Dads, You Have What It Takes: Embracing Your Calling as Father

Speaker: [00:00:00] Are you ready to take your dad's skills to a whole nother level? My guest today from dad camp, Matt and Jason work with men in over 35 countries to help them step up their dad game. And if you're a dad, this is the show you don't want to miss. Check out this thought from Jason. Let's get into it.

Speaker 2: You matter.

Uh, you matter more than you understand and wake up every day. And I believe if we have, you know, we've got, we wear a lot of hats as dads or as men. Um, we wear a lot of hats. I think the hat of a father and a husband is the most important hat that we wear. Um, and don't let the culture feed you a lie that, um, that that's not an important hat and that you don't matter.

Um, because what we know to be true is this thing called the father factor that no one has more impact on the health and well being of your child than you do. And I know, uh, you wouldn't be listening to this podcast, uh, whether you're [00:01:00] just, if you're not a dad, you're just, you're just a guy you're listening.

But as a dad, like, um, you love your kids. And so remember how much you matter. And how much your kids need that from you.

Speaker: Here's the million dollar question. How do men like us reach our full potential, grow into the men we dream of being, while taking care of our responsibilities, working, being good husbands, fathers, and still take care of ourselves? Well, that's the big question. In this podcast, we'll help you answer those questions and more.

My name is Brent and welcome to the fallible man podcast.

Welcome to the fallible man podcast. You're home for all things, man, husband, and father, big shout out to palpable nation. That's our private community has been hanging out with us for a long time. And you can join that just by. Becoming a regular listener warm. Welcome to our first time listeners. Hey, we know there's a [00:02:00] lot out there for challenging your time, your attention, trying to get you to listen to, so thanks, just thank you now for checking us out and giving us a chance.

We really appreciate it. Be sure and connect with us at the fallible man on Instagram, most platforms. Let me know what you thought of the show. I'd really love your feedback. And if you really enjoyed it, Hey, share it with a friend or leave us review on Apple podcasts that helps us out. My name is Brent and today my special guest is Jason Braun and Matt Crittenton of, and I'm going to get this wrong.

No, I'm not dad camp guys. Welcome to the fallible man podcast.

Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And you got it right.

Speaker: I, I figured I'd, uh, I, I had to exaggerate the dad campaign. I got, I've been excited about the show. So I was like, Oh yeah, I'm going to totally blow that. Cause that's like the easiest thing for me to remember.

Speaker 2: It's been, uh, it's been referred to in many different ways over the years. So you nailed it. Well done.

Speaker: Excellent. Excellent. Now, how's your trivia skills? Cause we started out kind of light here. Trivia skills. We'll [00:03:00] see. We'll see. Yeah. Yeah. Harry Potter trivia skills.

Speaker 3: Oh, that'd be horrible. Ooh, like zero, zero

Speaker: understanding.

Speaker 3: Yeah. My oldest was a big Harry Potter fan, so I know a little bit, but probably not to the trivia level.

Speaker: Oh, goody. I, I bought true Harry Potter trivial pursuit cause we're all big Harry Potter fans in my house. Okay. We be totally on this, right? And it's like, we're rereading the books now as a family because

Speaker 3: you realize you were deficient,

Speaker: right?

I had read all the books. My wife's read all the books. My daughters are reading them. We're reading them as family. We watched these a hundred times and my daughters are getting these questions going. Did that happen? So it's, it's been exciting. So here's the trivia question. I, I, I'll go easy on you guys.

Okay.

Speaker 3: Okay. Okay.

Speaker: In the Harry Potter series. Yes. During which book, or movie, right, so that's how they divided them, does Draco [00:04:00] Malfoy get to play as a Seeker on the Slytherin house team for Quidditch?

Speaker 2: Again, I will defer to Matt. I have not seen the movie, not seen any movies, nor have my family, nor have I read any of the books, so I know, I have absolutely zero understanding of this topic. I'll

Speaker 3: say it's in the third movie.

Speaker: And third movie. All right, guys, you know how this works. Don't cheat. Don't jump ahead.

And for God's sake, don't write this down. If you're driving. I know a lot of you listen to this on in the car on the way to work. Don't, don't do that. Just, yeah, we don't want

Speaker 3: any accidents, motor vehicle

Speaker: accidents

Speaker 3: over this.

Speaker: Right. I'm just totally, I have these like horror visions. It's like someone trying to write a silly, silly little question in the middle of the show, you know?

So guys, we start out with the ultimate question. And I'm gonna let you guys answer this in your own words today in this moment. Who is Jason Braun and Matt Crittenton? You guys can [00:05:00] How you want?

Speaker 2: Who's up? You go ahead. You go first. Jason Braun is, uh, uh, a follower of Christ first and foremost. Uh, and, uh, just a, a proud husband of 28 years.

Uh, super proud dad of, of three, uh, young adults now. One married, uh, one that just got engaged, uh, and the other that wants to be engaged. Um, but, uh, and uh, I would say. I'm a galvanizer. I just love to rally people to things that I'm passionate about and, uh, and currently and that's the, this thing called dad camp that I've, uh, that I, that I've given my life to.

And, um, in my spare time, I, I'm a sports advocate. Baseball's my number one sport, but, uh, I kind of love all things sports, following sports, playing sports, all that kind of stuff. Love coaching and mentoring young people inside, uh, inside of that, that world. So it's a little bit about Jason. Yeah.

Speaker 3: [00:06:00] Yeah, my, my, uh, identity is in Christ.

I'm a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my Lord and my Savior. And that's where my first and most important identity is. And then, uh, I have a beautiful treasure of a wife. We actually just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary, uh, yesterday. And, uh, so Jamie is my treasure, uh, my love of my life.

And then I have, uh, three, uh, Beautiful blessings in the form of my Children. I have a 24 year old daughter. I have a son who's going to be turning 20 actually tomorrow. And then I have a 13 year old son as well. Um, I would say my passion is reaching men. Um, for the glory of God, uh, to see men thrive and to see men be all that God created them to be.

That's really what linked Jason and I up is that shared passion and, uh, the ways that we can get those goals accomplished through dad camp. I'm a sports guy too. Uh, basketball would probably be [00:07:00] my, my number one sport I'm into, uh, followed by football. We've had some great sporting conversations and, uh, also love coaching as well.

I think it's a great opportunity to reach, uh, young people, uh, when they, uh, are still sort of impressionable and willing to Uh, listen and formulate some things around what you're trying to build into them. It's a great way to encourage them and spur them on to be the best, uh, versions of themselves that they can be.

So yeah, that's a little bit about me. Ah,

Speaker: I clicked the wrong button and it opened a calendar right over the top of my screen. That was great. I need a techie like you guys have. That's right. On top of this. Best dad joke. Who's got the best dad joke?

Speaker 3: Um, I, I think I have one. I don't know about best, but it's really good because I used it before and it embarrassed the mess out of my son.

So, um, what [00:08:00] does a robot say when he has to go to the bathroom?

Speaker 2: Wow, that's that's horrible.

Speaker 3: It's supposed to be bad. I know that's

Speaker 2: you win So what is the the the actor the rock so Dwayne Johnson, what is the Rocks favorite kind of weather

Speaker: What?

Speaker 2: Dwayne.

Speaker 3: Oh,

Speaker: okay.

Speaker 3: See, your dad joke made me laugh. I feel like the dad joke should just be like, you moron. And I just shook my head at yours, so you win.

Speaker: I love my, my daughters are finally at that age. I've got a nine year old and a 12 year old daughter, and they're at that age where I get the eye roll now. Yeah, the dad jokes. Yeah, they're only going to get more now. Yep. [00:09:00] I'm a former youth minister. I love working with teenagers. So I'm actually looking forward to these older ages.

But okay. Yeah,

Speaker 2: as you get, as they get a little older, you're not even need to tell dad jokes for the eye roll. Just everything you do is going to create an eye roll. That's what's coming,

Speaker: right? Your cool factor goes down as they age. And congratulations on the recent anniversary. 14 years. That's awesome.

Thank you. I appreciate it. And a big congratulations on the 28th. Wow. Yeah, 29

Speaker 2: next month. So we're getting there. Yeah.

Speaker: It's, it's so sad to me because you see that less and less, right? I grew up growing up like my parents, friends, you know, 25 years, 30 years, right? You go to these big anniversary parties and now my wife and I've been married 24 years and people are like, Wow, you've been married forever.

Right, right. What?

Speaker 2: Right.

Speaker: Yeah. You don't understand.

Speaker 2: Yeah. And it seems like probably to you too, like it doesn't seem like that long ago that, you know, That we got married, like, [00:10:00] it's crazy,

Speaker: right? 24 years is like, especially, uh, the 12 since we've had children. It's like, wait, no, you were just a baby. Yes.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Yeah on that subject, my wife and I, like I say, um, We were just recently on vacation, uh, before we sort of shared that before we started the podcast, but we, uh, saw a couple and just, just asked them and they happen to be celebrating at dinner one night at the resort, their 49th wedding anniversary. And uh, that, uh, was just an awesome thing to hear.

And we've made it a habit when we hear people 49 years, 50 years, we say like, give us three nuggets of wisdom. Like how did you make it? Because as you have identified, it's so rare. Nowadays, I think we can get wisdom from people who have had a marriage that's been sustained that long. For sure. Yeah.

Speaker: I think, I think that was a brilliant move for you guys.

I mean. Yeah. If you got the opportunity to ask, by all means, because. [00:11:00] That kind of wisdom seems to be fading from the world. Yeah, we need it. One of the things we're working on here, best playground insult. You guys are around kids a lot. Best playground insult.

