DadAwesome

Latest Episodes:

216 | Raising 11 Kids & The Giant Five Framework (Chad Johnson REVISITED) Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

"The world is crying out for men and dads who are on fire. That love what they're doing and their giving it their all"

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Chad Johnson

After twenty-eight years of joyful marriage, author Chad Johnson is still pursuing the woman of his dreams, the lovely Jenise. Chad is a successful entrepreneur and business coach to elite-level business owners. He is the founder of TheAchademy.com, co-founder of NewlywedCoaching.com, and MarriageMaximizer.com.

Chad is also an entrepreneurial coach with Strategic Coach, helping clients build and strengthen their businesses.

Chad and Jenise love their eleven children and five grandchildren. They enjoy traveling with their family and including them in the family business, Farmhouse Candle Shop. You can watch their adventures on their YouTube channel The Big Ski Family.

Show Notes:

We just released a free film series. A short video series "Adding Life to the Dad Life" https://dadawesome.org/life/
2:54 – Chad introduces his family
3:34 – Imperfect fatherhood – there are no perfect husbands and there are no perfect fathers
4:00 – "Man, it would be awesome to have 10 kids… And you can see what happens when you keep saying one more"
4:40 – This fathering thing never stops… now they keep adding new kids as their kids get married
6:17 – The Big Ski Family – "it would be so fun to have a family entrepreneurial whim" – Global Ambassadors for Family Skiing
9:00 – The Giant Five Framework – top priorities
- 1) Faith – it's foundational
- 2) Marriage – must be on the same page fighting together
- 3) Children – Aspire to raise them to be all God created them to be.
- 4) Heath – being fit, healthy and active
- 5) Career/Work/Ministry – Using God given Unique Abilities to earn, serve, and bless others
16:30 – Chad reflecting on his father
18:10 – My dad has always prioritized his relationship with God and my mom.
21:15 – The value of working hard as a family… "Ability to tackle hard things. To not run from a project"
25:10 – "I'm ok stirring the pot. I don't want my kids to have a sterile, safe, protected, isolated environment."
27:01 – Chad reflects on the pain of sexual sin and how it impacted his family.
30:05 – "My young children were at risk when I fell"
31:00 – "You want to talk about ripping your heart out. I knew that I was hurting my wife and I hated it. I despised it. And then I realized that I was brining it into my children's lives somehow"
32:15 – "I was believing the lie that my wife and my children would be better off without me"
33:15 – The driving mission of helping men hear the message of freedom in Christ and the solution that only God can bring.
34:00 – Christ in me the hope of glory
34:40 – I needed power for the right now. Ability to walk in power of the Holy Spirit.
36:20 – Fatherhood, Family, Freedom – they all intersect and if we walk in freedom, our kids get freedom
37:20 – Coaching words for us – "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."
38:08 – God made you a masterpiece
39:40 – "The world is crying out for men and dads who are on fire. That love what they're doing and their giving it their all"
40:48 – "Live life like a movie you'd want to watch with your children and grandchildren"
41:01 – Chad's prayer – Jude 24-25 "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."
We just released a free film series. A short video series "Adding Life to the Dad Life" https://dadawesome.org/life/

Links from Chad Johnson:

Chad's Book - How to Win a Heart: One Man's Adventure in Finding and Winning His Lifelong Love
NewlywedCoaching.com
MarriageMaximizer.com
Farmhouse Candle Shop
www.StrategicCoach.com (Coaching the world's best Entrepreneurs and Business Owners as an Entrepreneurial Coach)
www.TheBigSkiFamily.com (On a mission: Introduce 1 MILLION families to the joy of Skiing together)
Instagram (Chad @thegiant5guy)
Instagram (@thebigskifamily)

Links from dadAWESOME:

Conversation Transcript

coming soon

215 | Creating Ceremonies, Building Life-Changing Friendships & Raising Modern Day Knights (Robert Lewis) Mar 06, 2022

Show notes

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Robert Lewis

Few have had as significant an impact on discipling men in the past forty years than Robert Lewis. As a pastor, speaker, and author, Robert's passion for leading men to grow in biblical manhood led him to produce the Men's Fraternity film series in 1995. This three-year men's curriculum quickly spread into churches, businesses, colleges, and even correctional facilities across the United States and later to over 20 countries. Today, Men's Fraternity and its follow up series, 33, have impacted millions of men worldwide.

