{"id":312771,"date":"2025-02-20T04:26:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T09:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/jesus-for-the-next-generation-blair-and-shai-linne\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T04:26:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T09:26:27","slug":"jesus-for-the-next-generation-blair-and-shai-linne","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/jesus-for-the-next-generation-blair-and-shai-linne\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus for the Next Generation: Blair and Shai Linne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What could your legacy be to your family? Artists Blair and Shai Linne offer you-can-do-this ways to hand Jesus to the next generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What could your legacy be to your family? Artists Blair and Shai Linne offer you-can-do-this ways to hand Jesus to the next generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47000,"featured_media":312569,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/traffic.omny.fm\/d\/clips\/cbd16f10-ac60-4f09-b4df-b15400ce35aa\/33aaac7e-3581-4e21-a3df-b154011ba58c\/e3472cde-052d-45c0-871d-b27d01047312\/audio.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:27:44","filesize":"25.43M","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2833,2806],"tags":[],"podcast_series":[8552],"cwp_profile":[9794],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-312771","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-godly-legacy","category-spiritual-development","podcast_series-blair-and-shai-linne-finding-my-father","cwp_profile-blair-and-shai-linne","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2025\/02\/image_bbee74.jpg?w=1024","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/312771\/jesus-for-the-next-generation-blair-and-shai-linne","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/312771\/jesus-for-the-next-generation-blair-and-shai-linne","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"SxeRmPNdex\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/jesus-for-the-next-generation-blair-and-shai-linne\/\">Jesus for the Next Generation: Blair and Shai Linne<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/jesus-for-the-next-generation-blair-and-shai-linne\/embed\/#?secret=SxeRmPNdex\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Jesus for the Next Generation: Blair and Shai Linne&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"SxeRmPNdex\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2025\/02\/image_bbee74.jpg",1024,1024,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Margaret","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/margaret-coylefamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"What could your legacy be to your family? Artists Blair and Shai Linne offer you-can-do-this ways to hand Jesus to the next generation.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"\n<ul>\n<li>Learn more about Shai Linne at <a href=\"https:\/\/shailinnemusic.com\/\">shailinnemusic.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Get Blair Linne's book \"<a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/product\/finding-my-father\/\">Finding My Father<\/a>\" in the FamilyLife shop<\/li>\n<li>Find resources from this podcast at <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/product-category\/radio-resources\/\">shop.familylife.com<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/product-category\/past-radio-resources\/\">See resources from our past podcasts.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Find more content and resources on the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/flministries\/app\/\">FamilyLife's app<\/a>!<\/li>\n<li>Help others find FamilyLife. Leave a review on <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303\">Apple Podcast<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm?si=d6dfa8d2415f4750\">Spotify<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Check out all the FamilyLife's podcasts on the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/flministries\/familylife-podcast-network\/\">FamilyLife Podcast Network<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylife.com\/fl2025-02-20.pdf","transcript_content":"\nFamilyLife Today\u00ae with Dave and Ann Wilson - Web Version Transcript\r\n\r\nThis content has been generated by an artificial intelligence language model. While we strive for accuracy and quality, please note that the information provided will most likely not be entirely error-free or up-to-date. We recommend independently verifying the content with the originally-released audio. This transcript is provided for your personal use and general information purposes only. References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the use or interpretation of this content.