Restoring Faith and Family in America

Being able to undergird rather than undermine those basic Christian premises of our nation are absolutely crucial to keeping this nation and not seeing it fall completely welcome to Focus on the Family with Focus on the Family Pres. and Dr. Jim Daly on John Fuller live a special conversation for you today with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and his daughter, former White House Press Secretary Sarah B Sanders and Jim we are on the road in this room is just a little bit bigger than our normal studio that slightly it's a big fence and we are big People right absolutely so and we have a large audience were at sea island in Virginia and we need to hear from the audience now and you know you know it's awesome. These are people who are profamily, role live, and I want to tell them thank you for what you do for Focus on the Family and for his kingdom.

So given the other hand, have you right into it and it is to have you, Gov. Huckabee, and Sarah. I got to my wife Jean just think you are awesome.

She loves you. I think your wife sounds really smart, you should listen. She actually is really smart. I do listen to her through the good things Gov., let me ask you.

I don't have daughters.

The raising Sarah gels that your kids first brought him because you have an gender with three children, two boys and a girl.

Sarah was the only girl, and the youngest of the three, and people asked me all the time.

How did Cheryl get so top which you're going to that White House press room. I don't always say you met her mother, but never when her mother was around. The truth is her two older brothers had a whole lot to do with giving her a sense of security and toughness when she was little.

Once they super glued her fingers together know that required a trip to the emergency room at another time they gave her a big glass of mod and told her it was a chocolate milkshake all and it wasn't too many episodes like that before she decided she's going to fight back and she was over the course of her growing up not taking anything off those two older brothers of hers. So when she would walk into the pressroom people asked me does it make you nervous when you see your daughter walk in their acid, but it really does but not for her, so you didn't you know God was preparing as a child for that the press secretary job right now… I just had abusive older brothers as you specifically about the state prison system. I think that was a story that I've read about the two of you.

What was that about, and what did you learn the prisoners would work in the governor's mansion. How old were you what were you saying in that relationship Michael. Let's start with you set it up well most of the staff. The governor's mansion were actually inmates in the Arkansas Department of correction and more to your surprise, most all of them were there for murder. Virtually every one of and I know that my make you think what I would be very dangerous. Actually, they were the least frightening people that we dealt with in over the course of time you realize that most of these people committed a crime of passion when they were teenagers. By now they were in their 40s 50s or 60s.

They were long since mellowed out. They knew that the choice assignment in the entire Department of Corrections was to work in the governor's mansion. They did not want to do anything that would cause them to lose that assignment to go back into the general population.

And quite frankly they were the best workers that we had and you learned that people who have done horrible things, dismissing some of the things they did because we had to read their files and we had to know who they weren't. If we had any level of discomfort.

We always have the option that they would not be there but the truth is you find out that people who have done terrible things are not beyond the redemption of God, nor are they beyond the need for love, affirmation, and being treated with respect and dignity. Like any other human being and it was. Not only I think important for them but I believe it is important for us as a family, and I think my children benefited by that is well to the point that you know at times I was a little afraid that they would maybe forget these people are not here for singing in church too loud last Sunday like an ass out of you, Sarah Surette, how old were you and how did that impact you being in the mansion the governor's mansion people that were in the process of rehabilitating that affair with the said how that impacted I was 13 when we first moved into the Arkansas governor's mansion.

I was 23 when we moved out so I think it's still the longest place.

Our family has ever lived together as a family is in the governor's mansion in Arkansas and so that shape a lot of who we were in that timeframe and certainly I think one of the most important lessons that any of us can take, but certainly people of faith is that we all need forgiveness and all of us need God's grace and to get to see that work in the lives of these individuals and see them rehabilitate and almost become new people through that process is pretty remarkable to get to watch particularly at a young age of 13, but certainly to watch that process continue as I became an adult, but it was such a good lesson in forgiveness and God's grace and how every single one of us needs that without it we can't be the arm young and it was another great many side benefit. One Sarah walked her keys in her car. I think we all know this is true before we could even call a locksmith.

One of the inmates had that door.

Why don't I like that so we learn these guys are good that's a true story.

That's a good way to look at out, but they left the car the end of the stories might limit point, this question, do you have you got me so proud of your daughter and to see her on television at times being you know terribly mistreated me were both dads.

