S2E7: College Conversations Podcast - “Distraction Overload: Gen Z Navigating College Life” (Transcript)
Summary: Gregg Garner and Jeff Sherrod from College Conversations interview guests from Reclaim Today, discussing their research on Gen Z and Millennials and how they engage with them through social media. They address the impact of technology on young people, offering practical solutions to combat distractions and phone addiction. The importance of integrating faith into everyday life and addressing unique struggles is emphasized. The speakers highlight the need for boundaries and accountability in collegiate institutions regarding technology use. Overall, they express gratitude for Reclaim Today's ministry and encourage others to explore their resources.
S2E7: College Conversations Podcast - “Distraction Overload: Gen Z Navigating College Life” (Transcript)
[00:00:10.80] - Jeff Sherrod: Hey, everyone. And welcome to College Conversations, a podcast about all the issues that are affecting prospective students and their parents looking at Christian higher education. Also for current students who are interested in what is affecting, colleges today and what colleges are doing to respond to it. My name is Jeff Sherrod. I'm joined with the president of the Institute for G. O. D, Greg Garner.
[00:00:31.80] - Gregg Garner: Hello.
[00:00:32.50] - Jeff Sherrod: And today, we have some really special guests today with us from Reclaim Today. We have Brent Holzklaw and Daniel Ryan Day. Thanks so much for joining us, y'all.
[00:00:39.89] - Gregg Garner: Yeah. Happy to be here.
[00:00:41.10] - Brenna Holsclaw: Thank you for having us.
[00:00:41.89] - Jeff Sherrod: Thanks so much for being here. So we're here at the Association for Biblical Education this week. You guys are from Reclaim Today. So, Brenda, I'm gonna kinda turn this over to you. Two things. One, tell us a little bit about what Reclaim Today is, and then also tell us a little bit about the initiative that's happening this week with the students.
[00:00:58.50] - Brenna Holsclaw: Absolutely. So Reclaim Today is part of Our Daily Bread ministries, but we are emphasizing on outreach towards Gen z and millennials. So we are on TikTok. We're on Instagram. We're on Facebook. We've been around since, the spring of twenty twenty. And since then, we've grown to an audience of over three hundred fifty thousand people on our different social media platforms. We also have, an email journey that focuses So All of them? Yes. When we met, Philip and David from ABHE a few years ago, they invited us to be here and to actually get a cohort of college students together to work on writing and designing for their own generation. So I'm the content manager for Reclaim Today. Anything that's written goes through me, and I'm able to join to train. This year, we have twenty four, writers from different ABHE schools that are learning how to write Christian content devotional style. So they're writing prayers. They're writing scripture meditations. We have nine designers this year who are learning how to do graphic and just digital design for Christian organizations. And these students are so passionate about reaching their own generation, about sharing their love of Christ. And it's just been such a pleasure to
[00:02:22.09] - Daniel Day: Mhmm.
[00:02:22.59] - Brenna Holsclaw: Be with them and to get to know more about their hearts and what they're noticing is happening, like, trend wise on their campuses and just finding better ways to actually meet them where they're at.
[00:02:34.40] - Jeff Sherrod: Yeah. I I love the initiative. I like the idea that you're not they're not waiting to graduate to start ministering to the people that they gave us. To. It's like, hey, you can start this right away.
[00:02:43.59] - Brenna Holsclaw: Yes. You
[00:02:44.00] - Jeff Sherrod: You can start and then have a voice that sometimes other people don't have.
[00:02:48.00] - Brenna Holsclaw: Exactly. Yeah. And they're a lot more willing to be open and vulnerable and authentic about the topics and faith that they're passionate about or that they're struggling with, and I find even older adults are. So it's just been really beautiful to work with them.
[00:03:00.40] - Jeff Sherrod: That's awesome.
[00:03:00.90] - Gregg Garner Well And you're saying that just because of their, like, generation's proclivity, like, the way they're characterized? Or
[00:03:06.90] - Brenna Holsclaw Definitely. They're much more willing, I think, to engage in heavier conversations, and be open, sometimes very open, a little bit more quickly than I think older generations tend to be.
[00:03:18.80] - Jeff Sherrod Yeah.
[00:03:19.09] - Gregg Garner Yeah. That's great.
[00:03:20.59] - Jeff Sherrod Yeah. So you guys have been working with this generation, Gen Z, millennials, since twenty twenty. Mhmm. Daniel, I know you've done a lot of research on this, so this is one of the reasons that we're like, man, we'd love to have, you know, you guys on the podcast to kinda talk about some of the things that you guys have seen. I know that you go around the country speaking to even colleges about this audience and trying to help them understand what is Gen Z doing in relation to faith. Like, where are they going? How does this affect college enrollment, especially at Christian higher education? So maybe you can kinda we can start at the ten thousand. Sure.
[00:03:52.00] - Gregg Garner Yeah. And maybe you can even tell us what you do with Reclaim Today and then what you do on the day to day, and then answer that question.