\r\n\r\nJesus for the Next Generation\r\n\r\nGuests:Blair &amp;amp; Shai Linne\r\n\r\nFrom the series:Finding My Father (Day 2 of 2)\r\n\r\nAir date:February 20, 2025\r\n\r\nShai: It\u2019s incalculable: the impact that one godly couple can have on generations to come. It was my desire, and it was Blair\u2019s desire\u2014that though we both came from broken homes\u2014the Lord brought us together, in His sovereignty, so that we might leave a godly legacy.\r\n\r\nAnn: Welcome to FamilyLife Today, where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most. I\u2019m Ann Wilson.\r\n\r\nDave: And I\u2019m Dave Wilson, and you can find us at FamilyLifeToday.com. This is\r\n\r\nFamilyLife Today. \r\n\r\nDave: Growing up in Fendley, Ohio, this little town, I was always jealous of this one family, the Barons.\r\n\r\nAnn: Were you?!\u2014that\u2019s my family.\r\n\r\nDave: She\u2019s sitting right there.\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: Yes; I mean, they were known in our town as this really close-knit family. Now, I knew it wasn\u2019t as great as we thought, from the outside; but I always was jealous of your dad.\r\n\r\nAnn: Oh\r\n\r\nDave: You know, he coached me\u2014and I knew your brothers\u2014I played sports with your brothers. Every time I was near your family\u2014it felt full of joy; it felt fun\u2014a lot of laughter. You guys were addicted to sports, so that was awesome, [Laughter] but I think a lot of people in that town felt that about the Barons. \r\n\r\nWhy do you have tears in your eyes?\r\n\r\nAnn: I don\u2019t know; but it makes me teary, just because I just lost both of my parents. They did create that\u2014they were fun\u2014people wanted to be at our house, not so much because of us kids, but because [of] my dad. People would sit down; and he would say, \u201cTell me your story. Tell me who you are. How did you get so great?\u201d He was great at complimenting other people; wasn\u2019t he?\r\n\r\nDave: Yes; I mean, as a guy\u2014\r\n\r\nAnn: And he loved you! It helped that you were a good athlete too. [Laughter]\r\n\r\nDave: Well, it was the kind of family\u2014you never wanted to leave their house\u2014you wanted to stay there: it felt warm; it felt inviting. \r\n\r\nI would leave\u2014and I remember getting on my bike and pedaling over; then later, going home to an empty house\u2014with just my mom, who was drinking to hide her pain. Now, we\u2019re bringing all that up!\r\n\r\nAnn: I\u2019ve already been crying.\r\n\r\nDave: Yes.\r\n\r\nAnn: We just started!\r\n\r\nDave: We just started this thing!\r\n\r\nAnn: I feel sad for you too.\r\n\r\nDave: You\u2019re hearing, on the other side of the room, we\u2019ve got Shai and Blair Linne in here. This is Day Two, talking about your family. Blair, you wrote a book called Finding My Father. \r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: So obviously, you\u2019ve had a similar experience. \r\n\r\nBut again, let me just first say, welcome back to FamilyLife Today. We\u2019re so glad to have you back!\r\n\r\nBlair: Thank you; it\u2019s good to be back with you guys.\r\n\r\nAnn: And Shai, it\u2019s really good to have both of you here: to hear both of your stories\u2014and the similarities, too\u2014and the struggle of wanting to have that relationship and, also, forgiving our fathers. I think our listeners\u2014even me, having a great dad\u2014there were still things that I had to forgive. I think this relates to all of us.\r\n\r\nDave: Yes; and so obviously, we\u2019ve heard a little bit of your story; but even as you hear us talk about that, did you ever feel that in your life? Because you both had\u2014you lived in homes that were fatherless, in a sense, like mine\u2014did you feel a similar desire?\u2014\u201cI want to be around a family, where there\u2019s a dad. There\u2019s something there that I don\u2019t have.\u201d\r\n\r\nBlair: I remember praying\u2014actually, my grandmother, who was a source of strength\/kind of the backbone of our family on my mom\u2019s side, and a strong believer\u2014she would pray for us, and she would pray that we would have a godly family. I remember, at 13 years old, praying, \u201cI want to have a godly family.\u201d Now, I had no idea what that even meant! [Laughter]\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: But that was in my mind; that was in my heart\u2014\r\n\r\nAnn: That\u2019s what you wanted.\r\n\r\nBlair: \u2014kind of planted\u2014that\u2019s what I wanted.\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: It\u2019s so sad, because there weren\u2019t many models where I lived; you know? I would look out at the different families that lived around us\u2014or you know, when we lived in an apartment building, below us or to the side of us\u2014and really, wasn\u2019t anything that I saw that I wanted to model, sadly. \r\n\r\nIt\u2019s crazy\u2014when I was a child\u2014I would actually have an imaginary family,\u2014\r\n\r\nAnn: Ahh.