Only 17% of Americans aged 15 to 24 read for pleasure every day
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Hello 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. Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite part of the day, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. And today we're going to talk about something pretty fun and I think pretty relatable. We're going to talk about finding joy and purpose in every stage of your life. And we're going to talk to a guest who has found joy and purpose and helping younger generations learn to love to read. Now this is fun for me because I have always been a reader. I am a reader from way back. I am that girl. I want you to picture this girl in the 1980s with permed wings and a very ruffly blouse with a pastel sweater vest who, who is, you know, hiding in her book under her, a novel under my algebra book, you know, trying to read during class. That was me. I love reading. I love the world that it opens up. But we see generations changing in the way that they are reading. We don't see as much reading for fun. And a 2023 Gallup poll found that only 17% of, of Americans aged 15 to 24 read for pleasure every day. That's down from 30% in 2004. So just basically one generation prior. Now, why is this happening? Well, we can't really say scientifically for sure, but I think common sense tells us that Gen Z spends over seven hours a day on screens and most of that is short form content. These are little 30 second videos, micro content. And neuroscientists are worried that this constant scrolling encourages skimming rather than deep reflective reading. And this is reshaping how our brains process information. Now, for me, in a science field, I look and I see scientists who are studying this, seeing how it is literally changing the structure of our brains, which is kind of a big thing to think about because sometimes when we see society changing, when we see trends changing, you know, there's this tension of, oh, well, you know, you just want to hold on to the way that things used to be done. and, but we're moving forward, but sometimes we move forward so quickly we don't stop to think about the ways that that can change society. And so my guest today is here to talk to us about that. She is a living proof that it's never too late to reinvent your life or reignite your purpose.
Teresa Granberry writes Finding joy and purpose in midlife and beyond
We're talking today To Teresa Granberry. Now she's the president of Harvest Creek. She's a lifelong lover of books, so I think we're going to be instant friends just based on that. And she turned a childhood passion into a full blown career. Now, after being told at the age of 55 she was past her prime. Oh, it hurts me to say that out loud. She proved the doubters wrong by writing the second to the last box, Finding joy and purpose in midlife and beyond. She did a national survey on the midlife experience. She uncovered some powerful insights. And now she helps others rewrite their own stories, Write. Write stories to share with others. And she encourages people to read those stories. She is a creative force in the publishing world, from designing over 150 book covers to coaching aspiring authors. So stay with us because we're going to jump right into her story of resilience and finding joy and purpose. Teresa, I'm so glad to have you here with us today. Thanks so much for joining us.
>> Teresa Granberry: Thank you. It's quite an honor to be here. I really appreciate it.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Teresa, why don't you go ahead and just tell us a little bit of your story. like I said, I know that I, you know, see, read that in your story, but it hurt me a little bit to say that out loud that you were told at 55 that you were past your prime. I feel like we're collectively cringing saying, that's not old. But tell us how, Tell us about that experience and what happened and how it changed the trajectory of your life.
>> Teresa Granberry: You know, never my wildest dreams did I think after having a corporate career for almost 20 years, traveling all over the world, I was on an executive training path with an, $8 billion corporation that when I left that in the rearview mirror as I left downtown Houston one day after leaving that career, that when I went to volunteer for organizations and even within my own church, that people would tell me that again, I was past my prime, that I was too old to volunteer.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That's so rude. That's just so rude.