Speaker 3: Uh, mine would come from a story from, from my son. Uh, so he's, he's a really tall and, and bigger kid for his age. And for some reason, the, the littler kids try to test him. And this was like, uh, two or three years ago on the playground at school. And, um, a kid kind of try to start pushing him and getting into it with him.

This kid's less than half his size, but the same age this is on the basketball court. And, um, he gets a rebound and the kids trying to wrestle it from him. And as he's trying to yank the ball out of Kylan's hands, he falls to the ground. Kylan didn't do anything. He didn't put his hands on him. He didn't push him anything.

And so I was like, gosh, what'd you do? He just steps over him and looks [00:12:00] down at him and then starts back to the game. I thought, man, that's kind of like this disrespectful. We see that happen in sports. Sometimes we're like the guy step over another guy and it starts a fight and basketball, but, um, I just, I just kind of, I shouldn't say it's a proud dad moment, but we are dad camp, maybe I shouldn't like say that's a great thing, but.

Uh, he didn't get into it with the kid. He didn't, but I think he was trying to show a little bit of that alpha male dominance by stepping over and him like, you tried to rip the ball out of my hands and you're the one that ended up on the ground.

Speaker: Okay. I think that was a much more baller move than, you know, running your mouth.

Yeah.

Speaker 3: Yeah. There was some honor in doing it that way. Know your place.

Speaker: Yeah. Jason.

Speaker 2: Um, man, I think the only thing I can kind of takes me back to when I was a kid, uh, Um, I was when I was younger, for whatever reason, my, uh, [00:13:00] my ears outgrew the rest of my body early in age. And so I kind of had some, some bigger ears and I remember this moment being on a plate piece of playground equipment where, um, I was going to jump.

Kind of off, like probably a, I don't know, it's hard to remember four or five foot, probably ledge or six foot, a little intimidating, but not crazy. But, um, and I remember this, like one of my friends kind of commenting, like, well, you know, kind of like, you know, just, just jump because your ears will kind of carry you, you know, float you to the ground and, you know, a little, little stuff that stung a little bit, a little bit.

Yeah. A A little stung a little bit. So that just brought back a little memory. When you asked that question, hadn't thought about in a long time,

Speaker: you guys could be in any movie, what would it be?

Speaker 2: I would say a character in the Lord of the Rings to be a part of the, uh, the fellowship that's, that's, uh, on that mission. I think that'd be, [00:14:00] that'd be probably pretty good for

Speaker 3: me. Yeah. Um, Creed. Wow. Um. Man, I'd like to, to be that ripped to look like that and, and to be able to fight like that, uh, and experience something like that.

So, yeah, that just pops up to the top of my head right now. Creed, I like it. I like

Speaker 2: it.

Speaker 3: How would you

Speaker 2: answer that question?

Speaker: Oh man, I'm such a movie nerd. Uh, like that's for a long time. That's, that's just always been my escape is to just crash and watch a movie. So I'm honestly not even sure where to start with that is, uh, I, I have most of my favorite movies have such a range.

Like I I'm a boondock Saints fan, total boondock Saints, totally not family appropriate, but I love the movie. Not sure I should say I want to be part of that movie. It was kind of little, little violent. Um, I've always loved the ethics though. Like the big ethics, like the last Samurai and stuff [00:15:00] like that.

Yep. It's just big sweeping at this. They just pull you in. And so I would have loved to like just be in that.

Speaker 3: That's crazy that you said that I literally just saw that movie for the first time four days ago.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, I loved it my son and I actually were just in the in the room at the resort and Uh, we had a whole system to try to plug up and be able to use netflix or other other Platforms and we couldn't so i'm just flipping through and we get to like this hbo 2 or hbo family or whatever You And it was just starting and we got sucked into it and watched the whole movie.

It was a really great story.

Speaker: Right?

Speaker 3: It's just

Speaker: like

Speaker 3: that really sweeping

Speaker: up where you're just like

Speaker 3: in it. Yeah, the visuals of the, of the place where they were in Asia and the whole story and the time period. Um, we thought, uh, Tom Cruise nailed it on, on his part. It was good.

Speaker: It was. Oh yeah. Yeah. I, I, it is one of those things, right?

[00:16:00] Cause like you can only watch certain movies when your kids are around a certain age.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Speaker: I watch a lot less movies these days. I've only watched the expendables for yesterday. Got it a while ago. I finally watched it because my kids were off of something for the afternoon. Oh, I can finally watch that

Best purchase of 100 or less in the last year. This had the biggest impact on your life

Speaker 2: Uh, I just this was like slightly more than 100 not like by 20 bucks, maybe so I'm gonna I'm gonna use this as an answer hopefully I don't break in the rules here a little bit, but I've, I've, I've entered the world of wanting to learn how to play drums. And so I bought, uh, an amp to go with my electronic drum kit that I purchased last year, uh, over Christmas.

And, uh, it's been just this new outlet for me, uh, [00:17:00] personally to just at night go upstairs and just, just hammer away. Uh, to some tunes and I'm terrible, but, um, but it's been a great outlet for me to just kind of keep my mental health good. So it's been awesome. Yeah. I don't, my wife appreciates it, but, uh,

Speaker 3: I've been having fun.

Good deal. Um, yeah, mine, mine was a book, uh, by a guy named John Eldridge called Beautiful Outlaw. And, um, it's a, um, look at, uh, I, I said I'm defined as a Christ follower and it's a look at Jesus, um, through the scriptures, but, uh, it brings a humanity to him. He's pointing out how you can read through the gospels and if it's a two dimensional view just on that piece of paper, a lot of the, part of the fact that Jesus was also a man in addition to being God can be lost.

And he's highlighting the [00:18:00] emotions, the friendships, um, some of the things that he said that like, let's break this down. Cause that seems really odd or I'm have difficulty connecting with that, but it's just the best supplement to reading the gospels. Um, and gave me a perspective on Christ that I've never had before.

It made a huge impact, uh, on me. Uh, and it maybe was 20 bucks on Amazon. I like it.

Speaker: John is a gifted writer. He is, I really

Speaker 3: connect

Speaker: with his voice when I read, uh, his writing. Have you seen, uh, he did, uh, I don't, I think he did it as a book first, but he did a, like, video series called The Epic. Yes, I have.

Like that, that was just a game changer for me, mentally. Yeah. Alright. Yeah. To have it put in that context. And I grew up a preacher's kid, right? I grew up in the church my whole life. Okay.

Speaker 3: Okay. I didn't know you were PK.

Speaker: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Guilty as charged. Nice. Nice. Nice. The way he put that all together just took it to another level.

[00:19:00] The bible to a whole new place and level for me.

Speaker 3: Yeah,

Speaker: it's really helpful and and of course most men listening to this Have at least heard us talk about wild at heart, which is a great book for men period first John Elridge book I ever I ever read. Yeah, right. I think someone I think my mother in law gave that to me or something

Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a come kind of a timeless classic in the world of Men, Christian books for guys, I would say.

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker: If I was to sit down at your house with your family for dinner, what is one story they would tell on you to try and embarrass you? Story to

Speaker 3: embarrass me.

Huh. I got one. Um, it's, I can only tell it, uh, unashamed and unafraid because it's really embarrassing. Uh, because it was a while ago and I'm 50 and don't particularly care what people think about me at this point, but They would tell the story of when I pooped my [00:20:00] pants. Yeah, so I was coming back from Mexico.

This is back in 2008 And I don't know why I thought this was a good idea, but there was a little stainless steel cart Um, Uh, making burritos in the, uh, Cancun airport. And I thought this was a good, good thing to eat before I got on the plane. And, um, This is one of those, it's a bad idea, but I'm in. Yeah, speaking it now, everyone who's listening to this is gonna go, You idiot.

Yeah, yeah, I'm thinking that right now. Right? Uh, we're going through Atlanta on the way back and Atlanta has at the time this really big snake line going up to customs and all these flights come in at the same time and we're in this line for a long time and there's no escaping the line. You can't go backwards.

You can't get through where the security people are and um. It's, it's becoming critical, uh, for me at this point. And I'm actually dating my now wife, so we have not been [00:21:00] married yet. Oh no. Yeah, and um, the closer I'm getting to the agent, and no one has a look on their face like they're just gonna let me go through, and the bathroom is all the way through, down the hallway, down the escalator.

And there was a moment where I thought just take off and run. I, I had visions of getting shot in the back, maybe getting tased. And so that didn't seem like a good plan either. Um, yeah, so it just literally happened right there, standing in line, um, with my wife standing. Right. Well, my future wife, praise God, she didn't just be like, I can't, I can't be with this man.

I'm out. Um, yeah, that's divine intervention, by the way, guys, because she probably should have been like, I can't, I can't be with a grown man that, that pooped his pants. But, um, yeah, so now it's out there in the ether. It is out there in the world to know forever. And, um,

Speaker: Now you, you, but you knew she loved you at that point.

I mean,

Speaker 3: yeah. That's a [00:22:00] big test, right?

Speaker: out

Speaker 2: our relationship. We're to the men out there survive anything, try this. And if she stays with you, you know you found the one . That's right. That's right. That's your filter. That's right. You know, I don't, I can't, man, I'm not thinking of a specific and I can't match that.

Um, and like I said earlier, being that I, I've got three young adult children now, they're not, you know, three young adult, let's say children, three young adults, uh, they just kind of think everything I do is, is laughable because it's just, Rolling the eyes, dad, you're 50 and you're clueless and, and, uh, they just like to, to make fun of me, but I'll try to condense this story.

This is really recent. Um, my one daughter found this to be quite, quite, uh, quite embarrassing, I think of me, but we were in Kenya together. So this is like a month ago. We were in Kenya serving, uh, with dad camp. And we were at this, uh, this, uh, we were in Eastern [00:23:00] Kenya. We actually ended up having to stay.

