S2EP30-The Bryant Family-Meet the Bryant Family: A Homeschooling Adventure Awaits!
Get ready for a family affair like no other! The Bryant family joins us to chat about their unique homeschooling journey, which is as colorful as it is enlightening. They kick things off by introducing their book, "Trusting Timothy," which artfully tackles the subject of cheating through a lens of faith and family values. Each family member shares their perspective on homeschooling—from its challenges to its joys—highlighting how it has brought them closer together.
The kids, Ava, Bobby III, and Joseph, chime in with their experiences, revealing that while the socialization aspect was a concern, they found creative ways to connect with peers through sports and community activities. And hey, let’s not forget the daily dose of Bible reading that keeps their spirits high and their values strong! With laughter, love, and a sprinkle of divine guidance, this episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone curious about homeschooling or looking for a dose of inspiration to deepen their own family connections. So grab a comfy chair and settle in for this delightful discussion!
Bio - We are a Christian family(Bobby II, Ava, Joseph and Bobby III) who strongly believe in the power of GOD'S WORD. We are excited to share this message through our book, Trusting Timothy: A Story About Cheating.
@trustingtimothy_official on Instagram
Sponsored by Vibrant Family Education - creating Happy, Healthy and Successful kids
VibrantFamilyEducation@gmail.com or Kristina Heagh-Avritt on Facebook
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Copyright 2025 Kristina & Herb Heagh-Avritt
Transcript
Today I have the pleasure of introducing the Bryant family.
Speaker A:They are a Christian family who strongly believe in the power of God's word.
Speaker A:They are excited to share this message through the book.
Speaker A:Through their book, Trusting Timothy, a story about cheating.
Speaker A:And they are a homeschooled family, and they are here today to talk us.
Speaker A:To talk to us about their homeschool journey and the.
Speaker A:The joys and the pitfalls that they both had.
Speaker A:And so welcome.
Speaker A:Today I'm going to actually have you all introduce yourself individually at this.
Speaker B:At this time, because this is a little different.
Speaker B:We've had two other guests on our podcast before, but this is the first time that we've had four people.
Speaker C:Oh, nice, nice.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Well, thank you for welcoming us.
Speaker C:Bobby, the second dad.
Speaker D:I'm Ava Bryant, the daughter and sister.
Speaker E:I'm Bobby Bryant, the third, the oldest child.
Speaker F:And I'm Joseph Bryant, the youngest child.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:Thank you so very, very much.
Speaker B:And that will help our audiences that are listening on audio only to say, oh, yeah, that is a different voice.
Speaker B:And wait, no, why is there more than two over there?
Speaker B:So, absolutely.
Speaker B:Poor people.
Speaker B:And we're excited about this because, you know, as a family now, we get to see a little bit different perspectives.
Speaker B:And you have to promise me, though, that at the end, if someone says something that you're like, wait a minute, I didn't know that before, that you're all going to be cool with this, right?
Speaker B:You're going to be awesome with each other if, like, wait a minute.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:I didn't know about that.
Speaker C:Oh, yes.
Speaker C:Oh, yes.
Speaker B:Perfect.
Speaker B:So I want to actually jump in with why homeschooling?
Speaker B:What was it about when the boys were a certain age or whenever you started homeschooling?
Speaker A:When did you start homeschooling and why?
Speaker B:There we go.
Speaker C:You know, we homeschooled from the.
Speaker C:From the beginning, starting with Bobby iii.
Speaker C:Initially, it was that.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker C:That tough conversation between my wife and I.
Speaker C:She initially wanted to homeschool, and I was more hesitant or reserved.
Speaker C:And I think the biggest thing for me, which is a common concern, was the social interaction.
Speaker C:And so with us being both going through the public system, my wife and I, it was going to be a new process that was going to be new to the both of us.
Speaker C:And so for me, again, socialization was the biggest thing.
Speaker C:I wasn't concerned about the teaching.
Speaker C:I thought, we can educate them.
Speaker C:But it was the social interaction which bothered me the most.
Speaker C:But after multiple conversations, the difficult choice was made.
Speaker C:But we were.
Speaker C:We're happy we did from the Beginning.
Speaker C:So they were all homeschooled from the beginning, from kindergarten through high school.
Speaker C:And so we're very appreciative of the process.
Speaker C:No regrets, and I'm happy we did.
Speaker C:Sorry.
Speaker C:But so the biggest thing for us too, with the main concern was that we.
Speaker C:We wanted to make sure that we were instilling biblical values into our children.
Speaker C:That was the major factor, which is why we made the decision.
Speaker A:Yeah, that one's really huge.
Speaker A:But there's also a lot of Christian type schools.
Speaker A:Why did you decide to homeschool instead of moving into a more parochial school?
Speaker C:Great question.
Speaker C:For us, we thought about that as another option.
Speaker C:One thing that persuaded us against it, we interviewed one of the administrators at one of the schools, and they let us know that the teacher didn't need to be Christian in order to teach the Christian.
Speaker C:Christian school.
Speaker C:And so that took us back a little bit, again with being teaching Christian values, the biblical values being the most important for us.
