Latest / Gospel Tech with Nathan Sutherland / Our Kids Love Real Life Adventures (Lessons from Teaching, Part 2)

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Our Kids Love Real Life Adventures (Lessons from Teaching, Part 2) · Gospel Tech with Nathan Sutherland

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Speaker 1: Purposely your life, God's Purpose Listen it purposely dot com.
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Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the Gospel Tech Podcast. My
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Speaker 2: name is Nathan Sutherland, and this podcast is dedicated to
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Speaker 2: helping families love God and use tech. Last week I
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Speaker 2: started what was supposed to be a one part I Guess,
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Speaker 2: a one of one episode about lessons from teaching as
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Speaker 2: we wrapped up the school year here in Washington State,
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Speaker 2: and I finished six months of kind of long term
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Speaker 2: subbing I guess teaching six graders day in and day out,
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Speaker 2: and it went long, which is fine. I'm hoping to
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Speaker 2: finish it today. And then as I was reviewing my notes,
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Speaker 2: I was like, that's going to be a push in
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Speaker 2: my goal. We're going to talk about fun at the
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Speaker 2: pace of real life, and then our kids needing healthy boundaries.
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Speaker 2: That these are the three main takeaways. So the first
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Speaker 2: was our kids are more capable than they think. Go
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Speaker 2: back to last week's episode if you want to read that,
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Speaker 2: but just I'm convinced that young people are more capable
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Speaker 2: than they think specifically, and then sometimes even that we
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Speaker 2: think and to truly believe the best for them, meaning
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Speaker 2: we take action in what we see God calling them
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Speaker 2: into not necessarily what we see present right now, I
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Speaker 2: won't spend any more time on that because I already
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Speaker 2: went over last time. Fun at the pace of real
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Speaker 2: life and healthy boundaries, and the healthy boundaries one is
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Speaker 2: just something I'm really excited and passionate about right now.
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Speaker 2: But that's not the point of this episode. I want
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Speaker 2: all three to be emphasized because I want the overview.
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Speaker 2: So now you hear what I hope will happen here
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Speaker 2: we go parents, aunts and uncles, grandma and grandpa. I
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Speaker 2: want you to hear this because we can be convinced
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Speaker 2: that like fun has changed, and we can be convinced
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Speaker 2: I think threefold one observation. We watch kids having fun
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Speaker 2: and they just have it in a different way than
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Speaker 2: we have sometimes in specifically involving technology and phones and
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Speaker 2: video games and the internet. And we see them do
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Speaker 2: things we're like, I don't know, that doesn't look fun,
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Speaker 2: but like, you know, kids are kids, and like they
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Speaker 2: just find ways to have funds. It's just the way,
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Speaker 2: the new way they have fun. Some of that is true,
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Speaker 2: So it is absolutely reasonable to watch young people have
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Speaker 2: fun and not understand what's happening. Like I'm thinking of
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Speaker 2: if I see a kid, and I always see this,
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Speaker 2: I mean older kids and young kids doing TikTok dances
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Speaker 2: or just whatever, like with a camera set on the
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Speaker 2: side of you know, a curb and they're all dancing.
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Speaker 2: I literally saw this. I was in Florida for a
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Speaker 2: talk and it's ten PM and I'm coming out of
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Speaker 2: dinner and I'm taking a lovely little walk past this
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Speaker 2: lake area and there's five full blown high school kids
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Speaker 2: who set up a phone in a park and they
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Speaker 2: are doing these dance routines together. Not because they're professional
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Speaker 2: dancers are especially good at it, but this is just
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Speaker 2: what they're doing for fun. I've never once done a
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Speaker 2: dance routine with my friends. Kids are having fun in
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Speaker 2: a different way, Like so there is truth in this
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Speaker 2: and we don't get it. But sometimes that might beat
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Speaker 2: the video games they play where you're like, I don't know,
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Speaker 2: it seems like they're having fun, or you might watch them,
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Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, if they go again rabbit trails of
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Speaker 2: like fan art or writing things, Pinterest, etsy, these kinds
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Speaker 2: of things. You're like, Okay, it's different, but like, it
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Speaker 2: seems like they're having fun, so I'll go with it.