>> Teresa Granberry: That was an age when I was really. I looked at myself. Looking back now, I was smarter than I had been. I was wiser than I'd been. I had more flexible income to provide input on shopping experiences and other things that people were asking about surveys and so on. So, because I had done so much traveling, I did a lot of online shopping. And so one of our national survey companies, and I won't mention their name, but I think most everyone knows who that might be, called me and said, hey, we notice you do a lot of online shopping. Would you like to be a secret shopper and work for us? I had a degree in marketing. I loved that kind of thing. And so they said, we're going to do a test shop and we're going to ask you to buy a partner and then return that and document your whole experience just so we can evaluate, the company that I was going to be shopping for. I think it was a drier part. I ordered it, I made arrangements to return it. I'm very detailed. So I. The survey that they gave me and I filled out all kinds of answers for it, they called and they said, oh, we loved all of your answers. You're just what we're looking for. So fill out this application and you're hired. They even asked me if I could handle three or four shops a week as they referred to them. I said, sure. And I was very excited about it. Well, a month went by after I submitted the application and I didn't hear back. And so I thought maybe something had been overlooked in the hiring process. So I called their customer service number and a very sweet girl with a foreign accent, probably she was part of an offshore customer service team, said, oh, goodness, let me look up your application here and see if I can tell what the holdup is. And I could hear clicking the typewriter in the background. And she said, oh, did you click the second to the last box? Now, I had never even heard that term before. And I thought, what have I done? And she said, so that means you are between the ages of 55 and 64. you know, when you go to a doctor's office or whatever, and they have the age brackets that you would check, apparently by my agent stage at that point I checked the second to the last box. So I bristled up a little and I said, what does that have to do with anything? And she said, well, to be honest, our company doesn't really utilize the opinions of anybody in those last two boxes. Can you imagine that? My opinion after the age of 55 was no longer valuable to any merchandiser or marketing firm. I passed the state of relevance, even in that sec, in that last box, which is about a 30 year span because that covers 65 on. I couldn't even believe it. So I started telling people about it and so on, and people were, oh, that same thing happened to me. Oh, that happened to me. So I hired a national firm to conduct a survey. And on the survey you had to be at least 55 to participate. And there was an open ended question that said, tell me about any experience where you've been discriminated against because of your age or stage. And consequently, Dr. Peck, the book practically wrote itself because there was story after story about people feeling irrelevant. And I thought back to what had happened to David in the Bible. He wrote a psalm that said, why do you cast me down because of my gray hair. Yes. And David was probably what we were all feeling at that point, that he was feeling more empowered than ever with knowledge and wisdom, but he was being disrespected because of gray hair. If you look at Ronald Reagan, Julia Child, Colonel Harland Sanders, there were so many people. Mother Teresa herself won the Nobel Prize after middle age. And so the book, highlights some of the accomplishments of people that were, I guess, what the world now deems past their prime, but, but had their greatest success in life at that point. that got me into book writing. And then people started coming to me and asking me, well, would I help them with their book? And so on. And one thing evolved to another and the next thing I knew, after retiring from a 20 year career, I had retooled my graphic design talents into publishing. And that's where I am today.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, it reminds me, Teresa, of a friend I have who is retiring. And but she says, I'm not retiring, I'm refiring. That's the, the, the phrase that she uses. And I thought that is so perfect. She's just refiring her energy in another direction. All of the experience, the talents, the life perspective, the wisdom that she has, she's refiring it in another direction. But it.
Teresa: There is a big generation gap in midlife experiences
I want to know more about that national survey that you did, Teresa, about people's midlife experiences. What, what did you learn? What surprised you? Or did anything surprise you? What kinds of things do people share with you?
>> Teresa Granberry: And again, it went back to what the psalmist had written about. Just the, the lack of respect. The Bible says that the older people are to teach the younger people. And what I found is right now, particularly because people have been raised in a smart world with smart technology, they feel very knowledgeable because they have knowledge right at their fingertips. Knowledge is something that's obtained through study and academia, but wisdom is something that is acquired through age and experience. And you can know about something, but until you've lived through it or walked through it, you really don't have total wisdom on it. And that's not something that you can learn through a book. And when you marry both knowledge and Wisdom, you have the total package. And so there are things I can learn from my grandkids, like how to use my phone and how to use an app on my computer. And there are things they can learn from me. Having the wisdom of 66 years on this earth. And I think when we partner together, we are smarter than ever. And we have, we're equipped to teach each other and work with each other, has the Bible commands.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I agree. There is a big generation gap. And we have a generation of parents and grandparents who are watching children grow up in a world that looks completely foreign to them. We did not grow up in a world of social media, a world that's living at the speed of a smartphone. And what I see is a lot of parents and a lot of children and grandchildren who say, basically, well, you can't understand, you can't possibly understand what I'm going through because you didn't live this. But I think that what we miss there is that no, they may not have lived through smartphones, but they did live through the same emotions that we did. They did live through the same kinds of hurts and there's the same sin issues that are underlie all of this. The same challenges and struggles that are overarching stories throughout human history. We can learn so much wisdom. So I think having someone there to say, yeah, I've been through some tough times. Maybe my tough time didn't look exactly like yours and my challenges didn't look exactly like yours. But here's what I learned about character. Here's what I've learned about my family faith. Here's how God sustained me over that time. I think that is a real missed opportunity. And grandparents have something that parents don't often have, and that's time to actually sit down and to tell their stories and to have that face to face communication.