[00:03:58.80] - Daniel Day So I've been a part of Our Daily Bread Ministries for five years full time. A little bit before that, I joined as a host on the nationally syndicated radio show, Discover the Word. So I've been a a bible teacher on that for quite a few years now. And then back in twenty twenty, the leadership team came to me and a couple others and just said, hey. We really wanna reach the next generation. Our Daily Bread ministries is great, but most people think of it as the little devotional that sits on the back of grandma's toilet. Yep. Is what what I heard from one person. And so what does it look like to reach the next generation? Help them engage with the scriptures. Help them to understand how God wants to walk through life with them. And so we started exploring what that looks like. So we got to spend about a year just studying, eighteen to thirty nine year olds and getting to know what are their unique felt needs, their struggles, the questions that they have, things like that. Since then, we've done a lot more research as well and kind of continued to collect that to make sure that we're, speaking to things that they actually care about and think about. And I say they, but it really, it's we because our whole team is a younger team.
[00:05:07.39] - Jeff Sherrod Yeah.
[00:05:07.80] - Daniel Day And so we're a part of those generations as well, which is why we're passionate about it. So, yeah. So in twenty, twenty twenty, we did the research. Twenty twenty one, we launched, the brand. And even the name Reclaim Today, is very intentional. So the word reclaimed, in some ways, you could say is the gospel and the word. We've been reclaimed from sin and death and invited into God's work of reclaiming the world. Yeah. And then today was really important because as you all know from working with college students, a lot of them bring a lot of shame and regret from the past. Yeah. And so by saying we're gonna reclaim today, it's an invitation to say, we know that you're bringing a lot of hard things with you, but God's grace is sufficient for that. God's grace covers many of those decisions and things that we've done. God God's grace was there to cover that, or he's working through it to make you into who you're becoming. So reclaim today.
[00:06:03.69] - Jeff Sherrod Yeah. But
[00:06:04.10] - Daniel Day then also along with that, right, comes the pressure of tomorrow. But Jesus gives us this really beautiful invitation to not worry about tomorrow, for today has enough troubles of its own. And so even that idea of, like, let's not worry about the past. Let's not worry about the future. Let's hear God's invitation today to connect with him.
[00:06:20.19] - Jeff Sherrod Yeah.
[00:06:20.39] - Daniel Day And so that's kind of the heart behind what Reclaim Today is. That's awesome. It's great.
[00:06:24.10] - Jeff Sherrod Yeah. That's great. Yeah. So what what from the research that you guys are doing
[00:06:28.30] - Daniel Day Yeah.
[00:06:28.50] - Jeff Sherrod
Kinda lead us through maybe some of the major things that you're you're saying. Sure. Yeah.
[00:06:32.00] - Daniel Day
Yeah. So even the brand itself was built off of a question that came out of the research, and that question was, how does my faith impact my life today? So everyday life types of things. What does it look like to follow Jesus when I'm stuck at a red light or in a meeting with my boss at Chick fil A or, you know, between classes or hanging out with friends. There was this desire to know that this faith that, I'm being invited into, isn't just a faith for church time or small group or chapel, but is something that actually is a part of everyday life. And so our even our mission is built off of that question of helping people connect with God in the ordinary everyday moments of life. Yeah. Because sometimes we really get focused on, like, the the extraordinary, the big moments. Right? Like, what am I supposed to do with my life? What does God have to to say about that? But oftentimes, where we live is the, what am I supposed to do today? Yeah. And and so God has a lot to say about that in the scriptures. And, it's the type of people that we become. And so so even that is built off of a a research question. Yeah. But then there's been lots of different themes. In fact, we've kind of collected our research into a few buckets. So distractions, relational, emotional, general life questions, spiritual questions. And so we could dive into each one of those with a a theme that we've seen or however you wanna
[00:07:58.89] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah.
[00:07:59.19] - Gregg Garner
I mean, I was wondering on a pragmatic level, what are the modalities that you use to answer those questions?
[00:08:04.69] - Daniel Day
Yeah. Sure.
[00:08:05.50] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. So Yeah. So, like, yeah. How does that go?
[00:08:08.10] - Daniel Day
So there's a few things. One is just collecting there's a lot of research out about Gen Z. In fact, Gen Z and millennials are two of the most researched generations of all time. So a good place to start is Barna, Pew, Gallup. There's a lot of places to start to get a sense of what is going on. Yeah. But then it's really important to then take that and not use it just as generalities, but to actually get to know students, to get to know people in the audience, to interview them, to talk with them, and see how it resonates. So one of the things that, Brenda and I got to do was pull this whole presentation together on the research and then present it to Gen z and say, alright. This is what the researchers are saying about you. So what do you agree with? What would you say differently? What might you disagree with? What do you think is missing in the research? And, honestly, that was some of the best feedback.
[00:08:56.00] - Brenna Holsclaw
Just being able to give them the opportunity to provide nuance and clarity because we have data and information about, okay, you say that the Bible seems ancient and outdated. Why is that? And, I think they spoke pretty candidly with us versus maybe, professors or people who felt kind of far off. Even though we came in as somewhat strangers, Just being able to establish rapport with them and find out, like, what do you actually feel like is going on with your generation and comparing that to the research itself allowed us to figure out, like, okay. Well, what do we take from that? How do we create our own content with that? How do we share that with them and empower them to create content themselves to be able to, create content for college students by college students, so to speak?
