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Hey everybody. This is Heidi St. John. How you guys doing? Happy Monday. Today is Monday, July 20th. This is episode 961 of the Heidi St. John podcast. I’m glad you guys are here today. Lots of stuff to cover. It’s Mailbox Monday.

So you guys, today my family and I are hitting the road. We are driving from Vancouver, Washington all the way to Orlando. And along the way, we’re going to be doing something really fun. We’re going to be letting you guys know where we’re going to stop and set up popup shops. And we will be doing this all the way from Oregon to Florida. So you can follow me at Instagram. So we’re going to be kind of be going down the road, heading off Oregon to, I think, Ogden, Utah, and then through Denver and then Kansas City. And so we’re going to let you guys know where we’ll be stopping, and we would love to see you. Some members of MomStrong International are helping us pull this off. And so check it out at Instagram. That’s pretty cool.

Also, we are beginning the third week of our Bible study. And so if you guys haven’t checked it out yet, this is a fantastic way to get to know the Word of God and to be encouraged in your walk with God. So head on over to MomStrong International, sign up, and join me for the rest of the summer series. I know you guys are going to be blessed and you are going to love it.

All right. So it is Mailbox Monday. It’s Mailbox Monday, and I’ve been having guests on here so I haven’t really had a chance to get to your questions and they are piling up in the queue. So a couple of things that I’m going to let you guys know. The best way that you can submit a question to us here is to go to heidistjohn.com/mailboxmonday. And this is where you can leave your questions. This is also, you’ll find a form there. If you’ve got guest ideas, people that you’d like to hear on the show, let us know. We’d really like to hear it.

All right. Here’s the first question. “Heidi, how do I handle the emotional shift of listening to what’s going on in the world and then taking care of my small children? I feel like I’m acting with them, but obviously can’t tell a five-year-old what’s going on. I can’t tell them that the world is ending. I have seven kids also, 15, 13, 9, 7, 5, 3, and 1.” Boy, that just sounds just like me. “So the conversations are diverse.”

So this is a great question. So I’m feeling the same way over here at my house. I know it’s almost like you’re having to straddle two different worlds, the world that your seven year old and your nine year old are living in, which is, “Mom, let me show you my drawing. Mom, will you come take a walk with me? Mom, I found a caterpillar.” Right? And you don’t want to be constantly pulling them in to drama and to the frustration that you might be feeling over the rona and things that are happening politically. On the other hand, you’ve got some teenagers who probably don’t mind engaging in those conversations. But again, we want to be sensitive to where our kids are at. This is something I’m having to straddle myself.

And so the best way that I have learned to deal with that, honestly, you guys, is to go before the Lord and say, “Lord, please help me to be sensitive to Your Spirit. Please help me be sensitive to Your Spirit so that I know how much my children can handle, so that I know when I’m kind of stepping over the line.” And I think this is going to be a helpful thing for all of us right now. So I’m going to encourage you to give your kids a break. I guess that’s what I want to say. Give your kids a break. And I know that they will appreciate it. And also, you guys, it gives us a little bit of a break from all the craziness around us. All right. That was a great question. Thanks for sending it.

Next one says, “Heidi, how do we respond to leftist Christian bashing on social media, specifically among people that we know? We have seen pro-abortion posts and anti-Christian comments. Should we defend ourselves or walk away? I’m not talking about topics of no eternal significance, but when I see this post from an acquaintance comparing mask wearing to abortion and posing the question to conservatives, so is it my choice my body or not? It hurts my heart tremendously and infuriates me with righteous anger. Do we stay silent and have a quiet, gentle spirit or do we respond in a strong, but still kind way?”

All right, so here’s what I think. I honestly think it depends on who you’re talking to. So the Bible has a lot to say about not engaging in useless arguments. We are instructed not to cast our pearls before swine. In other words, if it’s a losing battle, if you’re just there to argue, walk away. I can tell you as somebody who has had my videos viewed millions of times, the hardest thing for me to do is to not engage in the comments that make me angry. And I think you’re wise to make … This is why I think individual platforms are so important. It’s wise for you to make a case. And if someone really wants to have a conversation, engage in conversation, right? This is part of the reason why our monuments are being torn down.

How about not destruction? How about dialogue? How about instead of destruction, how about discussion? Right? Discussion is good. But often discussion on social media, I think, can become toxic very quickly. And so you really have to ask the Lord to give you wisdom. We need wisdom right now, you guys. We need to hear from the Lord. We need to be able to just go, “You know what? This is one that I just need to walk away from.” And so that’s what I always tell my kids, that’s what I’m telling myself, that’s what my husband tells me. Know when to walk away. Some of these, I think, like I said last week on the show, people are mean. I mean, they really are just straight up mean right now. And I think it’s difficult. I think tensions are high. We’ve been locked down for forever. We got people walking around look like bank robbers everywhere we go. It’s frustrating.