He was a, uh, And an Italian, it was Italian owned, uh, type of hotel and they had a pool and, um, we were, we had come back in from serving and we were just, it was, I mean, it was probably 110 to 120 with the heat index. It was just roasting. Humidity was a hundred percent. We were exhausted from, from our day.

Uh, so we would like, it was like, Hey, we had, we got like an hour before it gets dark. Let's go run to the pool. Let's go run to the pool and like, just get cooled off. And it turns out the pool is like 94 degrees, but anyway, we're at the pool. And because it's, again, this is no disrespect. This is a cultural thing, but here in America, guys typically don't wear Speedos.

Uh, that's not kind of our go to thing. Um, but. That's pretty common. So we're sitting there and I got my back to, uh, I'm just talking to the, to the group and my daughter and, and suddenly they're like, Oh, uh, we're kind of, we thought like the [00:24:00] speedos would start coming out here and they hadn't, but then they started to kind of appear and I kind of just turn as they were kind of distracted by a certain guy that was, you know, sporting sporting speedo.

And I was like, Oh, that's good. And they're like, what is good about a guy walking around in a Speedo? And I'm like, Oh, well, bad is good. And they just thought that was the most hilarious kind of comment to that, like, you know, bad is actually good. So, um, that's what makes this, this good is that it's really bad.

So, um, but anyway, um, my daughter was very, very embarrassed that, uh, of my,

Speaker 3: You didn't do the Speedo thing? Cause you know, like when you're in, when in Rome do as Romans do. That'd be the next step. Like, next time?

Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't think I

Speaker 3: have the, time. I don't think I'm there yet. The

Speaker 2: next mission trip we do together.

Okay. All right, Matt. We'll see.

Speaker: That's the daughter just walking away.

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker: It was. So yeah, I'm out of [00:25:00] here.

Speaker 2: Yeah, you can probably just cut that right out of your, out of this episode.

Speaker: I don't cut anything out. So what is something that our audience should know about you guys before we really dig in today?

Collectively, separately, whatever you want to answer that.

Speaker 3: Um, I would, I would say that, uh, to know that, uh, Jason Braun is one of my best friends. Um, he's a, uh, godly man that I look up to, uh, that challenges me, uh, that I grow from our relationship. There's a proverb that says, as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

Um, I'd say that those relationships, really when you boil it down, are few and far between in a lifetime. Uh, and having just celebrated my 50th birthday back in October, I'd say that I could count on two hands the [00:26:00] number of men that I've experienced that relationship with in my life. I just honor him, uh, by saying that, yeah, something you should know about our relationship when you see our interaction is that this is what true friendship looks like.

Speaker 5: Thanks, man.

Speaker 2: Um, yeah, and I would say likewise, uh, you know, about Matt. And I think that's why, you know, we're here. We're just, uh, something to know about us or myself. You know, we're just, you know, We're just really passionate about helping guys thrive and be the best, um, the best leaders and husbands and fathers, uh, that they can be and reminding them of just how much they matter.

And that just kind of drives who we are. Uh, it drives our friendship. It's what Matt and I talk about, um, in terms of, you know, spurring each other on to that ourselves and then hoping that we can be an encouragement, uh, to the, to the audience that, uh, that God opens up a door for us to, to serve and, [00:27:00] um, and so that kind of fuels me every day when I get up.

I know it fuels Matt, uh, and to know you've got, uh, friends like Matt described how he described me. I would describe in the same way to have friends like that in your corner. that are, that are just, you know, that are championing you on to be, uh, to be that man, um, is so rare in, in, uh, especially in the world of guys, uh, that we find that and that we, um, And we rely on that and we seek that out.

Um, and so, uh, it's something we both seek out, something we have in each other, but it's something we hope to, uh, to encourage other guys to, to experience in their own life.

Speaker: Yeah. All right, guys, we've been getting to know Matt and Jason just a little bit. In the next part of the show, we're going to dive into the dad nation podcast, dad camp, why fatherhood matters and so much more.

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Now. Before we dive down that rabbit hole, what pulled you guys in this direction of wanting to serve fathers?

Speaker 2: So for me, um, I'm a marketplace, uh, to ministry story. Um, and, This was, uh, back in 2003. Um, just felt that, uh, God was just kind of taking me in a new direction to take a leap of faith and to, to join, um, [00:30:00] a church that I'd been attending and become a part of their team.

And, uh, my role was, uh, to create a small group kind of structure for the church, a discipleship ministry. So, uh, that was, uh, That was the beginning of that and quickly, uh, my, just my bend or my heart quickly gravitated towards reaching guys. Um, seeing, seeing families being shattered, seeing families just, just, Just blowing up, seeing the lack of guys leading well in the church space and serving and, uh, and just trying to, uh, just got this heart for like, how do we reach a guy?

How do we reach his heart? How do we call him back and remind him how much he matters to his family? And, uh, Uh, in the, in the life of the local church and, and just in, in our world. And so, uh, that then spurred on the, the questions of how, how do you reach guys? Because, uh, I think as, as we all [00:31:00] know, uh, we are a tough group to reach and we are a tough group to inspire.

We are a tough group to move and bring change in. And so that began the questions, uh, that eventually led to, to what? To dad camp. So, um, but yeah, that that's kind of the a little bit behind my story

Speaker 3: there. Yeah. Yeah. For me, I just, uh, I grew up without my, my dad in my life. Um, from the time I was about three or four years old, my parents got divorced and, uh, eventually he moved out of, out of town, um, uh, when I was around seven and then moved across the country when I was about 10.

So I grew up with, with no real male role model in my life. And, um, I'll fast forward the story really far, but it was, um, about 12 years ago or so that, that, uh, Jesus saved me, um, and through the church that I was in at around that time, I heard about dad camp. And so, uh, me and my youngest son, Kylan went [00:32:00] to dad camp and, um, It just spoke to my heart about fatherhood, uh, something that I really never had an example in front of me to even understand fatherhood.

I was a father and knew how much I loved my kids and was trying to do the best I could, um, to be a good dad to them, but this ultimately ended up looking like, wow, this is something that can help me be a stronger father. And then Jason and I just happened to be, he stopped by a fire. We were outside of a cabin, just hanging out as dads in the evening at one of the events.

And we had a conversation where we just connected. Um, and I remember at that time in my life, I was praying for God to send godly men my way. Like I want to have real authentic, Godly and Christian men in my life to help me grow stronger and, uh, in my faith and as a dad and as a husband. And, um, turns out Jason was one of the answers to that prayer.

And he ended up inviting me to, [00:33:00] uh, join, uh, the Dad Camp board. maybe like six years ago or so and prayed about it. It was the right decision for me and my family and just had a shared passion for what he's already communicated, which is reaching the hearts of men, which can be difficult, but with the power of God behind us, we've been able to, I think, have a lot of success in that arena.

And so, yeah, sharing a passion together is what really brought me to dad camp. And I really believe in the mission and vision of our ministry and organization.

Speaker: Now, we have a mix on this on our audience here. We have some men who are faith based, some men who are not. Overall, you know, why, why do you believe fatherhood is so important?

Speaker 2: It goes back to, um, I think that's great that you say that, um, because I, you know, um, of course, as you've, as you've [00:34:00] heard Matt and I share, we are, we are, you know, we have a faith and that's central to who we are, but we also know, um, there are so many that, that don't. And, um, There's there's a social side of what we see is called the father factor and there's also a spiritual side So you can speak to both sides of this depending on you know, where you where you find yourself as a dad And this isn't you know, we're not the experts in saying this We're just kind of relaying what the experts are saying But basically the you know, if I could sub it up as quickly you can you know Think about our daily headlines, the things that dominate our headlines every day that are just destroying our world, destroying our communities, destroying our families, like right now you can think of addiction and anxiety and depression that are just, just ravaging our young people today, even, you know, even people our age as, as, as fathers, um, you can think of, uh, divorce and crime and, and violent crime and rape and incarceration and poverty, I mean, just [00:35:00] name it, there's, there's all these different So, things that are dominating our headlines and they're all just negative, uh, and things that are just ripping us apart.

But if you take each one of those and you analyze, like, what is going on behind so much anxiety in our world today? What is going, what is behind so much depression? What is behind the violent, the, the, the increase in violent crime and mass shootings in the United States specifically? Like you can analyze each of them individually and in, every single situation, there's, there's, there's only one common denominator that seems to come out of every bucket.

Um, there's a lot of different factors, of course, but there's, but there's just one that kind of comes, that's represented in each bucket, and in about 60 to 70 percent of the time, and it's a weak, absent, or disengaged dad. And so what the experts are telling us, if we could just get our dads back, just dads to love and serve their families, be present, be engaged to live out the responsibilities of [00:36:00] of of of building into their families, being there for their kids and reminding them of.

of, of, of who they're, who they are and who they're called to be. Every one of those problems that are dominating our headlines every day that we're trying to figure them out would go away by 70, 70 or so percent or more. Like if you can just imagine a world with 70 percent less anxiety and 70 percent less depression and 70 percent less addiction and behavioral disorders, all those things.

It's, if we just get our dads back, we would see our world change more than any other thing we could do to try to help get our world back to the way we think God created it to be. And then there's, there's a, there's a spiritual side too. So I'll speak to the faith based guys that are listening. And that's what we call, I call it the 80 percent rule, Matt and I've talked about it a lot, but the 80 percent rule is kind of, again, this is not our research, but this is just what we've, what we've learned.