[00:09:46.29] - Daniel Day
Yeah. Yeah. Someone asked a great question this week. We had the opportunity to present on a a new research study that we just completed with Doctor Todd Hall. I highly recommend googling his name and seeing, some of the work that he's done. But someone asked, like, is it even helpful to do research and to break groups into generations, which was a great question. And I was like, yes yes and no. In one way, it can make it too much of a generality where we then try to fit every single eighteen eighteen year old we meet into the box that research says they should fit in. Right. And that doesn't work. Right? But at the same time, it's helpful because there are unique struggles, questions, concerns that Gen z, that millennials have that change throughout generations, and we get to see that. A great example is, Gen z is the first generation to be what's called a digital native. So the idea there is that a a smartphone has been available to them the entire time that they've existed. And that's unique to that generation. So how does that shape us? How does that both form us positively? How does it deform us negatively? Those are some of the questions that this generation's had to wrestle with for the first time in the history of the world. And so even just that idea of a digital native, that's a unique set of struggles, questions, life circumstances that that generation has that other generations haven't faced in the same way. And and even that, a good example, we have younger people on our team. Even me using the word smartphones, I I said that the other day, and one of them was like, you should stop saying smartphones and just call it a phone.
[00:11:13.39] - Jeff Sherrod
It's just a phone at this point. Right.
[00:11:15.60] - Daniel Day
So but even that shows some of the difference of me as an older millennial
[00:11:19.00] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah.
[00:11:19.20] - Daniel Day
And them as a part of Gen Z.
[00:11:21.00] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah. The those, like, buckets that you were kinda referring to beginning, like, which one do you think that I mean, the one that stood out to me when you were talking about is distractions, because I feel like that's the one I just see constantly is people can't sit still for long enough Yeah. Or they can't read for long enough or hold the conversation for long enough before Mhmm. So I think that that is something I had noticed. I'm kinda curious, like, what have you noticed there? What are some of the things that you guys kind of encourage people to do in response.
[00:11:47.50] - Daniel Day
Sure. To distractions? So a few things came out of this most recent study, that were really interesting. So a few of those are level of motivation is a really big struggle for eighteen to twenty three year olds and a struggle for twenty four to thirty six year olds. It was actually pretty even, which was was interesting, but directly tied to tech. So level of motivation, level of busyness is very, very high. There's two different studies, Common Sense Media and the Great Opportunity Report. One says that we spend about seven point two hours a day on our phones outside of work and outside of classwork. Another one says nine hours. So just split it in the middle. You have a full times full time job worth of time that students are spending on their devices, and that's outside of work in chapel. Yeah. So when they say that they feel busy, they're they actually are experiencing a level of busyness that's different than perhaps other generations have experienced at the same age group. Because a lot of times leaders will look at that age and be like, what do you mean you're busy?
[00:12:47.79] - Jeff Sherrod
What are you doing? Yeah.
[00:12:48.29] - Daniel Day
Right? Like, you have more time right now than any other time in your life, but they have a full time job worth of attention that they're giving to these devices. And so because of that, it affects our creativity. There was a great research study done in the in the twenty tens, featured on, I I saw a story in particular on on CNN back then that talked about have smart phones killed boredom and is that a good thing. And what that study showed is that, our phones have taken away all the in between time that we usually have. So sitting at a red light, standing in line at TSA, going to the bathroom now, people pull out their phones. And it used to be that you would have that space. You'd just be bored. You'd just be sitting there. And what researchers have found is that that boredom is really important for being creative, for being able to solve problems, for working on things that your brain's been thinking about, and it's in that boredom space that our brains get most creative and and solve the most problems. But because we've now removed all that time, we've actually hurt our ability to be creative and to solve problems.
[00:13:53.20] - Brenna Holsclaw
And I think to add on to that, Daniel, I I think it's easy to look at the generation and say, like, okay, then put down your phones. Like, what? Yeah. Like, seems like a simple solution. But what we've heard from students and, just doing our research presentations and in this week talking to students, they kind of bemoan the fact that they're told to rest, they're told to put down their phones, but they haven't then been taught what to do. Yep. So, students are like, okay. If we don't have our phones, then how are we gonna communicate to our friends? What do we do with each other? They really struggle to know how can I authentically be myself or have a good conversation? And even one of the students this week talked about, like, my professors are always telling us to rest our brains, to relax, to put our phones away, but they don't give us any strategies as to how we can actually do that. So they're left feeling really lost and overwhelmed and, like, okay. I don't wanna do this, but but then what is there to do?
[00:14:48.39] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah. Right. Exactly.
[00:14:49.70] - Gregg Garner
And I think guys answer that question? Do you guys Yeah.
[00:14:51.79] - Brenna Holsclaw
We try to.
[00:14:52.70] - Gregg Garner
So what is it that you guys do? What do you offer these young people so that they could overcome a distraction issue?