I'm a dad of two sons, but what did you do it how you manage as a father of a daughter who really is being mistreated, poorly treated every day. I know people think that I just reacted with anger and that there were times when I was very unhappy with the way she was treated because I thought it was treatment that was mean and hateful and so you know it would be easy to get angry but that doesn't change your help anything and I truly believe that she's tough enough to handle it. And I'm especially proud of Sarah and the truth is, her brothers now are quite happy that she's got all the notoriety and I don't because they realize all the attention she's gotten is not all it's cracked up to be well yeah that's fair. You opened up to the subject of civil discourse and the instability that's occurring. Maybe both of you. If you can, addresses.

It's hard as Christians. I had lunch with oh David Horwitz yes and he'd written a book about how the left was killing Christianity in America throughout the lunch and David God bless. And these Jewish secular Jew and rat lunch and he said Jim don't you realize you're in an alley fight in the other side has switchblade.

You gotta bring a switchblade or not. Emotionally, I said David that's the problem we totally get it. Were not stupid but you know the weapons of our warfare, joy, love, peace, goodness, kindness, anyway. Wow those are bad weapon so I get it and I feel like when were in that arena as believers. It's so hard and I really want to hear from both because you been in that arena. You have fought the good fight but how do you balance fighting with the character of Christ you want to fight with the sword of Peter. I will jump in here. I think first so many of us there are days that can be very difficult because you do feel you are truly fighting for your life and your fighting for everything that matters, but at the end of the day.

If you aren't willing to do it. Who else will and I think that was the attitude that certainly I went into the briefing room and into my job every single day in one of the things that was so important for me growing up and one of the lessons that I learned and had to learn a lot over and over again was to always be myself that God had created me for a week and special purpose and I didn't need CNN or the New York Times or the Washington Post or anybody else to define me. I had a creator who had already done that and when you get to a place that you realize that you were created for something special created for God's unique plan gives you all the confidence you need to attack and fight with joy with love with peace because you are worried about the distractions and you never want to be like the people that you don't like and that's what I always would remind myself. I never want to be like the people that I'm fighting against. And I think that we can be the light in the darkness and that's what were called to do. And if we can remember that and I think it makes that job a lot easier and despite the fact some days it was really really hard to do that when I looked at it from that perspective, it made it a whole lot easier governor you you've written a lot about history and the Christian faith and I'd like you to if you would please to share a little bit about of perspective about the Christian faith and the legacy that we have in this country that makes it so unique. Let me begin by saying that I think history is to a civilization what the memory as to an individual if any of you here lost her memory. If you began to experience dementia. Your life would be filled with chaos, uncertainty, confusion, and in the same way.

If we lose our collective memory which means we erase our history. We end up in chaos and confusion what America is experiencing is a loss of its history. Most people are not aware of the fact that every single one of the Ivy League schools. With the exception of Cornell were created to train Christian ministers John Harvard was a 31-year-old pastor who at the age of 31 passed away left his books to the formation of what became Harvard College. The statue of them in the middle of Harvard Yard is passed by the students every day. What they probably are unaware of and I'm sure the faculty is to visit every student at Harvard was required to pray and read the Bible twice daily, Yale, Princeton, William and Mary Columbia. Every one of the Ivy League schools was created to train missionaries and pastors to take the gospel around the world.

How many of them are even aware of their mission, much less carrying it out. So it is unquestionable that the Judeo-Christian worldview was the foundation of the country and what made us unique country was that that meant that we were looked at as individuals rather than as a part of a group.

The fundamental thing about America that is so unique, and that is so very biblical, is the notion of individual liberty, individual freedom, individual responsibility and individual accountability to God. Sarah is not going to get to heaven because she says I'm going with my dad. It doesn't work like that God will hold her responsible and accountable. Just like you will me and you and this idea of sadism that were part of the state and our value is tied to the value of the larger state is not an American idea and that's why I find it so frightening today so I just can't help but say that we have got to restore and this is why Christian education has become no longer a luxury but a necessity. Being able to undergird rather than undermine those basic Christian premises of our nation are absolutely crucial to keeping this nation and not seeing it fall completely before I finish. I got answer. One thing that what she said I don't want it to sound like the politics. It is an easy sport to play.

I would like to just add this.

This is not a game for the week are the weary, and I would also say that I think we can be Christian.