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Speaker 2: And that's Fine. Again, find as long as the reset
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Speaker 2: is healthy, Fine, as long as the content is appropriate, fine,
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Speaker 2: as long as it's helping them become more of who
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Speaker 2: God has designed them to be. And please note that
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Speaker 2: even the kids that are super into video games, are
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Speaker 2: super into social media, are super into the Internet and
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Speaker 2: being on it and being up on what other people
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Speaker 2: care about. I call these my reddit kids right Like
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Speaker 2: they make jokes in class who are like, oh, you
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Speaker 2: spend a lot of time like in chat on the internet,
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Speaker 2: Like the joke you just made is not a twelfth
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Speaker 2: grade level in terms of like cynicism and snarkiness and
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Speaker 2: cultural pop reference, like you spend some time around some
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Speaker 2: people that value a knowledge of gifts and memes. So
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Speaker 2: with that in mind, even those kids, when put in
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Speaker 2: fun at the pace of your life, have fun at
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Speaker 2: the pace of life. That is a major takeaway for
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Speaker 2: my year round kids. And I just want to emphasize
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Speaker 2: that for you, your children, even if they love technology, can
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Speaker 2: have fun and are wired to have fun at the
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Speaker 2: pace of real life. That being said, please help them
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Speaker 2: have fun at the pace of real life expected of them.
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Speaker 2: And if they push back and if they can plain
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Speaker 2: and if they panic, it is not because they don't
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Speaker 2: know excuse me, they can't have fun at the pace
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Speaker 2: of your life. It's because they don't know how. They
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Speaker 2: don't have enough practice. And I want to emphasize that
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Speaker 2: point because simply saying, well, I had fun as a child,
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Speaker 2: so I don't like what's happening on that phone, or
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Speaker 2: I don't like what's happening with those video games, they're
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Speaker 2: gone now have fun, and just like walk Away, they don't.
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Speaker 2: They literally don't know how. A lot of them don't
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Speaker 2: have reps. So they're willing to be taught. They're willing
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Speaker 2: to be a part of something great. But if you
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Speaker 2: just pull a phone or a video game and toss
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Speaker 2: them outdoors, it will be a jarring experience, not necessarily bad.
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Speaker 2: Just don't be shocked if they can plain or if
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Speaker 2: they find ways now to sneak tech like some kind
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Speaker 2: of junkie, because they don't know how, they will feel
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Speaker 2: the weight of zero external stimuli.
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Speaker 1: Right.
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Speaker 2: Real life simply doesn't reward them at the rate that
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Speaker 2: this technology does. And if they were using that technology
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Speaker 2: to cope with other things like a growing feeling of
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Speaker 2: anxiety or ongoing depression, or lies about their identity, if
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Speaker 2: they were using technology to cope and you throw them
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Speaker 2: at the pace of your life and they don't have
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Speaker 2: any real world coping mechanisms, like they don't know how
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Speaker 2: to breathe properly, or repeat scripture or go to the
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Speaker 2: Lord in prayer or run with their body and have
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Speaker 2: that feel exciting because their body produces endorphins from exercise
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Speaker 2: and from competition, Like if they've never had that, they
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Speaker 2: don't know that it's there, and you have to actually
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Speaker 2: show them it. I say all of that because here's
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Speaker 2: some examples of things we did this year that with
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Speaker 2: a group of fifty very normal humans. These are not
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Speaker 2: super children. I loved reminding them, yes, it's Christian school.
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Speaker 2: The main difference between them and my public school come
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Speaker 2: Padres that I taught for ten years before, is that
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Speaker 2: every kid in this Christian school has a support network,
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Speaker 2: Like every one of them has someone who put them
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Speaker 2: in the school for better or worse. Like they may
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Speaker 2: not want to be there, but like someone who cares
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Speaker 2: about you put you here, and they have to pay
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Speaker 2: to be here, so they they just put you here
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Speaker 2: at a convenience. They put you here on purpose. That matters.
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Speaker 2: If I send an email home, I get a response.
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Speaker 2: If I call home, someone picks up, like and they
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Speaker 2: knew where their kid was. Like that's a huge difference.