Teresa Granberry: There was some disrespect from teachers in survey
So what did you hear in the survey? I want to go back to that. What you heard in the survey from other people, were they having the same experience as you?
>> Teresa Granberry: Well, there was some disrespect that people were encountering, particularly from teachers. And people included a lot of information about what their occupation or, or situation was at the time that they completed the survey. I remember several teachers were not feeling respected by their students because their students were even calling them names like dinosaurs and things like that. With the age of rapid technology, there were a lot of corporate workers that were being replaced with, I'll say, less higher, salary employees who could do the work faster. And again, this is where the, experience comes in. Because experience is a great teacher. And there were, there was a lady who was a, an accountant, and she conducted audits and she'd been through several audits M. She could tell anyone what to expect in an audit, but because some of her younger accountants had never walked through that process themselves, they only knew what the book told them to expect. And there were a lot of peripherals and things that experience had shown her would benefit, the success of an audit. And so she was recalling some of the resistance that her younger staff were to. I don't need to know all that. Let's just go by the, by the checklist, so to speak. And so there was a lot of.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I want to hear more about that. We're up against our first break already. Can you believe it? But when we come back, we'll have more. More about finding joy and purpose in midlife and beyond. And don't go away because we're going to dive into the topic of how do we get younger kids to read and why does it matter? Don't go away. We'll be right back with more from Teresa Granberry.
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>> Teresa Granberry: Well, like I said, I think the, what the survey revealed, and probably some of us had already surmised, is that information was replacing wisdom and experience. And I think it's only when you combine both of those that you have the, the full learning experience. until I've walked through something, I can have all the book knowledge that I can, I can retain. But until I've actually walked through and experienced it for myself, that's when it really comes together as far as gelling in my mind as me retaining the information I need to get through it the next time to equip others to experience something.
A memoir is a slice of time within a person's life
You know, in our business we help people a lot with what is known as memoirs. And so maybe your reader, your listeners would be interested in the difference between a memoir and a biography. a biography is typically written for a high profile person and it's a chronological account of their entire life from birth to their in end of their days. But a memoir is a slice of time within a person's life. It has a crescendo. It does have a start, middle and an end. But it is a point in time where something happened, some sort of derailing event or some situation or something, even a tragedy. And there's this crescendo to a point where the Person that's writing about it can no longer face it, the way they are. And they come to a turning point. They make a decision, they find a solution, they turn things around. And then that is all documented in just this point in time called a memoir. And those are the most relatable nonfiction books right now because people can relate to whatever they're describing. They don't need the person's entire life from start to finish. years ago, my husband and I had a baby die in the womb. And at that time, I thought I was the only person in the world feeling some of the thoughts I had felt as I was walking through grief. And a dear, sweet lady from our church brought a book buying. Just left it at my door. And as I read that book, I realized it was, an account of someone else who'd gone through almost exactly what we had experienced. And I can't even tell you 40 years later the name of that book, but I can tell you that this lady's willingness to take one of the most painful portions of her life and document what she was feeling and open herself up to sharing that with others, as well as providing hope by sharing the turning point she had with the Lord where she made a decision to walk forward, was so helpful to me. And that's why I'm a believer in books. I'm a believer in the positive outcome that others can have, whether they're inspired or excited or entertained or whatever that book's purpose is. There's a positive outcome for readers when a book is written in such a way that it's relatable to others.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You're right. It's so powerful to know that you are not alone, that someone has had that similar experience.
Teresa: Gen Z is the generation that has the most spiritual distress
And I talk about the circle of people that you need in your life. There's five of them. One of those is someone who's in your same boat, someone who's going through the same thing you are. And one of the stories that you brought to life was a guest that we just brought, recently featured. And I'll encourage my listeners to listen in again or catch it if you missed it. We're going to air that for a special on Memorial Day, but we interviewed a man named Thomas Logan, and he wrote a book called Fishing with Joey, a Memoir of My Marine son. And he talked about his son who died in a helicopter accident, and just talked about, really an incredible story of love and life and loss. But that's one thing that I would encourage our listeners to listen to. And you've done A great job, Teresa, of talking about why story is so transformational. And so where do you see that Gen Z is not engaging in reading these kinds of things? What are, what kind of trends are you seeing now in your profession? How are you seeing professionally and personally?