Author of numerous books including best-selling The Church of Irresistible Influence, Raising a Modern-Day Knight, and Rocking the Roles: Building a Win-Win Marriage, Robert is known for helping men build their lives on practical biblical truth that gets real-life results.

Now, in authoring the "BetterMan" curriculum, Robert offers a new way for men, especially younger men, to get their hands around God's timeless design for authentic manhood.

Show Notes:

:52 - we just released a free film series. A short video series "Adding Life to the Dad Life" https://dadawesome.org/life/
5:34 - "When the wedding day came, I was wondering where dad was or dad was at home drunk in bed before the wedding went on without him."
6:20 - "My wife and I just celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary together, and what we did for our wedding anniversary is we had all the grandkids. I have 10 of them and our kids come out just to us and we replayed our marriage ceremony."
8:10 - Serial monogamy. Robert explaining how marriage is a series of marriages to the same woman
10:12 - Community - "I got with two other dads this we had seven sons"
10:51 - "We designed ceremonies for sons. We came up with four ceremonies, one that we would do when they became a teenager. 13. One when they got their driver's license at 16 independence. One when they left home. Hopefully for college with total independence from Spain. We have 18 and then one when they graduated from college at twenty one. So that was four ceremonies. And over the next 20 something years we did twenty eight ceremony funds and we are so glad that we did because all seven of us sons are strong believers doing well in all of their forties now."
12:50 - "two things that remain friends... drawing wisdom from them and that season lives and their friendship. And the other thing is staying close to God personally, those two things. And then you have the two essentials
14:07 - "God gave me two men, but we became close together and we both had the same desire to be good at family, good at parenting, good at our marriage."
15:27 - Phases to Knighthood.
16:13 - "what if we raised our boys to be in a culture Knights to their world?
18:44 - Application to moms and daughters
19:36 - Five Essentials to Engage Today's Men - Barna and BetterMan -- "There's no denying that today's men face unique cultural challenges in life, work, and ministry. That's why we partnered with Barna to create a comprehensive resource for pastors, men's ministry leaders, and mentors looking to effectively reach today's men. Filled with eye-opening statistics and thought-provoking insights, this study is catered to empower you as you support men on their journey towards better."
32:07 - "sons are looking for the substance of life, as I hope to prove they hunger for the best things in the absence of these anchors, sons drift. But when loving dads add these into the manhood mix, their sons flourish. They become noble men, gentlemen, men of valor, principled men, knights."
34:37 - Proverb 17:6 says; "Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers...and "glory" word as the implication of weight. And I remember when I read that I thought, that's interesting the weight of sons, which their dads, and all of a sudden I realized what dads give their sons weight, which stabilizes them. You have those inflatable dummies that you can get up in the air."
36:40 - Robert's prayer

Episode Links:

Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood
BetterMan
Barna Study - BetterMan - https://betterman.com/barna-report/

215 | Creating Ceremonies, Building Life-Changing Committed Friendships & Raising Modern Day Knights (Robert Lewis) Mar 03, 2022

Show notes

"sons are looking for the substance of life, as I hope to prove they hunger for the best things and in the absence of these anchors, sons drift. But when loving dads add these into the manhood mix, their sons flourish. They become noble men, gentlemen, men of valor, principled men, knights.

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Robert Lewis

Now, in authoring the "BetterMan" curriculum, Robert offers a new way for men, especially younger men, to get their hands around God's timeless design for authentic manhood.

Show Notes:

:52 - we just released a free film series. A short video series "Adding Life to the Dad Life" https://dadawesome.org/life/
5:34 - "When the wedding day came, I was wondering where dad was or dad was at home drunk in bed before the wedding went on without him."
6:20 - "My wife and I just celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary together, and what we did for our wedding anniversary is we had all the grandkids. I have 10 of them and our kids come out just to us and we replayed our marriage ceremony."
8:10 - Serial monogamy. Robert explaining how marriage is a series of marriages to the same woman
10:12 - Community - "I got with two other dads this we had seven sons"
10:51 - "We designed ceremonies for sons. We came up with four ceremonies, one that we would do when they became a teenager. 13. One when they got their driver's license at 16 independence. One when they left home. Hopefully for college with total independence from Spain. We have 18 and then one when they graduated from college at twenty one. So that was four ceremonies. And over the next 20 something years we did twenty eight ceremony funds and we are so glad that we did because all seven of us sons are strong believers doing well in all of their forties now."
12:50 - "two things that remain friends... drawing wisdom from them and that season lives and their friendship. And the other thing is staying close to God personally, those two things. And then you have the two essentials
14:07 - "God gave me two men, but we became close together and we both had the same desire to be good at family, good at parenting, good at our marriage."
15:27 - Phases to Knighthood.
16:13 - "what if we raised our boys to be in a culture Knights to their world?
18:44 - Application to moms and daughters
19:36 - Five Essentials to Engage Today's Men - Barna and BetterMan -- "There's no denying that today's men face unique cultural challenges in life, work, and ministry. That's why we partnered with Barna to create a comprehensive resource for pastors, men's ministry leaders, and mentors looking to effectively reach today's men. Filled with eye-opening statistics and thought-provoking insights, this study is catered to empower you as you support men on their journey towards better."
32:07 - "sons are looking for the substance of life, as I hope to prove they hunger for the best things in the absence of these anchors, sons drift. But when loving dads add these into the manhood mix, their sons flourish. They become noble men, gentlemen, men of valor, principled men, knights."
34:37 - Proverb 17:6 says; "Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers...and "glory" word as the implication of weight. And I remember when I read that I thought, that's interesting the weight of sons, which their dads, and all of a sudden I realized what dads give their sons weight, which stabilizes them. You have those inflatable dummies that you can get up in the air."
36:40 - Robert's prayer

Episode Links:

Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood
BetterMan
Barna Study - BetterMan - https://betterman.com/barna-report/

214 | Bob Goff on Context, Fainting Goats & Being Secretly Awesome. Feb 24, 2022

Show notes

And you could do that as an awesome dad to just hover. I think that's the first thing God did over the Earth. He just hovered. Hover over each person your family like, what is kid number one need that I could only uniquely provide them. Because if they need a ride, they could get Uber to provide. They'd give em a ride. But just say, is there something else they uniquely need that only I could provide and then hover over your spouse and hover over a couple of friends for a moment? And did you say, like, what are they uniquely need that only I could provide.

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Bob Goff

Bob spent decades as an attorney, trying to figure out how to live a whimsical, impactful life. These days, he calls himself a "recovering lawyer" because after practicing law for 25 years, then becoming the Honorary Consul to Uganda, he gave up his law firm to pursue writing and speaking full time. He's a New York Times bestselling author several times over, runs a popular weekly podcast, and recently turned farmer at The Oaks just outside San Diego, California.

Show Notes:

Focusing on the context of the moments and seasons with our families helps focus on what is important.
3:45 - It's just like, give context, you're only here, so wanting to be these memories that they're going to drop into a relatively small box of mental pictures they'll have of, of what it felt like to be raised in your family. And so super intentional about that, but curious and always looking for context.
4:55 - Having ideas to surprise his kids - keeping things secret to
8:00 - Living a "no capes" kind of life.
7:50 - So there's some rationale behind living a "no capes" kind of life to not make a big deal about it. If faith is important to somebody listening, then Jesus talked about that. And you know, if you stand on the street corner, make a big deal about it. Yeah, then you get a little golf clap here. But if you just don't, dude go live a no capes kind of life, then you get to talk to Jesus about it forever, which is really a problem for a guy like me who writes books and speaks because I talk about everything, right? And it's not because I'm trying to make people think I'm swell, I just am talking about the thing of the day. And but I realize in doing that, Jesus's words like, you've had your reward. And so I would do a couple of capers that you haven't told anybody about. Just do it because it'd be awesome.
9:37 - Fainting goats and Sweet Maria
10:20 - Jeff Zaugg - Adding a "label that adds life" over our kids and spouses
10:40 - What if we had nicknames for the people we loved?
12:56 - "And you could do that as an awesome dad to just hover. I think that's the first thing God did over the Earth. He just hovered. Hover over each person your family like, what is kid number one need that I could only uniquely provide them. Because if they need a ride, they could get Uber to provide. They'd give em a ride. But just say, is there something else they uniquely need that only I could provide and then hover over your spouse and hover over a couple of friends for a moment? And did you say, like, what are they uniquely need that only I could provide."
14:44 - How Bob managed to stay connected to his daughter attending college in Seattle.
16:43 - Four-part framework for intentional fatherhood -- Sign up at: https://dadawesome.org/life/
17:52 - The story of the Wake Up Fairy from Love Does for Kids
18:47 - Jeff asks Bob to be the "Wake Up Fairy" for dads
19:19 - A challenge to dads: "Quit your job. Like, literally that's it. I would say nine out of 10 of the people I know, male and female, are in jobs that were great on the day they got them, but they've changed. New Day, New You. And still, there you've changed. And the job didn't. And so I would just say just quit."
21:32 - Story of a pediatric brain surgeon who quit his job. "No, he actually really loves what he does. He just needed to reconnect with his family. And when he got that right, then everything sort of fallen into place."
22:24 - Sometimes we wait for, you know, just all the right things to line up before we make a move. What about make the move and then say, OK, so this is a fixed point. What needs to change and you're going to figure it out. All the things that made you successful in the previous job will make you successful.
22:59 - "That was a stupid economic move, but it was an awesome new creation move, and I think that's where we want to do. Start making some really neat new creation moves... to actually live in it... why not actually live like see yourself in the mirror is like, what is Bob possible?
25:09 - "Constantly saying; "what's possible", not what's familiar, but sometimes the familiar will get in the way of what's actually possible"
28:02 - Bob's stories about what he is learning from his time at San Quentin State Prison
32:19 - "There's something really beautiful. I think we can do that as you continue with this work, you're doing with DadAWESOME that everybody gets fed. Somehow they get what they need, but you got to know what you want and you got to overcome what's just merely available and say, get your head on a swivel and say, What's actually what could I do to influence what I want?"
33:27 - Bob's prayer
The Intentional Forty

Episode Links:

Bob's NEW Book - Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy.
Bob's Other Books
Bob on Instagram

dadAWESOME Links:

213 | The Intentional Forty (Jeff Zaugg) Feb 17, 2022

Show notes

40 new experiences; things I've never done in my life... Instead of moving towards comfort and rhythms and things I've already done before, I am intentionally adding new things because I want to stay curious. I want to be a learner... I want to stay humble. I want to be in this growth mindset.

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Jeff Zaugg

Jeff and Michelle Zaugg will celebrate 16 years of marriage this coming July. They currently live in a 37 foot RV with their 4 young daughters. After 10-years of entrepreneurial non-profit ministry leadership, Jeff served as a pastor at Substance Church in the Twin Cities for the past 7 years. In Fall 2020 Jeff took the leap and went full-time fatherhood ministry. He is the founder and lead cheerleader at dadAWESOME & FATHERS FOR THE FATHERLESS. When he's not wrestling or playing hide and seek with his daughters, you might find Jeff out for a bike ride, making a pour over coffee, sitting by a fire with his wife or challenging some friends to a game of Spikeball.

Show Notes:

:49 - if you missed the last two weeks episode 211 and 212 Seth Dahl
1:36 - I turned 40 a few days ago and I've actually been off social media for the past 40 days... an anticipation season, trying to narrow my focus, spend time with my family, try to push away some distractions
01:58 - Today as we drop this episode run day 98 of the dadAWESOME RV tour, we're in Orlando, Florida right now and so grateful we are still traveling...
2:28 - "I think in general, as I get older and as most of us dads get a little older, it is easy to play it safe and to coast."
3:01 - STORY about the RIP TIDE -- Byron Bay, Australia
6:31 - "The reason I shared this Riptide story in Byron Bay, Australia, is, I think at the age of 40 at the age... at every single new season, new chapter we can. If we're not careful, we will end up being drawn and we will drift and be pulled in the direction of the world. In the direction of comfort, in the direction of of more is better. In the direction of this is just the direction we get pulled in the next phase. More busyness, more hustle. And I think intentionality requires us to fight against the pull that we're drawn towards."
7:43 - I've decided to take on what I call THE INTENTIONAL FORTY. It's a challenge. The Intentional Forty - https://dadawesome.org/intentional/
7:53 - "My girls right now this season of my life, they can notice they're old enough now to notice Where's dad's focus? Where where am I running after? What am I? What am I putting extra energy towards? And do they see me coasting and drifting and being drawn in the direction of every other dad? Or do they see a dad who with courage says, I'm going to chart a different course?"
8:53 - "My girls, when they turn 40, are going to know that their dad put emphasis on these four areas, and the intentional 40 just gives a practical reason to get intentional in these four areas."
9:04 - "So 10 of my 40 experiences are going to be with my wife, Michelle"
9:36 - "Ten of these experiences are with my daughters."
11:00 - "The next 10 are with friends, so I've friendships are so important. My girls, when they turn 40, are going to know their dad was intentional with friendships."
11:32 - "the final 10 or with mentors. So I'm going to intentionally. Most of my mentors are kind of in the 50 to 80 years old season of life, and I'm going to pursue them and ask them where you spent a couple of hours do this experience."
12:06 - "I am going to do 40 new experiences, things I've never done in my life and as a 40 year old. Instead of going towards comfort and rhythms and things I've already done before, I am intentionally trying to do new things because I want to stay curious. I want to be a learner, I want to. I want to stay humble. I want to be in this growth mindset."
12:41 - These are four building blocks. These are anchors to what I think are the most important things mentorship, friendship, marriage in my time with my girls. So so I'm doing this intentional 40 challenge.
13:44 - https://dadawesome.org/intentional/
14:25 -- 1 Peter 4:7-11 TPT "Since we are approaching the end of all things, be intentional, purposeful, and self-controlled so that you can be given to prayer. Above all, constantly echo God's intense love for one another...."
15:23 -- Proverbs 24:3-4 TPT "Wise people are builders — they build families, businesses, communities. And through intelligence and insight their enterprises are established and endure. Because of their skilled leadership, the hearts of people are filled with the treasures of wisdom and the pleasures of spiritual wealth."

https://dadawesome.org/intentional/

Episode Links:

212 | Key Differences Between Peacekeeping & Peacemaking (Seth Dahl PART 2) Feb 10, 2022

Show notes

"Peace is the atmosphere of heaven... peace is the oxygen of heaven. It's everywhere in heaven. It is just like righteousness, peace and joy are the kingdom of God. It already belongs to us, Jesus said, I give you my peace, I leave you, not as the world gives..."

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Seth Dahl

Seth Dahl is a writer and worldwide speaker to adults and children. He is known for his powerful wisdom communicated through a contagious joy and childlikeness. Seth and Lauren love to empower families to build a strong connection that fosters peace and creates a thriving family culture. Seth, Lauren and their three children homestead with a large garden and handful of animals on a small farm in Texas.

With over 15 years experience working with children and being a children's pastor, Seth has cultivated a passion to help parents create a thriving family culture at home. Sometimes parenting is overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be! Seth and Lauren love being able to equip people with the practical and spiritual tools they need to create the thriving family culture they've always dreamed of.

Show Notes:

Part 1 of this conversation with Seth Dahl - https://dadawesome.org/211/
2:09 - Facebook Messenger for Kids
4:18 - Documentary - The Social Dilemma - https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/
Joshua 1:9 "I've commanded you to be strong and brave. Don't ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the LORD your God, and I will be there to help you wherever you go."
7:37 "I need to take one step at a time... I need to step back from social media and then get a better look..."
15:36 - "I watched those movies so I can intentionally shut the door... I'm not afraid of it. I want them to learn this with me before they're out there learning it on their own...."
16:17 - "I do at the movies. I'm probably going to have to do it. They're just like, I've done it with the knives. You're not going to go play with knives by yourself and hide because you can play with your knives with me and you're you're trusted and you're safe and you've developed it. And I feel totally confident my kid carrying a knife when he's old enough in his pocket and being fine."
17:49 - Peace is the atmosphere of heaven... Bill Jones would say peace is the oxygen of heaven. And so it's, you know, it's everywhere in heaven. It is just like righteousness, peace and joy are the kingdom of God. So it's. It's important it matters."
18:25 - "the world is like, Hey, you can have peace when everything's good and God's like, No, I'm going to give it to you in the middle of the storm so you can not so you can survive the storm so you can change the storm... So the storm can't survive you. Peace is not like the world. So when all the problems are gone, then you have peace. But God is like no. In the middle of all the problems, I will give you peace so you can not just be OK, you can actually do something about it."
19:33 - There is a difference between peacekeeping and peacemaking, right, and sometimes peacekeeping means it's not actual real peace."
20:57 - "We bought this notebook that's called, "people I want to punch in the face"... this doesn't sound very Christian."
22:07 - "We are going to respond in the opposite spirit and we are going to pray for them and I ask him, I say, Do you want to hold on to all that or do you want to let it go? I want to let it go. Do you want those things to start driving the decisions that you make in the way you treat people? Or do you want to be in charge of who the decisions you make and how you change? I want to be in charge. OK, let's let it go. Let's do it. Let's forgive. And so we pray"