\r\n\r\nBlair: \u2014which is really sad\u2014with a dad; you know? Most of what I saw, when I thought of a family, was something on television. And Shai, you\u2019re shaking your head.\r\n\r\nShai: Yes; very similar for me. I didn\u2019t know that there was anything other than single-parent homes\u2014because all of my friends: it was just their mom\u2014the idea of a dad even being in the home was foreign to me.\r\n\r\nAnn: And yet, look at you two now! I mean, I wonder if your grandmother, praying that for you: did that give you a sense of: \u201cThis is what I want as well\u201d? \r\n\r\nBlair: Yes, absolutely. \r\n\r\nAnn: And then, God answered that prayer.\r\n\r\nBlair: Absolutely.\r\n\r\nDave: Yes; so as you guys get married, was there a desire\u2014I mean, you\u2019ve got three kids\u2014right?\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes; well, not before we got married.\r\n\r\nDave: Right, right. [Laughter] You didn\u2019t have any kids before.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes!\r\n\r\nDave: You\u2019ve had them since.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: But I know, when Ann and I got married, there were two things going on in my mind. She, again, came from this great family\u2014and again, we\u2019re not saying \u201cperfect\u201d\u2014because, even as I got in there,\u2014\r\n\r\nAnn: \u2014and there was no faith going on.\r\n\r\nDave: \u2014I saw all the dysfunction.\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes, there\u2019s a lot.\r\n\r\nDave: I could tell you stories.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: But anyway, it was just sort of a typical family; but there was a dad.\r\n\r\nShai: Yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: And I didn\u2019t have that; so when we got married, I had two things in my mind. One was I was scared to death to be a dad. I wanted to be one, but I was afraid I didn\u2019t know how. \r\n\r\nAnn: I just\u2014yes, let me share this, Dave\u2014on our honeymoon, we go out east to the East Coast, and we spend two nights in Boston at this great hotel. We were all excited; and we were kind of adventurous, like: \u201cLet\u2019s take the subway!\u201d \u201cLet\u2019s explore the city!\u201d We were exploring; and on the way back, we got lost on the subway. I love adventure! I\u2019m like, \u201cWho cares if we\u2019re lost? We\u2019re together; this is amazing.\u201d \r\n\r\nDave starts getting mad. We get back to the hotel room; he totally shuts down. We\u2019ve been married three days at this point. I was like, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?!\u201d And he\u2014\r\n\r\nDave: You just had to bring that up; huh? [Laughter] I didn\u2019t know we were going there!\r\n\r\nAnn: We haven\u2019t talked about this in a long time!\r\n\r\nDave: \u2014a long time.\r\n\r\nAnn: He starts crying\u2014the hardest that I\u2019ve ever seen him cry\u2014I\u2019m thinking, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d\r\n\r\nDave: Yes, I can remember it like it was yesterday\u2014and it\u2019s 40-some years ago\u2014I was sobbing very strongly. I remember trying to understand what I was feeling. I was overwhelmed. \r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: You know, two weeks before our wedding, we went to the FamilyLife Weekend to Remember\u00ae\u2014that now, for 30-plus years, we\u2019re speakers at\u2014but we sat there, as an engaged couple. It was the first time in my life I had ever heard a talk from the Word of God about what a husband looks like, and a dad.\r\n\r\nShai: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: And it was great! It was awesome! I\u2019ve given that talk thousands of times now.\r\n\r\nAnn: And you had never heard anything like that before?\r\n\r\nDave: No, nothing! I\u2019d never\u2014I didn\u2019t grow up in a Christian home\u2014I was probably a year-and-a-half old as a follower of Christ. The good thing was I, for the first time, heard what a man of God, and a husband, and dad should look like.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: The bad thing is I remember walking out, going, \u201cI\u2019ll never be able to do that!\u201d You know, partly because I didn\u2019t have any model\u2014that\u2019s sort of a victim mentality\u2014but I was like, \u201cI\u2019ll never be able to do it.\u201d \r\n\r\nThat\u2019s what happened in that moment: we got lost; I\u2019m supposed to be able to navigate our way through Boston\u2014I\u2019d never been there\u2014but I just\/I think what happened was I felt overwhelmed that night. I think I said, \u201cI\u2019ll never be the man you need.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes! You said, \u201cI can\u2019t do this; you don\u2019t get it! I don\u2019t know how to do this.