And, uh, but basically like, uh, if you want your children to have a faith. Of their own. Um, if that's, if that's a desire of yours, um, if you are the [00:37:00] spiritual leader of your home, when your kids become adults themselves and have a decision to, to make, to make, or, you know, to choose faith or not for themselves, that if you're the spiritual leader of your home modeling what it looks like, um, to have a faith in Christ, that about 80% of your kids or more will retain their faith for themselves.

If you do not, if you are not the spiritual leader of your home, if you leave that to your church or to a friend or to even your wife, no disrespect to any of those things, because those things are all doing everything they can. Um, but when a father is not the spiritual leader of his home, what we're seeing is our young people are abandoning their faith as adults at 80 percent or more of the time.

And so what we're realizing is that it's on us as dads. If we want our kids to have a faith, We have to pass it on. We have to model it. We have to be the ones taking that responsibility. So there's a social father factor. There's a spiritual father factor. And it just, it's this reminder that dads, you matter more than [00:38:00] anything else in this world.

And so, and we live in a world where dads are not told that. We are not reminded of how much we matter. We're kind of just we're kind of left left out But the fact of the matter is we matter more than anything. So that's what drives this

Speaker: Matt, did you have anything you wanted to add to that?

Speaker 3: Uh, just to say that I like to call that spiritual father factor our superpower You know, we've been in the last decade and a half where we see a lot of superhero movies, right?

the whole marvel thing dc thing but um, I I want dads to know that you are the superhero for your children You And if it's the spiritual father factor, it's because that's the way God designed it, is that you have the biggest impact on the faith of your children, uh, not only by what you say by, but more importantly, by what they see do.

And then to speak to dads also to understand, yeah, we speak from a perspective of being Christ followers. You may have a different faith or you may have no faith at [00:39:00] all. This still applies to you and what Jason was talking about. Regardless of whether you have faith or not, you don't want your child to be, um, a victim of teenage pregnancy, or addiction, or abuse, or, uh, teenage incarceration, or all of these, uh, societal ills that we see, they impact our children negatively.

And so, what Jason has shared many times, and what we believe is like, we have never across the globe, everywhere we've went, heard a dad say, you know what? I just want to be a bad dad. You know, I want, I want my kids to suffer. Um, we just, you know, that sounds crazy to say, but, but just trust, like, no matter the color of someone's skin, socioeconomic status, geographic, uh, position, faith, no faith, like, we've never been anywhere where we've heard anything or seen anything other than it's in a heart's, uh, in a dad's heart that he wants to be a superhero for his kids.

And so this is why DadCamp is [00:40:00] able to connect with dads all over the globe because we have this common factor in all of us and this power in all of us that if we can get dads to see how important they are and how much this matters, our dream is that we would see every family on the planet have a strong father.

Like, that's a God sized dream. Is, does it sound like we're going to make it there in our lifetime? Probably not. But why chase anything other than a God sized dream if that's who you believe in? Why chase any dream, even if you don't believe in God or don't have faith, that's not something big. I mean, something that's going to make a real impact in the world.

And we feel like this is the, really the most efficient way. There's a lot of vehicles out there that might be trying to reach moms, reach children. Again, no disrespect to those vehicles, but if we reach a dad, we reach the spouse attached to that dad. We reach the children attached to that dad. So, we're [00:41:00] trying to focus on the person who was created to be the leader of that family unit, but And if we reach him, he'll reach his spouse and his children.

And so we feel like this is the best strategy to get behind in order to change those societal ills. And like Jason said, if we can make change one family at a time, we are truly impacting the world.

Speaker: Love it. Now let's, let's roll right from there because you've, you've acted on this. I hear a lot of guys talk about dreams, right?

And I love the statement about why not have a God sized dream? Cause I've seen so many men who are like aiming really small and whether it's faith based or not, I agree. If you're going to chase a dream, it should be a pretty spectacularly large dream, or you don't, uh, you know, shoot for at least if you're shooting for space, you hit the sky, right?

Yeah. Uh, yeah, you guys have actually, But taking up this charge very seriously, which is incredible to me because [00:42:00] I like said I hear a lot of guys talk But you built dad camp and you've also got the podcast now to accompany that going on So tell us about what you guys are doing with dad camp

Speaker 2: So as Matt kind of said, you know We just we've got this dream and it's to see a world where every family has a great dad because we just truly believe You know, if that were the case, that the world would be different, uh, the world would be closer to how we believe God created it to be in the very, very beginning.

And so we just have this desire and hope and that, uh, to reach every single dad in the world. But, um, you know, again, we know that's, that's probably not likely, but we're going to chase after that. And so, uh, you know, being that we believe, you know, God is, is behind this, that, that he is opening doors, uh, for us.

For us. And we are just trying to go through every single door that he opens to encourage, uh, another father. And so, [00:43:00] um, that's the dream. Uh, so right now we've kind of kind of pulled that big, big dream and kind of maybe, uh, Brought it down into like kind of a more, uh, how would I say it? But like a strap, more of a 10 year kind of strategy of like, where do we want to see ourselves in 10 years?

But again, that's just one step, uh, in, in the dream, but that in that 10 years and these next, uh, so we're about three years into that. We just, uh, we're believing to have influence to reach dads in, in 25 countries around the world and around in 25 locations across the United States. And that means. Not just one event, because we're an events based organization, but, uh, but to actually have a presence, um, where hundreds, if not thousands of fathers are being reached in each one of those, of those spaces.

And so, uh, we're, as of 2024, we're going to be in 15 countries this year. Uh, and, uh, in 12, I believe 12 or 4, 12 to 14 locations across the United States. So excited just about the doors that are opening and, um, the influence that [00:44:00] dad camp is having. And we just get to be a part of that story, but that's the dream we're chasing because we just really believe dads matter and we want to, we want to remind them of that.

Speaker 3: Yeah. And I would, I would add that. A lot of times dreams can sound like they're this kind of pie in the sky type of deal or like this ethereal or sort of, um, just an imaginative thinking thing. But you just heard Jason share how many countries that we're in and how many events that we've had the most, uh, impact and we've reached the most dads, uh, in the history of, um, dad camp's existence, uh, this past season and will probably exceed, uh, that this season, lord willing, but the remembrance and what really gives you some tangible type of evidence that dreams are possible is this all started from, uh, a dream, uh, placed in Jason's heart.

that began 17, 18 years ago with one single dad camp event. When he was a family, uh, pastor [00:45:00] at, uh, Oak Brook Church in Kokomo, he was asked to put together this event, like a father son, uh, camp. And, um, the church at the time had a facility, uh, called The Valley, where it's like, hey, put this together. So he did his due diligence, put together a program.

But that was just one, uh, weekend, uh, event 18 years ago and, and now look fast forward 18 years later in 15 countries and um, multiple hundreds of events all over the globe, reaching thousands of dads. And so if you would have looked back at the time that he first had that event, And said, man, do you, do you dream of a world where every family has a strong, faith filled father leading their home?

Yes. Um, 18 years from now, you'll be in 15 countries and have this many states impact and, and reach this many thousands of dads. And you'll have, uh, [00:46:00] directors for your organization that are based in some of these countries. And you'll, this will be your reach and these how many families you'll be impacting.

I'm sure Jason would have been like, Yeah, that's, that's a big dream that I dream. Don't, don't think that's gonna happen though. And it does. And so what you do is you look back and say where has God taken this thing? And so of course he can take it further. He's God. Um, and so you follow the dream. There's stepwise progression along the way.

There's small, smaller goals that you set along the way. But you believe because you have tangible evidence of what he's already done. So it's not just some pie in the sky thing. It's not just, well I just dream big and just shoot for the stars. It's like. Yeah, that's part of it, but we have tangible evidence along the way that we are actually moving in the right direction that he's actually working because there's no way that Jason or myself or the other board members of the staff that we've had [00:47:00] could possibly accomplish what's happened over the past 18 years from a human standpoint.

Speaker: Now, we, we spoke off camera a little bit about men tend to be a little harder to get through. Um, Right where we're a little we we can be a little thick. Um, I'm yes, sir Yes God God doesn't have to tell me something. God has to hit me with a brick a few times And I might start to be like you sure right?

Why is it so hard to get to the third of the hearts of men?

Speaker 2: I mean, I think kind of what you've identified for whatever reason Guys are just, we're a little more stubborn. We're a little more egotistical. I think there's, you know, there's ego there, there's pride and, you know, we've, you know, we got it figured out. I'm okay. You know, I don't need your help. You know, I got this.

There's a little bit of that, that, that. That runs in this, but the truth of the matter is we don't, [00:48:00] uh, and, uh, and but getting guys to admit that and getting guys into a space where they're willing to, uh, to be vulnerable and admit that, hey, I don't have it all together and this whole fatherhood thing is hard.

And, you know, from, you know, it doesn't matter what age your kids are, it's just, there's always challenges and it's not easy and, um, from our careers, from just life in general, where things, you know, things are hard at times, things are, you know, You know, we have, you know, just breaking those walls down for whatever reason, guys just have this, we've been taught, I think maybe Western culture is, is, is maybe guilty of this, like we, but we've been taught to, to just kind of be on the outside, like this, make this pose or this impression that we've got it together and we don't need your help and if, if we do ask for help, it's kind of like a, almost like we're, we're showing weakness [00:49:00] rather than, than strength.

Uh, when we reach out to our friends or for help. And so breaking through that is, it's, it's like a cultural kind of, kind of, uh, I don't know, like a Western mindset that's hard. Um, uh, but once you get there, uh, man, there's freedom there. Uh, I know that's, that's what I've experienced. Um, yeah. But yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a million dollar question, you know, for sure, um, because guys are stubborn, um, but I think it's, it's a lot of driven in the pride and the ego.