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Speaker 2: The reason I tell you that is it's easy to
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Speaker 2: go well, I was a Christian school, Like, of course
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Speaker 2: these kids have it together. Please don't think that about
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Speaker 2: Christian school. So that's not the way they work. It
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Speaker 2: is an environment where the teachers get to repeat the
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Speaker 2: truth of the gospel that you're a sinner saved by grace,
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Speaker 2: that God loves you and has done what is needed
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Speaker 2: to redeem you as one of his children, and call
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Speaker 2: you to good works. And we still have to say
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Speaker 2: those words like in a public school, we say them
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Speaker 2: with our actions, like I show up every day because
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Speaker 2: I believe you have a purpose. In a Christian school,
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Speaker 2: I just get to say that part out loud, which
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Speaker 2: is great. But with this group of kids, we played
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Speaker 2: a four square recess and like, yes, they pulled all
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Speaker 2: the rules that you remember canceling as a child, right
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Speaker 2: Like they did the typewriter, they did around the world,
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Speaker 2: They did cherry bombs, they did kitty corners, they did
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Speaker 2: tea parties, like they did all the things that yes,
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Speaker 2: still cause fights and it's the best to watch them
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Speaker 2: just rage about kickball or excuse me, four square. But
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Speaker 2: like they did four square and it was competitive and
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Speaker 2: they enjoyed it, and all the kids would participate until
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Speaker 2: you know, they get knocked out of the King or
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Speaker 2: the Queen square and now they're upset and they'd go
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Speaker 2: and do something else, but like they'd come back the
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Speaker 2: next recess and try again. So four square is something
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Speaker 2: simple that's with peers, that's competitive, that they can make
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Speaker 2: up their own rules and then argue about their own rules.
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Speaker 2: Like all of that is important. The goal isn't the
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Speaker 2: least amount of conflict possible. The goal is play a game,
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Speaker 2: figure out how to have conflict resolution when you pretty
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Speaker 2: sure it hit the line and they're pretty sure it
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Speaker 2: didn't and you have to figure that out. That is
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Speaker 2: important stuff. Then kickball was the second team. Teacher and
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Speaker 2: I would do on Fridays. We do like a fun Friday,
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Speaker 2: and we would take thirty forty minutes. We'd break up
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Speaker 2: teams by like birth month or whatever, right like make
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Speaker 2: sure that there's a few heavy kickers on both sides
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Speaker 2: and then just let them play. And I often would
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Speaker 2: be full time pitcher because they would get cute with
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Speaker 2: one another and waste our time, you know, throwing curveballs
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Speaker 2: or whatever. But kickball they would enjoy it. They would
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Speaker 2: all participate. They we would find ways to get everyone
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Speaker 2: involved because not everyone is a hyperathlete, and find ways
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Speaker 2: to make this about playing a game with our friends,
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Speaker 2: not just being Tryhard's like making sure that everyone's gone
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Speaker 2: once before the big kickers come back around. We found
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Speaker 2: out that like when they come from the field and
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Speaker 2: go back, they would just line up however they want,
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Speaker 2: and there'd be kids at the back who'd never kicked
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Speaker 2: and kids at the front that have kicked them multiple times.
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Speaker 2: So yeah, we're not going to do that because that's
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Speaker 2: not the point of the game. But they enjoyed it. Third,
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Speaker 2: and potentially most surprising was chess. I brought in puzzles.
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Speaker 2: One I just set them up in the back and
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Speaker 2: I was like, hey, when you finish your work, you
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Speaker 2: can go work on the puzzle. And that worked for
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Speaker 2: a little bit, and then we got into some puzzles
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Speaker 2: that were just too hard and they weren't able to
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Speaker 2: do it. And then kind of a girl asked, hey,
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Speaker 2: can I bring in this game my family likes called pente,
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Speaker 2: So she brought in Pente. It was kind of like Athello.
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Speaker 2: So I brought in Othello and they played Othello and
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Speaker 2: that was really fun. So we had a fellow and
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Speaker 2: Pentae and then I was like, you know what, I've
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Speaker 2: got a ches set, like, let's just see how this goes.
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Speaker 2: I know Owen, my son loves chess, and a couple
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Speaker 2: kids started playing, and then more kids started playing, and
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Speaker 2: I was like, well, why don't we use the school
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Speaker 2: tablets and we can use chess dot com for like
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Speaker 2: a free time, and so we got them on chest
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Speaker 2: dot com and it took off like wildfire. And then
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Speaker 2: I had to make rules around chests dot com because
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Speaker 2: they were just on it constantly and like sneaking chess
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Speaker 2: dot com, Like well that's not good, Like we can't
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Speaker 2: be doing that. So, especially in the last eight weeks
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Speaker 2: when the tech went away, we would pull it out
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Speaker 2: and be like, right now you can do fifteen minutes
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Speaker 2: of con Academy, do your math, and then fifteen minutes
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Speaker 2: of chess dot Com like I can see your con Academy.
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Speaker 2: It set up is through my teacher account, and once
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Speaker 2: you finish that, you can move on to ch yes
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Speaker 2: and the rule was if you'd finished all of sixth
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Speaker 2: grade math like you proficient and all of it, you
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Speaker 2: could go straight to chess. They it worked really well,
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Speaker 2: and it rolled directly over to real world chess where
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Speaker 2: we had we finished two full rounds of tournaments where
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Speaker 2: they would sign up on a bracket and they would
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Speaker 2: entirely sell round. They would run it before school, they'd
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Speaker 2: run it during lunch, and they would run after school
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Speaker 2: and then during like fun Fridays, and they got twice.
