Roll call is a consistent happening the first day of every school year. Even if the teacher mispronounces your name, the proper response is, “Present!” Responding with a shy, “Here”, or staying silent due to a humiliating pronunciation of your name, could get you moved to the front of the class. And that makes for a rough start to the new school year!

Are you present and ...read on

Well, it is time to put a wrap on summer unless you live in Houston – then you know we have a couple more months to enjoy the heat and humidity. But kids heading back to school is a marker for the end of summer. I hope you have made some memories as a family – maybe a special trip, a fishing outing or a summer camping experience.

Before you get back into the hustle & bustle of school and extra-curricular activities, I encourage ...read on

A dad took his son skeet shooting. The young man at the range walked them through the safety procedures in their assigned stand. The boy was excited to be at the range with his dad and was in a hurry to start shooting the clay pigeons. Dad reiterated the importance of gun safety and that one is never to be in a hurry when handling a gun. It is critical to always follow the safety protocol and show respect for the range and others present.

The dad had been charged to initiate ...read on

A dad took his young daughter to the bank to open her own savings account. When she handed her $25 cash to the bank teller, she asked how they knew the difference between a counterfeit bill and a regular bill. The teller said that she was trained so well to recognize every nuance of the legal tender that any counterfeit was immediately obvious.

Dad saw this as a great analogy for ...read on

Dads often ask, “How can I keep my kids off their phones?” The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry verifies that kids spend a lot of time watching screens, including phones, tablets, gaming consoles, TVs and computers. Kids ages 8–12 spend 4-6 hours per day watching or using screens, and teens spend up to 9 hours per day. Excessive screen time has been linked to psychological problems - higher rates of depression and anxiety, and health issues - poor sleep and higher rates of obesity.

The answer is, ...read on

What have you hoped for? A solid marriage? Good health? A happy and healthy family? That the kids would embrace your faith and have the fortitude to stand firm in the winds of popular culture? A parent’s world can get rocked when a child drifts from the faith and begins to see truth as more subjective than absolute.

Is there fear at work in your life that dampens the hope you have? The Chapman University Survey of American Fears listed the top ten fears ...read on

Freedom is a word that has been used a lot this past week. America celebrated 247 years of freedom from King George III’s efforts to extend English rule over her. The Declaration of Independence was written and signed by representatives from each of the colonies on July 4, 1776. With that document, a commitment to unalienable rights, “… that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”, was initiated along with a pledge from each signature of “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Eleven years later, May 25, 1787, the Constitutional Convention opened to discuss the Articles of Confederation, the boundaries that would be needed to ...read on

I was blessed these past couple of weeks to spend time in the mountains of Southern Colorado running Faithful Fathering’s early summer trips with our partner in ministry, Voice of Wilderness. The first week was with a group of fathers and daughters participating primarily in day-hikes on area trails. The second week we had fathers and sons spending five days on the trail backpacking in the wilderness.

With no phones or Internet access, these dads, with their daughters and sons, were able to ...read on

As you might expect, June is my favorite month of the year because it is Father’s Day month. So even though this blog is being posted a few days after Father’s Day, I want to issue this reminder for all men - dads, adoptive dads and spiritual fathers, as to how important a father is. Our Heavenly Father shares the moniker ‘father’ with us because He expects us to represent Him well in family. The charge is to embrace this high calling and honor Him. Commit this day to step forward and accept the charge.

THIS FATHER’S DAY, June 18th, 2023, I accept the charge as a faithful father to move forward with a renewed mind, grounded in scripture and the three tenants of Faithful Fathering. I will: ... read on

An annual tribute to the dad that raised me in hope that it is an encouragement to you:
Born in 1917, four years after his parents immigrated from the south of Russia, he spent his early years growing up in Nebraska. The family continued to speak Russian in the home so when it came time to go to school, the young boy was held back a year until he could learn English. Railroad work took his family to Missouri where he proved to be a good worker and strong athlete through school. He joined his dad working in the roundhouse at the railyard until the attack on Pearl Harbor changed the direction of his life. He enlisted in the Navy, completed flight school at Pensacola, Florida, and ...read on