And I think we have a culture,

Speaker 3: um, where we get both conscious and subconscious messaging that both gets us off track and convinces us that we're not as important to, um, family as, uh, we really are. And, and you can look to something like a Homer Simpson type character. I use that as an example, um, of just a horrible example of, of a leader of a [00:50:00] home.

Um, when I was growing up, there was, uh, I think it was called married with children. Was that the, the Ted Bundy? Is that right? Or, or not Ted. That's I think that's a serial killer. Uh, Al Bundy, Al Bundy. Um, and so there's, and I pointed out to my son when we see movies or certain television shows, but there's this, this, um, messaging that we're buffoons, that we're clowns, that we're not equipped to lead, uh, that maybe we should leave the responsibilities to our spouses, our wives, the moms will handle that, and it's, you know, Uh, it's just not true.

Um, we've talked about that already here in the podcast that that's, that's not the way that things have been designed and that we are to be the leaders. Um, we are strong. We are intelligent. Um, our kids do look up to us. They do want us to be the superheroes. We are the providers. We are the protectors. Uh, and so we just have to [00:51:00] keep those truths in mind because we have television shows and we have programs.

print ads and we have movies and we have social media and all these things are slowly eroding that idea. And if we fill our brains up with that stuff, we can start to believe it from a spiritual standpoint. Um, uh, and for those of you that are faith based and understand this, and even if you're not maybe hear me out on this, uh, as Christ followers, we believe we have an enemy.

And that enemy seeks to kill, steal, and destroy in our lives. And, uh, if you think about, we're saying the best strategy that we believe is to reach the hearts of men, to spur them on, encourage them, and show them how important they are. Well, the enemy would like to do just the opposite. To reach men and say you're not important, you don't matter, get distracted, chase women, um, you know, get, get, get addicted to substances, check out, this is all about [00:52:00] you, you don't need to serve your family, you don't need to do this, you don't need to do that, uh, maybe reach into and tap into our pride and our natural arrogance and use that against us.

And so, there's also a spiritual enemy that's working as well to try to get us off track. And not be fulfilling that role that God has put us in. So I think those combination of things are why it can be really difficult. We're fighting a natural battle against the culture and what they're telling us.

And we're fighting a spiritual battle against an enemy who doesn't want us to win.

Speaker: Now guys, we're going to take a slight turn here because you guys said something in our pre show communications that I really think it's going to help get us into the right place for the next segment of the show, where we're going to talk about being a good dad.

You said, don't let your pain and suffering dictate the boundaries of your freedom and what that means. And I really love to know exactly. What you meant with the statement? [00:53:00]

Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be one of my favorite, uh, statements. Um, I did not write that statement. I actually read that, um, from a guy named Erwin McManus.

Um, I think it was in a book called The Last Arrow if I remember right. Um, phenomenal book. Um, if you're looking to just be, uh, just, just challenged in your faith, um, stretched to dare to dream to be, to live on, live on purpose and adventure. But, uh, Basically, uh, how I have, uh, internalized that thought, um, because it's become so powerful for me is, um, we so often, uh, when we're hurt in life, when there's suffering in life, when we experience pain, when we, uh, when we experience an uncomfortable kind of season, We let that then in the future often dictate our behaviors and choices like um, sometimes When something is hard, we're like, well, I don't want that.

I don't [00:54:00] I don't want to go into that hard again So i'm going to stay where it's safe or where I think it's safe where I think it's comfortable I don't want to stretch myself and risk again because I don't I don't I don't I didn't like it when it was hard or uncomfortable but what we often realize is when we when we go into the You When we go into that pain, like for example, say there's a broken relationship and we, we decide, you know what, it's just easier not to have that hard conversation and that relationship stays broken and you stay in that pain.

What we often find is when you actually enter into that and say, I'm going to seek reconciliation and seek forgiveness and we get on the other side of it, That that is where we experience true freedom because we inside of that relationship, there's healing and there's reconciliation. And there's suddenly that, that relationship is alive again, but we, we, we, we often, we often tell ourselves, I don't want to have that conversation.

I don't want to go into that, that difficult, that difficult place. I don't want to go, uh, back into a place that I knew it was hard. And so what I believe is don't let your pain and suffering dictate the boundaries of freedom [00:55:00] is. enter into the pain, enter into the suffering, and enter into the uncomfortable because I believe inside of that God will say, because now when you're going into that, you're, you're risking, you're taking faith, you're believing, you're trusting God for something that is not if maybe in your own control.

And inside of that, He will carry you through and on the other side, you'll experience a freedom that you couldn't experience when you stayed inside of your pain and suffering. And so personally, how that's played out in my life is I was, I had a very difficult. moment in my life, um, where, um, you know, this is a long, long story, but, uh, but basically I went through, uh, uh, uh, I was on a trip, a mission trip, uh, where, uh, my team was attacked by, by gunmen.

Uh, we went through a series of, of an intense battle, uh, where four of my friends were shot. And there was just on the other side of it. Um, there was intense post traumatic, like, suffering, there was a lot of [00:56:00] physical pain, mental pain, uh, but I told myself that I would never, ever risk again. I would never, uh, dare or dream again because I was never gonna put myself or other people in that kind of situation again.

I basically told God, alright, I tried that once i'm done. I will stay here where it's safe and i'll serve you here But i'm not going to risk again put other people in that situation again And about a year later, I felt I felt god saying Don't let the enemy win like matt just reminded us Don't let the enemy win in that situation and dictate the boundaries of your freedom I have an adventure for you to live.

I have a purpose for you to live And so I need you to go back into that pain and back into that suffering And get on the other side of it and I didn't want to and I was scared You But I I ended up trusting and going to the other side of that and and uh, and because I did Um, I found I found healing I found reconciliation and now Uh, we have this ministry that called dad camp Um that's serving in [00:57:00] 15 countries around the world where you know in that season of my life I said i'm never going to dare again.

I'm not going to go to another country I'm not going to go serve in another context or another culture uh, but because I I was willing to enter my pain and my suffering i've experienced a freedom that I I can't even imagine like the story that I get to be a part of that God's writing. Uh, I could have never ever dreamed of for myself, but because I, you know, I didn't let my pain or suffering dictate the boundaries of my freedom.

I'm experiencing a freedom that, um, that I could, couldn't ever have, have told without that. And so I just remind, I want to remind people of that, like whatever that is, whatever you're feeling like is limiting you. Don't let your pain or suffering dictate the boundaries of your freedom. So hopefully that spoke to that.

Speaker 3: Yeah. For me, man, that just looked like, uh, we talk about father wounds in, uh, dad camp and I think so many, um, men and women in general, but, but specifically speaking to men, we have these, these father wounds. My story was that I shared that my parents divorced when I was four and my dad moved [00:58:00] away. Well, that creates a wound.

There's a vacuum in your life. Um, that's just this absence. Um, I don't think I could have articulated that as a child growing up, but eventually, ultimately, I came to really despise my dad at the point that I realized that he'd sort of abandoned me and chosen a lot of different things over me. I just had this anger, uh, built up towards him and made this decision like he doesn't matter.

I don't care about him. He didn't care about me. This sort of Um, don't care what happens to him. Don't care about our relationship. And after, uh, the Lord saved me, I was sitting in church. Uh, and this message was one of those ones where I felt like this spotlight was shining on me and I was the only person in the room.

And, uh, the pastor was saying, like, you have someone in mind right now that you know you need to forgive. And you need to just do it immediately. And the forgiveness is for you, it's not necessarily for that person. And [00:59:00] man, I just immediately had my dad on my heart and thought, like, I'm not forgiving that dude.

Like, he doesn't deserve my forgiveness. At this point in time, we hadn't talked to each other for almost two years. And it was just like, nope, not doing it. I didn't do it that day. The next day, it's on my mind and on my heart the whole day. I still refuse. I'm disobedient. I won't do it. The next day after that, I'm on my way home from a late shift and I'm just like, man, I cannot shake the fact that I need to do this.

Stared at my phone for a long time didn't want to hit the button called him. He didn't answer I left him a voicemail I get home. He calls me back I won't go through the whole conversation, but the gist of it was you know, what I forgive whether you think that I uh, That you even need my forgiveness or there's something you've done that needs my forgiveness I forgive you and Um, I don't want to rehash anything from the past.

I just want to start a new relationship with you At the end of the day you're my dad And, [01:00:00] uh, we were both in tears on the phone and, um, after we hung up from about a two hour conversation, I literally was on my knees in my basement, like, weeping. And I'll tell you what it was. I didn't know that there was a cancer of hatred and anger and things inside of me that was like a weight that was weighing me down.

And Jason's has said this lack of freedom. I had a lack of freedom in my life because I was holding this grudge against him. And once I entered into the pain of making that phone call, of offering forgiveness, of having that conversation, on the other side of that, I had this freedom, I didn't even know I was boxed in.

I didn't even know that I was lacking that freedom until that weight was lifted and I had it on the other side of that forgiveness. And, And, and to give you a little bit further part of the story, God ended up having a plan for me to share the gospel with my dad and for him to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

So think about this [01:01:00] guy who I was, had this hatred and anger towards him. He abandoned me. He didn't care about me as his son. And God in his amazing way says, yeah, okay, if you can do this hard thing that I've called you to, I'm going to use you to secure his eternity. And it's like, um, an amazing story.

God gets the glory for that. But yeah, don't allow things that are painful, um, to cause you to say, you know what, I'm not willing to be uncomfortable. I'm not going to enter into that, uh, because the freedom that you may not even know is on the other side of that is such an amazing thing to have. And sometimes we don't even know that we're boxed in.

We don't know that what we're carrying is this heavy weight on our shoulders that can be released if we're willing to do some hard things and some hard work.

