Episode 247 (Gabe Klaas & Kevin Klaas: Part 1)Podcast Intro: [00:00:01] Being a great father takes a massive amount of courage. Instead of being an amazing leader and a decent dad, I want to be an amazing dad and a decent leader. The oldest dad in the world gave you this assignment, which means you must be ready for it. As a dad, I get on my knees and I fight for my kids. Let us be those dads who stop the generational pass down of trauma. I want encounters with God where He teaches me what to do with my kids. I know I'm going to be an awesome dad because I'll give it my all. [00:00:31][29.6]Jeff Zaugg: [00:00:39] This is episode 247 of dadAWESOME. And today guys, today is a treat. I am welcoming the first ever guest of the dadAWESOME podcast, Kevin Klaas, is back on for his third time. So four and a half years ago, almost five years ago, he joined me for the first time and we actually were sitting in a freezing cold cabin in northern Wisconsin for episode 11, was the first time with Kevin Klaas. And now today, episode 247, is when I say it's a treat, it's because I welcomed my good friend Kevin Klaas and his 17 year old son, Gabe Klaas, to join me for a father son conversation. So the cool thing about this conversation is Gabe, I've done father son combos before and it's always like it's always a treat because, you know, interaction between a father and son about fatherhood as a topic, but in this case, a teenager that is not yet a dad reflecting on the experience of his dad, pouring into him, guiding him in his journey and what he wants to be in the future, the ways he wants to be like his dad in the future when he has kids of his own. So this is, I'm so grateful for this conversation, so Kevin Klaas, Gabe Klaas, Episode 247 is part one of the conversation. 248 is going to be part two, so it's about 55 minutes of content. I'm like, It's all good, so I'm going to break into two parts. So let me jump right in, this is the first half of this father son combo conversation with Gabe Klaas and his dad, Kevin Klaas. Gabe, I appreciate you. Before, like we go anywhere in this conversation, I just want you to hear, like I, I see God's wisdom all over you and I, I'm very grateful to know you and to cheer for you. And I believe your dad, Kevin and me, like, whatever God does in our lives, I just believe, like, already He's shown He's going to go way, way, way, way, way more. It's not that you're more valuable than either of us, but I just believe that he's got a huge call in your life. [00:02:42][123.0]Kevin Klaas: [00:02:42] Amen. [00:02:42][0.0]Jeff Zaugg: [00:02:42] And so I'm thankful that you are the first teenager to be on this show. [00:02:47][4.5]Gabe Klaas: [00:02:47] Well, I'm grateful to be the first teenager the show. Fun to come on. [00:02:51][3.3]Jeff Zaugg: [00:02:51] Gabe, how old are you now? [00:02:51][0.3]Gabe Klaas: [00:02:52] I am 16. [00:02:52][0.3]Jeff Zaugg: [00:02:53] 16 years old. And and willing to have a conversation about fatherhood. How many kids you have? [00:02:59][5.8]Gabe Klaas: [00:03:00] I have six. [00:03:00][0.5]Jeff Zaugg: [00:03:03] Is this prophetic? Are you thinking six kids? [00:03:04][1.2]Gabe Klaas: [00:03:05] No. I have no idea. I have younger siblings that I help out with and can pretend that. [00:03:11][5.5]Jeff Zaugg: [00:03:11] You can play an Uncle Dad role, for sure. My daughter, eight, almost nine years old, plays the mom role. And I've seen I've actually seen you and your sister and brother, the three bigs that I've referred to, we referred to the three bigs on the show before. And just the beauty of how you can care for your younger siblings. And that's a super cool. Gabe, I thought maybe you could introduce your dad. And what I'm looking for in this introduction is simply just high level, who who is he? What's his name? What's his relationship to you? And then is there one or two things that you appreciate about your dad and that you could call out as you introduce him? [00:03:48][36.8]Gabe Klaas: [00:03:48] Absolutely. Okay. So who he is, Kevin Klaas. He is the oldest of three siblings. So he's also an oldest just like me. And he's basically this crazy dude who is also amassed a ton of wisdom, which allows him to do a lot of cool stuff. He started his own company, now he's got a couple of companies, he's looking to possibly do more. And then three years ago, well, I guess it was probably four years ago now, but the Lord told him, hey, move your family across the country. Go from Illinois to Texas. He's like, All right, let's do it. And moved us across the country to Texas. I don't know, he's just we've been living it up lately. He took us, us three bigs, the three older kids on a trip down to Mexico this year. He was playing soccer with a bunch of kids down there and tore out his knee, that's why he's got the brace out on the boat here. [00:04:37][48.7]Jeff Zaugg: [00:04:37] And there'll be a picture with this episode of a