35| Candace Owens "They Need Your Children"; Reclaiming Our Most Precious Resource
Hi, friends. Welcome back to Intentional Motherhood. I'm your host, Kelsey Redd, a mom of four, formerly mental health counselor, and a woman learning just right alongside you how to parent from a place of faith and presence. And before we get started in today's episode, I want to remind you to make sure you're getting on my email list. The link is in the show notes so that you can be informed of all the new things I'm starting.
Kelsey Redd:Most importantly, that prayer focused Bible study that I'll be starting here in the next little bit that you're not gonna wanna miss. I'm still going through the Bible study program myself because it's really important to me to first embody what it is that I share with you and then to teach and share it from a place of embodiment, as well as I'm still figuring out the logistics of how we're gonna do it, but I'm imagining maybe some sort of WhatsApp group where we can have daily conversation and interactions, as well as maybe even some live calls where we can go through things together and we can just lead through this amazing Bible study that will help you just deepen your prayer practice. It's been such an amazing few weeks as I've been going through it, seeing how the stillness and the praising just adds so much into your prayer practice. So I'm really excited to share that with you when we get to that point. So make sure you go check the show notes for a link to get on my email list.
Kelsey Redd:And of course there's so many resources, both free and paid for that are linked in my show notes or on my Instagram bio at creating. Intentional. Mothers. I've been creating quite the library to share with you guys, and I hope you're taking advantage of that. So if you've been listening to my podcast for a while now, you know how strongly I feel about intentionally creating the culture that you want for your family, as well as really honoring the opportunity that we have as mothers to be the most important influence for our children.
Kelsey Redd:You probably also remember that I was highly affected by the Charlie Kirk assassination, as I know many of you were, and that I felt really strong that it was a call, a wake up call for the mothers of this nation to step up and speak out and reclaim our power and influence over our own family and to really recognize that we are raising the future generation. We are raising the future leaders of our country and our world. And that is a responsibility that we can't take lightly because unfortunately our country and the world is going in a direction where we need to take a stand. We have to choose a side and we have to be willing to stand up for what's right, for truth, for justice, and for our children and our families. In a recent episode of her show, Candace Owens said something that really caught my attention.
Kelsey Redd:She said, They need your children. That is the one resource they can't buy. And she was talking about how different ideologies, political, cultural, and even economic systems recognize that whoever shapes the next generation shapes the future. And I'm not here to make this political, but that really got me thinking because as a mom, as a teacher and as a believer, I know that there is a battle for our children's hearts. Not necessarily in the way that social media dramatizes it, but in a very real spiritual sense.
Kelsey Redd:You guys have heard me talk about the spiritual warfare that we are in right now. I really do truly believe that there is a spiritual war going on right now and we have to step up and claim our children. Candice continues with this theme and she's talked about, this is a quote from her, Both the bodies and the minds, your children are what they want. That is the one resource they wish to own. And of course, she's talking about not only are we being told what to put into our children's bodies from the day they are born, but this phrase captures something profound.
Kelsey Redd:Every app, every ad, every streaming show is competing for our children's attention. Every ideology, whether it's secular, political, or even just consumer driven wants to form our children before we even get the chance to. And that's why as parents, we have to anchor our children. We have to become the loudest, the calmest, and the most loving and present voice in the room. We have to hold on to our kids.
Kelsey Redd:You guys have heard me talk about this book and the next episode I record will be actually going even deeper into that book that I've been referencing. Hold on to Your Kids about how we have to maintain our influence as the most important influence in our children's lives. And this doesn't come by fearfully gripping tighter onto our children, but by cultivating connection strong enough to withstand all the noise and intentionally creating an environment that allows us to be in control of the influences that our children are affected by. And I really do think that this is revolutionary, but the real revolution starts within our own homes. I think moms everywhere are starting to realize that something is off something in the way that we've been told to raise our kids, in the way we live, the way we educate, the way we consume, it just doesn't sit right anymore.
Kelsey Redd:We're not continuing to believe the narrative that we've been taught all these years, that we should outsource our children to so many other systems. And again, Candace Owens says, They need your children. That's the resource. That's the one resource they can't buy. Now, of what you think of Candace or politics, that line really hit me because it's true, not in a conspiratorial sense, but in a cultural sense.
Kelsey Redd:There really is a system that needs our kids, their time, their attention, their creativity, and their future, their future buying power, their future beliefs and political affiliations. But as moms, we have to decide, are we going to hand that over to them or are we going to reclaim it? It just feels like in everything from schools to screens and social media, sports, they all just are telling us, just trust us to take care of your kids. Just trust us to raise your children. We'll handle what we teach them, the values we want to instill in them.