>> Teresa Granberry: Well, of course, Gen Z, which are typically the near adult children of millennials, they're primarily college age. And, from about 1997 to 2012, they're the first generation that's been raised entirely with smart technology. So when they had to, you know, I'm dating myself here, but when I had to write a term paper, I carried around encyclopedias and I spent half the day in the library to do any research. This generation can easily access anything by their phone. and yet that has caused a lot of mental illness and a lot of anxiety within that generation. They're, they're the generation that some, analysts are calling the one that has the most spiritual distress. And as you, you alluded to at the beginning of this conversation, there are benefits to smart technology, but there are some indicators that it can also have some devastating effects, as is proven with this generation. So one of the things that they're used to with this instant technology and instant information is with, with the Bible. And they don't want to have to open a physical Bible. They have all of that right there on their phone in any translation, in any version, which is convenient, but they just want snippets. They want the condensed, concise version of whatever teaching or story, that you're trying to convey. And yet, because of the spiritual distress within this generation, over 50% of them are returning to the Bible for some sort of answer. particularly in the United States and the UK over the past year, Bible sales for Gen zers have increased 22%. And that's significant for one generation. It makes me very excited. I feel like we're poised for a, grassroots revival in our nation anyway. And I feel like the time is now to try to reach them. I'm reminded of an entire generation in the Israelite community where they did not pass things on to their children. And one full generation of the Israelites missed the promises of God because of that. I think we're charged as a people to pass on this legacy in this community of faith that we have.
One thing that's shocking to me is the way information is being conveyed through books
One thing that's really been shocking to me is the way information is being conveyed through books to Gen Zers. I don't know. Have you heard of the Action Bible?
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I have. We have heard of that. And even looking at other short Forms and comic book style and all kinds of. Yes, exactly, yes. Tell us more.
>> Teresa Granberry: So books are linear. They have a story, and so they have a start and a conclusion. But then you can fold in some graphics and some visuals in books and that adds that extra dimension to the senses. You can even move it into film where you have movement and audio dialogue as well. Well, a graphic novel, which is sort of a, succinct art form very similar to a comic book, has been running like wildfire in the publishing community. We're seeing adaptations of classics like the Odyssey by Homer, Corrie 10 Boom's Hiding Place, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice converted or adapted into these graphic novels, which is a comic book style form of these classics. And they were even winning Newbery Awards. Now, a Newbery Award is the equivalent to a Pulitzer Prize, but for children's books. And the first one was awarded to a man named Jerry Kraft, who wrote a book called New Kid back during COVID in 2020. And he was received a Newberry Medal. Now to put that in perspective, a Newbery Medal is very difficult to receive. Laura Ingalls Wilder received five honor awards, which is the next, level of award, but she never in her lifetime won a Newbery Medal. And yet a man who created a comic book version of a story won a Newbery Medal in 2020. We're also seeing educators put these in their core curriculum because it, because kids like the combination of the action, the dialogue bubbles, the movement that's presented in the, art form. So the action bible takes 25 chapters of the Bible, but it is in this comic presentation. And the man who created it was an primary illustrator for Marvel Comics. So you can imagine his, you know, the quality of his work and his creativity. I have nine grandkids and I gave the Action Bible to a couple of them that are in that age and stage, primarily 8 to 12. They are soaking it up. If you go to Amazon, the Action Bible right now has more five star reviews than two other versions of the Bible that were also written for kids. So it's really catching like wildfire.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, that's so fascinating to me, Teresa. And I think, you know, I see in my space, I see this tension that we're trying to navigate because there is one side that says we have got to find relevant ways to share the gospel. And when you talk about how many kids are reading this, how they're responding to it, how it's really written in the language of their generation, and, and we, you know, putting aside like making sure. That the translation is theologically sound, all of those things that, that I'm putting that aside for the moment. But there's a generation that says yeah, we need to do this because we need to get God's word in the hands of kids. We need to engage them. And then there's another side that says yeah, but are we just catering to them? Are we just changing the ways that they're that they're reading? Like are they not going to read their Bible like they did before? And what about ways is this okay to have a comic book Bible? I feel like there's a tension there and there's, there's something in the middle for how do we reach Gen Z but also honor those timeless truths? One of the interesting things I'm seeing in Trends is that Gen Z is having an affinity for what they call vintage now I'm talking about like the 1970s which is still so painful to say. They like records and they like ah, printed photos and things like that. And we see them longing for that kind of sacredness in a church environment too. It's different than the way the rest of the world is. So I feel like there's room for both and there's room to hold that tension. How do you see that in your, in your business and, and, and also in your faith in reaching? Like you've talked about your, you have customers you're thinking about but you have grandkids you're thinking about. Where does it lie for you?