brace, which is a bummer. But at the same time, because your dad beats me in most athletic pursuits, like I feel great about surfing today and then he's talking about, he can't show me up, which feels good. [00:04:51][14.3]Kevin Klaas: [00:04:52] Most athletic pursuits illuminating basketball, ultimate frisbee and water skiing. [00:04:56][4.6]Jeff Zaugg: [00:04:57] Qualified as a couple. I don't, I don't even know if that's true. Is there any just like, characteristics you you call out adventure, fun, mission. He took you on a mission trip, any other characteristics that you're like, Oh, this would describe my dad. [00:05:10][12.9]Gabe Klaas: [00:05:11] Absolutely. So I've told my parents this multiple times, but the biggest thing that I think I've seen in them that's a standout is they just continually learn. Like it really doesn't matter where you're at, if you can kind of get a vision for where you want to go and then just keep learning, you can get there. I mean, Dad has bookshelves in the house full of books that he's read and, you know, he's always learning. Which is, I didn't understand when I was younger, but the older I get, the more I see that people around him aren't necessarily doing that nearly as much as he is, which is really cool. [00:05:38][26.9]Jeff Zaugg: [00:05:38] Love that. Love that you can spot that at 16. I did not have any desire to be a reader. I wanted to be a leader, but not a reader. I just didn't see, I didn't see that as like I need to step into that. I appreciate that about you as well, you've recommended many books my way. Kevin, could you introduce your son? I know I kind of beat you to some of it. Called out a few things about him. But introduce Gabe and and if you could call out a few things that you're thankful for that he carries. [00:06:09][31.1]Kevin Klaas: [00:06:10] Yeah. So Gabe is our oldest of six children. 16 is going to be 17 actually really soon now. At the time of this recording and he has really stepped into manhood a lot in many ways in the last 24 months. He fulfilled what we have at our home as 200 hours of customer service and worked at Chick-Fil-A for a season and learned a lot there and now is working with a film company, Jyra Films, and which is part of, you know, an area of interest for him and a direction he feels like God may be leading him into in terms of a career focus. And we've just really seen him blossom. But those are all great things on the outside, but I one of the things I love about my oldest son the most is he knows how to worship Jesus. So we go to Gateway Church and and I see him on his knees a lot in worship. And that makes me, makes me proud. Yeah, because if there's one thing I hope our kids catch, it's a, you know, a genuine walk with Jesus. Because if they don't catch that than I, then I'm going to be really sad. So, grateful for that, grateful for him and it's really fun to be recording this conversation and have him apart. [00:07:24][74.0]Jeff Zaugg: [00:07:26] Yeah. Let's go into that a little further. Gabe, I would love to hear you, just share a little bit about the why, why would you get on your knees in where? I mean, it's one thing in a church, there's music to sing along, but to choose to kneel in prayer, worship. Like why? Why? [00:07:42][16.1]Gabe Klaas: [00:07:42] Mm hmm. Um, so when I was younger, I think I probably back, you know, a while ago. I probably did it just because it was the thing to do. Dad's been an amazing example in that he's always been. I didn't know it wasn't normal for people to get on their knees until I got older just because my dad always did it. So I just figured it's like, it's like when I was younger, it's like this is the holy progression. Once you get to a certain age, you start raising your hands. Then once you get older, you start kneeling down. And then as I got older, there would be certain people in church that would point them out and be like, So you get on your knees, that I encouraged me and so I did it. I was like, Wow, this isn't normal, you know? So I think I started just as that. But if I'm being really honest for me, it's like for me for a while I had this thing in my ankles where it really hurt to be on my knees. And I'm not saying like, you know, going through pain for the Lord or anything, but it was just it was a very uncomfortable position for me to sit on my knees. And it really would just hurt because my legs, my feet would go to sleep and they really hurt when I got up. But then also, um, you know, as you look historically, that's like one of the maybe laying on your face is more reverence, but it's, it's a position showing a lot of reverence. And, you know, me being willing to do it even though it hurt my ankles to do it, you know, it's like not letting that hold me back, it just felt like it meant something to me, being willing to do that is a sign of worship. [00:09:02][79.7]Jeff Zaugg: [00:09:03] Thank you for leading that answer with