Home Christian News ‘This Is Not a Dress Rehearsal’—Fox’s Ainsley Earhardt Discusses New Book and...

‘This Is Not a Dress Rehearsal’—Fox’s Ainsley Earhardt Discusses New Book and How Pastors Have Influenced Her

Ainsley Earhardt
(L) Photo courtesy of Ainsley Earhardt (R) Credit: Fox News Channel

ChurchLeaders spoke with Fox & Friends’ Ainsley Earhardt regarding her new children’s book “I’m So Glad You Were Born: Celebrating Who You Are,” which released earlier this week (Sept. 27).

“I’m So Glad You Were Born: Celebrating Who You Are” is Earhardt’s third children’s book (the others were both New York Times bestsellers). The author shared her inspiration behind the book, which explains to children that they were made “spectacular” by God, who creatively crafted and divinely designed them to be one of a kind.

The book tells children they can grow up to be anything they want, listing preaching as one of the professions. Earhardt made the inclusion because of how much pastors have influenced her life and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Earhardt, who dedicated the book to her 6-year-old daughter Hayden, discusses raising a child in today’s culture, navigating her Christian faith at Fox News, why the church is important, and how New York City is her mission field.

CL: What has been your biggest surprise about parenting?

Ainsley: My biggest surprise is probably how much I was going to enjoy it and love it. I always wanted a baby. But I did in my mid 30s. And then I tried to have a baby, and I couldn’t get it. It took me a little while to get pregnant, and then I had a miscarriage. And three months after I had the miscarriage, I was pregnant with Hayden. So even though that was a hard experience to go through, God blessed me, and I wouldn’t have Hayden if it weren’t for that experience. And I know when I go to heaven, I have another little girl in heaven that will be waiting for me.

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Hayden is perfect for me. We do everything together—she’s just the greatest joy. We have fun. It’s not a house where we’re yelling or screaming. We laugh, we have dance parties throughout the house, which is part of this book. She’s a lot like me as a child in the fact that she loves dolls and she loves girly things, but she’s much shyer than I was as a child and I love that about her. She observes the room. She wants to be comfortable with everyone before you see who she really is, and she guards herself at first, which is a quality that I didn’t have. I was just friends with everyone and walked in. But I love that quality about her. And at first, it took some getting used to because I thought gosh, she needs to be saying hi to everyone. She needs to be outspoken. She needs to…but no, I realize God made her unique and she’s taught me so much in that regard, because as I’ve gotten older, you realize that that’s a quality that is valued: to be able to just read the room and get to know people before you give them maybe 100% of you.

CL: What effect do you think the current culture war, political strife, widespread anger, and division between adults in this nation is having on children who are witnessing it?

Ainsley: Hayden just finished kindergarten, so we’re going into first grade and we haven’t had to deal with a lot of that. Obviously, in my profession, I’m covering these types of stories and the division—schools and what parents want and what other parents want in our political environment. But the beauty is with a child this age, she just loves everybody and that’s how we will raise her in our home, to have friends of all walks of life and to look at everybody as God’s child, and to listen to other people and appreciate their opinions and just to show them Christ. That’s why we’re here. The ultimate goal is to get more people into heaven, and just telling them about how great Jesus is and to have a relationship with Christ. So that’s our focus in our house, and the rest I will leave up to God to steer her in the right direction. I mean, obviously, I will be a big part of that being her parent, but we are we’re here just to serve others and to love everybody.

CL: What inspired you to write I’m So Glad You Were Born?

Ainsley: When I was growing up, my mom always said “I’m so glad you were born” on our birthdays. So when I got to Fox and Friends, every time someone would come on our show, and we celebrated a birthday, I would say, “I’m so glad you were born.” The first time I said it to my co-anchor, everyone just laughed and he was kind of shocked. And I said, “I know it sounds funny, but think about it. I’m so glad you were born. This is your birthday. This is a day that God brought you into this world and created you to make a difference and to really impact the world for Him.” I told them that you only get one shot at this. This is not a dress rehearsal. You have one life, so use it to your fullest and really go out and make a difference in this world.