[00:14:59.39] - Brenna Holsclaw
So one of the things that we do is, things that Christians have been doing for the last two thousand years, just different spiritual habits and practices. So teaching students what does it look like to practice silence? What does it look like to practice solitude? What are some strategies that you can integrate into your everyday busy life and rest or celebrate or worship just because these are, really traditional habits. They're super unique ways to approach them. And a lot of times, students haven't really been taught, like, okay. I'm told to pray, and my brain starts to get really distracted. So is there a form of prayer that I could do that might, speak to me and give me rest in this moment? So we might talk about, like, Lectio Divina and introduce those kinds of, like, praying scripture concepts to them. So we, just look at traditional Christian spirituality that I think a lot of us do in our our daily life, but we try to break it down and make it super accessible to to the next generation.
[00:15:57.79] - Gregg Garner
And how do you make it accessible to them?
[00:16:00.39] - Brenna Holsclaw
So we do that for through a few ways. Some of it is just on our social media, which is really kind of strange and silly to say out loud. But we'll have posts and, carousels that kind of break down, like, hey. Here's some steps that you could be doing for this type of prayer. Or if you're gonna practice silence today, we have a post about silence in the city because we live in a big city. A lot of students have busy campuses. When you think about silence, it doesn't necessarily look like walking in the wilderness. So we'll have some practical ways, like, get off your phone and try one of these four things. So that's the biggest way we're able to reach our general audience. But for students that we're right in their inbox sometimes too in our habits spiritual journey through email, where we're sending them, articles. We're sending them short form, articles that they can interact with. We have some communal practices that we encourage them to do with people, in their dorms or just their friend groups. So those are a few ways that we're attempting to do.
[00:17:01.60] - Gregg Garner
But all of that comes through their cell phones.
[00:17:05.09] - Brenna Holsclaw
A lot of a lot of it does.
[00:17:06.00] - Gregg Garner
Yep. There that is kinda interesting. Right? Like, we'd like you off your phones. Go to your phone Yeah. So we could tell you how to get off your phone.
[00:17:14.79] - Daniel Day
Yeah. Well, it's more I I would I would change it just a little bit. I would say that they're already on their phone, so we need to meet them where they are to then invite them off their phone. So it is meeting them in the space, and and we have conversations all the time as a team.
[00:17:30.29] - Daniel Day
Like, are we feeding the monster? Right? Are we actually causing the problem while trying to meet them where they are? But at the same time, that's where they are. That's where they're spending eight hours a day. So if we can get them if we can meet them where they are and then invite them off with good boundaries around their phones, that was one of the things the study showed was they really want help creating good boundaries around their phones. So we have some really practical ways to do that that we offer through our social channels or articles or whatever, like, few practical examples. Put your phone to bed at night and get an old school alarm clock. Right? So that's one way that at, you know, 09:10, 11:00, whatever it is, turn your phone off, put it in a drawer. If you have another room, put it in another room, put it to bed, and then have a couple hours to let your brain detox before bed. And then make sure it's not the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning because the alarm clock woke you up. So pull out a prayer, pull out your the Bible, spend some time with a roommate, drink some coffee in silence. Here's some ways that you could not engage your phone first thing in the morning. And it's amazing. All like, so many studies show links between that and decreased anxiety, decreased stress. Just the effect of turning our phones off and not having to be the first thing we see in the morning.
[00:18:46.90] - Gregg Garner
Do you guys do that?
[00:18:47.90] - Daniel Day
I do. Yeah.
[00:18:48.79] - Gregg Garner
Do you do that as well?
[00:18:50.20] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah. I do not.
[00:18:51.40] - Gregg Garner
I don't either. I love my kids. Studies Yeah. And I know all the benefits, but I don't know if it possesses me the way that perhaps it is possessing some of these young people.
[00:19:03.40] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah.
[00:19:04.09] - Gregg Garner
You know? I don't I don't Yeah. It's not like calling my name and I need it. I could just I in fact, often, I'll just forget what room I left it in.
[00:19:11.90] - Jeff Sherrod
I often do that too.
[00:19:13.09] - Daniel Day
Yeah. Here's a here's a stat to that point. According to Barna, sixty four percent of Gen z feel word incomplete without their phones. Sixty four percent feel incomplete without their phones. So when we're talking about identity Yeah. When we're talking about not having a phone, there's a little bit of panic, there's a little bit of stress there. Now we do experience that sometimes. Right? If we forget our phone at home Yeah.
[00:19:36.59] - Gregg Garner
I often tell people I'm a cyborg.
[00:19:38.50] - Daniel Day
Right.
[00:19:39.70] - Gregg Garner
Like I don't there's so much data that's no longer in my brain.
[00:19:43.00] - Daniel Day
Yep.
[00:19:43.20] - Gregg Garner
I depend on it being on my phone. Yep. So yeah, I get that.
[00:19:46.40] - Daniel Day
So we have a little bit of that panic. But that's that's a huge percentage of, human beings created in the image of God, invited into relationship with him that feel like something's missing from their life because they don't have the device. So those are things, like, we we need to lean into that and help, like, just think through what does it look like to have some very simple boundaries, very easy boundaries. Like, another great example, and I've done this for the last few years. You can change your phone to black and white. And if you do that, you're statistically way less likely to use your phone. So it's one way the colors on our phones are designed to keep our attention, to grab our attention, to, for dopamine to be released in our brains. So just turning your phone to black and white makes it less addictive or less…
[00:20:32.29] - Gregg Garner
Man, because that's what this conversation sounds like we're getting at. We're we're we're talking about young people who have addictions. Like, if we just flip the script or or change a little bit and inserted some other addiction, we we'd be, like, addressing that. So do you guys feel like you're attending to, like, a digital addiction that exists in these young people that's preventing them from experiencing who they've been created to be in Christ? Is that kind of that that, like, do you ever have those conversations?