We can live in the context of our faith. We are there to take the battle to the other side because we understand that the battle is not over power is over whether or not our children and our grandchildren are going to grow up in a country where we honor life where we respect religious liberty where we are free to worship without the state telling us that we can go to the casino, but we cannot go to church and if we don't understand that we're going to get our heads handed to us. Every single time. So I want to be clear. Yes, we can be nice. I always say you can put some Novocain on the needle and it makes the shot. Easier to take but you still have to put the needle in the flesh, and I'm telling you, there are times when it's not about being mean or hateful, but it is about playing the game as if you were playing the Super Bowl at the NFL and that means you've got to play the game that's being played, and it's a tough game to play. I really appreciate that. I think that's really well said, let me let me ask both of you, sir. I'll start with you but when you not in a political context. But when you look at what's going on in the country over the past few months. All of the unrest, Portland, Chicago, what do you sense is happening, what is going on spiritually. More importantly, what, how is politics and the spiritual element colliding in this regard, to tear down people well I think one of the things is a ghost in some ways to what you are saying this so many old conservatives and people of faith have frankly gotten scared and I stopped fighting. They stopped being vocal and are so afraid of being bullied. They are so afraid of being shamed and being marginalized, being called names that we have retreated and this is a time that that is the opposite of what we have to do instead of retreating we have to charge full steam ahead as if our life depends on it because it dies our country depends on us standing up for what matters.

In doing so, not from a place of cowardice, but from a place of strength in remembering that we have the ultimate warrior on our side should help last and give us that confidence. We need to go into battle and what I was saying earlier. I don't mean for that to get lost.

Certainly I completely agree.

We we should be nice we should be respectful but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be tough because that's what we have to do and everything to me is on the line and we have to be prepared to go after it with everything that we have not be afraid of being marginalized and persecuted and called names because that's what we've been called to do and I think we have to be prepared for excellent.

You, Sarah, stick with you permitted to head. I think mission trip is an 11-year-old to Israel. If I remember correctly, this is right partially. Not quite a mission trip but I think we probably did submissions along the way secret mission. That night was not a but what happened in that context, what went, what did you learn in that experience. My first trip to Israel was when I was 11 I went with my parents and you know before I had read Bible stories you know grown-up in the church since I heard about all of these different places and moments, my dad explained it as for you, take this trip before you see it in real life. It's like reading the Bible in black-and-white. Your whole life and when you set foot there. It's like reading it in color and seen it really come to life.

And so that's what we went with that was the expectation and we certainly had that close of the trip and probably one of the more impactful moments that trip of my life and a lesson that I've been reminded every day sense was stopped when we went to yard mission, which is the Holocaust remembrance museum in Israel and at the age of 11, that's a lot to take in and it wasn't something I was familiar with at the time. I knew that this was a significant stop on the trip. My parents had been talking about it. They debated whether or not they should take me at all. Some of the images and the visuals are very graphic, probably one of the darkest, most horrific moments in our world's history and this is a museum that walks you through each of those moments, my parents decided that they didn't know when I would have the chance to be there again and wanted me to see how important it is for people to stand up for what's right. So they walked me through that museum. My dad stayed with me the entire time and I didn't speak for about an hour and 1/2, which is for me a pretty big feet, particularly as an 11-year-old girl going through that museum and taking in those images and listening to the stories of the survivors recount and listen to their voices tell how they fought with everything they had to survive that brutal time and we came to the end of the museum. My dad was looking over my shoulder, wondering if I had taken anything from it, wondering if I understood why they wanted me to come through this museum and I got to the guestbook and I wrote the words, why didn't somebody do something and in that moment. My dad knew that I understood the lesson that he wanted me to take from their now is that when good people don't stand up for what's right.

Bad things happen and is something that I think about every day as we go into that battle is that we have to be somebody's to do something to stand up for what's right is also you actually answer the next one as but I want your dad to fill this as a father. This is parenting advice from Focus on the Family now so were asked to step up. I mean, it's obvious that the two of you have a great relationship and a wonderful bond and I think many people would say you know I don't have that with my daughter. My adult daughter.

My adult son and you're a Baptist pastor you know how this works.

What would you say to that parent of an adult child 20 something where their relationship is not what we see tonight with the two of you. What advice you have for those parents who are missing that kind of rich relationship that we see in you tonight.