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Speaker 2: All the way through, these two boys printed out a
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Speaker 2: gigantic king like chess piece, like two and a half
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Speaker 2: three feet tall. The two winners got to sign that
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Speaker 2: and then one of them took it home at the
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Speaker 2: end of the year, and like they thought, it was
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Speaker 2: a very big deal. I have a photo of the
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Speaker 2: second time it went around. It was the previous champion
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Speaker 2: versus a kid who was not good at the start
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Speaker 2: of this in January. He was not a good chess player.
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Speaker 2: He worked really hard, he played a lot outside of
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Speaker 2: school and improved his skills, and it came down to
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Speaker 2: the two of them to like a few key moves.
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Speaker 2: Kids were I told them they couldn't stan around him
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Speaker 2: because they were stressing the two players out, but there
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Speaker 2: were probably ten kids, and the pictures of these kids
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Speaker 2: standing on chairs far enough away when I told him
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Speaker 2: it's like you have to be at least this far away,
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Speaker 2: and they're like, fine, we'll just stand on chairs so
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Speaker 2: they could see the board still and like legitimately caring
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Speaker 2: when the game ended and one the previous champion got
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Speaker 2: toppled and it was a big deal and then for
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Speaker 2: like the handshake, and yes there's tears of frustration, but
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Speaker 2: like it's not because people are making fun of you.
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Speaker 2: It's just because like you really wanted to win, but
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Speaker 2: you really wanted to win it chess, And like, again,
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Speaker 2: I'm not sure I could make that happen with next
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Speaker 2: year if I taught again, Like sometimes it just clicks.
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Speaker 2: But these are kids, and specifically that boy who played
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Speaker 2: a lot away from school. He plays a lot of
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Speaker 2: video games, like he does and he has a personal phone,
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Speaker 2: and like he has technology that allows him to do
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Speaker 2: other more intense forms of entertainment, but he chose chess regularly.
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Speaker 2: Some of it probably was the social aspect of like
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Speaker 2: he wanted to be good at some thing his friends
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Speaker 2: cared about. But it's also just fun to be good
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Speaker 2: at something and it happens at the pace of your life,
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Speaker 2: and he was able to do it, and I'm super
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Speaker 2: proud of his victory. And I just want to note
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Speaker 2: that like chess can be fun, chess dot Com can
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Speaker 2: be over stimulating too. There's different versions like blitz, or
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Speaker 2: you can play like five people at once, like in
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Speaker 2: five different little games. You can just run them all
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Speaker 2: if you have the monthly subscription. So just no that
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Speaker 2: just because it's chess doesn't mean it's not overstimulating. But
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Speaker 2: at the pace of your life that game will not
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Speaker 2: overstimulate you. It doesn't mean you won't think about it,
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Speaker 2: doesn't mean you won't fixate on it. It just means
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Speaker 2: that when you do those things, it's not because chess
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Speaker 2: is being unhealthy by design. It's because our hearts are
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Speaker 2: latching onto something in an unhealthy way. So four square, kickball, chess,
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Speaker 2: these are literally things I've seen the last six months.
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Speaker 2: I'm like, huh, kids, even this generation of kids can
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Speaker 2: still enjoy this, and it's so so good for them
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Speaker 2: to enjoy this. I'll run through the next few pretty quick.
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Speaker 2: Art for kids hub. This was a lunchtime activity or
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Speaker 2: something we did like as a real but we just
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Speaker 2: pull it up on YouTube and at the end of
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Speaker 2: the year we did a Highland cow and booh, I
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Speaker 2: don't remember what the other one was, some other cute
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Speaker 2: little critter or an excel lotter or something. But these
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Speaker 2: are sixth graders at the end of sixth grade, like
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Speaker 2: days from becoming seventh graders. And even though a couple
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Speaker 2: bulked and complained, like you flick off the front lights
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Speaker 2: you put on the art project, everyone ends up doing
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Speaker 2: it like they just they'll draw, they'll color, and they
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Speaker 2: went well beyond it was like, hey, it's a ten
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Speaker 2: minute video, we'll take fifteen minutes to you have time
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Speaker 2: to color. And we never even got to the second
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Speaker 2: art piece that day, like we just did the one
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Speaker 2: because they wanted to draw the background or they wanted
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Speaker 2: to look at other people's Like they get engaged, they
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Speaker 2: have fun. And the reason that's at the pace of
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Speaker 2: your life is you don't if you've never done an
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Speaker 2: art for kids Hub video, you watch it and then
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Speaker 2: you just hit spacebar every time, like they give you
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Speaker 2: a new instruction, you watch the instruction, hit space bar,
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Speaker 2: you do it on your page. You laugh at how
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Speaker 2: it doesn't look like what they did, and then you
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Speaker 2: move on. So I just had a student run the
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Speaker 2: space bar and I walked around to like, you know,
14:03
Speaker 2: make sure that art isn't becoming draw on your neighbor.