Episode Links:

https://sethdahl.com/
Seth on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sethdahl/
Raising Spirit-Led Kids: Guiding Kids to Walk Naturally in the Supernatural
Make a Donation to dadAWESOME
Join the dadAWESOME Prayer Team
https://dadawesome.org/tour/

Conversation Transcript

Coming Soon!

211 | Kids Need to Explore Dangerous Stuff Safely (Seth Dahl PART 1) Feb 03, 2022

Show notes

I'm trying to reawaken something inside you. I'm trying to reawaken something that was lost. And this is who you are and and this is trying to stop it. Keep going. Keep hunting. Do it...

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Seth Dahl

Show Notes:

Previous Seth Dahl Interviews on dadAWESOME
137 | Spirit-Filled Parenting, Hearing God's Voice, & Shaping our Kids as Arrows (Seth Dahl)
151 | Raising Spirit-Led Kids Part 2 (Seth Dahl)
5:09 - South Austin State Park for hiking and seeing the Waterfall: McKinney Falls State Park
6:34 - "what am I taking my focus off of?"
7:06 - "I want to get my focus off of all the extra stuff right now"
7:48 - "What's what's the most priceless valuable thing that we have? The presence of God, right? And God is not distracted. God is not unfocused. I think he's far more present to us than we are to him, and we only discover his presence when we become present with him as well"
9:00 - "My focus is on becoming focused on being more present and unfocused on all the extra stuff"
11:43 - "I think we need to push back on this a little bit and we need to go, Hey, let's get outside. Let's let's climb the tree, build a little treehouse platform..."
12:49 "Every time I go hunting, there are so many opportunities for me to receive shame. So, you know, hunting is very connected to being a man, being a provider...."
15:27 - "So on the plane, I'm just like. Here I come, Lord, and I go to him and he's like, look, don't don't throw this out. I'm trying to reawaken something inside you. I'm trying to reawaken something that was lost. And this is who you are and and this is trying to stop it. Keep going. Keep hunting. Do it..."
19:42 - "Kids need to explore dangerous stuff safely."
20:56 - "Why My Kids Will Lead Yours" -- It's a school in Switzerland that allows children to use real knives, real blades. "
21:00 - Seth explains the process of teaching his kids to safely use a knife

Episode Links:

https://sethdahl.com/
Seth on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sethdahl/
Raising Spirit-Led Kids: Guiding Kids to Walk Naturally in the Supernatural
Make a Donation to dadAWESOME
Join the dadAWESOME Prayer Team
https://dadawesome.org/tour/

210 | It's Gonna Be Great! (Derick Zwerneman) Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Derick Zwerneman

With a life of unique experiences, Derick has served as a husband to 1, father to 3, a firefighter for 25 years, outreach pastor for 9 years, and a network development leader for a disaster relief network for 3 years! He has never met a stranger, and the Joy of the Lord is his strength! His passion is connecting people, and his experiences in emergency services and leading teams. Combining the two is what he does to make connections to further the kingdom of God! Life Quote: "It's Gonna Be Great!"