Speaker C:It was hard for us to imagine a teacher who wasn't Christian instilling those biblical values.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, it's funny you say that because.
Speaker A:Because that's actually even gotten more.
Speaker A:A lot of the Catholic schools in the area where we were, there weren't enough Catholic educators.
Speaker A:So it's not that they didn't want to hire Christian teachers.
Speaker A:It's just there weren't enough of them to available to fill in the school.
Speaker A:So, you know, they.
Speaker A:They do the best they can.
Speaker A:But I completely understand where you're coming from with that as well, because I think it's now like something like 48% or almost 50% of the teachers in even Christian schools now don't identify as Christian anymore.
Speaker A:So again, great figuring that out and making that priority again.
Speaker A:Family values are so important, and you put that up at the top and then you made the sacrifices to make it happen.
Speaker A:So it's like my heart's totally with you right there.
Speaker A:I wish that we had done that with our boys.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But she was a teacher.
Speaker A:She wanted to be an educator.
Speaker A:So we went with the public education system because that was our life.
Speaker A:So again, seeing that ahead of time and pulling them out, well done.
Speaker B:I want to hear from Ava for just a second.
Speaker B:Besides the Christian values that you wanted instill, what else was it about homeschooling that really kind of drew you and let you stand firm, as I know we really need to do it this way.
Speaker D:I'm sorry, I'm the daughter, so.
Speaker B:Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker C:My wife.
Speaker A:Yeah, she's not so you were homeschooled as well?
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker B:How did I miss that?
Speaker B:I totally apologize.
Speaker A:Well, as a couple here, we thought we were talking to a couple there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So very, very.
Speaker A:Because we were a couple with two boys.
Speaker A:So again, took our, took our, our idea ideas and put it forward.
Speaker B:So, okay, so then think talk.
Speaker B:Let's go into the kids.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So what was it about homeschooling that you enjoyed?
Speaker B:What was it that really like, lit you up and made you want to learn more?
Speaker A:Well, I, I got a better question.
Speaker A:It's like, because it's like you didn't know the difference.
Speaker A:So it's like not necessarily a lighting up experiences, but.
Speaker A:But when you first figured out that you were homeschooled and everybody else was going, well, not everybody, but everybody else was going to public school, how did that affect you?
Speaker A:And your view of yourself is like, oh, all these kids are doing that, but we're stuck home.
Speaker A:What was that like?
Speaker F:For me personally, it was a bit tough at times because, like, I have like family, like my cousins that like go to public school and like get that experience.
Speaker F:You know, sometimes as I was doing, I'll be like, thinking about the socialization aspect of it and what I could be missing out on.
Speaker F:But as I was doing it, I was glad that we ended up doing homeschooling because just the learning process itself was, um, in my opinion, better than it would have been public school.
Speaker F:Because having my mom as a teacher and like getting down extra family time as old like her, and I'm getting to have a better relationship as I was learning was just beneficial.
Speaker F:Getting kind of also like, I'm spending time with my siblings as well more.
Speaker F:It was just great family time on top of them, the learning.
Speaker F:So getting the same amount of education and getting more family time was really big.
Speaker F:And I think that helped our bond as a family now, while we're still close today.
Speaker F:So I thought it was beneficial, that aspect of it, getting a more family time.
Speaker F:It did.
Speaker F:It was hard sometimes not having as much socialization as it would have been public school.
Speaker F:But as well we had homeschooling groups to.
Speaker F:For example, I did, um, basketball, like, um, with um, other homeschool, um, home schoolers on a basketball team.
Speaker F:So there was, um, still some socialization on top of um, all the family time we got.
Speaker F:So I thought that was very beneficial in terms of homeschooling.
Speaker D:For me personally, I honestly was curious about public school.
Speaker D:Just seeing of all.
Speaker D:I heard movies and TV shows too.
Speaker D:Sometimes it can be like, oh, what if on this side.
Speaker D:Because for some reason it seems like when you didn't experience it, your work hears about it.
Speaker D:So I think that aspect of it just.
Speaker D:Just made me like, okay, what if.
Speaker D:Because like Joseph said, the socialization.
Speaker D:So I was initially concerned with not being able to make many friends and not hang out with them other kids my age.
Speaker D:But I was involved in other activities as well.
Speaker D:For example, tennis.
Speaker D:I played for some years, so I got experience playing with other kids and hanging out with them.
Speaker D:So that was really cool.
Speaker D:What I liked about homeschool was being able to learn at my own pace.
Speaker D:So I feel like it really helped.
Speaker D:We were flexible as a family and we got to explore different interests and passions.
Speaker D:For example, from a young age, I've always enjoyed writing.
Speaker D:So we used to write different creative stories and different prompts.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker D:So I always enjoy that because I like to express myself through creative stories and writing.
Speaker D:So that was always a passion.
Speaker D:I enjoyed reading as well, so.
Speaker D:So that was something fun.
Speaker D:And I, when I was younger, I enjoyed spelling, so that was something I really like doing as well.
Speaker D:Like we would listen to audio and try to spell the word.