>> Teresa Granberry: I couldn't agree with you more that there is a tension because there's two sides to every coin. And one of the things that is a very important thing for a parent to vet out when they're letting their child read any book because there's been this infiltration of a progressive movement that is trying to deconstruct Christianity. They're Satan's tool to do that. And so there's, it's very subtle and sometimes and yet very obvious in others. And so I would caution all parents to look ahead to things and, and not just assume that because it's a Bible that it's good to go. I do feel good about the action Bible and there's been a couple of other additional versions of it that have come out that talk about Bible heroes and so on. And it seems to have been, had a very positive effect on kids. One of the things that I learned has a writing coach was you write to meet people where they are, not where you wish they were. And I Wish my grandkids would be strong in the Lord. I've prayed for that since the day they were born. I wish they would know God and never ever have any other thoughts besides that. But sometimes they're not where I wish they were. And so to get them in the Word is a start, a toe in the water. It's an opportunity for a seed to grow. And it's important for me, as a grandparent, a very praying grandparent, I might add, to pray that those seeds aren't stolen, aren't, trying to grow through the rocks and the trials of, of today's world. But I think that Christian, the Christian space right now, even fiction. You know, years ago you had Tim LaHaye write the left behind series and people were just blown away because we'd never had really Christian stories since C.S. lewis and the Chronicles and so on. It'd been a long time since there was an interesting fiction book that conveyed truth. I think there's a great space right now and opportunity for that because we're in the end days, people are having questions about that. They're having, their own imaginations about what may or may not happen. And so these are opportunities to get the truth, truth into people's heart with, through the written word. And I think that that's God's plan. I think it's. I think we're here for that, that time, actually.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I want to talk more about that, Teresa. And we'll have. I have some more questions to ask about. How do we get Gen Z and Gen Alpha engaged in reading? I mean, they are reading so much about the world. How do we redirect their attention to read things that are going to edify them, that are going to be truthful? Just about what we were just talking about, Teresa. There is so much that they're overwhelmed with, with information. How do we get them good information in a way that's written well? We'll be right back with Teresa Granberry.
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>> This Is My Song by North Point Worship featuring Mac Powell: And I sang in Christ Alone My solid battle, Amazing grace Just how sweet the sound. Jesus paid it all because he lives. This is my song.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That song is this is My Song by North Point Worship featuring Mac Powell Definitely in my top 20 list of, 2,000 songs. In my top 20. I love, love, love music. I love stories. And we're talking about the power of story today. So let me ask you some questions as we come back. These might be questions that you share with your family tonight.
When was the last time you read a book for fun and what was it
When was the last time you read a book for fun and what was it? Is reading a book still relevant in a world of 15 second videos? And maybe you can ask your family, is there a book that changed your life and maybe could change someone else's? I'll tell you, the book that changed my life is the Bible. But there are a lot of other books that I have read that have really deeply impacted me. And our guest today is talking about some of those stories and books. And for, Teresa Granberry. She has done so much. She has. If so, when someone told her her best years were behind her, she wrote a book about it. And now she's helping others to do the same. She's the president of Harvest Creek. She's a speaker, a writing coach, a book designer, and she's helped hundreds of authors, designed best selling covers, and written several books of her own. And her latest, the second to the last box, Finding Joy and Purpose in Midlife and Beyond, is a powerful look at, reinvention and hope. And Teresa, some of the books you've mentioned today are books that I love. And actually I love these full circle moments because you talked about Corrie Ten Boom in her book the Hiding Place, which actually my daughter and I were just talking about the other day. My daughter had been rereading that and talking about just some of the profound truths that we learned from her story. You also mentioned Laura Ingalls Wilder. I definitely grew up reading Little House on the Prairie, loved those stories of resilience and courage and those stories. Even though that was someone that's whose life seems so far removed from mine, it was so inspiring.
How do we inspire Gen Z and Gen Alpha to read what is good
So we're talking today, Teresa, about how do we inspire Gen Z and Gen Alpha to read and how do we inspire them to read what is good? When I was growing up, Teresa, we didn't have things to read. If you didn't want to read the encyclopedia, if you were bored at breakfast, you would read the back of the cereal box. Now kids just can scroll and they have information, overwhelmed with how much they have available to read to them. How do we guide them to things that are going to point them to God's truth, that are going to strengthen their faith and not deconstruct it?