like, hey, I was just following what I saw. Like, like, it's not a super holy thing. I just like I saw it, so I did it. And that's interesting in a lot of areas of life, even when we see someone we admire, when we copy someone we admire in the direction of it syncs with the Bible, then I believe that's a posture in a place where some really good things you can experience the power of something before you know that it's powerful, the real reason. [00:09:34][30.6]Gabe Klaas: [00:09:34] For sure. For sure. Definitely. With that, I've experienced that for sure. [00:09:38][3.4]Jeff Zaugg: [00:09:39] Kevin, when you think about that desire, which I've known that to be so true for you and and Jenny of wanting your kids to follow Jesus. Three and a half years ago, you shared on this podcast, the simplicity of one proverb a day and just taking time after the Littles had gone to bed to just, one proverb, you went real simple for a season. I'm curious over the last few years, what, like you have said, like you felt God lead you to do this or do that, just some practices that have helped deposit a love for Jesus in your kids. [00:10:15][36.3]Kevin Klaas: [00:10:17] Well, I mean, there's the practical things like we do devotions, you know, a few times a week as a family and we get up and start off our day with prayer, worship and reading of the word. But then, then there's modeling it. Hopefully Jenna and I are out living it and they're attracted to a genuine walk that her and I have with Jesus. And we're not just, you know, doing something on Sundays or telling them that they should do something causes right, but not living that way ourself. [00:10:40][22.8]Gabe Klaas: [00:10:41] Which that's been the biggest thing for me. Because if they sit down and they show us or they make us memorize Bible verses, but then they go out and they're doing something different, you know, it's totally different. But Dad, he goes out, you know, he'll give away $100 bill just because the Lord tells him to or he does all sorts of stuff. He's worshiping, he's really leading it, you know, his life. [00:10:57][16.4]Jeff Zaugg: [00:11:00] Modeling. Do you choose where in the house you read your Bible, intentionally, for that reason? You ever thought about that? [00:11:06][5.5]Kevin Klaas: [00:11:07] I haven't. That's interesting. I haven't thought of, no, I have not, honestly. I, it's more of a convenience thing because we have six kids. It's kind of like, where can I get quiet right now? [00:11:16][9.4]Jeff Zaugg: [00:11:17] Oh, gosh. Yeah, that makes sense. [00:11:18][1.3]Kevin Klaas: [00:11:18] Yeah. So I'm kind of more or less looking for a hideout. You know. [00:11:21][2.6]Jeff Zaugg: [00:11:23] Like an actual secret place. Yeah, that they can't find you. [00:11:25][2.9]Kevin Klaas: [00:11:26] Everyone look that way. Watch that show. [00:11:28][1.3]Jeff Zaugg: [00:11:29] Yeah. No, that's real. That's real. Any other just practices that come to mind, though, of of ways that you guys have said, hey, we're going to do this? You brought up the mission trip going and serving together, an example of a practice that would instill a love for Jesus. Anything else come to mind of like, we chose to do this because we hoped it would deposit a love for the Lord? [00:11:46][17.9]Kevin Klaas: [00:11:47] Yeah, I mean, hiding God's word in the kid's heart. So I think you're aware, Jeff, that for you now that Gabe, 16, he's he's not a part of this program anymore, but we paid the kids to memorize scripture that God's word in their heart so we would pay them. This is our thing. We just made it up more or less. But I've heard other people do similar things $2 a verse, and then I give them $100 bonus if they memorize the whole chapter and can recite it continuously. And then if they memorize five chapters in a row and recited them all together, it would be $500 bonus in addition to the $2 per verse that they earned. [00:12:21][33.8]Jeff Zaugg: [00:12:24] Wait, wait. Hold on. I want to make sure becuase I didn't hear the the secondary points system. I knew you paid your kids to memorize scripture, but you actually created a substantial, a sacrificial level of generosity to your kids. Like your feeling this get these gifts. $100 for a chapter in five chapters in a row is 500 bucks. Plus the every verse payout. [00:12:40][16.3]Gabe Klaas: [00:12:41] And, and if you do all, now by the way, this is for the Book of Proverbs because some books are real small, some chapters real small. [00:12:47][5.5]Jeff Zaugg: [00:12:47] Ah, so there's caveats? [00:12:47][0.0]Gabe Klaas: [00:12:48] If you wanted to do a different one we had to talk to him, you know, I couldn't be like, Jesus wept, there's a verse, two bucks, pay up, you know. And the other thing he did was for the Book of Proverbs specifically, which is what the points system was for, he also did another thousand if you did the whole book, that was the biggest chunk. [00:13:01][12.5]Jeff