Speaker 2: And I'll add to now the relationship that you have with your father now on the other side of that conversation

Speaker 3: is, is amazing. Amazing. I mean, a lot of my life I didn't have him in my life and the last five, six, seven [01:02:00] years of relationship has more than made up for anything that was going on in the past.

So awesome. Yeah, that is

Speaker: awesome guys. We've been discussing, you know, dad camp and why fatherhood matters. We, we dove into some deep, deep waters here in this last part, uh, talking about just healing and staying, not being afraid of the pain. Uh, because sometimes that's where men grow the best and life change happens in the next part of the show.

We're going to dive into The wisdom these guys have gained in years of working with dads around the world. We're going to hit them up and get some fatherhood wisdom that all of us can apply in our own lives and our own families. And we're going to roll our sponsor and we'll be right back with more from Jason and Matt.

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We were discussing the dad nation podcast, just a little bit, the dad camp and what they've got going on at dad camp and why fatherhood matters. We, we had it in some deep waters, but we have these men who work all over the world with other [01:04:00] men, other fathers, specifically helping them build better, stronger, more powerful relationships with their children, helping them grow as fathers and.

I don't want to miss this opportunity. So guys, we're going to plumb some insights from you today because I have a lot of amazing dads that listen to my show and I would be neglectful if I didn't take this opportunity to plumb you guys's knowledge and insights about fatherhood and how we as men can be better fathers.

So. Let's start with some practical advice with now, you know what, before we go down that road, guys, yes, we're going to get there. I promise you said something in our early correspondence about answering your child's questions. And I gotta get it there. So let's talk about what you guys mean about answering your child's questions.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Again, this is, uh, learning back to, uh, a [01:05:00] little bit of the John Eldredge stuff we talked about, uh, earlier in the, in, in this episode. Um, uh, but, uh. You know, answering a child's question is something we'll say, like, if you just do this one thing as a dad, like, um, I read, uh, or saw someplace recently that there's, there's somewhere between 75 to 100, 000 books now on parenting that we could, that we could access.

So like, is it as a dad or as a mom or as a parents, you could be like, all right, let's go read a book on parenting. And you, you go to the search well, and you're going to find like, just. An endless amount of resources with a lot of different opinion and a lot of different advice and quite honestly I think for guys that's like, uh, yeah, i'm out like that's overwhelming.

I don't even know where to start and you know Guys like it just keep it simple. Keep it clear. What are you asking of me? And so we've kind of uh kind of created, you know Some, some messaging around this idea of like, if you just answer your child's [01:06:00] question, you're going to be so much further down the road as a dad, then there's so many of the guys out there trying to, trying to figure this out.

So, uh, you know, a boy's question is essentially, do I have what it takes? Um, you know, and, and that's really the question of a man, like he's an, even as an adult man, I'm, I'm still looking kind of, uh, my core question is, you know, do I have. You know, what it takes and, and, and I look to, we look generally to our fathers first and foremost to, to, to get that question answered.

And if we don't get it answered by our dads, we're going to look elsewhere to, to find that answer. And that's when, as men, we get ourselves into trouble. Uh, when we maybe look to, you know, I'm going to prove that I got a taste with another woman or in the, in the realm of relationships with women, or I'm going to, uh, try to prove it in the competitive circles, in the career circles.

Um, But we need our dads to just remind us that, um, of, of this idea that, you know, what, no matter what you do, no matter who you [01:07:00] are, you know, you are a child of God, you are a son of the, you're a son of God, and, and just because of that alone, and because you're my son, I believe in you, I'm proud of you and you have what it takes.

And this, that core identity that that does in the heart of a boy, in the heart of a man, um, Um, and I say that you never stop answering your child's question. Like I have a, my, my oldest is a, is a 25 year old son. I still need to remind my son that he has what it takes. I have an 83 year old father that I still look to, to hear from him.

You know, do I have what it takes? Um, and so this is the part of being a dad of a son that you never stop answering that question. And then for a girl it's, am I beautiful? Am I lovely? Am I worth fighting for? You know, are you answering? You know, that question for your daughter, because if you don't answer that question, she is looking to you, especially in those early years, she is looking to her father.

Does he, does dad think I'm lovely? Does dad think I'm beautiful? Does dad think I'm worth fighting for? And if that [01:08:00] question doesn't get answered and she starts entering those middle school, teenage, young adult years, she is going to look to go find that, that question in other places. That void is she's going to look to answer it.

And that's again, where our young ladies come in. can get themselves in places where that, that can be very harmful for them, or they can make choices that are just not what's best for them. And those are the things we don't want to see our kids, uh, you know, in those places. And so as a dad of a daughter, you know, um, you know, reminding her each and every day that she's lovely, that she's beautiful, that there's nothing she can or can't do that.

Like you're, you're going to fight for her. You're going to fight to protect her. You're going to be there for her. Okay. No matter what and she needs to have that foundation kind of built into her And so those are the the two questions boys Do I have what it takes girls? am I lovely am I beautiful remember they're fighting for and Just if you're as a dad if you're like man There's all these things that the world's telling me to do as a dad But just every day wake up and say how can I answer my child's question today?

[01:09:00] um

Speaker 3: That's a great place to start. Absolutely. And tell them that practically. Like, you know, you're saying, answering the question, say that to them. And, and let your sons and daughters know that those things are true of them regardless of their performance or lack of performance. One thing that I got in the habit of telling my sons was, hey, randomly.

I love you. I'm proud of you. Proud of me for what? Because you're my son. Like I, you don't have to perform on a, on a basketball court, on a baseball field, on a football field, you don't have to perform. In your academics, I want those things for you, but, uh, this is something that was modeled from, you know, Jesus was, was baptized and this voice from heaven says, this is my dearly loved son, you know, who brings me great joy.

I took something from that was like, you know what, my sons need to know that I'm proud of them and it's not performance based. So, so dads, if you want something practical, tell your [01:10:00] sons, I'm proud of you in a moment that it's not tied to their performance. I'm proud of you. Probably the first time they hear that.

Why dad? What did I do? You didn't do anything. You're my son. Tell your lovely daughters, Hey, you're beautiful. Hey, you're worth fighting for. What do you mean? Because you're my daughter. Just because you're my daughter, you're beautiful and you're lovely and you're worth fighting for. Tell your sons and daughters those specific words and if you can remember to do it, tell them every day.

So they're sick of it, but they'll remember it.

Speaker 2: And I would add that, sprinkle in telling them that in front of other people, uh, in the company of others. Kind of like, again, the example from scripture, God declaring to the world, this is my son. Um, you know, I think that's so, our, our kids, well, you know, they love to be put on that little pedestal by us and to, to tell, you know, in, in the company of others, in the company of their friends.

Hey, look, my dad thinks of me, uh, or like for, especially for a daughter, you know, man, my dad just thinks I'm a princess, you know, uh, there's something that does in [01:11:00] them, um, that, that's really powerful.

Speaker: And that comes a lot like that's going to move your kids a lot. Guys. I, I a hundred percent agree with that.

Especially I'm going to throw this layer on top of it. If you as a dad are raising yourself up to another standard. So I appreciate that you mentioned, you know, not in a performance, like not when they're on the court or whatever, your son's play ball.

Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. I have one oldest was a soccer player for four years and then I have a basketball player.

I mean,

Speaker: for a man who hit a half

Speaker 3: court shot. Oh yeah.

Speaker: Right. That that's a, you know, be able to tell you, show your sons, like, look what dad can still do and then say, you know, performance based now that doesn't even matter, this is yeah. This is why.

Speaker 3: Yeah. Great

Speaker: point. Great point. I was, and you guys can look that up on YouTube.

Yes. Look it up there. Uh, Matt hitting a half court shot. So, uh, Indiana

Speaker 2: Pacers game. [01:12:00]

Speaker: When I was getting ready for the show, I came across that bit. I was like, wow. Okay.

Speaker 2: Yeah. It's a good video.

Speaker: I don't watch basketball, but I even heard about that shot. I looked at the data. I was like, I remember them talking about that.

Like I watch enough news. I was like, I remember talking about that shot.

Speaker 4: Yeah.

Speaker: Text. Got it.

Speaker 4: Yeah.

Speaker: That actually panned out. Like I didn't even plan for that question to work out perfectly, but like that is the perfect start to the segment as we're talking to dads about. How to just practically be a better dad.

I think that's the great foundational place with answering those questions. But you guys work with men all over the world and are doing extraordinary things at building stronger relationships between men and their kids and helping men step into that role stronger, uh, more effectively. So give us some practical advice.

There are a lot of men listening who just like y'all, y'all said it really well earlier. You've never met a guy who was like, yeah, I want to be a crappy dad.

Speaker 4: Right.

Speaker: [01:13:00] I've worked with men all over the world on this podcast. And that's one of the points that we bond on instantly. If they've got kids, like I can bond with another dad, like a drop of a hat or beans.

Right. Yes, sir.

Speaker 5: Right.

Speaker: So give us some practical advice for dads.

Speaker 3: Yeah, I'd say I want to, I want to jump in and start with, um, priorities. Prioritization is a, is a big thing that I see. Um, and so there's only, I say there's this pie of time and, and so we can't create more time. It's what we have every day.

We've got 24 hours. How are we going to use it? We have to fight for and make, uh, our fatherhood, um, a priority. And what I mean is there's so many things fighting for our attention every day. Um, There's work, you know, and we are supposed to be providers and we have to go to work. Um, But there's things that take us away from our family.

It could be social media, it could be text, phone calls, emails. I'm not [01:14:00] saying that these things don't have a place, but I'm saying to fight for keeping your, your wife and your children a priority ahead of those things. One of the biggest dangers I see is we have this, this electronic box in our, in our hands that really fights for our attention.