[00:20:59.20] - Daniel Day
Well, to be honest, the addiction starts with us. Right? I think part of the reason we're passionate about it is because we've seen what it's done to ourselves. Mhmm. So, yes, we see it in the next generation. Absolutely. We wanna help with that. But it's not a them problem. It's an us problem. Right? We're just as much like, I if I don't have my phone sometimes, I also freak out at times. And so it's learning boundaries for ourselves just as much for them. But I do think the word addiction is one of the best words we could use for the way phones have become so much a part of our lives that we feel like something's missing from our lives if we don't because how many generations before us have lived without these things? Right. And they've been just fine. Right? So, like, we should be able to exist without them, but it's hard for us to imagine that in the world that we live in now. Yeah.
[00:21:48.90] - Jeff Sherrod
And it's a socially acceptable addiction.
[00:21:51.09] - Daniel Day
Yeah.
[00:21:51.50] - Jeff Sherrod
You know, someone's on on, like, Instagram for ten hours. People are like, ah, it's probably not good, but we're not, like, sitting down maybe with that person. Be like, hey. You have a serious sin in your life. Mhmm. Maybe we should.
[00:22:03.00] - Gregg Garner
I am. I don't know. If you guys aren't, I definitely am. That's that's rough, man. Ten hours of your day on a a a virtual friend, one-sided…
[00:22:13.40] - Jeff Sherrod
I think it's hard to even know, though, sometimes how long someone might have been on it. Yeah.
[00:22:18.20] - Gregg Garner
Because we see them in different times.
[00:22:19.90] - Gregg Garner
For me as a parent with teenagers, you know, I I utilize screen time as one easy way to monitor that. And, of course, the kids are like, it's shutting down my screen time. Like, oh, that's your time. And on occasion, you know, well, you wanna do a certain thing. What is the thing you wanna do? Alright. We'll open up that window for you to do that. And it it gets them often just the obstacle of having to request a screen time makes them go, I don't even wanna do it anymore.
[00:22:45.29] - Daniel Day
That's right.
[00:22:45.70] - Gregg Garner
And then they just move on to something else. But, yeah, there there's there's ways in which you can monitor that. I think, though, when students get into college Yeah. That changes. Like, my daughter who's in in college, she still utilizes a screen time accountability with me, but I also screen time myself. And so she can see my screen time numbers, and I see hers. And we're you know, we monitor the data. Like, how how often is my bible app open compared to my social media apps and such? And I I think I I do think meeting people where they're at is a beautiful thing, and I love that you guys are doing that. I think that's fantastic. And I think it's good that we can even concede to the fact that there may be this, socially acceptable addiction…
[00:23:26.50] - Daniel Day
Yeah.
[00:23:26.79] - Gregg Garner
That as believers in collegiate institutions, we have to address Mhmm. For our young people. I know that there have been recent studies published as well that Gen z in particular would much rather have something tangible Yes. In terms of how it is that they could even experience, anything from learning to enjoyment.
[00:23:47.50] - Brenna Holsclaw
Mhmm. Yeah. That's one of the gifts about being able to interact with the students as well because that's something that our team is in kind of conversation about very regularly. The fact that we now have this audience, we have this platform built up, and we know that a lot of them desire to deeply not be on their phones Yeah. The next step for us is looking to provide resources that are physical.
[00:24:08.70] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. That's…
[00:24:09.09] - Brenna Holsclaw
So I think we're…
[00:24:12.00] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. That's right. Exactly. No. But that's really cool, though, because, like, so, we do have the college that we started in two thousand four. Excuse me. In two thousand thirteen, we also started a k through twelve school. The unique part about that school was out the gates, a one to one technology school, which means every student has their own technological device, typically an iPad, for them to interface the learning management system. I mean, all the way from kindergarten. Mhmm. Kindergarteners can't even read, but we created an emoji system that allows them to navigate it. And, initially, we had a I had a bunch of parents just saying, you know, we don't want this for our kids. And my position was, well, it's here, and it's our responsibility to teach them themselves how to be responsible with the technology and, even getting them, like, little internal social media networks as young kids where they're sharing things, which was hilarious at the outset because, initially, they had sent, like, one thousand emojis of the same face and then going to another face and just monitoring them and watching them. But we were one of the first schools in the nation to actually go one to one for the entire school. And, watching the class that started in kindergarten who they're now juniors or sorry. They're they're they're sophomores at the school. The the change in them is is very evident. They would much prefer a pen and a paper. Yeah. They would much prefer their their handheld Bible. The the the, like, novelty and the curiosity related to digital technology is no longer of interest. They care much more about, even having personal connections. But as you stated earlier, what we have noticed is without education, with respect to how they engage those venues, they really don't know what to do. Right. And and even as a speaker, which I know you do a lot, when you speak to these kids this age, like, I used to call it ten years ago, fifteen years ago, I'd call it Facebook face, but now we can't call it that. Now I think the kids have me call it iPad face. But, you know, it's the whole idea that they're not used to interacting with whatever's happening on the screen, so their face just stays in this resting position the entire time. And the speaker here will make a joke. They'll do whatever. They don't react. And so you talk to them live. And, I I mean, we've created classes at our school that teach kids how to interact. How to talk to adults is, like, one of our classes that kids right at the beginning and something I'm having them do and repeat. But, it it it is a very interesting thing to work with the generation and recognize, as you noted, that digital native scenario has permeated even their their their sociability, their emotional intelligence, and….