Zaugg: [00:13:01] Did you take that step? [00:13:02][0.8]Gabe Klaas: [00:13:02] I didn't. I wanted to and then it just became too much for me to try and memorize the whole book. So I only ended up doing like a couple of chapters, but... [00:13:08][6.0]Jeff Zaugg: [00:13:09] Only a couple chapters? [00:13:09][0.7]Kevin Klaas: [00:13:10] You did five. [00:13:10][0.3]Gabe Klaas: [00:13:11] I did five chapters? [00:13:11][0.6]Kevin Klaas: [00:13:12] He hit the five marker and got the $500 bonus. He went the fartherest of any of our kids to date. [00:13:17][4.7]Jeff Zaugg: [00:13:17] Do you recall what he spent that money on? [00:13:18][0.8]Kevin Klaas: [00:13:19] No. No. [00:13:19][0.0]Gabe Klaas: [00:13:26] When did I get it? Did I get it after I moved? [00:13:27][1.9]Kevin Klaas: [00:13:28] No it was right before we moved to Texas. So I think you're 12, 13. Right. [00:13:32][4.1]Gabe Klaas: [00:13:33] So that was probably part, I probably ended up giving it or something. [00:13:35][2.8]Kevin Klaas: [00:13:36] Well we probably had you run it through the the the money filter. [00:13:39][3.0]Gabe Klaas: [00:13:40] Oh yeah. [00:13:40][0.3]Kevin Klaas: [00:13:40] Yeah. [00:13:40][0.0]Gabe Klaas: [00:13:41] That's fair. [00:13:41][0.0]Jeff Zaugg: [00:13:41] Okay, let's talk about that. Let's go there. What's the money filter? [00:13:43][1.7]Kevin Klaas: [00:13:44] So, you know, Gabe's, we teach our kids discipline of how to handle money from a young age. So they tithe, the first ten goes to God, tithe 10, save 50% and then spend 50% of the remaining 90% that's left. And that's kind of their, our system at home while they're younger and learning how to handle money. [00:14:02][18.2]Jeff Zaugg: [00:14:03] Yeah. So let me just make sure I captured this. Give 10% save 50% of the remaining 90, and then, then the other, the other they could spend. [00:14:12][9.1]Gabe Klaas: [00:14:12] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So give ten and then split the rest. [00:14:14][1.9]Jeff Zaugg: [00:14:14] So the whole 10, 10, 80 principle because you're covering the living expenses at home, there's no reason to spend 80%. Yeah, so get a saving mentality. [00:14:23][8.6]Gabe Klaas: [00:14:24] Which is, which is frustrating when you're five years old, six years old, you made ten bucks and now you only got three, you know, and you're like, dang I wanted to go to the dollar store and get all this stuff, you know. But once you're my age and you're buying a car and stuff, you're like, Dang, I'm glad I have a couple of grand in the bank or something, you know? [00:14:38][13.9]Jeff Zaugg: [00:14:39] So let's chat about that for a moment and we'll go back into spiritual practices coming full circle here. So how long ago was it that you bought your dad's old car? [00:14:47][8.5]Gabe Klaas: [00:14:49] Would have been three months ago. I think it was three months ago. [00:14:52][3.0]Jeff Zaugg: [00:14:53] I feel like I was with you guys. So it's about right. Yeah, three or four months ago, we were down there in Dallas. And how much did you spend to buy the car? [00:15:01][8.0]Gabe Klaas: [00:15:01] I end up spending five grand is how much I bought it for. [00:15:04][2.8]Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:05] And was, do you remember at all like roughly how much of the money you had saved for this car, you made at home? Making money, chores, bible verses, extra external jobs? [00:15:16][10.5]Gabe Klaas: [00:15:17] Not like so not to toot my own horn here or anything, but there was a certain point where, have you ever read the book The Blessed Life? So I was the point where I read The Blessed Life and I feel like Lord told me to give away all my savings. And so I think that that was most of the money that I made at the home. So I after I had done that, I had to save for the ca, so I think that basically all that went into the car was probably made at Chick-Fil-A, outside the home. [00:15:37][20.2]Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:38] Chick-fil-A baby. So, step before, though, there was a generosity step that God spoke to you to clear the bank account. [00:15:47][8.7]Kevin Klaas: [00:15:47] Yeah, he zeroed it out at like 13. I think. [00:15:49][1.4]Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:50] You were 13? [00:15:50][0.2]Gabe Klaas: [00:15:51] I don't know. Probably right. He remembers numbers better than I do. [00:15:53][2.4]Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:54] That book had a large impact on Michelle and I, as well. So I love, I love the you went there, don't worry at all about like don't when God does moves us to generosity sharing that is going to encourage other teenagers, other dads listening. [00:16:07][13.3]Gabe Klaas: [00:16:08] Yeah. No, for sure it was a good trust step. You just you learn to trust the Lord with your finances a lot differently once you give something. For sure. [00:16:16][7.4]Jeff Zaugg: [00:16:16] Yeah, that's beautiful. Kevin, let's go back into spiritual practices. Was there anything else that was on your heart that you didn't mention that has helped your kids fall in love with Jesus? [00:16:25][9.5]Kevin Klaas: [00:16:27] No, I think we hit the high points of what we try to focus on and and pay attention to in our home. Gabe, can you think of anything we do that stuck out to you? [00:16:35][8.0]Gabe Klaas: [00:16:37] I think for me, the I think for me, especially maybe because I'm a male so I know I'll be providing one day. Finance has been something that's been definitely, the Lord has had to work in my heart over the years through generosity. I think that that's like because like a couple of years ago, dad was like, you might want to start budgeting for the car. And I was like, Well, this might sound crazy, but I sat down to budget the other day, I feel like God told me not to because it'll stress me out. And so like little trust moves like that where I feel like the Lord tells me to do something random. The only way that I feel like I've been able to trust him with that is through regular acts of giving. And I don't think I ever would have done that if he didn't model it. And so when we were younger, I think you do it less in public now, but he used to carry around, I think he got this from Robert Morris, but he used to carry around $100 bills and like every week he'd be handing them out, especially at church and all over the place. He just we'd be like pulling away, everyone's like, Dad, can we go out to lunch now? No I think we're going home. Oh, bummer. You're like, Wait a second, guys. Puts in park and we see him run over and talk to this lady and pray for and come back in. You know, he gave him $100 and sent them on their. It was pretty cool. [00:17:34][57.7]Jeff Zaugg: [00:17:35] That the kids knew, Dad was playing a gamifying generosity, in a not self-serving. Gamification of just like, what might God do? Like that's I love it. I love it. [00:17:47][11.8]Gabe Klaas: [00:17:47] You know he'd tell us, don't go around like telling. I'm not doing it for other people. I'm like, you guys know as an example, you know? But yeah, for sure. [00:17:52][4.8]Jeff Zaugg: [00:17:53] You worked at Chick-Fil-A and now work at a video production creative agency. What was the suggestion from your parents around types of jobs and the expectation for number of hours worked? [00:18:06][12.9]Gabe Klaas: [00:18:07] So what my parents told me, and by the way, for all the dads out there listening 100% recommend this. This is, me and dad we're talking on the car ride here, this is the best part of our schooling I've ever done, just because it applies to every part of my life, now, what I learned. But my dad came to me, what, two years ago, probably a year and a half ago, and he was like, by the way, we're, we're implementing this new thing. 200 hours, right? Every one of you before, because we're home schooled, so my parents, the ones to give us our diplomas for high school. They're like, before you get your high school diploma, you have to do 200 hours of customer service. We don't care where you work, but it can't be construction. It has to be customer service because we want you to have an appreciation for people in customer service so you're not a brat. And then we also want you to learn how to deal with people, how to talk to people and all that stuff, so all that good stuff. And they're like, Listen, it might sound like a lot, 200 hours, but if you work, was it 15 hours a week, it's three months. So it's really just a summer job and you're making money off of it. And so they as far as that goes, all they told me was customer service, but they recommend Chick-Fil-A. And I was like, Bet, I'm in for that. And down I went, That was awesome. So that was there was a requirement, but they didn't tell me where I had to work. And then as far as the internship at Jyra, me and my parents were trying to decide college, no college for the film route. And one of his friends owns a film studio. So we went out, took him out to lunch, talked, great talk. But at the end of it, he offered me an internship and I was like, okay, great, I'll do it. And he's like, Well, wait, you're 15, you can't drive, you have to really get to the shoot, you know some of them are a hour away, your dad's not going to take you. So then the next year, after I got my license, my parents, you know, really encouraged me to pray about it. And so it wasn't really on my radar at that point, for this season. I felt kind of busy, I'm finishing up high school and stuff. My parents took me out and they're like, We really want you to pray about this. We really feel like it's something you should do. And I prayed and at that point I was like, Oh yeah, I actually have a peace about it. And so I got into it and I love it now. [00:19:56][109.6]Jeff Zaugg: [00:19:57] For the record. [00:19:58][0.3]Gabe Klaas: [00:19:58] Okay. [00:19:58][0.0]Jeff