14:07
Speaker 2: But just the kid would pause whenever he or she
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Speaker 2: needed to do what's on the paper, and it tended
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Speaker 2: to pace equal. We played wiffleball, So this we actually
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Speaker 2: did after school for the most part. But bring a
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Speaker 2: wiffleball bat, go out to the front field, and after
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Speaker 2: school I would just like send a note and be like, hey,
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Speaker 2: we're going to stay for an hour if you want
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Speaker 2: to come an hour later, like we'll play. But wiffleball
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Speaker 2: was big. They would end up doing it with just
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Speaker 2: like waddled up paper and you know, a textbook right
14:37
Speaker 2: outside our classroom. But like wiffleball became big. Parents, as
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Speaker 2: we strive to raise kids who love God and use tech,
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Speaker 2: it's intimidating to look at this next stage of life
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Speaker 2: and think about what academics may look like for them.
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Speaker 2: When you were thinking about college, considered George Fox University
14:52
Speaker 2: for your children because of three things. First, it's going
14:55
Speaker 2: to give you a more intimate, known environment where they
14:58
Speaker 2: have a focus on being known personally, academically and spiritually,
15:02
Speaker 2: your child will grow in their faith. Ninety three percent
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Speaker 2: of undergrad students at George Fox last year through the
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Speaker 2: twenty twenty five academic year said that being at George
15:11
Speaker 2: Fox has helped them grow in the relationship with Jesus.
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Speaker 2: We also want them to grow academically, which means being
15:18
Speaker 2: a part of a university with rigorous academic standards and
15:21
Speaker 2: opportunities to be engaged. They have a nationally recognized engineering, nursing,
15:25
Speaker 2: and education programs, as well as chances to study abroad
15:28
Speaker 2: here within the US and then internationally, and finally personally,
15:32
Speaker 2: to be part of a vibrant campus atmosphere where you
15:34
Speaker 2: can play intramural sports or part of their NCAA Division
15:38
Speaker 2: three athletic programs with twenty three sports available. The goal
15:43
Speaker 2: here is to go to a place that's going to
15:46
Speaker 2: support your goals, not try to make you support theirs.
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Speaker 1: To have that.
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Speaker 2: Goal be to raise you up to be all God's
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Speaker 2: called you to be, and to truly equip your young
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Speaker 2: person with my in my case my sons or my
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Speaker 2: daughter to love God and then from their love of
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Speaker 2: God to go wherever God has called them, and that
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Speaker 2: includes being equipped with a degree that'll help them do that,
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Speaker 2: to be missionally equipped to love and serve others, to
16:09
Speaker 2: lead where God has planned the man, to know the
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Speaker 2: Gospel for themselves and be able to share it with others.
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Speaker 2: So George Fox University is an amazing resource for our kids,
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Speaker 2: for our community here in the Northwest, and for anyone
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Speaker 2: who's looking to raise up a young person who can
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Speaker 2: love God and from that love others. Getting kids out
16:26
Speaker 2: for PE if your school has it, but like PE
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Speaker 2: is good and kids can have fun at PE, especially
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Speaker 2: when there's some amazing people getting into physical education and
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Speaker 2: teaching their kids how to move their bodies and how
16:38
Speaker 2: to do that in a safe way, and how to
16:40
Speaker 2: do that in a way that doesn't always hurt afterwards.
16:43
Speaker 2: Like every exercise doesn't have to be one thousand percent
16:47
Speaker 2: and you know, just a new high arcs workout. It can,
16:51
Speaker 2: in fact just be moving your body for fun. But
16:53
Speaker 2: our kids need to learn how to move their bodies.
16:55
Speaker 2: There are young people who simply don't know how to
17:00
Speaker 2: have fun and to jump and run and play, and
17:03
Speaker 2: a lot of that we've knocked out because well, we
17:05
Speaker 2: don't want them to feel bad about not knowing what
17:08
Speaker 2: to do. Please pe teachers, like get our children moving.