[00:26:52.40] - Gregg Garner
It’s a really cool thing that you guys are doing to move them.
[00:26:54.79] - Daniel Day
Oh, thank you.
[00:26:55.50] - Gregg Garner
Yeah, away and towards God. So tell me more about you were a Bible teacher, you're saying…
[00:26:59.20] - Daniel Day
Yeah.
[00:26:59.50] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. Tell me more about how the scripture gets into all this.
[00:27:01.90] - Daniel Day
Yeah. So, you know, as a part of our daily bread ministries, the mission of our daily bread is to make the life changing wisdom and story of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. So very, very much a part of that ministry is meeting people where they are, inviting them to engage in the scriptures, and seeing how the Bible connects to everyday life. So it fits really well with what what we do. So Yeah. Every single piece of content we have engages the scriptures in some way. So scripture meditations offer a section of verses and then a few observations from the text, and then basically a prayer guide to pray through this passage. But even those always start with something we've seen in the research. So if it's about, you know, mental illness, mental health, stress, anxiety, you know, it might start off with something like, when was the last time you felt really overwhelmed? Right? So we're we're meeting them where they are. We're meeting them with that felt need or emotional need or question they have or maybe something they're celebrating.
[00:27:57.09] - Gregg Garner
Like a topical consideration, and then you're attending to it with, like, a scriptural guide.
[00:28:01.79] - Daniel Day
Yeah. Exactly.
[00:28:02.29] - Gregg Garner
And then giving them a a venue to explore that topic…
[00:28:05.29] - Daniel Day
Yeah.
[00:28:05.50] - Gregg Garner
Based on scripture.
[00:28:06.50] - Daniel Day
Yep. That's right. And then and then we also have prayers. Those are also very scripture informed as well. So there's always a passage of scripture that's offered. But Brenna and I write most of those prayers. We've been really excited to now invite students into writing the prayers as well. That's awesome. But when we write the prayers, we have probably five or six passages that we're thinking of as we think about what name for God do we use. What's a characteristic of God that's gonna meet them in this stress that they're experiencing. What's an invitation from scripture that we see that if we build this prayer based on that name for God, the characteristic of God, this invitation from the scriptures, that when they start actually pouring out their heart before God, they felt seen, heard, noticed by God, and they they sense that love that God has for them, that he wants to meet them, and that he wants to transform the struggle that they're having. And so even that stuff is very biblically engaged content.
[00:29:01.79] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. So when you say seen, heard, noticed, where where do you get that from?
[00:29:06.20] - Daniel Day
The that language? Yeah. Yeah. So I think probably one of the most beautiful examples of that comes from one of the hardest stories in the Bible, which is Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. Right? She's one of the the first people we see in the scriptures naming God, and she names him the God who sees her. And that's when she's been abandoned by everybody else. She's a victim of a very tough situation sociologically with patriarchy and other pieces that are really uncomfortable in that culture. She's basically been treated unfairly sexually. She's gotten pregnant, then she's been kicked out. She's out in the wilderness ready to die, and that's when she meets God. And she calls God the God who sees her. What a beautiful, amazing story. Right? And so that's that's one's one place that you could see that.
[00:29:55.29] - Jeff Sherrod
Mhmm.
[00:29:55.79] - Daniel Day
But you could also say that even in the garden when Adam and Eve make this mistake and they hide from God, God's looking for them. Right? Like, what a beautiful way that this reconciliation starts as God comes down and looks for them, and then he finds them. And then he the whole narrative of the scriptures begins to unfold that leads us to Jesus and ultimately God laying down his own life to rescue. So being seen, heard, and noticed, I see in that passage as well. And then really the rhythm of the Old Testament is often God hears something about his people. He comes down to rescue them. Sure, he often sends people like Moses. In fact, that's where that language comes from is, Moses, I have come down to rescue them. Now you go, which Yeah. Feels a little bit like a bait and switch maybe from God. But, even there, we see that God's paying attention. He notices his people. He loves them. He wants to rescue them, and he's inviting Moses to be transformed as he becomes a leader of those people out
[00:31:00.50] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah.
[00:31:00.90] - Daniel Day
Of of Israel. So so there's some old…
[00:31:03.00] - Gregg Garner
Old Testament to Moses. That Yeah. When I heard you say it, that's exactly the text I heard. For I have seen
[00:31:09.00] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah. Yeah.