Speaker D:So I like that too.
Speaker D:So just just my different interests.
Speaker D:And then as Joseph touched on the family aspect, like, we got to.
Speaker D:I get to learn with my siblings.
Speaker D:That's also cool.
Speaker D:And sometimes a healthy competition, like, for me personally, like, I'm very competitive.
Speaker D:So like for grades, for example, like when we took tests and then I would compare my grade to theirs, like it was.
Speaker D:I'm very competitive, so I like to do that.
Speaker D:Like, it's very fun.
Speaker D:And also my mom, of course, and my dad too, they both taught us very well and brought us up well in the ways of the Lord.
Speaker D:As Christians, we believe that that's important.
Speaker D:Another part we did always as a family and still do, we prioritize reading the Bible in the morning together.
Speaker D:So that's what we do.
Speaker D:We have daily readings that we read in the Bible and then we have discussions about it as a family.
Speaker D:So we protest that every day.
Speaker D:We.
Speaker D:We as Christians believe it's important to keep God first.
Speaker D:So that's.
Speaker D:That's the first part of our day.
Speaker D:We come together and read the Bible.
Speaker D:We would audio.
Speaker D:It's called Word of Promise.
Speaker D:So we read that every day and then we discuss together as a family.
Speaker D:We believe that's important because we believe that reading the word of God is important that we need to do every day.
Speaker D:So that was very important to us.
Speaker D:And so yeah, just getting to.
Speaker D:In homeschool I feel like is very freeing just to get to explore interests and learning our own paces.
Speaker D:And I feel like if we do that, then it kind of gives you a chance to see what level you're at.
Speaker D:So someone who is progressing faster might not be at the same level.
Speaker D:So I felt that helped you to.
Speaker D:To see where you are with learning and to help it be a better and smoother process.
Speaker A:The individualized process.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker A:Your turn.
Speaker A:You want to go?
Speaker E:All right.
Speaker E:Well, growing up, yes, we were homeschooled.
Speaker E:And what I liked about homeschooling is tied to what my sister said.
Speaker E:You get to do it at your own pace and you don't really have to rely on the public school system or anything.
Speaker E:You get to run your own race.
Speaker E:And growing up, I've been interested in making music and write my own songs.
Speaker E:I've been doing some piano and currently, I mean, and I made some songs.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:One thing I would like to point out is how respectfully the three of you just interacted with each other.
Speaker A:How you calmly and patiently waited for the other person to talk.
Speaker A:There was no interruption.
Speaker A:That kind of family dynamic.
Speaker A:It's like, wow, I don't get along with my sisters.
Speaker A:So the homeschooling, one of the things that we missed with that was the way it does bring families together.
Speaker A:And it's interesting that you talk about hanging out with kids your own age, because the only time that really happens consistently is in school.
Speaker A:Once you get out of school, do you ever ask anybody?
Speaker A:Bob.
Speaker A:Bob second.
Speaker A:Bobby second.
Speaker A:Did you ever ask anybody how old they are?
Speaker F:No.
Speaker A:It comes up.
Speaker A:You're never going to be with people your same age ever again.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker A:Like that.
Speaker A:And so sometimes trying to force that interaction with that age group creates different kinds of issues that, that you have come up in public school.
Speaker A:And I had one more interesting kind of like follow up question because you talked about both the socialization and the education.
Speaker A:When you are talking with your peers now, can you tell the difference in your education?
Speaker A:Can you tell the difference in your socialization skills now?
Speaker A:Because it said you were something you were a little worried about.
Speaker A:Now that you're older, can you see a difference in your behaviors and actions versus your peers who've gone through public schools?
Speaker D:Personally, I do see a difference.
Speaker D:For instance, people who didn't grow up with that foundation, I noticed the different way they talk, the topics they talk about typically more worldly topics as opposed to when you grow up with that strong foundation in God's word.
Speaker D:I feel like there is a difference with how you carry yourself, as the Bible says, the people you hang around.
Speaker D:So if you hang around people who talk that same way about different things you shouldn't be talking about, then that's probably what you're going to be more likely to do.
Speaker D:But since we grew up together in the ways of the Lord, I believe that actually we actually sharpen each other because we saw each other every day.
Speaker D:So if we're all reading God's word and talking about it together, I feel like that actually made us stronger and actually helped us to see that more positive interactions.
Speaker D:So I feel like that there is a difference just in who hang on alone because everyone can admit it's.
Speaker D:It's more enticing to do something that everyone else is doing even if it's the wrong thing just because everyone else is doing it.
Speaker D:So I feel like that peer pressure angle in public school would have been a lot worse.
Speaker D:But here at home school we don't really have to worry about that because we're all growing up in the ways of the Lord, So it's not really as strong as if it was have been in public school.
Speaker D:So I, I do like that aspect.
Speaker D:So I feel like that has benefited us because we're all of one mind.
Speaker D:So we're all Christians, we all believe in God's word.
Speaker D:So I feel like that that has helped us in interactions.
Speaker D:And there is a difference.
Speaker D:I notice.
