Recently, I took my 8-year-old daughter out for one of her most favorite events… a date with dad.

After a fun visit to enjoy the furry and feathered animals at a local pet store, we walked across the parking lot to a newly built massive furniture store. It was HUGE — taking up at least a city block, if not more.

Once inside, we were immediately impressed with the size of the store, and even more impressed as we walked around looking at the variety and quality of all the expensive furniture inside.

That’s when I began to notice something potentially DANGEROUS happening in my heart.

I sat down and leaned back in a very nice leather recliner couch. It was luxurious and very comfortable.  I casually mentioned to my daughter, “This is much nicer than our couch.” She agreed.

Then we went over to the bedding section and began testing the selection of mattresses, laying down on one after another. Again, we commented on how much more comfortable and nicer they were than ours at home.

After wandering around the store together through room after room of showroom furniture, we finally made our way back to the entrance.

Heading back across the parking lot, we walked past a late-model luxury car. I noticed the inside, which sported an elegant wood trim dashboard console and stylish leather interior.

“Wow,” I thought to myself. “That car sure is a lot nicer than ours.”

My heart wrestled with these longings for “bigger and better”, “nicer and newer” things as we made our way to our car. Before me was a choice: to allow discontentment to take root in my heart, or to be thankful and grateful for the provisions God had already given to me and my family.

When we compare the provisions God has already given us with newer, nicer, more expensive, and more comfortable items that don’t belong to us, there is usually a struggle, a wrestling, a temptation, a DANGER — envy, covetousness, and discontentment.

Whether it’s a new car, a recreational vehicle, furniture, a house, or even our spouse, when we compare what has already been provided to us with what is “out there” in the marketplace, a tv commercial, a webpage, or even another person, we run the risk of becoming discontent in our hearts. Which can lead to foolish decisions and regrets, bondage to debt, and even more tragic consequences in our lives.

If we compare any provision God has given us with something else that we don’t have, there is potential for danger around the corner. We must always be on guard, paying attention to what is happening in our hearts in any given situation.

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” ~Proverbs 4:23

Blessings to you and your family,
Joey Watkins
Founder, FamilyDads.com

Attention Dads with Daughters: Two Great Resources

She Calls Me Daddy Seven Things Every Man Needs To Know About Building A Complete Daughter Learn More

What A Daughter Needs From Her Dad How A Man Prepares His Daughter For Life Learn More

Here’s a post on the topic of “back-to-school” with relevance for us dads. There is so much we could cover on this topic of school, but since you’re busy, I’ll just touch on a few key things…

For Dads Who Homeschool

For those dads who home school, like our family does, our wives typically do more of the actual subject instruction than we do. One of the things that can help her MOST on a practical level is our involvement in the planning process.

Discussing and planning the subjects each of our children will take this year, choosing the actual curriculum, and the concepts we want them to grasp. And praying together for each of our children’s school year, and for our wives as they teach.

A friend of mine plans a get-away weekend with his wife to go over all these things. It is THAT important to them. I admire his level of being intentional and proactively involved in the education of his children. He takes responsibility for his family. He also teaches several of their subjects… math, Bible, etc.

Why not block out an evening, a full day, or an entire weekend for one-on-one time with your wife to interact on this extremely important topic? What would doing this with your wife, communicate to her in terms of how much you value the education of your children and the primary role she plays in that?!

Also, we need to stay involved on a weekly basis with our wives and not let her shoulder this responsibility alone. Ask her each evening how school went that day, and then LISTEN to her talk… not necessarily to problem-solve… but so she can just “unload” to another adult about her day.

Remember, she is surrounded by children all day and needs time with another adult. It is important that she stay connected with other moms too on a weekly basis whom she can hang out with, trade stories, and encourage one another.

For Dads Whose Kids Attend Public/Private School

If your family doesn’t homeschool, your situation is a bit different. Since other adults will be instructing your children, it is important for you, dad, to be very aware of what they are learning and being exposed to, how they are doing with their homework, what help they need, and for them to know of your support and interest in their schooling.

Read their course syllabus, talk to them about their teacher(s), their classes, their friends, sports, extra-curricular activities, etc., not to come across nosey, but because you care and want to be involved in their world. Help them with the tough subjects and concepts they aren’t grasping — and do it with patience in love!

Resist The BIG Temptation

Regardless of your chosen schooling method, one of the biggest temptations for us dads is to just let the school year go on “auto-pilot” and before we know it, it’s time for Christmas break!

Since we dads are focused on our work and have our own fires to put out every day at the office or jobsite, it is *very* easy to be passive about our children’s school year.

School is a big deal to our children and our wives. Let’s make it a big deal to us dads too! It’s one of the best ways we can show them we LOVE and affirm them.

Here’s a great book for ALL dads to read to help us encourage our wives in practical ways on a regular basis. It’s short. And funny too!

cartoon by Family Dad Todd Wilson