier the sidewalks for life side that we've set up sidewalks the number four lifecom and that has some articles about sidewall counseling and how to get equipped doing sidewalk councling, Gospel centered sidewalk counseling.

47:00 Really feel like the Gospel is important to be the focus and the thrust of our ministry, to proclaim the Gospel, and so information about that is there. You can connect with me Charlotte dot cities for Life Dot Org and just shoot me an email if you have suggestions for the podcast subjects you want us to cover. We'd love to cover those and if you want to connect with Elizabeth, how they do that. Activist mommycom has everything. This mommycom. It's all there. Follow her on facebook. She puts post out on a regular basis and you know they're doing some the Dragon Queen Story Hour, trying to get those things taken out of the libraries so that that garbage is not thrust on unknowing children. So we appreciate all that you do, Lizabeth, and appreciate all those who've listened. Hope that you're blessed and have good rest of your day. Use Mil use me, give me, give me.

48:06 Will cost me my life, but these two precious inside