And so I think kindness is always the best rule. If you don’t think you can respond kindly, strong, yes, but we don’t want to be ungodly. And so I think that there is a strong way to respond. Sometimes, I mean, Jesus went into the temple and He’s like, “Brood of vipers.” I mean, he wasn’t exactly like, “Hey guys, don’t do that.” He was like, “No, get out of here.” He turned the tables over. There is a time for that. But if we respond to everything around us every single time like that, after a while, our voices can’t be heard anymore. So I hope that helps you.

Here’s the next question. “Heidi, where I live, there is a mask mandate in effect like I’m sure you can understand.” Yes I can. “And I do not support it. How do I effectively stand up against it? Is there someone or someplace I can write in or call, something to sign and say no?” Yes, there absolutely is. I’m going to link back to something called Bare Face is Legal and you guys can actually start petitions. I’m going to get my assistant on the show with me. She’s doing an amazing job where she lives in Enid right now in mobilizing people to say, “No, we are not going to do this.” And there are wonderful things that you can do. I will link back to those things in the show notes today. So look forward over there. I know a lot of you are frustrated with what’s happening right now at these mandates, which it’s just, it’s mind boggling to me, but we want to continue to lift our voices, to find ways that we can stand against it.

I said this last week, I continue to say, “Do not close your businesses.” They’re going to ruin the economy, they’re ruining Main Street America. And what we are seeing really is nothing short of a Marxist takeover in our country. You guys heard me talk about Marxism at the door of America. If you haven’t listened to that podcast, I’ll link back to it in the show notes today. One of the most important podcasts I have ever done. We are on the verge of being literally overrun by Marxism. And it’s important for you to understand what’s happening and take a stand against it. So check out Bare Face is Legal and then look and see what you can be doing to start anti-mask mandate programs and petitions where you live. That was a great question.

Here’s the next one. “Thank you for being a voice for biblical truth in today’s culture.” You’re very welcome. “I agree one positive of the rona is a mass exodus from the public school. However, I feel strongly that they will use this as an excuse to highly regulate homeschooling. I am a member of HSLDA. What are other ways that we can prepare to get off the bench and onto the battlefield for a battle I feel is quickly coming to preserve our parental rights and homeschool our children the way we feel God would have us educate them?” That is a fantastic question. I don’t know if you guys heard this, but I recently joined the Board of Directors at HSLDA, it was a tremendous honor for me to be asked to serve alongside them. And I agree with you, I think we are going to be looking at tremendous challenges to homeschooling. We are also looking at tremendous opportunities. And the best way that you can help is to stay informed and to be a voice where you are.

So we need people on the ground, right? We need people to say, “Hey, I saw this letter come out from the public school that is threatening toward homeschooling.” Or you saw an article in the Washington Post. Those kinds of things because while our friends at HSLDA can be lots of places, they can’t be everywhere. And so we want to guard our homeschool freedom, be vigilant about it. As you are getting ready to homeschool this fall, make sure that you’re not doing something in registering your kids for homeschooling just because the public school asks you to do it. All right? And so those are the best ways I can think of. It’s never been a better time for those of you who are listening and you have not joined HSLDA, you want to become a member of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. They have got your back, and they’re going to keep you apprised of all the things that are happening with regard to homeschool freedom. That was a fantastic question.

Next question comes from Mary. She said, “Heidi, I’m in the nanny state of Michigan. Boo.” We’ve got a similar thing going on here in Washington, boo. “Where our governor,” or Whitless is what you call her, “decides on a whim when to open and close and reopen restaurants, bars, and golf courses. We’ve seen signs of mandatory masks required and I rarely go into these stores. But she’s claiming uptick in the rona and using that as a reason for reclosing some bars, those outside her vacation home area, surprise. And so after all this mandatory mask wearing and high sanitation being sprayed everywhere, do you think maybe people’s respiratory systems are becoming more compromised even with a healthy individual due to continual mask wearing and constant disinfectants? By the way, this came to me as I was cleaning my floor with Pine Sol and remembering to air out the area.”

All right. So this is a great question, Mary. I absolutely think that masks are bad for you. It’s absolutely not good for us. We’re supposed to exhale our CO2, not exhale it into a mask and have our germs stick to the inside of a mask and then breathe it right back in. And so I actually wouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot of illness this fall when the flu season normally comes and we’ve been suppressing our immune systems for the last five months. And so I totally expect to see that happening. And I think it’s terrible. So in more ways than one, you’re not going to see Heidi St. John in a mask if I can at all help it. I think they’re terrible. I think they’re bad for our health, bad for our psyche. I think they’re bad for our emotions, I think they’re dehumanizing. I hate them on 100 different levels. And so the governors who are mandating this, I hope they get voted out and sent out of town on a rail in November. I really, really do.