Show Notes:

2:27 - "We are NOT a family that are going to be influenced by our surroundings, we're going to influence our surroundings. And you probably heard over and over again, we're not going to be the thermometer as the thermostat. Not in a way of arrogance, but in a way of we're confident"
3:06 - "If you don't come in with the confidence of knowing that that that you have control over the situation because you have Christ in you."
4:25 - "Looking back, there was a turning point in that which was incredible. And it's, you know, due to an incredible wife, I've got to give her all the credit. You know, as far as like literally throwing a Bible hit me in the back of the head with Psalm 127"
6:19 - "it's those little drops of what you do that your kids are picking up as you walk through life."
9:16 - James 1:2-4 - "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
12:25 - "there's things that life are going to. Throw at us as fathers, and we can either take those on our shoulders, let them waist down and just get buried in them, conveying that spirit that hard into our children, right? Or we can take a couple of minutes for a walk in the door. Throw that stuff down, give it to God, say, man, I'm going to. I'm going to pray that this does build endurance and strength in me. But right now I've got a family to lead"
16:22 - The vision of the straight line.and an intersecting squiggly lines that kept coming across that middle line.
25:53 - "You may have a knee jerk reaction to like go to the worldly way of dealing with it. But it was in that moment there was like, OK, God, this is the talk that's got to happen, and dad's the one that gets to do it."

Episode Links:

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209 | Crazy Cool Family (Don Manning) Jan 20, 2022

Show notes

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Don Manning

30+ years of parenting experience, 7 kids of all ages... Don is the CFO of a real estate company and serves on the elder board of Valley Creek Church, a church he and Suzanne helped start over 25 years ago. Suzanne has invested her time as a teacher, wife, mom, homemaker, mentor, girl's minister, speaker, writer, and most importantly an encourager to everyone she meets.

We have a passion to help families rethink the way they do family-one relationship at a time.

Fun Facts On Our Journey Over 40 pets Over 140 teeth lost Over 3,200 sporting events… and counting Over 50 overseas mission trips… and counting Over 44,000 diapers purchased… no more counting!

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Show Notes:

- 4:55 - "God's ways are crazy. God's ways are different and we really do. What we found in our parenting journey is is that we really did have to do things in a crazy way, really relationally.
- 5:44 - "...When family works, it's the best thing you'll ever do in your life, but it beats any sort of ever done. It beats anything because you know when you when your kids love Jesus and they love you and they love each other. It really is crazy. Cool.
- 10:23 - "If you're become a student of your wife instead of her critic, you'll be amazed what you learn about family."
- 10:36 - "I started seeing relationships being so connection being more important than my instruction."
- LINK TO FAMILY DASHBOARD - https://crazycoolfamily.com/relationships/
- 13:49 - "Other than leading your kids to Jesus, getting your kids to be best friends, hardest thing you'll do as a dad and mom and dad, but it's worth it. And it just it started dripping in just that influence"
- 16:31 - What I've learned from coming out of my parenting into my own faith is just how to do relationships at a different level.
- 18:33 - "what we found was, if we build that in our home, we build this culture where relationships can flourish, like a greenhouse, like the plants would. And we found four elements that were super critical to that."
- 18:50 - "we encourage extravagantly and we correct carefully because most parents flip it and they're more critical and less encouraging. And even they qualify their encouragement..."
- 21:53 - "when you build that culture, family just works, you know, and we tend to be so concerned about the outside. And I tell parents all the time, it's like if you build it on the inside, well, they're going to face anything on the outside. But because they're ready. I mean, God's with them. And you know, it works."
- 29:13 -"our example is more important than your instruction"
- 29:35 - "OK, kids, what do we need to do? What do we need to talk about? They said, You know, what do we do that was helped you? They said all you did was you walk with Jesus and you talked about it.

Episode Links:

Crazy Cool Family: Rethink the Way You Do Family
https://crazycoolfamily.com/
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208 | Switching Roles, Showing Emotions & Refusing to Quit (Matt Anderson) Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

dadAWESOME

We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness. | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

Matt Anderson

Matt and his wife, Robin, have been leading in local church ministry for almost 25 years. They've served churches in Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Matt and Robin met in college, at Anderson University (Indiana). They love desert living with their three boys: Connor (2001), Calvin (2004), and Charlie (2010). Together, Matt and Robin love traveling to new places, exploring great restaurants, and long walks. Matt loves being outside - hiking, running, and golf. He's a fan of college sports (War Eagle!) and all things SEC even though they live in the southwest. Matt and Robin love being a part of the local church and God's mission to redeem and restore all people through the love of Jesus.