Speaker B:Joseph or Bobby, you want to jump in there as well?
Speaker E:Well, well, the benefits of whole schooling is that, well, a lot of these schools, they teach the wrong things.
Speaker E:A lot of these teachers are not really good at teaching the right stuff nowadays.
Speaker E:And another benefit is that in public schools there are a lot of school shootings and numerous abysmal stuff that goes, that goes along, that goes on there.
Speaker E:But when you're homeschooled, you don't really have to worry about that.
Speaker E:All you have to worry about is the worst that could happen is that your siblings can annoy you to death.
Speaker A:Right, I'll do that anyway.
Speaker B:Now I just wanted to clarify, have you all graduated so already.
Speaker D:Yes, we all have got it perfect.
Speaker B:And Bobby, the second.
Speaker B:So you know, you said that at the beginning you're worried about that socialization.
Speaker B:Have you seen now that you know or did you understand?
Speaker B:I'm not saying that right now that how are you feeling about it now.
Speaker A:That you were all done?
Speaker A:Was the worry worth it or was the socialization a problem at all?
Speaker C:No, I don't think it was a problem at all.
Speaker C:As they alluded to part Partly, you know, there were different activities.
Speaker C:Some of the activities that.
Speaker C:That we did with our home school partnering, group, field trips to numerous places, sports teams, music recitals.
Speaker C:So they did so much.
Speaker C:Even our home church, there were basketball leagues.
Speaker C:There's the morning Bible study with the peers we had them going to for a while.
Speaker C:So there are so many different opportunities that we had to introduce a socialization that.
Speaker C:No, it wasn't a problem.
Speaker C:And I like the fact that it was more.
Speaker C:I don't want to say control, but some of the negative stuff they may be alluded to you, you kind of can avoid, but at the same time getting the benefits of socialization.
Speaker C:So if you're socializing.
Speaker C:I'm sorry.
Speaker A:No, I was gonna say.
Speaker A:The way I kind of say that is for homeschool kids get to socialize in a cooperative matter instead of a competition kind of a way.
Speaker A:Because in school, it's like, there's a lot of competition.
Speaker A:There's grades, there's lots of pressure.
Speaker A:But in school, when you go to band practice, you're going to a whole bunch of people who want to play music instead of in school where the kids don't want to play music, they're there for 45 minutes twice a week, and they cause a lot of problems and act up because they treat it like recess instead of something serious.
Speaker A:So you get to go to music in a cooperative environment with lots of different ages.
Speaker A:So the socialization is more cooperative instead of.
Speaker A:Instead of competitive.
Speaker A:But even then, when you are in a competitive league, like your basketball league outside of the school or tennis, it's still in a cooperative manner during the competition.
Speaker A:So that the difference between public schools and so that.
Speaker A:That's just the way I frame what you said.
Speaker A:And so beautiful that I hear you talking exactly the same thing.
Speaker A:So that.
Speaker A:That's great.
Speaker A:So I had a question, but I lost it right in the middle.
Speaker A:So go.
Speaker C:So one of the problems.
Speaker C:I was going to say that what I've learned, you know, talking with the various homeschoolers and public homeschoolers, I mean, public school kids, is that it really depends also on the personality.
Speaker C:So some kids, you know, I'll just take myself, for example, I was more reserved, laid back, and I went to public school all my life.
Speaker C:So I kind of gravitated to one or two friends.
Speaker C:I wasn't big on social, you know, big groups, but I realized that there's some homeschoolers that, you know, they, you know, if you're a talkative person, you're going to Be talking to person in a small group, big group, public school, homeschool.
Speaker C:Because of personalities.
Speaker C:You can grow up in the same household but still have different personalities.
Speaker C:All three of our kids have different personalities.
Speaker C:Some like to talk more, some are more reserved.
Speaker C:But so I think the.
Speaker C:Who you are actually kind of determines how you're going to grow up as well.
Speaker B:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you know, like you probably did with you and your wife, you took those different personalities and you made sure those experiences happen for that child so they could feel fulfilled.
Speaker D:Right?
Speaker C:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I was pretty introverted as well, so it was really easy to disappear in school and if I wanted to.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And then as an introvert, that whole being out in front wasn't me.
Speaker A:So, you know, that.
Speaker A:That it always like, wow, how come I can't be that guy up in the front of the class doing that?
Speaker A:But I was the introvert.
Speaker A:I was the quiet, calm one, so I could disappear very easily through the school system.
Speaker C:Right, I agree.
Speaker D:Exactly.
Speaker B:So I want to shift a little bit because part of the reason we're here is to talk about the book that you and your family have written.
Speaker B:And so was that book part of the homeschooling experience or is something that you picked up after the homeschooling experience?
Speaker C:I would say after the homeschooling experience.
Speaker C:We talked about writing a book together for a long time, and eventually we thought this was a good time to do it.
Speaker C:And it was big for us because again, a family is so important for us to do it together.
Speaker C:And so was.
Speaker C:It's been a great process.
Speaker C:We're learning so much through the process, but it's been fun and, you know, a lot of good brainstorming sessions throughout the process.