17:11
Speaker 2: It's such a blessing to them. And then last, oh,
17:13
Speaker 2: battle club. I at the end of the year brought
17:17
Speaker 2: in some equipment that I have. These we'd finish our
17:20
Speaker 2: last test, we'd finish the district assessments, we'd finish kind
17:23
Speaker 2: of everything major. It wasn't time to prep yet for
17:25
Speaker 2: the sixth grade promotion. So I took kind of these
17:30
Speaker 2: ninety minute chunks and we went out. We were having
17:32
Speaker 2: gorgeous weather at the time, which here in Washington that's
17:35
Speaker 2: like mid sixties and like a little bit cloudy. That's
17:39
Speaker 2: our gorgeous weather because then it's not too hot. If
17:42
Speaker 2: it's ninety like our kids will melt beautiful days. We
17:45
Speaker 2: went out and it started as a joke fifteen years ago.
17:49
Speaker 2: It became like a young life thing where we would
17:51
Speaker 2: go out and we play what I like to call
17:53
Speaker 2: tag with swords, or as my children affectionately call it.
17:56
Speaker 1: Battle club.
17:57
Speaker 2: And that's because they were introduced at like the age
17:59
Speaker 2: of two, as we did this with young Life. But
18:00
Speaker 2: effectively this is LARPing, is what I'm talking about. But
18:04
Speaker 2: we don't call it LARPing, and we don't actually do LARPing.
18:07
Speaker 2: There's no levels or rules or classes. It's literally tagged
18:10
Speaker 2: with swords. You have two teams. You have to tag
18:13
Speaker 2: the other team. If you get tagged in an arm,
18:15
Speaker 2: you can't use your arm if you get tagged twice,
18:17
Speaker 2: or in the centertaurso you're out. Head tags don't count
18:20
Speaker 2: unless you're using a bone arrow. That's another note. But
18:23
Speaker 2: like it's the single nerdiest thing you can think of,
18:26
Speaker 2: Like you're picturing this in your head and you're like, no, that,
18:29
Speaker 2: there's no way kids would like that. They love it,
18:31
Speaker 2: And the best part is because then they go, well,
18:33
Speaker 2: why don't we have like nerve battles, like because it
18:35
Speaker 2: would look horrific to have a bunch of children running
18:37
Speaker 2: around with simulated guns on a school campus, you know,
18:41
Speaker 2: shooting at each other. Like that's awful, But nobody cares
18:44
Speaker 2: that you have a sword and a shield. Like there's
18:47
Speaker 2: no bad visual, there's no bad optic and it is silly.
18:51
Speaker 2: And they had fun. Again, fifty kids, not a single
18:54
Speaker 2: one bulked, even my most reserved, most quiet, like she
18:59
Speaker 2: came out and played. She missed the first day of it,
19:01
Speaker 2: but she came out the second day and trusted her
19:03
Speaker 2: friends that it was awesome and came and was a
19:04
Speaker 2: part of it and it was fun and they played
19:08
Speaker 2: and yes, they argued and like they want to play
19:10
Speaker 2: again and they're frustrated they got out, and yeah, there
19:13
Speaker 2: are people that cried, not because they're injured, but just
19:15
Speaker 2: because they really really didn't want to be out and
19:18
Speaker 2: they got out. Okay, Like again, my number one job
19:21
Speaker 2: is not protect your feelings. It's certainly part of it.
19:24
Speaker 2: I am a teacher and a parent and that goes
19:27
Speaker 2: with the territory. And like, my number one job is
19:30
Speaker 2: to help you become more like Jesus and in that
19:33
Speaker 2: process to become a healthy adult, not just a safe kid.
19:36
Speaker 2: And that battle club is incredibly silly. So I'm currently
19:41
Speaker 2: in the market to buy more equipment. We buy ours
19:44
Speaker 2: through Forged Foam and if you go there, like this
19:46
Speaker 2: is not a user friendly experience. You can't go to
19:48
Speaker 2: Amazon and buy this stuff. But you want to find
19:50
Speaker 2: something that is thoroughly protected so you can make a
19:53
Speaker 2: full swing and I'm not going to hurt someone that
19:55
Speaker 2: is incredibly durable because it ain't cheap. And that's just
20:01
Speaker 2: like thematically fun so like, I want it to look
20:03
Speaker 2: like more than just a pool noodle with a stick
20:05
Speaker 2: in it, and so that those are kind of my three.