\u201d\r\n\r\nDave: And the good thing is, now when I teach that, I say to the guys: \u201cIf you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed right now, that\u2019s where God wants you.\u201d\r\n\r\nShai: That\u2019s right.\r\n\r\nBlair: Right.\r\n\r\nShai: That\u2019s right.\r\n\r\nDave: Because He wants you to say, \u201cYou\u2019re right; you won\u2019t be this man, but I can [guide you] if you let Me.\u201d\r\n\r\nShai: Amen.\r\n\r\nDave: I say all that to say\u2014you know, there was this fear\u2014but there\u2019s also this excitement, like, \u201cI get to change a legacy.\u201d \r\n\r\nShai: Yes, yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: How did you guys walk into it? Was any of that going on in your life?\r\n\r\nShai: Yes; so when we got engaged, I proposed to Blair at the Lincoln Memorial in DC, a few feet away from where Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech.\r\n\r\nAnn: Ahh!\r\n\r\nDave: Seriously?\r\n\r\nShai: Yes.\r\n\r\nAnn: That\u2019s cool!\r\n\r\nShai: And the\u2014\r\n\r\nDave: Did you know what was going to happen?\r\n\r\nBlair: I didn\u2019t; no. \r\n\r\nDave: Oh.\r\n\r\nBlair: But the whole church knew [Laughter]; because when we came back, everyone was clapping; [Laughter] like, \u201cOh, okay! I see how this is; okay.\u201d\r\n\r\nShai: And the thing that I communicated on that day\u2014and which we had already talked about before\u2014was that it\u2019s incalculable: the impact that one godly couple can have on generations to come. It was my desire, and I knew it was Blair\u2019s desire, to have a godly legacy and that\u2014though we both came from broken homes\u2014the Lord brought us together, in His sovereignty, so that we might leave a godly legacy. And that's what we began to walk in.\r\n\r\nDave: Shai, when you're saying that, here's what hit me, the Ten Commandments,\r\n\r\nExodus 20. I know you're familiar with this. You're a pastor; man, you preach this stuff, \r\n\r\nright? You probably have done spoken word on this. I don't know. Verse 4; it's one of the commands, \u201cYou shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on earth below or in the waters below.\u201d And then He says this, \u201cYou shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.\u201d And often that's all I heard. \r\n\r\nAnd so I realized, wow, I came from two alcoholic parents, adultery, divorce, there's going to be this sin that could possibly be transferred through me to the third and fourth. Nobody ever read the next verse. It\u2019s actually, he just keeps on going. He goes in verse 6, he says, \u201cbut showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.\u201d So when you're just saying that Shai is like you're living out the other side of that. No, no, no. There's this beauty of the righteous man and woman. I am going to extend that for a thousand of generations and we get to change the name and the legacy. That was part of what you guys were hoping for as you got married.\r\n\r\nBlair:Absolutely. And praise be to God that he loved us first. That's why we're able to love him. And we praying that it would impact so many generations beyond ourselves. And it's amazing to be able to think often about Shai. What was the scripture that you shared with me? It was like\u2014\r\n\r\nShai:God can raise children for Abraham out of stones\r\n\r\nBlair:And just to see that the Lord, though you've dealt with very hard things, not having our fathers in our lives, that doesn't have to be the end of the story. God changes our story so often for His glory.\r\n\r\nShai:And you think about the new birth, that's what God does. He regenerates us. He makes all things new. The old has gone, the new has come. And as we were just talking, it reminded me of our children. So we have three kids, ten, seven and six right now. \r\n\r\nDave:You guys are in the middle of it. Gee whiz, those are great ages. They're busy.\r\n\r\nShai:And one of the things that struck me a while back was, we were talking to the kids, and I was telling them about a cousin that they have who had a child out of wedlock. And one of our kids looks to us and says, \u201cWait, where's his wife?\u201d And I said, \u201cWell, he doesn't\u2014they're not married.\u201d And he said, \u201cWait, how can someone have a child if they're not married?\u201d In his mind it was unfathomable that you could have a child without being married and that's all he knows with us. And so that was just a moment of: man, the Lord is doing it. He's starting fresh with the next generation.