Speaker C:And, you know, again, no regrets with it, with the book.
Speaker A:Tell us a little bit about the book.
Speaker A:What it's about, what the.
Speaker A:What the core theme is.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Where the story came from as well.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So, yeah, the title, Trust in Chimney and Store by Cheating.
Speaker C:It was initially inspired, excuse me, by my relationship with my paternal grandmother.
Speaker C:So in the story, Timothy has a great relationship with his grandmother.
Speaker C:And so that was initially expired.
Speaker C:Inspired.
Speaker C:Excuse me.
Speaker C:I give my paternal grandmother, her name was Elnis, credit for me becoming a Christian.
Speaker C:And with us, again, emphasizing that being the most important thing, I definitely want to emphasize that relationship with the story.
Speaker C:And so that was what inspired it.
Speaker C:But again, being a big family, I wanted to bring our kids along and do it as a family and bringing everybody's creativity.
Speaker C:We all have different passions, different skill sets and different thinking.
Speaker C:So coming together, I just thought, we thought it would be a great process.
Speaker B:Beautiful.
Speaker B:And so then who kind of took the lead?
Speaker B:Did you let the kids take the lead?
Speaker B:Mostly on it after we got the idea started, or did you kind of each take turns with the different parts of the book?
Speaker B:What happened there?
Speaker C:We took turns in the discussion.
Speaker C:Someone would bring an idea and then we would discuss whether or not we needed it, needed to be tweaked or maybe changed.
Speaker C:You know, Ava and I, we kid each other a lot.
Speaker C:I'll say that most of the discussions, her idea went out a lot.
Speaker C:She'll say mine and Joseph and BJ will say the same thing.
Speaker C:Maybe someone's way won the discussion more than others.
Speaker C:But again, it was a good process.
Speaker C:Some late night sessions as far as sometimes come in agreement on maybe small things.
Speaker C:That took a while, but it's been fun.
Speaker B:Excellent.
Speaker A:So again, was it written in the same voice?
Speaker A:Did like the same person write it after the decision was made to the direction of the story, or did you take turns writing it and then try and set the voice throughout the book?
Speaker C:It was a mixture of everyone's voice.
Speaker C:Sometimes it was, let's see what event in the book occurred.
Speaker C:Someone would come up with an idea and we would say whether or not we liked it or not.
Speaker C:For the most part, each sentence was, was voted on.
Speaker C:Sometimes it was hard because there's four, you know, sometimes they were tied.
Speaker C:And so we would have to convince one side.
Speaker C:Would have to convince one, one person on the other side to come join the other side.
Speaker C:So it was a lot of, again, late night discussions, a lot of voting, a lot of deep conversations, but we brought it together.
Speaker A:Sounds like a wonderful family building exercise.
Speaker C:Yes, I agree.
Speaker C:It really was.
Speaker C:I mean it really, I think, I think it strengthened our bond.
Speaker A:And how long did it take to get out, to become finished?
Speaker C:Over a year, I would say.
Speaker C:Yeah, a little over a year.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker D:Got it.
Speaker D:It was a long process.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker E:At the end he'll be worth it.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And so what is the theme of the book?
Speaker A:Timothy cheating are in the title.
Speaker A:So what, how do we get there?
Speaker A:What's going on?
Speaker E:It's about, it's about Timothy's friends cheating.
Speaker A:Timothy friends cheating and how he has to deal with that.
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So the main thing which we're trying to get across is that no matter what you're going through, cheating, relationships, family issues, the thing you can always lean on is God's word.
Speaker C:And so the, the book includes A few scriptures that we were hoping that the kids can memorize.
Speaker C:Again, what we try to teach our kids growing up and what we're all trying to teach now as a family is that you can always find a scripture to help you with anything.
Speaker C:You're going through something at work, again, something in the family, you can always find a Bible scripture to help you get through that process.
Speaker C:And we want to.
Speaker C:We want to teach that God's word is.
Speaker C:Is the final authority, the foundation on which you can build everything.
Speaker A:So I didn't take my religion and my spirituality very seriously until very much later in life.
Speaker A:Hurt my head.
Speaker A:Life fell apart.
Speaker A:A lot of changes with.
Speaker A:With traumatic brain injuries and brain damage.
Speaker A:And through that process, I started deepening my relationship with.
Speaker A:With God.
Speaker A:So I didn't have that as a foundation when I was young.
Speaker A:And so some of the stuff you're talking about is like, I.
Speaker A:I don't read the Bible every day.
Speaker A:I'm still trying.
Speaker A:I find that when I do read the Bible in the morning when my day goes better and I know this and, and still, again, because of some of the stuff going on in my head, in my brain, I can't make myself do it.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's bizarre.
Speaker A:But then when I do, it's like I find such peace.
Speaker A:So completely understand how reading that the Bible every day can.
Speaker A:Can really bring that sense of peace.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So thank you for sharing.
Speaker A:So many people don't like to necessarily talk about the.
Speaker A:That these days.
Speaker A:And so your openness and willing to go there is, Is joyful and beautiful.