20:08
Speaker 2: So there's battle axes and warhammers and double sided access
20:11
Speaker 2: and short sorts, longsworts, javelin. It's like there's all the stuff.
20:14
Speaker 2: It's like one hundred dollars to get into it, which
20:17
Speaker 2: isn't I guess that expensive to get into any other sport.
20:19
Speaker 2: It's just when you start buying lots of it. So
20:20
Speaker 2: if you're buying for one kid and you drop one
20:22
Speaker 2: hundred bucks, it's very reasonable. That's a pair of cleats
20:24
Speaker 2: for whatever sport you like to play. That's less than
20:27
Speaker 2: getting into something like airsoft or paintballer any of these
20:29
Speaker 2: other niche activities. And if you want to buy it
20:33
Speaker 2: for a dozen kids, like all of a sudden, that's expensive.
20:36
Speaker 2: So all that to say, kids have fun at the
20:40
Speaker 2: pace of real life, and I just want us to
20:43
Speaker 2: think about that because as they're having fun at the
20:46
Speaker 2: pace of real life, they're learning what they can do
20:49
Speaker 2: instead of their technology. They're learning how to deal with
20:52
Speaker 2: their real world emotions. There were some kids that had
20:55
Speaker 2: some pretty wild emotions, specifically during battle Club we're like, huh,
20:59
Speaker 2: didn't know that. One of my quietest little ladies, like
21:03
Speaker 2: went from very quiet in class, very subdued around others,
21:08
Speaker 2: to screaming and running with a double sided axe and
21:13
Speaker 2: to the point where people like you could watch their
21:15
Speaker 2: eyes get big, what is happening right now? Why is
21:18
Speaker 2: she yelling at me? And they would just run away
21:21
Speaker 2: and fun like that's great. That's the level of engagement
21:25
Speaker 2: I'm looking for when we do a giant field sport together.
21:27
Speaker 2: You don't have to have fifty of these things to
21:29
Speaker 2: make a fun time. I mean, you could have two
21:33
Speaker 2: v two and that would still be a blast. It's
21:34
Speaker 2: just a matter of how many kids get to play.
21:36
Speaker 2: Wrapping this up, your kids can't have fun at the
21:39
Speaker 2: pace of real life. They need to be shown how
21:40
Speaker 2: to do that. It needs to be modeled. Do it
21:43
Speaker 2: with them, Let them watch you have fun at the
21:45
Speaker 2: pace of real life. You set up the activities so
21:48
Speaker 2: you can invite the people. You can work with them
21:50
Speaker 2: to determine who should be invited. Where you could do this.
21:53
Speaker 2: It can be as simple as saying we're just going
21:55
Speaker 2: to stay thirty minutes after school and play some kickball
21:58
Speaker 2: or play wiffle ball, or letting your school go paint
22:02
Speaker 2: a square on the ground that you can use the
22:05
Speaker 2: rain wash away spray paint. Do it on the ground
22:08
Speaker 2: so it doesn't stay there forever. Fine, that would let
22:12
Speaker 2: you play four square, go learn how to play chess.
22:14
Speaker 2: One of the moms came to me of one of
22:16
Speaker 2: the kids that she's like, chess is now a nightly
22:18
Speaker 2: part of our life. Like my daughter wants me to
22:21
Speaker 2: play chess with her every single night because she wants
22:23
Speaker 2: to improve so she can come back to class and compete.
22:26
Speaker 2: Find a way to engage in front at the pace
22:28
Speaker 2: of your life. There are lots of other adventures you
22:30
Speaker 2: can have. We didn't talk about hikes and outdoor activities
22:34
Speaker 2: and camping and like getting into nature, but I just
22:36
Speaker 2: wanted to give you some specific examples that worked with
22:39
Speaker 2: six Raiders. And the one that I didn't cover here,
22:41
Speaker 2: and you can tell that we're probably not getting into
22:43
Speaker 2: the third section, I apologize, But the one I didn't
22:47
Speaker 2: cover here is board games, and that's because I bang
22:51
Speaker 2: on that drum a lot. But board games is one
22:53
Speaker 2: that I saw specifically public school, where I ran a
22:58
Speaker 2: club after school one hour one day and kids would
23:01
Speaker 2: show up for board game club who were my chronic gamers,
23:06
Speaker 2: and they weren't involved in sports, they didn't have other stuff.
23:08
Speaker 2: Family typically wasn't home yet, and when I would ask
23:11
Speaker 2: them like, why are you here, like we're playing board games.