Um, and that can take away time from things that we can be doing with our spouse and with our kids. And so one of the things, uh, that we do when we go to dad camp, me and my younger son is on Friday evening before we get there, the cell phone is done. Um, and so we just say we're, we're done with the phone and from Friday evening until the time that we're heading out from dad camp on, uh, Sunday around noonish or afternoon, it's just phone time is not going to be important.

And, and that's a struggle. That's a fight to think somebody could text me, somebody could call me, I got to catch up on these emails, I got to do all these things. The practical way that that speaks to [01:15:00] my son's heart and how I know it's important to him is because he's made me promise that that's going to be a part of us doing dad camp every time we go.

Is that it says to him, I'm most important. Like, I'm most important right now. The two things are dad's taking time for it to be just me and him this Friday evening through Sunday. That's how important I am to my dad, that he wants to be a stronger dad and that he wants to spend time with just me. And during this time, There's no text.

There's no phone call. There's no email. There's nothing that's going to be more important than me and dad's relationship. So, and you don't have to be at a dad camp to do that. You can just take that time with your child and say, you know what, the phone's gone. Let's do something together. I think that's one practical thing that will help you as a dad disconnect from what I call the matrix and make sure that your time is focused on your children.

Again, you can't do that all the time, but make sure that when you have that time with your kids that it's focused on [01:16:00] them and remove the distractions if you can.

Speaker 2: That's good. Um, this would be in the context of, uh, You know, um, or I, I, I received this information from my own, uh, kids. I think it's so valuable sometimes, especially in my, in my stage of life, um, as, as we, Matt and I, and our dad camp team gets a chance to, to encourage dads is to, um, actually ask my own kids, like what, you know, what really was impactful for you in terms of like your, like the, the family.

Circle the experience that you had, you know, our family, what, what really helped you the most and becoming kind of setting you up to win and where you're at today. Um, and so recently, uh, we were talking about, um, spiritual formation. And so, but I don't think this, as I share this, it comes from the question of, Of growing your faith, but if you're not a person of faith, I don't think this necessarily just [01:17:00] is for For this conversation.

I think this applies in life and so hear me out, um on on just the feedback I got from my kids was the question was what Were what did I do? What did your mom do? What did we do as as as as your parents? To help you grow or get to the place where you've chosen a faith for yourself Um and what I heard and uh from my kids, uh in each of their responses was this word consistency.

Um, and that's what I wanted to share, you know, in addition to what, you know, Matt is, you know, can't agree more this, you know, this prioritization, this intentionality, uh, is consistency. Like, Don't just talk about, be about it, and let your kids see that you truly believe what you say. Um, it's not just in words, it's in action.

And so that doesn't necessarily just mean in your faith, I mean that in life. Uh, [01:18:00] if your kids see that what you've tried to instill in them, that you are truly trying to live it out, and then they see the fruit of what happens when you've lived that out in your own life, Then they get a chance to say, yeah, I want that in my life too.

And this is what my mom or dad did to get themselves into that position. So I'm going to follow in that because they did something about it. They just didn't talk to me about it. They didn't just preach it at me. They just didn't. Tell it to me. It's it's there. It's it was there to be watched. It was there to be modeled and I heard that from all three of my kids who are like I said, they're 21, 23, 25.

They just said, dad, you know, you and mom were just consistent in the things that that mattered to you. And now that we've moved out of the house and we're starting our own life, what we're learning is like, is like we're going back to those things that we saw you do day in and day out that you were consistent in that led to where you're at as a man that led mom like to where she as as a woman as a wife as a [01:19:00] husband those are the things we want and so all we can go back to is not just the things you said but the things that we actually saw you do there was consistency with the way you lived and the way you spoke and so That's what I would say, uh, just to be a man of your word, uh, to not just talk about it, to be about it again, across the spectrum of faith or things that are not a faith, just what is important to you live it.

So that's, that's what I would share. Yeah,

Speaker: that's good. Now this is going to sound similar in the question, but in hindsight, right. Cause hindsight is amazing, right? It gives us so much clarity looking back from before you were a father, right. To that first time that they put that baby in your arms. And that journey started.

Where you are now in your journey as a father biggest insight biggest takeaway Wow,

Speaker 3: that's heavy [01:20:00] One one may I don't know that I can say one I have so much that I could share but I one that I think is really important is to be honest and transparent with my kids. Um, I know with my Jason, I joke that like our, if you have multiple children, then your first child gets the worst version of you as a parent.

Cause you're just sort of flailing around. Like I got to figure this out. The second one, I have three. So the second one gets a little bit better version of me. The three I'm like, Oh, okay. I've had a little bit of experience with this. I think I can do pretty well, but. When I say being honest and transparent, I think there's a tendency to want to present to our children that we're perfect and they know better, first of all.

And second of all, as Jason's pointed out, we need to model things that we expect from them. So if I expect when my children are wrong for them to apologize to me, when they've wronged their mom, I expect them to own it and apologize to her. [01:21:00] then when I wrong them, which I'm naturally going to do because I'm a mistake prone and sinful man, I need to own that.

I remember being a parent and thinking, you don't apologize to your kids. Like, I'm the dad. You're the kid, right? I'm never wrong. Uh, that is so far from the truth. And if I expect that from them, um, then I need to do it as well. And the fruit of that is, They respect you more. Because we had sort of some conversations between us men about, like, posing.

And about, uh, men, uh, sometimes not wanting to be vulnerable and transparent and honest. But yet, how that's really an attractive quality. And how when we see men posing, We know they're posing. Like, you can't really fake me out. I know when you're being transparent and honest and real, and I know when you're hiding something.

Our kids look at us the same way. Like, come on, dad. I know you're not perfect. Like, you're a human being. And I think it speaks to their hearts. Oh, dad's willing to [01:22:00] like, apologize to me and say that he was wrong. Or they see it with your spouse. I try to, boom, as soon as I'm not right with, with my wife, with Jamie, I'm sorry and do that apology in front of my children.

You know what? Dad was wrong. Shouldn't have done that. Please forgive me. Another part of that that's really important is, my children are the most forgiving human beings that I've experienced in my lifetime. Like, they teach me what real forgiveness looks like. Because they will literally, Yep, dad. It's done.

And they mean it. They're not like harboring a little grudge against me and holding it against me and I hear it about two weeks later. Like, they literally just throw it away. Yep, I love you dad. Thanks for apologizing. It's done. I'm like, that's how I need to forgive right there. And so I think we have to be willing to be authentic in front of our children.

Speaker 2: Yeah, it's, uh, that consistency, it's not just consistency in the things that you're winning in, [01:23:00] but consistency in the areas that you're not winning in or you slip up, uh, and that's being, you know, willing to, to seek reconciliation and forgiveness and, uh, you know, and when you screw up to admit it and you, like I said, you're, it's a, don't think you're fooling your kids.

You're, you're not getting anything by your kids. They're smart. They see it. They know you're a mess. Just, you know, so just in your mess, own it, you know, and, and they really will respond to that and respect you, uh, and appreciate you. I, I think even more, I don't really have anything, you know, I don't think, I think that's, that's, That's huge.

Um, that's a good question. Um, you know, one of my, one of my mentors just kind of summed up a life statement and I'm just gonna kind of use it, steal it, but I think it's been really true for me, you know, before being a dad to where I'm at now as a dad and just, You know, from a basically, you know, a young man to a midlife guy now is, you know, just this idea of, of, of [01:24:00] put God first, life works best.

I mean, I think as I have tried my best to do that, and as my wife and I have tried our best to put God first, we have experienced That just, life just works best. It's not easier, certainly not saying that, but it just works best. And so that's been our posture, um, and I can say now that, you know, um, on the, on the other end, or it's kind of the season of parenting where my kids are adults now, um, that there was fruit there and I, I would never trade that Posture like that is the winning play.

Put God first life, you know, works best and um, God, I'll use it

Speaker: gentlemen out there listening. We're getting a lot of good stuff today. If you're enjoying the show, if you're getting something out of it, do us a favor, share it with another dad. There is so much value coming out today. Just share this with another dad.

If you're getting something [01:25:00] out of it. Because I know that the guys will agree with me. We just want to make a difference in the lives of men. That's right. So, you know, yeah, like my show or whatever, sure. Whatever. I don't, you know, I don't actually care. Share this with another dad who needs it. That that's the most valuable thing you could do if you're getting something out of this now, guys, as we start to land this plane, say I'm a dad and.

I'm hearing this conversation and I just feel like I've been, you know, half assing it and phone it in and I've just not, and this is striking my heart. Give us three steps to start with from the end of this show to start moving forward on that journey to be where we want to be.

Speaker 3: Yeah, what I would say is, um, uh, you're, you're making a great point because what can happen is you can feel overwhelmed.

Especially if something's piercing your heart, you [01:26:00] say, man, I'm not hitting the mark. And by the way, we're not hitting the mark either. Like if you say the bar is 100 percent killing it on everything. I don't think either one of us would sit here and tell you that we've gotten there. Um, we're still figuring things out.

I still have a 13 year old. I still have a 20 year old in college right now. And they, and he, and like. Jason's identified. He has an 83 year old dad that he's still looking to for the answer to that question. So, our parenthood never ends. So, this is a lifelong journey. We've not perfected it and we won't.

We're just striving towards that. So, sit down for you. Maybe take some nuggets of what you've heard here and just write down the three things you think would make the biggest impact for your personal situation and your family. If it's the get off my phone, I'm on my phone too much, write that down. If it's, you know what, I need to be more transparent and honest, uh, and own things in front of my kids, write that [01:27:00] down.