Speaker A:So thank you for that as well.
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker C:Oh, yes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's huge, Herb.
Speaker C:You know, we.
Speaker C:We believe that God has the answer for anything, Anything we're.
Speaker C:We're going through.
Speaker C:And one thing we.
Speaker C:We emphasize is my wife and I, is that what I want to say when you base.
Speaker C:God's Word is the foundation of your family.
Speaker C:Because we know parents, you know, we.
Speaker C:We make mistakes.
Speaker C:So you can always say, well, dad, you did this, or, mom, you did this.
Speaker C:But you can never say that to a perfect guy.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:Because he never makes mistakes.
Speaker C:So when God is the authority or the example that you can compare to, then, then.
Speaker C:Then everyone has to fall in line.
Speaker C:So they can always come to us, respectively, of course, because, you know, the Bible says honor your mother and father, but if they know, if mom or dad just did something, they can always point to the scripture.
Speaker C:Mom, dad, this is what God's word.
Speaker C:And we'd have an argument.
Speaker C:We would have to stand because that is the foundation on which our family is built on.
Speaker C:And because God's word is perfect, we can always stand on a strong foundation and, you know, everything works out.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker A:So I have.
Speaker A:So you.
Speaker A:You said it's your brat.
Speaker A:Your.
Speaker A:Your paternal grandmother brought you into the faith, so you have a remembrance of not necessarily being in the faith and then coming into it.
Speaker A:And your children then would have been in the faith the whole time.
Speaker A:Christina's family was.
Speaker A:Was Catholic, and some of her brothers are no longer practicing Catholicism.
Speaker A:And so second generation, sometimes, sometimes even third generation, starts to move away from that family value.
Speaker A:How did children, kids, children.
Speaker A:Did any of you along this point have doubt or not doubting God is.
Speaker A:Is absolutely right.
Speaker A:But have any of you, like, started to move away or.
Speaker A:Or thought that maybe I'll give it my question is my question.
Speaker A:I don't know how to ask this question.
Speaker B:Maybe I'll take a break for a while and see how it goes or something like that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker F:I think definitely throughout life is always gonna be like struggles and things you go through.
Speaker F:And me personally, I've had moments in the past where I've been, where I've contemplated whether or not was God real?
Speaker F:Was he so there.
Speaker F:There have definitely been times.
Speaker F:But I think tying that back into starting young, since that was instilled in us at a young age, no matter what I was thinking, I always was able to come back be to come back set as my foundation because of what was instilled me a young age.
Speaker F:So that belief was always there.
Speaker F:No matter.
Speaker F:No matter if I had moments of doubt or if I always knew inside God was real, he was in my life.
Speaker F:So I think that's just very important, instilling that young age.
Speaker F:Because the b whack.
Speaker F:The Bible says chain up a child and the way she go and when he's old, he won't depart from it.
Speaker F:So I think that when parents like our parents are very good at the best parents possible.
Speaker F:So the fact that they instilled in us at a young age, I think that's just very beneficial, that our walk with God is just going to be that much better.
Speaker F:Because it was instilled at such a young age that all that we grew up learning is how good God was.
Speaker F:So I think that was very beneficial.
Speaker D:Yes, for me personally, I did have doubts in the past.
Speaker D:I think that's just a part of it though.
Speaker D:But I believe that reading the Bible every day, as that reinforcement did help because as a child you do go through questions and wondering Is God real?
Speaker D:Is this the right thing?
Speaker D:Because even from, we were young, we were introduced to different religions and that was explained to us.
Speaker D:So just the different possibilities.
Speaker D:For me as a kid, I did, I did struggle with that sometimes.
Speaker D:But I believe since we did grow up with that foundation, like Joseph said from a young age, I believe since that was instilled in us, I believe since that reinforcement that every day reading God's word because God's word is powerful, it convicts.
Speaker D:So I believe.
Speaker D:We believe as Christians that we have the Holy Spirit.
Speaker D:So the Holy Spirit convicts.
Speaker D:So I believe that that actually was, was a major part in knowing for sure for, for myself because it's important to, to know for myself and not just what my, our, our parents say.
Speaker D:Because I believe a personal relationship with, with Jesus Christ is what matters.
Speaker D:It's not enough to say, oh, I'm, I'm a Christian just because of, of my parents.
Speaker D:It's important for, for us to know for ourselves that we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ because that doesn't.
Speaker B:Matter.
Speaker D:Who else believes.
Speaker D:You need to make sure you believe for yourself.
Speaker D:So once I knew that, then everything was great.
Speaker D:So I believe that's important to make sure that you know for yourself so you're not tossed to and fro like the Bible says.
Speaker D:You need to make sure that you have a strong foundation that you're affirming the faith that you know what you believe.
Speaker D:So we, as I remember when we were younger, we would do practice witnessing, so we would pretend that we were on one side and then the other side, one of us would argue for Christian and the other for another religion.
Speaker D:And I think that actually helped because it actually helped us strengthen why we believe what we believe and how we can use the arguments to persuade other people.