\r\n\r\nAnn:I love one of the things that you say in your book, Blair. You say we don't need to hide that father wound. We don't need to pretend that we aren't really that affected by our father's absence. I am thinking that so many of us do hide those wounds,\r\n\r\nBlair:Right; that's right. And we don't know. We often are not aware of how we're being impacted by our father's absence. And even we talk about the statistics. There's so many statistics which show sociologists are very clear that fathers matter. It's so evident because when you look at, for example, whether it's the obesity rates or you're more likely to come in contact with police, just not having your dad in the home; you're more likely to be suicidal, not having your dad in the home. Something that we dealt with that was very close to home was the infant mortality rate doubles when the dad is not in the home. \r\n\r\nSo I talk about in the book, when my mom told us that she was actually going to have another child, and later unfortunately my brother passed away, it's like, who would've known that these were the statistics that it was kind of in a sense stacked up against us, but how the Lord is like, I can look at you, I can shield you, I can cover you. I didn't even experience many things that many other people who are fatherless experience. I think the Lord shielded me from a lot; teen pregnancy or even going to jail or things like that. But even in that, the Lord says, \u201cI can still, I can cover you. I can still make all things new where you can create a legacy.\u201d \r\n\r\nAnd it doesn't actually have to mean that you have to get married, and you have to have biological children. I even talk about this in the book, legacy looks like discipleship. It looks like pouring your life out as a single sister or brother. It looks like. How do you pour into the next generation? How are you going to leave a mark and show the love of Christ to the next person coming along? And so yes, make God's name be praise through all of us regardless of the situation that we're in or the season of life that we're in. We are here to bring His name, glory and praise.\r\n\r\nAnn: As I hear your story, I can\u2019t help but think of all the fathers you have in your church, in a way\u2014and all the couples\u2014would you say\/what would you be like without that community?\r\n\r\nShai: There are tangible examples of men that I can point to, over the years, who have\u2014you know, it\u2019s been a community thing; it hasn\u2019t just been getting everything from one person\u2014but just kind of, again, gleaning from different people over the years. You know, I think about things like family worship, which is something that I had no concept of. We didn\u2019t even eat dinner at the table when I was growing up; you know what I mean?\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes; what did that look like when somebody told you about that?\r\n\r\nShai: Well, it wasn\u2019t him telling me about it; it was him showing me.\r\n\r\nAnn: Wow!\r\n\r\nShai: He was inviting us over for dinner.\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nShai: And then after dinner, opening up the scriptures\u2014\r\n\r\nAnn: with, his kids were there?\r\n\r\nShai: \u2014with his kids, yes. It was modeled; and I was like, \u201cWow! This is great. I\u2019ve never\u2026\u201d; I didn\u2019t have a category for this. That\u2019s something that we\u2019ve instilled in our home, and that we\u2019ve been able to invite others in, the same way that we were invited in.\r\n\r\nAnn: So do you do a family worship?\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nShai: We do, yes.\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: What does that look like?\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes, what does it look like?\r\n\r\nShai: After dinner, we\u2019ll open the Bible. You know, we\u2019re going through the book of Mark now; so I\u2019ll read the passage.\r\n\r\nBlair: \u2014usually, the previous text.\r\n\r\nShai: Yes; we\u2019ll do a recap of what we did before, asking the kids questions about it.\r\n\r\nDave: Every day?\u2014every week?\r\n\r\nShai: As much as we can.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: Really?\r\n\r\nShai: Yes, as much as we can. \r\n\r\nDave: You bring the kids in; you\u2019re asking them questions. \r\n\r\nShai: \u2014asking them questions about what we just read.\r\n\r\nBlair: It\u2019s just after dinner, so we\u2019re all gathered at the table.\r\n\r\nShai: Yes, I\u2019ll read; we\u2019re already there.\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nShai: And then we\u2019ll read the next passage. I\u2019ll ask them questions about it, so we\u2019ll have a discussion. Sometimes, it goes for ten minutes; sometimes it goes for thirty minutes, just depending on how the discussion goes. And then, I\u2019ll connect it to the gospel: \u201cHow does this relate to Christ?\u201d\u2014wherever we are in the Bible\u2014and then, we\u2019ll sing and pray\u2014and that\u2019s it\u2014we\u2019re done. \r\n\r\nBlair: And then we, also\/we like sing right before bed too.\r\n\r\nAnn: You do?\r\n\r\nShai: We love to sing.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nAnn: \u2014every night.\r\n\r\nDave: Let\u2019s hear you sing something.\r\n\r\nBlair: Oh boy.