[00:31:09.59] - Gregg Garner
Their sufferings, and I've heard Yeah. The the cries related to their affliction and their taskmasters, and I know their suffering.
[00:31:16.40] - Daniel Day
Yeah.
[00:31:16.79] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. So that's really great. And you you're able to then take these texts, take these, the scripture that comprises our faith and help them to fit it into Yeah. Their everyday, like you said. So you brought up twice, at, you know, what happens when you're stopped at the stoplight. Yeah. You know, just getting that image where someone now is just gonna whip out their phone, and you're saying these kids are gonna whip out their phone and maybe get a notification from Reclaim or whatever that says, hey. Pay attention to this. God sees you right now. You guys are trying to disrupt…
[00:31:50.40] - Daniel Day
Hoping in that situation is that they leave their phone down because they're driving. Yeah. But later stoplight.
[00:31:58.20] - Gregg Garner
Right. I'm looking at all these Gen Z kids.
[00:32:00.29] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah. Yep.
[00:32:00.79] - Daniel Day
And, I'm I'm also helping with you. Yeah.
[00:32:03.59] - Gregg Garner
So put your phone down.
[00:32:04.29] - Daniel Day
Just just in case too, you know, I I'm in a hands free state now too, so I I need to say that.
[00:32:09.09] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah. Right.
[00:32:12.20] - Daniel Day
So with their phones away in a in a glove box or something like that. But sure. Yeah. When they're when they're in between classes and or here's a great example. One of the things that students told us is they they wanna know when I am hanging out with my friends, if I put my phone away, what are we supposed to talk about? So you know what I hope happens? I hope that a few, students are sitting, you know, out on the quad or around a coffee shop or something like that. They're all on their phones, and one of them sees this thing pop up about, we have a prayer for hosting a game night. And I hope they see that prayer and they go, oh, this says I should pray this prayer with my friends and then play a game with them, and then go do it. Right? And and in that, we we where it's a playful piece because we're talking about, like, Jesus and his disciples and how much time they probably had to kill. And Mancala is one of the oldest games in history. In fact, there's remnants of it in, like, a Roman bathhouse from around Jesus' time. So we're like, maybe Jesus and his disciples are playing old versions of Mancala together or something like that. Yeah. Because God is a God that invites us into fun, into celebration, into connecting with others. So that would be my hope. Is that they see something like that.
[00:33:19.40] - Gregg Garner
So you guys are essentially trying to script these guys towards behaviors and, the integration of their faith into that every day all the time. You guys are giving them…
[00:33:34.59] - Brenna Holsclaw
I think providing a yes.
[00:33:35.90] - Gregg Garner
So that's right.
[00:33:36.50] - Brenna Holsclaw
Framework for it. So I was even talking to the students about that today, as they were coming up with creative things to pray about. Just the fact that, when you are walking to class or when you're walking through your dorm room, have a a prayer for your dorm room and think about, like, how do I see God at work in this space? How can I notice him? How can I look for him? So we're hoping that the more ordinary moments we can provide a script for, it helps provide students with a framework so that they're able to then go and emulate that in their own lives. And every moment of every day, they're looking around saying, okay. How is God working in this space? How is he meeting me in this super mundane moment, this super funny moment, or the super serious moment? And just understand that he's at work in all of those times and spaces.
[00:34:23.90] - Gregg Garner
That's really great. That's really great. And you seem very passionate about this as as well as you both seem very passionate about this. Like, what what what keeps you going?
[00:34:33.90] - Brenna Holsclaw
Oh, man. I have four little humans myself, and I taught, secondary English for for ten years before moving into Reclaim Today. And just getting to talk to young people about their struggles and their desire for community and for space and their hearts for the Lord has just really, I think, transformed, who I am as a person and how I want to love people and reach people. And, having kind of these these words and prayers has been so formational for me and my own faith life, whether I'm writing them or whether it's, a different prayer that Daniel has written or some some someone else on our team. It's just really helped me because sometimes there's moments where I'm like, I don't have the words to pray right now. I'm really struggling with this, or I'm having doubt, or I'm having fear, or I'm distracted, and I don't know what to do. So I've really benefited spiritually from being able to say, hey. Well, here's this language that is honoring to God, that's weaving in the beautiful story of scripture, that's meeting me in my everyday moment that isn't unique to me, that I can share with Christians from all sorts of different walks of life all over the world. And, it's just really beautiful to be, you know, praying. We have, like, a prayer before working out, to do that and to think, wow. Like, I wonder if there's anyone else up at 6AM right now doing the same prayer. And prayer. Yeah. Exactly. So I think that's just one of the things that I dearly love and I’m passionate about.
[00:36:09.00] - Daniel Day
Fun.
[00:36:09.50] - Gregg Garner
Hey. Before we keep going, I would love it if you guys could tell our listeners where they can find
[00:36:15.50] - Jeff Sherrod
Sure. Yeah.
[00:36:16.09] - Gregg Garner
Reclaim Today.
[00:36:17.09] - Brenna Holsclaw
Mhmm. Yeah. You can find us on TikTok or Instagram at Reclaim.Today. We're on Facebook as well if you search reclaim today, and our website is ReclaimToday.org.
