"I’m grateful we get to show them another way of living"
"I’m grateful we get to show them another way of living"
By Ben Heidegger
Hello!
My name is
, husband to Tara and father to Judah (9) and Hannah (8). I’m a follower of Jesus living in Southern Oregon. My family runs a free after-school program for low-income students that attend the elementary school next door. We have 30ish students come over every day to the ministry building next to our house.Besides using a tv to sing songs, the kids aren’t allowed to use electronics and spend 2-3.5 hours a day reading, baking, gardening, doing art and LEGO, memorizing verses, talking, and playing with our volunteers and us. We also take them out to hike local trails once a week during the warmer months. Along with being a safe and loving environment for these kids to be after school while their parents are working, I truly believe one of the best things we do for them is encourage them to see, appreciate, and engage the real world around them. Almost every one of our students (besides our own kids) have a phone or a tablet that they get on the minute they get home. I’m grateful we get to show them another way of living, at least a couple hours a day.
My family also transitioned to homeschool last year after a couple years at the elementary school. We are not following a strict curriculum this year. We’re focusing instead on reading great books together and letting the kids’ emerging passions lead the way. I've stepped away from my secondary income source to be more present to the family and the ministry in this season. Though we’ll have less money, we’re excited about what a slower, more present season of life will look life for our family.
We’ve had fairly limited screen time use for our kids in general over the years, but this year we will be avoiding any screen use in the mornings, and only using them as limited tools to assist learning in the afternoon. It’s important to us that their use of technology coincides with the goals that we have helped them set for themselves. We’ve always practiced Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening with no technology use. The kids have gotten used to it and never complain. It's amazing to see all of the things they naturally and joyfully do when screens are not an option. My wife and I got off social media about a year ago to be more present to each other, our kids, and our life in general. Sometimes we wonder what we’re missing out on, but mainly we enjoy just having each other’s attention when we’re in the same room. Our kids now almost always tell us to get off our phones when we’re all together. You've got to love your kids keeping you accountable!
Lastly, I am one month into a new relationship with my phone where I’ve decided to treat it like a landline. I have a wooden box near a vintage phone hanging on our wall that I try and keep it in much of the day. Taking a break from my second job where I always had to be available was a big step in making that possible. I try to only check it 3 times a day for messages and returning calls. I’m naturally very curious, so not being able to Google everything is probably the hardest change this is forcing me to make!
Anyways, thanks so much for all you do. I usually download your articles for offline reading, so thanks for doing that! Praying the work continues to be fruitful and blessed.
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