\r\n\r\nDave: What do you sing? [Laughter]\r\n\r\nAnn: Can you do that? Would you sing one of your songs?\r\n\r\nBlair: Oh, what? \r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: Love you.\r\n\r\nDave: You got one?\r\n\r\nShai: Wait, what happened? What are we doing now? \r\n\r\nDave: What just happened?\r\n\r\nShai: What just happened?\r\n\r\nDave: Blair said you were going to sing a song; that\u2019s what just happened.\r\n\r\nShai: I mean we could sing together if you would like.\r\n\r\nDave: Let\u2019s hear it.\r\n\r\nAnn: Let\u2019s do it.\r\n\r\nDave: I got a guitar; you need music?\r\n\r\nAnn: So this is before bedtime. You'll sing this song over your kids. \r\n\r\nBlair: We sing different songs every night.\r\n\r\nShai: Different songs.\r\n\r\nAnn: Will they sing with you?\r\n\r\nShai: Oh, yes! They sing with us.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes, we sing together.\r\n\r\nShai: Yes, yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: And then we pray.\r\n\r\nShai: One of the things we did, very early on\u2014I mean, we\u2019ve been singing since, you know, Sage was a toddler\u2014\r\n\r\nAnn: Aww.\r\n\r\nShai: \u2014so even, I mean, they just kind of\/that\u2019s all they know.\r\n\r\nBlair:So now actually one of the pastors, so when I moved to Washington DC right before we got married, there was a two-month window and I was staying with a family, one of the pastors at our church. And I remember him saying, \u201cWe've been singing with our kids since they were six months old.\u201d I just thought \u201cSix months old; wow!\u201d As you learn and grow and you see what other families are doing and you say, \u201cOh, let's do that,\u201d or \u201cNo, we're not going to do that.\u201d But that's something that we've kept, and it's been beautiful. \r\n\r\nShai: Yes; I have recordings of our oldest, Sage, singing Holy, Holy, Holy at six months. \r\n\r\nDave: \u2014at six months?!\r\n\r\nShai: \u2014at six months.\r\n\r\nDave: You have genius kids; that\u2019s what you have.\r\n\r\nShai: No, no!\r\n\r\nBlair: Well, Sage is a genius. \r\n\r\nAnn: I was at our middle son, Austin\u2019s, house; and they were putting their kids to bed. They do the same thing\u2014they sing over them\u2014I got teary when he was doing it, like, \u201cThis is the best!\u201d We didn\u2019t do this, but we prayed every night together.\r\n\r\nDave: Well, that\u2019s what I was thinking. If there\u2019s a family listening, and they\u2019re like, \u201cOkay, I can\u2019t imagine us singing with our kids at night,\u201d\u2014\r\n\r\nShai: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: \u2014which, in one sense\u2014I\u2019m like, \u201cWell, take a risk.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: \u201cYou could end up going there.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes; kids usually love it!\r\n\r\nDave: But what would you say to a family, that\u2019s like, \u201cWe\u2019re not church planters; we\u2019re not pastors. We don\u2019t know the Word like you guys do.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: \u201cBut we want to do a family worship\/devotional. We want that to be part of our family.\u201d What would you tell them? Where would they start?\r\n\r\nShai: Yes; I mean, all families are different; but at the same time, I mean, we are commanded in Scripture. Certain things are commanded; right? We\u2019re called to: \u201cSing to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.\u201d That doesn\u2019t have to be limited to the corporate gathering on Sundays. In fact, I believe we should see what we do on Sundays as an outgrowth, or an overflow, of what\u2019s already happening during the week.\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes, yes.\r\n\r\nShai: So that the kids don\u2019t have this sharp dichotomy between Sunday and everything else; but it\u2019s just like: \u201cNo, we\u2019ve been worshiping God throughout the week; and now, we get to worship Him with the corporate body of God\u2019s people.\u201d \r\n\r\nTo that person, I would say, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a pastor. You don\u2019t have to be a scholar. If you have a Bible, you can open it; you can read it. You don\u2019t even have to have the gift of teaching; you can just read the passage. Even if it\u2019s just ten minutes of opening the Bible, reading the passage, discussing it, praying; you can call it a day.\u201d Even if it\u2019s just that\u2014that small step of faithfulness\u2014God will honor that.\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes, there\u2019s no law; you know? It\u2019s not like: \u201cThis is the way we do it, and you have to do it that way.\u201d\r\n\r\nShai: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: Right.\r\n\r\nBlair: The Lord can be praised in so many different ways; and if it is just taking two minutes to read one verse every day, or every other day\u2014\r\n\r\nShai: His Word won\u2019t return void.