Zaugg: [00:19:59] I pursued Gabe to hire him as an intern for dadAWESOME. Which I love this, this story and you responded with a I need to pray about that because I have already committed to another job. And in this season I want to prayerfully . And I was very impressed by your no. As much as I wish Jyra didn't exist because then you would be working for dadAWESOME. Now the I just really I've heard this concept before of sweet and salty jobs and you find a sweet job that's like in their expertize, you're doing cool stuff, the internship. And then the salty is like cleaning out porta potties. Right. Like so which I think there's value to that the hard you don't want to ever do this job approach, but this was more of a strategic around learning skills and it feels like it's more of a skill approach of customer service and empathy probably. Is that, right? Kevin, can you kind of describe why you guys came up with it? [00:20:49][49.9]Kevin Klaas: [00:20:49] Well, I want my kids to, two things, serve and if they, couple of my kids have a lot of entrepreneurial gifting. So if they launch right out of the gate, you know, and experience success, they might never find themselves in a situation or maybe many years before they're serving. And I think it's really important that we learn to serve. We know who the person on the other side of the counter is, the type of things they're going through and dealing with. So. [00:21:14][24.8]Gabe Klaas: [00:21:15] Yeah. [00:21:15][0.0]Kevin Klaas: [00:21:15] I've had several customer service jobs I really wanted my kids to walk away with that. I feel like so much of traditional schooling is impractical. Like we learn something, like we go to, I'm not saying anything about math, but we go to the calculus level with math and then we graduate and the person's doing hair and they never do another math problem in their life. And then they don't want to talk to somebody. [00:21:34][18.8]Gabe Klaas: [00:21:35] So it doesn't help them at that point. [00:21:36][1.2]Kevin Klaas: [00:21:36] And they, but they don't know how to say please and thank you and to be grateful for somebody serving them. So we just that was something important, my wife and I. And so that's why we made it a part of our Klaass Premiere Academy Homeschool Requirements for Graduation. [00:21:49][12.3]Jeff Zaugg: [00:21:49] Premiere, not a normal academy. That's right. Yeah. Premiere. [00:21:51][1.5]Kevin Klaas: [00:21:51] Yeah. [00:21:51][0.0]Jeff Zaugg: [00:21:52] Anything to add to that? [00:21:53][0.5]Gabe Klaas: [00:21:53] Well, just like I cannot say how much I recommend it going into it, my dad was like, Hey, because he's gotten really good over the years of understanding that home life is busy when there's a big thing like this, let's go out, let's have a conversation about it, right? And so we had a conversation. I understood why he wanted me to do it, but I didn't know that it was going to necessarily benefit me enough for what it was, you know, the hassle it was going to be. But looking back on it, literally, it's the best thing I've ever done because like, you know, even sitting here talking, right? I'm not nervous because I know that I've already called, you know, 50 men, sirs, ma'am, ma'am, sirs. I've already embarrassed myself as much as I can. I'm just used to talking with people, hanging out, you know? And if everyone as a society went through that experience and just got used to talking to people and whatever, we'd be totally different, you know? [00:22:36][42.4]Jeff Zaugg: [00:22:36] Yeah, that's you haven't used the expression my pleasure yet, which kind of disappoints me. [00:22:40][4.2]Gabe Klaas: [00:22:41] Well, it's been my pleasure, tonight and today. [00:22:42][0.5]Jeff Zaugg: [00:22:44] I wore a cumber bun and a bow tie and I served at a restaurant. It was, I was a server. It was it was a great experience. Oh, it was it was very like challenging in so many ways, but I'm so glad I had that experience. So I'm glad you guys made up that, I'm glad the Zaugg family's going to rip you off. So far, this conversation, we're definitely paying our girls to memorize scripture starting like next month. So, so we talked about it before this. Michelle's like, remember they used to do that, how have we not started that yet? So this is my second punch. Sometimes it takes two punches to you got to hit the left hook in the right hook before you actually implement something. So, thanks for three and a half years later sharing the same principle again. Gabe, you've mentioned a couple of times, hearing God's voice. And I've benefited directly from you hearing God's voice, because in it was either a dream or a prayer time you, God showed you something to pass on to me, prophetically and, and that was a gift almost two years ago. So you were like 14 at the time and God deposited something he knew to share with me. Sometimes God speaks that way. It's for someone