Speaker D:So I believe that actually helped us for me personally in my walk to strengthen, not just memorizing the right answers, but actually believing what we're saying.
Speaker D:So I think that helps a lot.
Speaker A:Challenge your beliefs to strengthen them.
Speaker A:Beautiful.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker A:Or.
Speaker A:Your turn.
Speaker E:Well, I hate to admit, but I had some doubts about God a long time ago.
Speaker E:I was struggling to figure out if he was real or not because I couldn't really see Him.
Speaker E:And I've been having some doubts and I'm sure a lot of people have had that experience before.
Speaker E:But then I realized who else would make all this wonder who else would make dirt?
Speaker E:Who else would make the trees humans and animals, but, but a creator and, and all.
Speaker E:And also I've been having some doubts if God would do wonders in my life because a long time ago, I.
Speaker E:I was doing a driving test and I kept failing multiple times, and I was so frustrated, but eventually I passed.
Speaker E:So.
Speaker E:So it's kind.
Speaker E:So it's kind of like Lazarus or multiplying the lows.
Speaker E:And I.
Speaker E:I know it's.
Speaker E:I.
Speaker E:I know it may not be as big as that, but.
Speaker E:But still, God.
Speaker E:God could do wonders.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I have an interesting personality type.
Speaker A:I'm so an infj, if you've ever heard of Meyer Briggs.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker A:I've.
Speaker A:I have a deep connection with God.
Speaker A:I've always had that deep connection with God my entire life.
Speaker A:But the religion aspect of it in the Bible was where I had a lot of my problems.
Speaker A:And when I hurt myself and I got my brain damaged, my life went really, really dark.
Speaker A:I mean, my life.
Speaker A:My life was almost over.
Speaker A:And coming out of that process, and looking back, I was so angry when I hurt my head that God took my life away, that God took away so much from me.
Speaker A:But now when I look back when I was alone, it reminds me of that song where there's only one set of footsteps on the beach because God said he was carrying you.
Speaker A:I look back and I realize that God had me that whole time, and that sense of being alone and in the dark was necessary for my growth.
Speaker A:And he carried me out of that darkness.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So again, it's.
Speaker A:It's there for me, that experience, that.
Speaker A:That trust.
Speaker A:Trust that knowledge.
Speaker B:And beautiful testimony, beautiful witness everything that you were saying, how you connect.
Speaker B:And, you know, it's.
Speaker B:It's okay to have doubts, and it's okay to, you know.
Speaker A:But I think the word Israel means actually we who struggle with God.
Speaker A:So the.
Speaker A:So it's like.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:The struggle is.
Speaker A:Is part of it, and it's absolutely the most beautiful part of it because as you struggle, you get stronger and you move deeper into it.
Speaker A:So it's.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:And so thank you for sharing.
Speaker A:Just kind of.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:No, I was going to say, Herb, thank you for.
Speaker C:For sharing that.
Speaker C:That, that, that means a lot that you were able to share that, but I do want to encourage you that.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:To what you're saying.
Speaker C:God never, never leaves you.
Speaker C:So sometimes it is hard to see him sometimes when we're going through the process.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:But I don't want to minimize anything you're going through so that.
Speaker C:Thank you for sharing, but, yes.
Speaker C:As an encouragement.
Speaker C:Yeah, He.
Speaker C:He's always there for us.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We strongly believe that.
Speaker C:And we also believe.
Speaker A:I'm sorry if you lose him, if it gets dark.
Speaker A:It's never permanent.
Speaker A:He's always waiting for you to come back.
Speaker A:Always.
Speaker C:He's always waiting for us.
Speaker C:And when we, we know.
Speaker C:And again, we're basing everything on His Word.
Speaker C: one of my favorites, Matthew: Speaker C:Nothing is impossible for God.
Speaker C:That means, that means healing, that means peace, that means comfort.
Speaker C:And if you, as the Word teaches.
Speaker C:I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be too preachy here, but what the Word teaches is that again, he's everything.
Speaker C:He wants to comfort us.
Speaker C:He wants to do the heavy lifting like you're saying.
Speaker C:And as parents, just think about it.
Speaker C:As earthly parents, we know we want the best for our kids.
Speaker C:We make mistakes, but we're talking about a heavenly father that wants the best for you, who doesn't make any mistakes, who can fix any problem that you're going through, who has the answer to your problem before the problem arises.
Speaker C:So I just want, you know, encourage you, say yes.
Speaker C:Which is why, just going back to the book briefly, we want to instill these, these, these traits and the Word at a young age.
Speaker C:Because anything that you practice, you know, let's say if you practice piano from a young age, but, and you practice to your adult, you're going to be, you're going to be great.
Speaker C:So we want to hit the, hit the kids early with the power of God's Word.
Speaker C:But also, as we're saying now, it's important for adults.
Speaker C:So, you know, this is a children's book.
Speaker C:It's important for adults as well to apply these daily principles because we're all facing challenges, all facing struggles.
Speaker C:That's a part of life.
Speaker C:But God always has the answer to no matter what we're going through, and he always wants the best for us, which is what we're trying to really instill through this book.