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes, it won\u2019t! Or you know, just stopping to pray with your children\/to pray for your children. \r\n\r\nI just think about my grandmother, who prayed for me so often\u2014just about every day, she prayed for me\u2014I was sharing recently, as she got older, she had dementia. My aunt would say she would still pray for her children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren every day. It was so a part of who she was\u2014 \r\n\r\nAnn: Yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: \u2014that intercession. And you know, we need to be interceding for our children. I think it\u2019s beautiful for them to hear our prayers, if possible. So just trust the Lord\u2014even, again, if it\u2019s a two-minute prayer and reading one verse\u2014the Lord can use that.\r\n\r\nAnn: And I would say, too, we have this\u2014especially, before our kids are driving\u2014we have time with them in the car.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nAnn: Like car time is amazing for, not just catching up with them, but praying. I just got into that habit, when they were infants\u2014buckling them in\u2014I would just pray out loud. That became so normal\u2014that we\u2019re praying before school, praying after school\u2014\u201cHow\u2019d your day go?\u201d\u2014we\u2019d pray about the things that went on: the good or the hard things. We always say: \u201cMealtime, bedtime, drive time\u2014\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nAnn: \u2014\u201cthose are great times of\u2014\r\n\r\nDave: \u2014\u201cthose are moments to seize.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes, yes. \r\n\r\nDave: You know, earlier, I thought you were going to sing. [Laughter]\r\n\r\nAnn: What happened to that, Dave? I think they were kind of weaseled out of that.\r\n\r\nShai: Yes, yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: Are you still going to sing?\r\n\r\nDave: You got one? You got like a chorus?\r\n\r\nBlair: What\u2019s that one?\r\n\r\nDave: Look, Blair wants to do it.\r\n\r\nBlair and Shai: [Singing] \u201cFor from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things; To Him be glory forevermore; To Him be glory forever, Amen, Amen, Amen.\u201d\r\n\r\nDave: Okay, so we actually got you to sing. \r\n\r\nAnn: Which was amazing.\r\n\r\nDave: I mean I literally was, Shai when you said, \u201cI'm not singing,\u201d and then she hit \r\n\r\none note, you're in. \r\n\r\nAnn: Hey, picture this: I\u2019m thinking of being in my bed and my parents singing over me. \r\n\r\nImagine that, growing up! Can you imagine what you would feel?\r\n\r\nDave: No, I can\u2019t.\r\n\r\nAnn: But your kids don\u2019t know any different,\u2014\r\n\r\nShai: Right.\r\n\r\nDave: Yes.\r\n\r\nAnn: \u2014because they\u2019ve had it their whole lives; but the power of the gospel being sung over them every night\u2014amazing.\r\n\r\nDave: Yes; I hope you keep doing it when they\u2019re teenagers.\r\n\r\nBlair: Yes.\r\n\r\nDave: Because I can imagine it would be like, \u201cMom! Dad!\u201d\u2014you know, maybe not\u2014but you get to the age, where it\u2019s like\u2014but I think they love it so much.\r\n\r\nAnn: Me too; don\u2019t stop.\r\n\r\nDave: They may say, \u201cHey, not tonight\u201d; but they\u2019re going to love it.\r\n\r\nBlair:Do you remember a brother who mentioned about family worship and the impact of it? Can you share a little bit?\r\n\r\nShai: There\u2019s a pastor-friend of mine, who was sharing how they had Bible time\/family worship every day. The youngest son, when he [turned] 18, was about to go off to college. This was the most kind of unruly child of all\u2014so when they had the time\u2014he was always the one who had to be disciplined: he was loud; he was kind of running all over the place. [Laughter] At times, the dad wondered, \u201cIs he even paying attention?\u201d And so, when it was time for him to go to college at 18, the son was standing in the living room. He started to tear up, as he was staring at the couch. \r\n\r\nThe dad was like, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d And he said, \u201cYou know, Dad, for my entire life, I sat there on that couch as you faithfully opened God\u2019s Word, and now that I\u2019m about to leave, I\u2019m really going to miss it.\u201d He [the dad] just broke down; it was so encouraging to hear that it was small steps of faithfulness, over time, that God honored\/God honored that.\r\n\r\nBlair: Sometimes, you\u2019re not sure: \u201cIs this making an impact?\u201d; you know?\r\n\r\nAnn: Oh, yes!\r\n\r\nDave: Yes!\r\n\r\nShai: Yes.\r\n\r\nAnn: \u2014because they\u2019re running around. They\u2019re not saying, \u201cDad, Mom, thank you! That was incredible!\u201d\r\n\r\nShai: Yes, yes.\r\n\r\nBlair: Right. \r\n\r\nShai: I mean, especially when the kids are young; there\u2019s vomit all over the place. [Laughing]\r\n\r\nBlair: I forgot about that.