And so here’s an interesting story. I went into a local business here in Vancouver right before our family left for Florida. And there’s a big sign, “No mask, no entry.” And all we needed to do was go in and sign some papers. It was a local business. We went in there, we opened the door, and I said, “I don’t have a mask. Do you guys want to bring the paperwork out to me?” And they kind of looked at each other and I said, “I’m not sick.” You know? And they said, “Come in.” And you guys, you know what, they’re putting these signs on their doors because they’re afraid because the governor has said, “If you don’t do this,” I mean, they’ve turned us into snitches, they’ve turned us into fraidy cats. Most of the business owners that I know hate this. They know it’s a scam. They know it’s politically motivated.

I’m not saying that there’s not a virus, you guys. You don’t need to email me about it. I know there’s a virus, but there are lots of viruses. So are we going to do this for the rest of our lives now? Is this just our new normal? Because I sure hope it isn’t. All right. And so one more thing, you said this came to you as you were cleaning your floor with Pine Sol. I’m going to encourage you, I’ll link back to it in the show notes today, I have switched all of our cleaning products in our house to natural cleaning products. My favorite one is Thieves cleaner. If you’ve never seen it, never used it, I’m telling you it’s a game changer. It’s literally the best cleaner that I own. And it’s all made out of natural ingredients. And that comes to you from Young Living. So I will link back to that in the show notes today.

I totally agree with you 100%, the mask madness needs to stop. And I am praying that all of us will get off the bench and onto the battlefield. So thanks for the question, Mary. I appreciate it.

All right. Next question. You guys, I’m going through these really fast today. You are welcome. “I love your podcast, Heidi. It is bold and real and has given me much encouragement and has pushed me in so many ways for the better, one of which was pulling our kids out of public school this last year to start our homeschool journey. My husband and myself are redoing our wills and my husband feels drawn to be an organ donor. I was wondering if the Bible is in support of organ donation. I’ve looked for some answers, but I’m not sure what is a credible source.”

All right, this is a great question. It’s an interesting question, which is why I chose to answer it at the podcast. I am an organ donor. I have been privileged to know people throughout the course of my life who have benefited tremendously from the gift of organ donation. I do not see anything in the Bible that would say that that was a bad thing to do. You guys, when we die, our bodies are a tent, right? They’re a tent. They’re a temporary home for a permanent thing, which is our soul. Our soul is what will live eternally.

When Heidi St. John is dead, my body is going to be useless to me. It will be useless to me. And if it’s buried, it’s going to return to dust, right? From ashes to ashes. That’s literally what’s going to happen. And so if there was somebody that could benefit from any organ of mine that was healthy at the time of my death, I would not have any trouble at all being an organ donor. And so, I think it’s a gift that you can give. I know a lot of people don’t feel comfortable doing it, but I don’t see a biblical problem with it at all. That was a great question.

All right, I’m going to tackle a homeschooling question. “What do you do if you are failing at homeschooling? And I’m not talking about a four year old who can’t read. We have seven children ranging in age from 26 to five, and we have struggled with the three R’s even up through the high school years. I really try hard. I pray everyday and plead for the Lord’s help, but nothing changes. As far as I know, there are not learning disabilities involved, but there are definitely stinky attitudes and a lack of parenting skills.” All right, so first of all, you’re not alone. And my hunch is you’re actually doing better than you think you are. And if you think you got stinky attitudes right now, stick your kid in a public school for a year and see what kind of a stinky attitude you get.

So I always tell parents that your worst day of homeschooling is probably going to be better than your child’s best day in a public school, all right? So first of all, don’t beat yourself up. As far as the stinky attitudes go, I am a mom who believes in discipline. And if you’re having trouble with your kids, for goodness sake, it’s July. If you’re having trouble with your kids, I would stop homeschooling and I would be definitely winding up in terms of household chores, personal responsibility around the house.

Something I can speak to also, you say you got a 26 year old and a five-year-old. So you’ve got a very wide age range right there, and I do too. I’ve about the same in my family with our seven children. And I can tell you, my youngest is almost 10 years old and we just get tired, right? My oldest is almost 30 and I’m just tired. And that weariness sets in and you just start to go, “You know what? I don’t care.” Just forget it. We don’t need to learn math, all right? And we really have to pray for help. I am a huge fan of getting help. And when it comes to stinky attitudes, you know this because you’ve already raised children. You’ve got a 26 year old. Better to correct the attitude, a stinky attitude of a six year old, than the stinky attitude of a 26 year old. Those are attitudes that you can’t correct.