Speaker A:And you know, the Bible is a book of amazing stories as well.
Speaker A:And there were some stories that, that I heard told many, many times.
Speaker A:But until I picked up a children's book about that story and read through it, did it finally make sense to me in the way.
Speaker A:So it doesn't matter whether it's written as a children's book or whether it's written is really high level theology.
Speaker A:The Word has a way of finding the people where it is.
Speaker A:So children's book can, can reach adults?
Speaker A:Yes, just, I mean, it's hit me hard a couple of times going through a book.
Speaker A:I was like, oh, that's what that means.
Speaker A:And it's like, man, I gotta start adjusting some of my, my picture to, to incorporate this little thing that I've been looking at.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Interestingly so.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So even if it's in a kid's book, adults can still get so much out of it, which is.
Speaker B:Into my next question.
Speaker B:What are your plans?
Speaker B:What are your goals?
Speaker B:We have our first book, Timothy, and what's going to happen next?
Speaker E:Oh, well, our goal is to be the next Veggie Tales, so.
Speaker E:So have you seen Veggie Tales before?
Speaker B:Oh, I like that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Perfect.
Speaker B:Another book plan.
Speaker A:You're actually, you're actually like just missing us because our kids just, just missed Veggie Tales.
Speaker A:They were just older and so we know what it is, but we haven't watched it because our kids missed that.
Speaker A:So I have seen it like a couple episodes, but I could not really.
Speaker A:Could not really tell you what it's about.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:But yeah.
Speaker B:So what are the plans?
Speaker B:You have another book in the works or are you just working on this one right now and then jumping into another one?
Speaker B:What are some other things that you're doing?
Speaker A:You want to get into animation, turn it into cartoons or just like the books?
Speaker F:Well, well, for now we have plans from future books and we want, we want this to be a series.
Speaker F:We want more trust intimidate books in the future.
Speaker F:So that's our plan.
Speaker F:But like we all say we're not going to limit God, so we do envision potentially TV shows, making movies.
Speaker F:So we do have plans continue making inspirational stuff to can help people.
Speaker F:So we, we did, we have for now some kinds of books, but we definitely envision more stuff in the future as well.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:Beautiful.
Speaker D:Yes, we're, we're very excited about this process.
Speaker D:So yes, we, we, we plan to continue making more and I, we envision it this being like very big.
Speaker D:So I'm very excited to see this progress and become something even bigger.
Speaker D:So very exciting process.
Speaker B:Excellent.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Think your next book will go quicker?
Speaker D:I hope so.
Speaker B:Especially once you get the process down.
Speaker B:Then things go a little bit smoother the next time.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:Well, Bryant family, this has been a wonderful discussion.
Speaker B:I have enjoyed every single bit of it, from our homeschooling to our faith to the launching of the book.
Speaker B:All of this has been inspiring and insightful and hopefully other families as they're listening to this, pick up on the pieces and parts that help fulfill them and lead them to their purpose as you're doing.
Speaker B:So thank you so very, very much for joining us.
Speaker B:Today.
Speaker B:And in that spirit, can you please share a little bit of how people can get a hold of you, follow you, get the book, etc.
Speaker B:And of course, things will be in the show.
Speaker D:Notes.
Speaker F:Yes.
Speaker F:So our book can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and we also have a website, trusting timothy.com where the book can be found.
Speaker F:We also have an Instagram Trusting Timothy Underscore Official, that's our Instagram username where we post, um, content there as well.
Speaker F:So, um, that is, um, where we, um, can be found.
Speaker B:Beautiful.
Speaker B:So, like, share and help them spread the word about this new book and this wonderful journey of this family.
Speaker A:So I really appreciated having you all here today.
Speaker A:The coherence of the family, the way you all work together is just beautiful.
Speaker A:That that wasn't taken away from you in public school, which is, which is a really awesome thing because again, my, my siblings and I don't necessarily get along so well after going to school.
Speaker A:So beautiful, beautiful message.
Speaker A:And so many people now, you know, they, they don't put themselves out there.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:They take these and then they just hide away and they just keep it to themselves.
Speaker A:But you're out there, you're making a difference and you're sharing your story with the world, which is such a brave thing to do.
Speaker A:So thank you for doing what you're doing.
Speaker A:Thank you for, for being here today.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's so important that people can see role models like you.
Speaker F:Thank you for.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Thank you for having us.
Speaker C:Yes, thank you.
Speaker D:Thank you for having us.
Speaker D:Appreciate it.
Speaker B:Very welcome.
Speaker B:All right, audience, this is the time to, like, share, subscribe, and make sure you're letting other families in on the secret.
Speaker B:There is some great information in this podcast bringing education home.
Speaker B:Like the Bryant family, who are reaching out and doing the thing to help other families be healthy, happy and successful.
Speaker B:So take care of yourselves and spread the word and make sure that you are doing what you can to raise kids that can love and grow and be successful.
Speaker A:And check out the Bryant family and Trusting Timothy.
Speaker D:Yep, exactly.
Speaker B:Until next time.
Speaker B:Bye for now.
Speaker A:For now, take care.
