This past year has been filled with adversity, but with tough times can come great blessings.
In my case, my wife Sarah and I have found a wonderful blessing in our friendship with Mercy and Matt Schlapp and their five daughters. We all found ourselves locked down in our places in Madison and Rappahannock County, Virginia during the pandemic. So what did we do? We formed a "quarantine club" and got together on weekends to talk deeply and at length about what's going on in America, and what we can do to keep it a free country.
This show first appeared on CPAC Now last night and we thought you might enjoy hearing from Matt and Mercy in a wide ranging conversation that's very much like our informal get togethers.
Of course, Mercy was director of communications strategy for the Trump-Pence reelection campaign, and Matt is Chairman and CEO of the American Conservative Union, sponsor of CPAC.
Things have changed so much in society in recent years. As Matt points out, "What's interesting is we're all used to having conversations about public policy. Now, we're just trying to make sure that our family is safe. It's a really scary time. I think there's been so much change in society so fast that these esoteric policy conversations are really not a part of what we talk about now."
"We talk about how will you raise kids? How do you talk to them about gender and sex? What are they hearing in school, our schools? There's complete chaos going on in society. So, for me personally it's a hard time because people say, "You don't seem as happy as you usually are." It's like you're not happy when you're seeing society being ripped apart."
"I think that part of it is that our faith is very important to us," says Mercy. "It's central to our lives. It's the way we deal with the pressure, the abuse, the things changing in your life. If we did not have God in the center of it and faith, we know God will not abandon us because we have to do what God has asked us to do."
"It is our vocation. Our vocation is to ensure that we keep up this fight for America."
Please join me for this powerful and personal conversation with Mercy and Matt Schlapp.
Episode 130: “Refounding America” with Mercy and Matt Schlapp