else. Sometimes it's it's to take a tangible action. He's speaking something, take this action. And sometimes God speaks and it's just like it's just is just a gentle reminder of his great love for it. Like he speaks in so many different ways. How has, how have you learned to hear the voice of God and how how does He speak to you? [00:24:04][80.1]Gabe Klaas: [00:24:05] It's been, a lot of my parents example, right? Seeing when they say, hey, I feel like I heard this, they act on it. Then you watch how it worked out. It's like, Oh, they really are hearing from something, right? There's really something orchestrating their path. And then also I'm the type of person where I'm just kind of more independent. For better or for worse. I like to go and do you know, I think of something and I just want to go do it. And, and so I very quickly I think at a young age, I wanted to hear I think there's a point where you want to hear the Lord for yourself, you know, and it's not even necessarily that I don't trust my parents. But if there's a point where I feel strongly opposite way, they do and they feel the way they do because the Lord told them, it's like, okay, I want to hear it for myself, you know? And so I think it's just been a journey of that. And then also just trying to make decisions in my life, you know, that that's kind of forced me to come to a place where I'm constantly, you know, every day when I get up before I go out, I, I spend time with the Lord. And then also something awesome that me and one of my close friends, Daniel, do is every single day, because last, not last year, maybe six months ago, we were out, we get coffee regularly, we have conversations over a meal or whatever. And we were talking about like quiet time and how we had missed a couple recently. And so now every single day we check in with each other with a voice memo telling like each other, Hey, I did my quiet time, here's what stood out to me, just do like one thing. And then the other person. So it really keeps us in check every day and stuff. So that's cool. [00:25:34][88.8]Jeff Zaugg: [00:25:34] Let's talk about screens and phones and social media and YouTube and it's just, Michelle and I were chatting this morning about like, what is our gameplan in this area with our oldest turning nine here in a couple of months. Gabe, I'll start with you again. I know most of my questions are being shot at you, instead of your dad. That's okay. Do you, do you remember some points of like, hey, these were boundaries or this was expectations or just what the approach started? I'm sure it's different today than when it when it started. But can you talk about if you even go back a few years, kind of how your family approached screens and social media? [00:26:14][39.7]Gabe Klaas: [00:26:16] Yeah. Trying to think, yeah, this has actually been the spot probably where there's been a lot of conflict in our family just because with me really enjoying video, a lot of the stuff is done on my phone and so it's not even necessary, like I wasn't allowed to have social media until I turned 16. So this last maybe six months or whatever, eight months, I don't know, whatever it works out to be. So wasn't even necessarily that aspect. It was just, I always want to be filming. I always want to be editing or whatever. And, so we've had a lot of back and forth. And this is where, you know, where when one of those areas comes where we disagree. It's really comforting to know that my parents are constantly learning and growing. So I know that they you know, they they're constantly willing to humble themselves and be like, okay, I don't see a reason for this rule anymore, change it. So there's been a lot of change and evolution, especially as I've gotten older. I think the way that we did it, if I'm remembering right and dad, you remember numbers way better, so correct me where I'm wrong, but I think it was around 12 when I got my first phone. Is that correct or was it younger? [00:27:16][60.1]Kevin Klaas: [00:27:16] I think that's about right. 12 or 13 when you started the YouTube channel. [00:27:19][2.2]Gabe Klaas: [00:27:19] Okay. Yeah. And it wasn't it didn't have like cell reception, but I could text through wifi, you know, and stuff. And then from there, it's probably 14, 13 or 14 somewhere in there, I then got a number. And then our family does no phones on Sabbath. I get it in the afternoon just because I'm older and with some of the driving I do and whatever. But no phones on Sabbath. No phones past 10:00 at night and then, they also did, what was that? What was the other? [00:27:51][31.7]Kevin Klaas: [00:27:52] No phones upstairs. [00:27:52][0.0]Gabe Klaas: [00:27:52] No phones upstairs. And then, oh, no social media until you're 16. So there's just some parameters that they set. They used to do, so there was a time where I just spent a lot of time on my phone editing, and so they would put parameters around that so that I would