So, I guess my encouragement to you would be like anyone who came to the Homeschool Resource Center, I would say, find some help locally, people that you can talk to that can pour into you, and see what kind of help you can get, because you sound weary to me and I can relate to that. So I just want to encourage you. Don’t give up. The Lord is still at work and good things are coming, all right? Don’t give up. Don’t give up. You and I, were going to do this thing together.

All right, last question today. This question actually just bummed me out. So, I’m going to read it to you guys and we’re going to talk a little bit about… Well, you’ll see what I mean in a minute. “Our youth pastor is celebrating and praising Black Lives Matter.” All right, I’m going to stop right there. Leave that church. If you’re in a youth group whose youth pastor is celebrating Black Lives Matter, that is indoctrination, that is propaganda, that is not the Bible. I’d be leaving that church. That’s just a little aside.

“He seems so uneducated about what’s really going on. He’s a millennial and is jumping on the bandwagon with all of these liberal thoughts and agendas. I love our church and have spoken to the main pastor and he also seems uneducated. I’ve included weblinks to read up on and been told that they did not know all this information, but at the same time, I’m not seeing anything change. My children are two years from being in youth group with this young pastor, but I still feel led to stand up about this. Should I just be quiet and wait to see what happens? I don’t want to cause conflict in our church.”

All right, so you are voicing the concern of so many people right now. And I hear you when you say you don’t want to cause conflict in your church, but let me tell you right now, the truth about Black Lives Matter is very, very disturbing. And if your pastors are pushing this and they’re so foolish that they can’t see what’s going on, I would question the discernment of their leadership and I would run for my life. And I wouldn’t run before I caused a commotion. I would tell them, “This is wrong.” Listen you guys, Black Lives Matter is a horrible operation. They have ruined the phrase Black Lives Matter. And I won’t even say it anymore because it has everything to do with a Marxist organization. Their founders openly admit to being Marxists, all right? If you guys haven’t heard me talk about Marxism yet, go back and listen to my podcast, Marxism At the Door of America. It is a very dangerous ideology and we are dangerously close to plunging off the edge, all right?

Their self-confessed mentors, get this you guys, include former members of the Weather Underground, which is a radical left wing terrorist group that sought to bring a communist revolution to the United States in the ’60s and ’70s. BLM is friendly with Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, whose socialist policies have brought economic collapse and untold misery to millions of people there. Black Lives Matter states it wants to abolish the nuclear family, police, prison, heteronormativity, which means they promote transgenderism. They also want to abolish capitalism. They and groups associated with it are demanding a moratorium on rent, mortgages, utilities. They demand reparation for a long list of grievances. They have threatened to “burn down the system” if their demands are not met, they’re also training maliciously based in the militant Black Panther movement of the 1960s. This is racism. It is absolutely racism.

Listen to them in their own words. Patrisse Cullors said, “We actually do have an ideological frame. Myself and Alicia Garza in particular, we’re trained organizers. We’re trained Marxists. We are super versed on ideological theories.” These guys are openly saying that they’re Marxists. Listen to Black Lives Matter Chicago, “Stay in the streets.” This is from June. “Stay in the streets. The system is throwing every diversionary and demobilizing tactic at us. We are fighting to end policing and prisons as a system which necessitates fighting white supremacists, capitalists, heteropatriarchal imperialism.” I could hardly even say that. “Vet your comrades and stay focused.”

You guys, this is a dangerous ideology. It is a wicked organization. If your churches are promoting it, you don’t need those people to be shepherding your children or the people in your church, all right? It is time for good people to stand up against this and say, “No, this is not the way to racial healing.” And I’m not saying that there are not racists in this nation, but I reject the notion that the United States is a racist nation, and I absolutely reject Black Lives Matter. It is a wicked organization and you need to run for your life.

All right, you guys, I am out of time. I’m actually two minutes over. I love getting your questions here. I’m going to answer more of them as we go along this week because I’m so backed up in the queue right now. If you’ve got a question that you would like addressed at Mailbox Monday, you can go to my website, heidistjohn.com/mailboxmonday. Also, I want to encourage you guys, please continue to leave reviews for the podcast over at iTunes if you haven’t already done it and reviews for my books. I just heard that Bible Promises for Moms is entering its fourth printing. So, thank you guys so much for purchasing books from the Becoming MomStrong series. And we sure appreciate your prayers as we are traveling right now. We are leaving today on the road to Orlando, Florida. So watch for it on Instagram, and I will keep you posted as to where we will be stopping to say hello.

I hope you guys have a great Monday and that you make the most of it. Keep smiling, you guys. God is still at work. We love you so much, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.