It begins with unconditional love that you recognize your children are perfect, they may have perfect parents like my children did know you recognize it just because they're your children. They're going to make mistakes and no do things differently and you love them unconditionally, but I think that the the capacity to have that sort of bond.

When the child is an adult is really shaped when the child is 235 and six and 10 years old and one of the things that I didn't think about the time very much and I read where Sarah is actually interviewed. I think it was a New York Times was back in the 2008 campaign, and she was being interviewed about me and relationship with her dad and all the stuff and I was reading the article and something really jumped out at me because I never thought about it as a big deal. But when the kids were little every week on one of the days I would take each of the children by themselves just me and one of the kids to go to breakfast and even when I became governor and Sarah was in the transition period of going through junior high and a tough time. I still did that and that and sometimes I would say no to meetings and notable events, but that was special time I didn't think that was. I did it for me the honest with you know probably way more so than I thought. She enjoyed it. But in that article they ask her something about the relationship and what she remembered as a kid growing up and she said that no matter how busy my dad was and I knew that there were so many people wanting his time wanting his attention. He never failed to take me to breakfast once a week throughout all of my high school years and it just hit me that it was not something that was so much planned as it was that it was the gift it is. I think the single most important gift a parent can give. And that's time and I once heard somebody say you spell love TI in the and you can't substitute for that and it was later that I realized that that was something God had led me to do because I was too stupid to figure this out by myself. It's good that is. So that is great advice.

Actually, sir. Did you like those breakfast. I did and it at the time as he said he didn't realize how impactful was and frankly I didn't either until I was older and not home and not getting to go to that breakfast every week so my day was Wednesday I went to Wednesday morning breakfast and that was a time that I knew was special and I knew my dad was prioritizing me and that was something that was really important for me, particularly for somebody like him who was so busy.

You had so many demands and so many people wanting something from him knowing I had that and it was protected and it was my really meaningful and frankly I kinda missed.

I wish he'd make breakfast for me now that might be coming out for pancakes but don't matter any or actually I really will and I used to think that I was pretty special and I had kids, and now I realize I'm nothing more than a vehicle burying the grand on one worsening. I'm sitting in the living room at my parents house and I hear my dad come into my back started to my daughters there and I hear him where's my girl and I turn around, thinking he's reaching for me know if he knew and he was going for my daughter's starlet by getting it picked over get picked over your own kids. I was pretty okay there.

We do have counseling about a family I'm clearly I'm clearly getting out of but anyway this is so great sea island crowd. Let's give the Huckabee's a great and someone special time with zero centers in Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee usually joined us for Focus on the Family broadcast recording at sea island Georgia just a few days ago, John, that was so much fun or what a memorable evening and I so appreciated the banter between Sarah and the former governor, you know, it's always healthy to see that that have a good loving relationship with a good tease each other and I hope you've been inspired by this conversation to love our country to appreciate our Judeo-Christian heritage and to champion the family while standing up for godly values. There are several things we can do to influence our families and communities to protect religious freedoms. First, we need to be in prayer for our country. The Bible says to pray without ceasing, and we need to continually be in prayer for our families, our churches and for our leaders in government, and a second stay informed on issues that directly affect families in the future of our country and when we can do that is by signing up for our daily citizen which is a news resource that offers a biblical perspective on what's happening out there. It's tremendously informative and you can sign up for the daily Citizen at our website. The third thing you can do to make a difference is to volunteer in your church and your community and forth. There's a big election tomorrow and I know that millions of people have already voted early, but most will cast their vote for president and other candidates on the issues tomorrow.

Elections have consequences, and I hope you'll take that opportunity to vote tomorrow when you think about it people have laid their lives down to ensure your freedom and your right to vote and we got a link to a presidential voter guide and also to the daily citizen and of those links are in the episode notes.

And finally, let me thank you for supporting Focus on the Family so we can bring you the broadcasts like the one today if you can make a gift of any amount will send you a CD of this conversation including additional content as our way of saying thank you and we had probably another 10 minutes or so with Gov. Huckabee and Sir Huckabee Sanders that really was fun stuff to make a contribution today. As Jim said it will send you the entire discussion once more, check the episode notes or call 880 family of behalf of Jim Daly and the entire team. Thanks for joining us today for Focus on the Family I'm John Fuller inviting you back tomorrow as we once more help you and your family thrive in Christ.

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