Kelsey Redd:We'll control their identity. And before we even realize it, we've outsourced every aspect of childhood. And I think that's why so many moms are waking up and saying, Enough. Enough of the outsourcing, enough of our children spending their best hours away from their family, enough of us feeling like we have to justify wanting a slower and saner life, enough of moms being made to feel like they are crazy for wanting to ask questions or have more control over what's put into our children's bodies or how they're educated. And as you guys know, I already was homeschooling, but everything that I've seen in the last couple months and years has so much reinforced my decision that I want to be the one who's taking control of my children's education.
Kelsey Redd:Not because I want to shelter them, but because I want to know what they're being taught, know what it is that they're learning. And I just want to know my children. I want to spend the majority of their day with me rather than with peers and teachers. I want to be part of their curiosity and their questions, their learning, their friendship, their character formation. I don't want to just get the leftovers at the end of the day.
Kelsey Redd:So for us, homeschooling has been part of that reclaiming that I'm talking about, not just for education, but for the rhythm and the peace and the relationship that it provides. And of course it's not easy, but I do believe that anyone who truly wants to can make it work. You can find a way to make it work and it's worth whatever you have to sacrifice or give up or adjust or change your budget for to make it work. I promise you it's worth it. Because it's also not easy to watch your child get shaped by others, and by values that maybe don't even align with your family's heart.
Kelsey Redd:So when Candace said, both the bodies and the minds, your children are what they want, I don't think that has to sound paranoid. It's just, to me, it's just a reminder that everyone wants influence. Every system, every algorithm, every institution is trying to shape what our kids think, what they feel, what they want, what they buy, what they believe. So here's the good news. And I'm gonna talk more about this next week.
Kelsey Redd:Influence is still relational. It's based on that attachment. No curriculum, no influencer, and no institution can compete with the voice of you as a connected present parent. So instead of panicking, our job is to rebuild this influence at home, to rebuild this relationship and attachment with our children so that we can be the most influential figure in their life. So here's what this looks like in real life.
Kelsey Redd:It looks like choosing the unhurried life over the busy life. Rather than filling every moment, we give our kids space to think and to imagine. We teach them to question, question everything, whether it's a commercial, whether it's a trend, whether it's a headline, help them to pause and think critically and say, what questions do we need to ask to get to further investigate this so that we can make a decision for ourselves rather than just believing everything we hear? It looks like bringing learning home again. And maybe you don't start by fully homeschooling your children, but you can at least bring them closer by being more a part of what they're learning, asking questions about the curriculum that's being taught to them, reading books that you know teach them the values you want them to learn, exploring nature and outside together, of course.
Kelsey Redd:We can model curiosity. Let your children see you learning, maybe even unlearning, growing, thinking critically and asking your own questions about the things that we see in the news these days. And of course, anchoring in your family culture, being so clear on what your family values and why. Because that clarity gives your kids a compass when they feel that the world is so noisy. And again, this isn't about fear.
Kelsey Redd:It's about being so intentional with the one resource that no one else can take from us, our children. You guys may remember the episode titled The Battle Cry of the American Mom. And that battle cry isn't about fighting against the world. But it's about building something stronger within our families. We're in a revolution that starts in our home.
Kelsey Redd:It's taking back our children's childhood. It's taking back the influence that is competing for their attention. It's taking back the joy of just learning and living together. Because if we don't, then the future will be built by all the institutions that have their own motives. But the future that we're trying to build is good, competent, joyous, peaceful, faithful children and families and future mothers and fathers.
Kelsey Redd:And those are built around the dinner table. And they're built at bedtime. And they're built in the long afternoons that you get to spend time together just exploring the outdoors. So yes, I do believe they want our children, but they can't have them because we are showing up and we are paying attention. We are choosing to raise kids whose hearts and minds belong first to their families and not to the system.
Kelsey Redd:Because this is how change begins. Thank you for joining me today. If this episode resonated with you at all, please rate and review the podcast. Share this episode with another mom who's maybe been feeling the same pull, same feeling of something's not right, the same feeling of this, I've had enough of this, and wants to take back her family, share this episode with her so she knows she's not alone. You're not alone in this.
Kelsey Redd:We are doing it together. We are the mothers called of God to be the backbone of our nation, And we are not backing down. I'll see you next time on Intentional Motherhood.