\r\n\r\nShai: You know what I mean? They\u2019re tickling each other; it\u2019s like: \u201cWhat\u2019s happening right now?\u201d\r\n\r\nBlair: They\u2019re laughing, yes.\r\n\r\nShai: So that was really encouraging to him to hear.\r\n\r\nDave: And yet, you have a real passion for teaching children, not just your own. You\u2019ve written a book on how parents can help transfer their faith to their kids.\r\n\r\nShai: Yes; so there\u2019s a book, which is God Made Me and You. It\u2019s basically how parents can disciple their kids in appreciating God\u2019s diversity in creation. And then, there\u2019s an album called Jesus Kids.\r\n\r\nAnn: Yes, he only wrote an album. [Laughter]\r\n\r\nDave: Yes, that\u2019s all. [Laughing]\r\n\r\nShai: Yes; there\u2019s an album called Jesus Kids.\r\n\r\nDave: He\u2019s the guy who almost didn\u2019t want to sing! [Laughter]\r\n\r\nBlair: I know!\r\n\r\nShai: Jesus Kids is a children\u2019s album. It\u2019s basically a tool for parents to encourage their children in the gospel. I have a song called Gotta Know the Books, which is basically the books of the Bible in rap form, which is a way to teach the books of the Bible.\r\n\r\nAnn: You may not know this, but I play that all the time.\r\n\r\nShai: Oh, really?\r\n\r\nAnn: And one of our granddaughters\u2014our middle son, Austin\u2019s\u2014his kids can do all the books. \r\n\r\nBlair: Really?\r\n\r\nAnn: They played it; and I\u2019m like, \u201cWho is this guy!? He\u2019s amazing!\u201d [Laughter]\r\n\r\nDave: He\u2019s sitting right here in the studio!\r\n\r\nAnn: I know! [Laughter]\r\n\r\nShai: Praise the Lord. So it\u2019s\u2014\r\n\r\nDave: We\u2019re not going to get you to do it; are we?\r\n\r\nShai: You\u2019re not; that\u2019s not going to happen.\r\n\r\nDave: Alright.\r\n\r\nAnn: But I\u2019m going to tell our listeners.\r\n\r\nBlair: [Singing] \u201cYou gotta know the\u201d\u2014now, if I start, maybe; no. [Laughter]\r\n\r\nAnn: I\u2019m telling you, as listeners: \u201cIf you have kids, you need to play this. Put it in your car; play it, because your kids are going to start singing this. I love it, because it\u2019s also, as I\u2019m listening\u2014because I\u2019ve listened to the whole thing\u2014it\u2019s incredibly theological. \r\n\r\nShai: That\u2019s right; that\u2019s right.\r\n\r\nAnn: You have these pockets of teaching in there: of catechism. It\u2019s so good.\r\n\r\nShai: That\u2019s right; that\u2019s right.\r\n\r\nAnn: It\u2019s so good.\r\n\r\nDave: Where did that passion come from? Where did the idea come from?\r\n\r\nShai: Which idea?\r\n\r\nDave: You know: \u201cI\u2019m going to do a book,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m going to write music for kids to learn theology.\u201d\r\n\r\nShai: I think part of it is my love for C.S. Lewis and just seeing the power of stories for children that are theologically grounded; and just how that can live for generations to come. Again, we\u2019re talking about legacy.\r\n\r\nDave: Yes.\r\n\r\nShai: And music is such a powerful tool\/such a powerful gift from God. It enables a person to hear something and be able to recall it, because it\u2019s memorable. It\u2019s a singable melody. Having worked as a Christian hip-hop artist for some time, and then having kids of our own, it was like it was a no brainer: \u201cLet\u2019s do something that can help, you know, by God\u2019s grace, to shape and disciple children.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnn: We're Ann and Dave Wilson, and we've been talking with Blair and Shai Linne on FamilyLife Today. I love these guys, and maybe you would love to get their book called Finding My Father: How the Gospel Heals the Pain of Fatherlessness. And I love that Blair gets into her story of healing with her dad. You can get your copy now if you go online to FamilyLifeToday.com, or you can find the link in the show notes. Or you can just call us at 1-800-358-6329. That's 800-\u201cF\u201d as in Family, \u201cL\u201d as in Life. And then the word \u201cTODAY.\u201d\r\n\r\nDave:I mean, this is some great stuff. And let me just say, if you need help as a parent, we have help for you at FamilyLife.com\/parenting help. Did you hear me? Go to FamilyLife.com\/parenting help, and you'll find some of the best stuff we've ever done on parenting.\r\n\r\nAnn: See you again tomorrow for another edition of FamilyLife Today.\r\n\r\nDave: FamilyLife Today is a donor-supported production of FamilyLife\u00ae, a Cru\u00ae Ministry. \r\n\r\nHelping you pursue the relationships that matter most.\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019ve benefited from the FamilyLife Today transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs of producing them and making them available online?\r\n\r\nCopyright \u00a9 2025 FamilyLife. 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