>> Teresa Granberry: Well, again, like I said, I think the parental involvement is, is more important than ever. You can't assume. a very, very popular children's book author was being interviewed the other day on YouTube and it made me blush. Some of the things she was talking about in her latest book. And this lady's an award winning author. My daughter grew up reading her. My daughter has, you know, children of her own now, but I was blushing at some of the things she's including now in her latest books. With the coming of age books and the things like that, it is very easy for there to be an underlying agenda slipped into books. And so you've got to be involved in that. I have, have the notion that everyone has a book in them. I think your life story is a story and I don't think you should ever underestimate the power of what God's done for you or through you or in you, with the impact that could have with others. but right now, like you said with the scrolling and everything, I think it has to be bite size and quick. I don't see, someone tried to convert the Iliad into a graphic novel. Now that's, I think it's around a thousand page book and it didn't work like it was expected. There was no way they could compress the story into something like that. So you lose a lot of the context. The writers of these graphic novels, which are, they're trying to appeal to the gen zers and gen Alpha, are trying as hard as they can not to change the pot, the theme, the characters. But the context of a written book is so much more effective. There's also many, many formats. They have the audiobooks now you have ebooks. I'm, I don't want to be one of those grandparents that say back in my day, back in my day we did things like this or that. And so I'm still tied to a paper book, but I'm also glad that kids on a bus or commuting or flying over the summer or under an umbrella at the beach could have the opportunity to read a good book via ebook or to listen to one when they've got those AirPods in their ears. I think we have to capitalize on all the different opportunities and formats when the Bible says go ye into all the world. Many of the books that Harvest Creek has published have been translated into other languages and other formats. And it excites me because it makes me feel like we are fulfilling the great commission that Jesus gave us to go into all of the world. And if a book of a book is good in the United States, why can't it be good for kids in other parts the of the world? And so we're very open to translations and revisions into other formats.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I'm really glad that you pointed out the importance of parents being engaged and knowing what their kids are reading. It used to be easier to do that, Teresa, because they would come home with a book from the library. But even now, you're talking about listening to children's authors. I hear a lot of parents who go into children's book fairs and they look at what is for sale. I just recently, a friend of mine who mentors a child in a public school went to the school book fair, and that child had brought some money for the book fair and wanted to buy some books that she said, no, you shouldn't be reading this. And it's harder now because kids are getting information and micro content. They're getting it online. And some of the books that we see that are best selling for young people are about violence and just things that, no adult should be reading, much less kids should be reading. And so I think it's really important to know what your kids are reading and to give them those alternatives that are edifying to them, that are going to be encouraging.
You said you see this wave of religious and faith books coming
And you and I were talking during the break, Theresa, about this resurgence and this kind of on the horizon. You said you see this, increase this wave of religious and faith books coming because we see a hunger for people, for spiritual information. And I saw that even in a lot of conversation about this season of American Idol, which personally I didn't watch because I don't have time to watch any tv, but I did see that they had even, a worship night. They had a night where it was church music, it was spiritual music. And so we're starting to see this emergence of faith into cultural venues that usually are not avenues for faith. What are you seeing on the horizon for faith books?
