1KHO 923: The Stories That Are Shaping Our Kids Michael Keller, The Stories We Live By

Ginny Yurich (0:34)

Hey, friends, welcome back to The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast. I'm Ginny Yurich, and I'm so glad you're here. If you're newer to 1000 Hours Outside, welcome to this incredible community of families choosing more real life, more time outside, more play, more connection, more adventure, and fewer hours disappearing into screens.

And if you've never actually tracked your outdoor hours with us, you can grab one of our free tracker sheets and start. Just go to 1000hoursoutside.com/trackers.

You don't have to wait to January. You don't have to catch up, and you definitely don't have to do it perfectly. Start wherever you are. And make sure you're following the podcast because we have such an interesting week ahead. Susan Dominus is coming up. John Gordon is here. We're talking with Mitch Prinstein about what actually makes someone popular. And later this week, John Billman takes us inside the mystery of people who disappear in the wilderness. Today, we're kicking things off with Michael Keller, son of the late Timothy Keller. Michael has co-written a fascinating new book with his dad when he was alive, called The Stories We Live By. It's about the messages we're all swimming in, identity, freedom, happiness, success, and how those messages shape us and our kids without even realizing it. This one gave me a lot to think about. Here is Michael Keller.

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Here is something I think a lot of parents today probably don't pay much attention to. Is your child sleeping with their mouth open? We spend so much time thinking about what helps our kids sleep, getting enough movement, spending time outside, winding down at night, but how they're breathing while they sleep matters too.

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My name is Ginny Yurich and I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside. And I have just read a phenomenal book by a man who has two books that are actually coming out the exact same month coming up here in September. Michael Keller. I didn't even ask you, are you a Michael or a Mike?

Michael Keller (3:59)

Context. So if you want to yell at me Michael, if you're for friends, Mike, that's what I don't think I'm either.

Ginny Yurich (4:07)

I don't want to yell at you. Also, we just met six minutes ago. I'll go with Mike. Mike, welcome. You have fantastic books that are coming out in September of 2026 One that you co-wrote with your dad. Now he has since passed, but this was a dream that you had together and he wrote a ton of it. You talked about the structure. It's called The Stories We Live By, How Jesus Critiques and Completes What Our Culture Tells Us. And another book for parents talking to kids about hard things. Two books in one month, huge congrats.

Michael Keller (4:36)

Thanks. Appreciate it. I don't think we planned it that way, but sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles. So there you go.

Ginny Yurich (4:42)

I think both books are very applicable for parents. They're really applicable for anyone, but I am very interested in cultural messaging because I have in my life made decisions based on cultural messaging that I regret. So one of those, I've talked about it before on the show, is to wait to have children. There's a cultural message, at least that was when I got married. You should wait, you should travel.