get my school done and stuff. [00:28:05][12.5]Jeff Zaugg: [00:28:05] The amount of time you get. [00:28:06][0.8]Gabe Klaas: [00:28:06] Yeah, yeah. That was the other thing. When I was younger, no phone until after school, stuff like that. Yeah. [00:28:10][3.7]Jeff Zaugg: [00:28:11] I've heard recently that it's just people have run studies, but you can't run studies very far back or to know very far into the future the effects of these screens because they haven't existed that long. [00:28:21][10.6]Gabe Klaas: [00:28:22] Yeah. [00:28:22][0.0]Jeff Zaugg: [00:28:22] So it's just an interesting spot and it's fun that we're talking about hearing God's voice and then into screens. Because if we don't, as dads, hear the voice of God and have like, we're trusting him in this area, then we're in trouble. Kevin, would you add to kind of how have you discerned some of those some of that approach with screens? [00:28:45][22.9]Kevin Klaas: [00:28:46] I think this is probably the area where we made the most mistakes, honestly. If I could pinpoint one thing, and it's not for lack of wanting to do it right, it's for lack of information and lack of understanding. And like you said, there's not a lot to lean on. There's a lot of things that are similar for for me, that I went through as a teenager that Gabe's going through the same things, but screens are not one of them. They didn't exist when I was in high school. So I this year, my wife and I read the book Parenting Generations Screen by Jonathan McKee, and that was that was great for us because it told us we had too many rules, basically, in a nutshell. So it it felt very humbling, honestly, to try to be a dad and try to govern this righteously in our home, but also do it in a way that's going to allow Gabe and I to keep a relationship and not destroy relationship. [00:29:38][51.5]Gabe Klaas: [00:29:39] Yeah. [00:29:39][0.0]Kevin Klaas: [00:29:40] And it's tricky because it's like you're juggling, you know, a weapon in a way, the smartphone. I mean, I'm referring to your device. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It could be a weapon for God, Jesus. Because I do my, I read the Bible in my smart phone. It's it's a weapon for business, it's my number one device I use to communicate with my clients. It can also be a weapon for destruction of the soul. And so it's it's tricky. I don't you know, there's I could we could go through our whole litany of what we do on our home to try to make this work. But I'll just say that I think that book's a great read. That's the best resource I've come across, which is some healthy, hey, it's not do this, do this, that, it's going to work. It's you remember this, and his number one point is relationship trumps everything. So have a make sure you have a good relationship with your sons and daughters so that you can have a conversation through this because it's more of a opening up of the hands and letting them have more and more control responsibility in there as opposed to the the opposite, where sometimes kids will make a mistake and then all sudden parents will yank the device. That's probably the that's the opposite of what he recommends for various reasons. So anyway, I'll say, it's a very humbling area that requires probably, us as parents, to remain in a posture of, you know, being on our knees. And that's probably right where Jesus wants us. [00:31:04][84.2]Jeff Zaugg: [00:31:08] Thank you so much for joining us for Episode 247 with Gabe Klaas and his dad, Kevin Klaas. Something they did not mention in the intro, but you may have picked up on this through our conversation. We recorded this entire conversation from a boat in the middle of a lake in Minnesota. So I was like, Let's just try it, let's try, it is already special to sit with Gabe and Kevin, but I was like, Let's try putting up the microphones. Only a couple times, there's a little bit of background noise, but I think it added because I mean, just the beautiful backdrop. This was recorded about three months ago in July. So anyways, just a quick shout out to the setting. And we were on a boat in in Minnesota as we recorded this conversation. And next week is going to be the second half of this conversation. The show notes, though, are, as always, at dadAWESOME.org/247, all the conversation notes, links out to Gabe's YouTube channel, you got to check that out. And and then links to Kevin Klaas, as well. So guys, thank you for joining today. Make sure you get back next week for the second half, we go a lot deeper and really practical elements of this is what's working and this is what's been hard in the dynamics of Kevin Klaas raising his son, Gabe Klaas and the other kids. So get back here next week, guys. Thank you for being dadAWESOME. Choosing to say I'm growing, I'm learning, I'm staying prayerful, I'm pursuing the hearts of my kids. I'm praying for you guys this week. Go make it an amazing week. [00:31:08][0.0][1762.9]