>> Teresa Granberry: This is so exciting for me. in. In the publishing world, we have what is known as the big five. They're the heavy players. Penguin, Random House, Simon Schuster, McMillan, Harper Collins. You know, people, these. These big corporate conglomerates that own the publishing space. And, every day I'm exposed to trade magazines and journals and information that comes in with information that's relevant to the industry itself. Just recently, in the last six months, there's been a huge ramp up in two of the heaviest hitters in the publishing industry for the religious spirituality space. Penguin Random House, for example, already had a Catholic division, a devotional division, and so on. They had three or four, divisions that were under their corporate umbrella. But they just added another major component. they brought on someone who had been in ministry to lead it. And I feel like that is a very promising sign that they see something on the horizon that they would ramp up a business like that. You also have Harper Collins and Zondervan and Thomas Nelson fall under that. Some people don't know that the Bible Gateway app that they go to every morning to get their morning, scripture is owned by a publishing company, HarperCollins. They have since added Faith Gateway, Study Gateway, and another gateway that is, streaming of Christian videos, streaming of Christian audios. All of this being added makes me sense that, they're feeling the same thing I am, that there's this grassroots undercurrent that is growing in America. It's a hunger. It's a, a need to have truth and solutions. All of us have a hole in our heart that only God can fill. And I believe that a lot of it will be accomplished through the Word and through the written Word.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I think in a world that is just so chaotic, that seems so dark, that seems so unpredictable, the only constant is change. And we see that things that are celebrated today are canceled tomorrow. And kids and adults alike, all generations are navigating this. And I think you're right, Teresa. I think that is driving a, ah, hunger for something that is. Sure, something that is sound. And. And what I find a lot of encouragement in is, yes, absolutely, you should be reading God's Word. You should be reading straight from the Bible yourself. You should be plugged in to a church that has sound doctrine. You should be walking and, fellowship with other people. You should be in some sort of discipleship group. But we get so much encouragement from hearing the testimonies of others, from hearing their faith stories, from hearing stories from hundreds of years ago, from stories from people today saying, this has been my m. Testimony, that's the same, and pointing back to the truths of Jesus Christ. And so what do you.
What advice would you give to listeners who are thinking about reading more Christian books
What advice would you give to listeners who are thinking, okay, I'm feeling this surge of books that are coming. What is a good way to decide what to read and how to read it, how to be wise about what we read and how to be intentional. So seeking out things that are going to encourage us and uplift us while also being discerning for things that could be deceptive.
>> Teresa Granberry: You know, I think the Shakespeare said, to thine own self be true. I think once you get in an awareness of who you are, what are the components of your individual faith and spirituality, you can find people and writers and authors who are like minded, who can speak to your needs. I have authors come to me from time to time and I'll say, now who's your book for? And they'll say, oh, it's just for everyone. And really in all actuality, when a book is written for everyone, it's for no one. Even in the Bible, which is written for everyone, of course there are people that we identify with. I identify with David and Peter, with Martha rather than Mary. That's just the, the nature of my personality. So those are the people I tend to gravitate to when I'm trying to learn from heroes in the Bible. It's the same thing with authors of books. it's very important that people understand the path that God has chosen for them and walk it proudly and boldly and supplement that path with information and wisdom from people who have walked before them. So this was, this kind of goes back to what I was talking about with some of the big heavy hitters. There are people like John, Mark Comer, Mark Batterson, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Candace Cameron Bure, people who we might identify with or Mike, Phil and you know, a connection to. And they're being signed up. Jenny Allen for example, or some of the Christian, the popular Christian writers of today that we can learn from and identify with because they are walking the same road that we are or their, their spiritual journey is similar to ours. Those big five firms are signing 10 and 15 year contracts with some of these authors. Again, they seem to know that there is a channel that these people are reaching and a, certain part of the population that are receiving what these particular authors have to share. you have a Sarah Young in the devotional space. She wrote God Calling or Jesus Calling. And now we're seeing all kinds of hybrid versions of her devotion. Jesus calling for first responders, Jesus calling for teachers and so on. And so people are taking her work and streamlining it to certain, diverse parts of our culture and so on to meet the specific needs of people. I think that is very, very important for writers is to identify your target reader and write the book with that in mind. that's very, very important. So you're just not trying to generalize things in such a way that you water it down.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I think it's very important for anyone to be discerning and to be prayerful about the books that they read, because they do shape our minds, and they. And we need to make sure that, you know, we're always pointing back to the truth of Scripture. What does God have to say about this? And those are all such good reminders. And so, Teresa, as we're closing our time together, what would you say to someone who maybe is thinking, you know, I'd like to write my story. That's been something I've been thinking about, and, you know, maybe now's the time to do it. Whether they do it with a publishing house like yours or whether they do it just for the legacy of their family, what words of encouragement and advice would you give them?
>> Teresa Granberry: I would encourage you to absolutely go for it. Like I said, everyone does have a book in them, and it's, There are so many opportunities now from one end of the spectrum to another. It is a little more difficult now to get a traditional publishing deal where they pay you to write. But there's so many other applications and so much training and so many avenues where you can still get your book to market. You can still impact the lives of thousands of people with some assistance, with some coaches and things that I would never, ever want anyone to think that we live in a time where that can't be accomplished.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Teresa, I hope that you have inspired people to tell their story. Thank you so much for telling yours, and I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you. And hey, we'll be right back here tomorrow. Jeff Chamblee The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