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Show Notes:

2:35 - Andy Stanley Quote: "Relationships are built on small, consistent deposits of time. You can't cram for what's most important. If you want to connect with your kids, you've got to be available consistently, not randomly"
3:18 - When it comes to parenting, you can't get near the end and just cram a bunch in and hope that it sticks. It's more about the long game... these little investments of time over time, which will pay off in the long haul."
4:02 - ... "his goal of parenting and what they kept in their minds was they wanted their kids to come home after they left home. They wanted their kids to have a relationship with them that they could invest over the long haul.
5:36 - "We would go away some summers for three weeks and no distractions out of town. So we're not here where work is calling and the different things are calling. And it was this summer rhythm that our kids grew to love and we grew to love because, I mean, uninterrupted, two to three weeks with your family in a place away from home, away from the normal, I would say that's one of the things I've been most thankful for..."
7:45 - Story of Matt's dad and his grandfather
9:34 - "I grew up without a grandfather on that side, and my dad never knew really the approval of his father that all of us need. I think we all need to know that our our fathers look at us and say, I approve of you. You know, I'm I'm proud of you. I love you. And so my dad intentionally because he didn't get that, did that with us. He he continually. We never we never doubted that our parents loved us."
11:35 - "I think we all grew up in an environment. We all grew up with a certain perspective. And if we're not intentional, we just repeat so many rhythms of our past, including the painful pieces that can can really hurt kids over time"
12:02 - Story of when Matt's parents divorced
13:33 - "For Robin and I, I think we've really said we're going to choose our family. You know, we we choose each other even in the difficult moments. Like I said, her and I are opposites, so we we see things very differently. Our perspective on parenting many times is very, very different. But we remind ourselves we're on the same team. At the end of the day, we've we've chosen each other and we're going to continue to choose each other and we're going to choose our family over just about everything else because we believe this is how God will be honored in our lives, in our kids lives. And so we just choose it. We make a decision to choose our family"
15:32 - "The the way that I was parenting my oldest was destroying our relationship mine and his relationship. And I remember sitting down as a hard conversation. I remember Robin saying to me, You're you're you're going to to ruin your relationship long term with Connor if you don't change some things."
16:06 - "Robin and I made a conscious decision to, in a sense, switch roles that was early high school with him, late middle school, early high school. I step back for more the authoritarian type role, and she stepped into that role and I stepped more into a relational role with him through that season."
17:11 - "I was the one always on him about homework, about tests that were coming up, even about sports, you know, practicing and all of those things. And I intentionally stepped back, disengaged from much of the homework discussion, much of the test discussion, not all of it. Like, I didn't become a hands off dad, but I step back, let her step into that role and I step more into the encouraging, just supportive. Anything I can help you with kind of a role.
18:35 - "my number one thing that I would coach on is what you are modeling is what they're going to repeat..."
21:29 - "kids need to see their dad's emotions. The gentle emotions that the the emotions of pain they need to see their dads cry at times and not in a in a fake way, but they need to see that we're emotional people."
23:59 - Normalizing conversation
Message from Matt and Robin on Parenting
27:10 - You know, when's the right time? And we felt like in that fourth to fifth grade age range and in the sixth grade, they were going to start hearing plenty on intimacy and sex and all of that. And so we wanted to try to get on the front end of the conversation.
28:34 - "that's really our responsibility as we get to introduce our kids to God and the way that we parent. We're saying a lot. We're teaching our kids a lot about who their Heavenly Father is..."
29:01 - "Just be intentional. Don't just go with the flow. And Paul says this in Romans don't just go go with the flow of culture, because if you go with the flow of culture, you're going to end up in a broken place. So be intentional. Let God, you know, change you by transforming, by changing the way that you think. So be intentional. Open your mind to God's spirit. Be intentional in your parenting"
29:46 - "Just don't quit like it. The stakes are too high. Don't give up yet. Like, keep parenting, stay engaged. Parenting changes. You've got to change the way you parent when they get in middle school and high school. But don't don't quit parenting. Don't try to be a friend too early. The friendship will come later, which I'm finding is true as the kids get into. As my oldest is in college, we have this different kind of relationship that's more of a friendship, and I still get to mentor and parent in some ways, but it's so beautiful to see. Don't start too early. Like, stay in the game."
30:28 - Matt's Prayer

Episode Links:

https://mcdowell.church/
MESSAGE WITH THE PRACTICAL PARENTING TIPS
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