[00:36:30.50] - Gregg Garner
Love that. Love that.
[00:36:31.50] - Daniel Day
I would specifically check out ReclaimToday.org/Habits, which there'll be a prompt when you go to our website to sign up for the email list anyway. But our habits page is where we lean into some of these spiritual formation practices that have been passed down to to us for generations. And so it's really accessible ways. There's videos with each one to explain what the practice is and then just a few simple ways to try out the practice, and I think that'll be pretty life giving to people.
[00:36:56.50] - Gregg Garner
That's great.
[00:36:56.90] - Daniel Day
That's great.
[00:36:57.09] - Gregg Garner
That's great. Yeah. So I got a question for you. Yeah. What are three things about Brenna that make her just right for what it is that she's doing in serving the Lord?
[00:37:06.80] - Daniel Day
Yeah. Well, you just got one of the answers by asking her why she's so passionate about it. Right?
[00:37:11.00] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:37:12.50] - Daniel Day
So, the creativity there, you should ask her. Oftentimes, you'll see posts on the Internet about, like, the hundred books you must read. Typically, how many of them have you read on those lists exactly?
[00:37:25.69] - Gregg Garner
One hundred.
[00:37:27.80] - Brenna Holsclaw
So Yes. I mean, there's probably a few that I I haven't read into.
[00:37:32.30] - Gregg Garner
But a voracious reader. A lot. Yes.
[00:37:34.30] - Daniel Day
Yep. So That's awesome. Voracious reader. She has a master's in Literacy. So she's also crafting each of these pieces with a lot of knowledge about how we learn, how we best ingest knowledge, how it best transforms us, things like that. But the the primary reason I think I have a three already, but I'm gonna go with four. But the primary piece is she genuinely walks with Jesus. Yeah. Outside of work, with her kids. I get the privilege of seeing Brenna at church as well. There's a genuineness to her and her walk with God that goes through every area of her life. So when she writes a prayer, it's coming from her lived experience as well. Her real walk with with Jesus as well.
[00:38:15.59] - Gregg Garner
That's lovely.
[00:38:16.09] - Daniel Day
That's that's the biggest one. So I'm I'm glad you let me do the Yeah.
[00:38:20.19] - Gregg Garner
The bonus number four. Random. That's that's here. Three. Or Daniel?
[00:38:25.09] - Brenna Holsclaw
I think Daniel is a servant leader, and everything about him exudes humility and love for Christ. He's so capable of of conveying Jesus' love for you in a very personal way and just knowing exactly what you need in that moment and how how to meet you. And he's so generous with his time and with his knowledge. It's so funny because, he's so personable that I sometimes forget, like, not in a bad way, but just how well educated he is. Because you'll ask him a question, and he'll be able to pull resources from, like, all of church history. He'll be able to, like, pull, like, oh, there's so many times where I'm writing a prayer, and I'm like, I know there's a scripture. And he's like, oh, it's this chapter and this page. And he just has such a deep knowledge of scripture. But instead of translating as, like, a harsh and over bearing understanding of it, it just exudes, like, a desire to know who the character of god is and to show that to other people. And I'm just honored to work with him every day.
[00:39:28.40] - Jeff Sherrod
That'll be fun.
[00:39:29.30] - Gregg Garner
You guys are awesome. Yeah.
[00:39:30.59] - Jeff Sherrod
That was great to hear.
[00:39:31.69] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. I think it's important for people to know who it is that's on the other side,
[00:39:36.40] - Daniel Day
Yeah. Absolutely.
[00:39:36.69] - Gregg Garner
Of that. Framework and that script. And y'all are are god loving, Jesus loving people. And I think that anything any of you students out there who want to participate in what Reclaim Today is doing, you can know that you've got some godly people behind the scenes making that happen. Yeah. That's great. We're thankful for you guys and your ministry. This is awesome.
[00:39:55.80] - Daniel Day
Thank you.
[00:39:56.30] - Gregg Garner
It was really cool.
[00:39:57.09] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah. Well, thanks so much, guys, for the for the time Yeah. For for doing this, for your service at Reclaim Today. We're definitely praying for you guys.
[00:40:03.40] - Daniel Day
And
[00:40:03.69] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. This is amazing.
[00:40:04.59] - Daniel Day
Thank you.
[00:40:05.19] - Gregg Garner
It's great stuff. Okay. I'm I'm just I'm really excited at the to have people whose hearts are directly focused and doing all the work and the research and and meeting them in the space where they're at. Like, you guys are saying, just I I love the image of them just walking down their dorm area and then going, what should I do? And then you guys going, hey. Try to suggest to that. Yeah.
[00:40:28.69] - Jeff Sherrod
Yeah. Yeah.
[00:40:29.00] - Daniel Day
That's right.
[00:40:29.40] - Gregg Garner
Beautiful, man. And and I and I working with them, I get it. Like, that's helpful to them. So thank you for what you guys do.
[00:40:35.59] - Daniel Day
Thank you.
[00:40:36.09] - Gregg Garner
Really fantastic. Yeah. And, you guys check out everything from that Reclaim Today has to offer. We'll talk to you all next time. Thanks again, guys. Thank you.