Dear Family & Friends,

Summer 2026 is already here. And with summer, kids might be home more, and it’s soooo easy to put a screen in front of them when the “I’m bored!” siren goes off.

My fellow ScreenStrong Ambassador Emily Harrison offered a wonderful “5 Tips for a Screen-less Summer” on her Substack. She has some great advice that you’ll be glad you considered.

Remember: Big Tech will be more intentional with our kids (and ourselves) than we are, if we let them.

Since my last update, I’ve recorded several interviews. Janet Parshall invited me for a wide-ranging conversation about AI, including that bit about Richard Dawkins thinking it’s conscious. I hope you find my response encouraging.

In the last month since my abrupt career change, I’ve focused almost 100% on writing my new book. We had already paid to attend a big Christian Writing Conference next week in Chicago, so I wanted to make a full book proposal and the first three chapters presentable for agents, editors, and publishers to consider.

We’re going to make firmer decisions about our next steps based on feedback we receive. We’re hoping that there’s enough interest in education about Christian discipleship in a screen-saturated world that I can transition to doing that full time.

But we’re holding that dream with open hands, trusting God with our future.

Thank you for reading, and especially to those of you who are kind enough to pray for us!

I’d love to pray for you too. Please hit reply and let me know how I can pray for you!

God’s best to you all!

Doug

thatdougsmith.com