Uh, whatever the things are that you say, these are the, the three things that I think would really make an impact if I would commit to those things and change them today and make it reasonable. I can change these three things and I can start doing it today. Just simply write those things down. I can't tell you what those things are for your personal benefit.

Um, situation, but I think that you, you can identify three things and that makes it a lot simpler to say, I'm going to start with these three things, I'm going to commit to these three things, and then I'm going to start doing them right now. And then you'll see fruit from those things and can move forward from there.

I

Speaker 2: just got back from Honduras a few weeks ago, um, had finished a, one of the, the teaching times. And of course, uh, part of dad camp is we, all of our content is. is driven to dads. Like it's, this is not a kid based organization or program. This is a dad focused organization where kids join their dads. And so I [01:28:00] was teaching some dads, their students were out having a good time.

We, we provide all that for them. But anyway, uh, a father came down to me and in his broken English, um, he said, uh, he goes, you know, I've got, I've got, I think he had seven children with five different women. And he said, um, I was A drug addict. I was an angry guy. I've been a really bad father and he was starting to get emotional.

Um, and I would get emotional thinking about it, but he just said, where do I even start? And I think that's the question you just asked. And so I sell that story. Um, uh, and he said, you know, first, you know, he did identify goes a year or two ago. He said, I found faith and that's been a huge transformation in who I am.

And, um, so, uh, but I still have, I've created a mess. You know, I've got all these kids with all these different women and it's just, it's, it's just dysfunction [01:29:00] everywhere I look. And so what do I do? Because I love my kids and I want to be a better dad, but I, I've just created a mess. And I said, first and foremost, you need to know that God doesn't define you by your past.

And so God God has a future for you. And so don't look back, look ahead. All you can do now is look forward. And as you, as you said, Matt, you know, now how can I reprioritize? What are some ways that I can start making changes to show my kids that I truly, uh, that they, that show that they truly matter to me.

And, um, and as I shared that with this, this gentleman, the tears just started to come. And I said, right now, I said, you need to go find your son that you're here with. And I said, and you just need to go love him for the next hour and just spend some time with him and remind him that he has what it takes.

That's your next step. Don't overwhelm yourself. Don't look, don't look, don't look to your past and what you've created. Look to the future and what you're going [01:30:00] to create. Be a creator. Be defined by, by that past. So that's what I would want to encourage you guys. Uh, with today and to wake up every day and say, how can I answer my child's question if it's simple as that, like, how can I remind my son he has what it takes and my daughter that she's beautiful and lovely and, uh, worth fighting for to reprioritize as Matt has shared to be consistent and, you know, in the man that you are, I think, um, and to just take, you know, just take one step at a time, uh, to each and every day say, Hey, I'm mad.

Remind yourself you matter as a dad that no one has more impact on the health and well being of your child than you do and so own that responsibility and, uh, and lean into it and remember that you do have what it takes. Like God didn't choose me, didn't choose Matt to be the father of your child. He chose you.

That is a calling. And because he's given you that calling and that responsibility, God is saying to you that you have what [01:31:00] it takes. He believes in you to be the father that your children need. And so to live in that, and God will give you each and every day what you need to love and encourage your child the way that, uh, the way that you need to.

Speaker: Where's the best place for people to connect with you guys?

Speaker 2: Dad camp dot org is our organizational website. Um, and, uh, we're an events based organization. We just love to create, uh, we just love to create an environment for you to grow as a dad and to create memories that will last a lifetime with your kids.

And so. We're pretty confident after 18 years that your kids are going to say, dad, this is the best weekend of the year. And we're pretty confident that for you as a dad, because you know, there isn't a lot out there, uh, for, for men that's, that's building into us. That's speaking into our hearts. And so dad camp could be a place every year that you come bring your kids.

And where your heart to be touched and encouraged, uh, and [01:32:00] inspired and challenged. Cause every year you come to dad camp, it's not the same content. We commit to you to bringing something new every year to you, a different experience to you every year. So, you know, when you're coming with your child, Oh, I've been there, done that.

Um, maybe you come back to the same venue, some of the similar activities like, Hey, we're going to go on the zip line again this year, or we're going to do, go on that canoeing trip again this year, that might look the same, but the content and the conversations. Uh that are being given to you are going to be different and we're going to also give you a chance to to bless Your kids in the most in the coolest ways that uh are really powerful So yeah dadcamp.

org is is where you can Best place, uh best place to find us and through our you know through the contact there on the website You can get to us as well.

Speaker 3: You can check us out on the Dad Nation podcast as well. We are using content, um, and just talking about all things, uh, fatherhood and just having natural, normal conversations as dads, trying to share some wisdom, try to add value to you men as dads.

And, uh, that's [01:33:00] another great way to connect with us as well.

Speaker 2: Yeah. We just do once a month where we just try to do what you're doing here on this podcast, uh, but we're speaking just. Directly to dads, uh, just once a month, just trying to be a space to encourage guys. So yeah, it's another good space.

Speaker: Now, point of clarity, because I, like, I'm a dad of two girls.

So, dad camp, I know you bring one of your children with you, right?

Speaker 2: You can bring two if you want. Uh, we, we encourage you to bring one, just because dad camp in its name is for you. It's not for your daughters. It's for your sons. It, it's an amazing experience for them because they get a weekend to do it.

With dad, all of themselves. And it's a lot of fun. There's, if it's not fun, you guys aren't going to come back. And if it's not fun, dads aren't going to come back. So it is a ton of fun, but it's also built for you as a dad. So we encourage you to bring one. That way you can just kind of focus on you as much as you know, in that, in that one relationship.

But, but you have the option to bring more than one if you want. Um, and then [01:34:00] it's set up where, uh, they're elementary dad camps. There's middle school dad camps and there's high school dad camps. So depending on the age of your child, um, if they're in school. There's a, there's a dad camp for you. So, um, but, uh, that's kind of how they're, they're broken down.

There's father, son, there's father, daughter, and there's, uh, there's also weekends that are co ed that we also have. We, if you have a son or a daughter, you can bring, um, and we'll, we'll create that experience for you.

Speaker 3: And to speak to that a little bit, I've, I've talked to a lot of dads that have, uh, multiple children and those children may fit into that age range together and literally without fail, they've said, man, this was amazing, amazing investment in myself as a dad.

And my kids had a blast. One thing I'm going to change is, I'm going to come with one, one of my daughters or one of my sons next time. And I think any dads out there hearing this or listening and you have multiple children, you know, it's hard to get one on one time with each child. It just is in the family dynamic.

It's not always possible. It doesn't always make a lot of sense. [01:35:00] And siblings will battle for your attention, like that's normal, natural sibling behavior. And so what I found was like, man, having that one on one time, again, speaks to your child's heart. Hey, dad is, is taking carving this time out, especially for me this time.

And I think it helps to grow your closeness and your bond with that specific son or daughter during that time.

Speaker: Thank you for that clarification. Cause I was, I was like sitting here going, I don't have a little boy. Can I do this a little girl? Right. So I want to make sure that all of our listeners clearly

Speaker 4: for sure.

Yeah,

Speaker: now, and I know everybody is really concerned about the trivia question in the beginning about which Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy is actually. On the Quidditch team, that would be two, you guessed three. Oh, that would be the second book, the Chamber of Secrets, where his dad buys him onto the team with new brooms for the whole team.

I know everybody actually cared, not really, but sure enough, I don't answer it. I've had, I've done that before. I [01:36:00] just didn't answer the question. Like what happened to the answer to that? I've gotten nasty notes, like, yeah,

Speaker 3: right.

Speaker: So we answered that guys wrap us out collectively. If our audience got nothing else out of this episode, if they heard nothing else, we said, what is the one thing you want them to hear?

Speaker 2: You matter. Uh, you matter more than you understand and wake up every day. And I believe if we have, you know, we've got, we wear a lot of hats as dads or as men. Um, we wear a lot of hats. I think the hat of a father and a husband is the most important hat. that we wear, um, and don't let the culture feed you a lie that, um, that that's not an important hat and that you don't matter.

Um, because what we know to be true is this thing called the father factor that no one has more impact on the health and well being of your child than you do. And I [01:37:00] know, uh, you wouldn't be listening to this podcast, uh, whether you're just, if you're not a dad, you're just, you're just a guy you're listening, but as a dad, like, um, you love your kids.

And so. Remember how much you matter and how much your kids need that from you.

Speaker 3: Alright. Yeah, for me it's um, we, we've shared our faith. We are, uh, bold and courageous about it. We're unafraid and unashamed and um, I want guys to know we didn't necessarily make this specific point, but we just believe that the best man that I can be, the best father that I can be, the best husband I can be is following after the perfect man.

And there was only one perfect man that ever lived and that was Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. We would never sit here and say that we have become the men that we are because we just gritted our teeth And just really worked hard and said We want to be better and we're not saying you can't improve and we're not saying [01:38:00] that you have to be a follower of christ To to grow and be stronger.

We're just saying that we firmly believe that the best version of ourselves is following after the version that God created us to be. And so we believe that that comes from a surrendered life to the Lordship of Christ. And so, uh, to the listeners out there that would be receptive to that message, I would say, um, figure out what that means for you, figure out what repentance and turning to God and surrendering your life to Christ is.

Um, and that would be the biggest nugget of wisdom that I could give on this podcast today.

Speaker: Guys, we appreciate you taking the time to hang out with us and give us a chance, share this podcast with somebody, change lives, go and spend time with your kids. Because now you've always wanted to be for Jason and Matt and myself.

Thanks for hanging out with us. Be better tomorrow because of what you do today. And we'll see you on the next one.

Speaker 5: This has been the fellow man podcast. [01:39:00] You're home for everything man, husband, and father. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a show. Head over to www. TheFallibleMan. com for more content and get your own Fallible Man gear.