23:13
Speaker 2: You don't even know these games, like this can't be
23:16
Speaker 2: more exciting than a video game, and they would just say, well,
23:19
Speaker 2: this is my time around people, and I want to
23:20
Speaker 2: be around people. So I would even choose a board
23:22
Speaker 2: game to be around people I like, because I know
23:25
Speaker 2: the video games are still there, Like, I'll go home
23:27
Speaker 2: and play video games, but I would give up an
23:28
Speaker 2: hour of gaming to be around people I like, even
23:31
Speaker 2: if that means board games and board games are just
23:33
Speaker 2: a great way to get people together, to have fun,
23:37
Speaker 2: to learn something challenging and new, and maybe even realize like, oh,
23:40
Speaker 2: those things I enjoy about video games, those are also
23:42
Speaker 2: available in a much less stimulated environment where I'm much
23:46
Speaker 2: more present and I'm known. And I will end on this.
23:50
Speaker 2: I think this is purely anecdotal, there's no research with this.
23:52
Speaker 2: But the gentleman who introduced me to the battle club
23:56
Speaker 2: ran a board game shop. He was not a follower
23:58
Speaker 2: of Jesus and he got very sick and passed, and
24:03
Speaker 2: at his funeral, while it was not gospel focused, there
24:08
Speaker 2: was a real community of people that really showed up
24:10
Speaker 2: in real life to console his wife, to remember his life,
24:17
Speaker 2: and to acknowledge that they knew him in the ways
24:20
Speaker 2: that he was important to them. And I share that
24:22
Speaker 2: because that form of real world community is pretty rare,
24:27
Speaker 2: and that board games are a way to build the
24:32
Speaker 2: importance of others into your life and to build a
24:35
Speaker 2: real world community for young people who they're like, well,
24:38
Speaker 2: I'm really into this niche and the only way I
24:40
Speaker 2: can connect with these individuals is through a video game
24:42
Speaker 2: or in you know, Discord and read it and like
24:44
Speaker 2: these very niche communities and to pull them from that
24:47
Speaker 2: and give them a very passionate, a very interested, very intelligent,
24:50
Speaker 2: a very engaged community. But in real life this can
24:54
Speaker 2: be done through a board game club or if you
24:57
Speaker 2: know a good local board game shop. We have here
25:00
Speaker 2: in Washington, we have actually two in Washington State, one
25:02
Speaker 2: and Seattle. Want an eat them Claw, But I'm sure
25:04
Speaker 2: there's others. I'm not familiar with them, but you will
25:09
Speaker 2: want to double checklate. Don't just throw your child to
25:11
Speaker 2: real world strangers, but there are some great options there,
25:14
Speaker 2: so I didn't mention that I'm not going to go
25:16
Speaker 2: any further. Kids love fun at the pace of real life.
25:19
Speaker 2: Please find ways to encourage and inspire that. Maybe it's
25:22
Speaker 2: for square, maybe it's caball, maybe it's chess, Maybe it's
25:24
Speaker 2: art for kids Hub, maybe it's whiffle ball, just general
25:27
Speaker 2: physical education, battle club. Maybe it's going to be board games.
25:31
Speaker 2: But whatever it is, do it with your kids. Help
25:33
Speaker 2: them think through what would be fun. Invite people into
25:35
Speaker 2: that adventure and learn to have fun at the pace
25:38
Speaker 2: of real life so that they can still enjoy their
25:42
Speaker 2: healthy digital adventures when their reset is looking good and
25:46
Speaker 2: it's producing good fruit, and they will begin to realize
25:50
Speaker 2: what real world resilience looks like and what it looks
25:53
Speaker 2: like to just enjoy the adventures God's called us to.
25:56
Speaker 2: So I hope this is encouraging and inspiring. I would
26:00
Speaker 2: love to hear about what your adventures are. What adventures
26:01
Speaker 2: do you enjoy already with your kids that you just find, Man,
26:04
Speaker 2: this is a win every single time. Maybe adventures that
26:07
Speaker 2: are surprising to you, like chess was surprising to me.
26:10
Speaker 2: Send me an out. Nathan at goospeltech dot net, or
26:13
Speaker 2: on Instagram and Facebook and YouTube at Love God, Use Tech.
26:17
Speaker 2: I would love to hear about what your adventures are,
26:19
Speaker 2: and then join us next week as we finish part
26:22
Speaker 2: three of this very surprising series about how our kids
26:25
Speaker 2: need healthy boundaries and what that can look like from
26:27
Speaker 2: a place of hope. So join us next week as
26:30
Speaker 2: we continue this conversation about how we can love God
26:32
Speaker 2: and use tech. I'll talk with you then