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

Every dad with a daughter knows that young girls have a strong desire to feel beautiful (as do their moms too!) . As guys, we don’t fully understand this innate longing in females. But when girls fall for the secular culture’s definition of “beauty” as consisting only of weight, looks, curves, clothing styles, etc., they begin down a path of deception and what the writer of Proverbs calls “vain” (Proverbs 31:30.)

This music video by Johnny Diaz is a creative, light-hearted, and powerful reminder to ladies of all ages that the age-old message “beauty is only skin deep” is indeed a false one. And a reminder to us dads to remember to continually remind our daughters and our wives through our words and actions that “there could never be a more beautiful you”… for true beauty lies within the heart.

Today’s video for dads is quite frankly, a tear-jerker… for which I make no apologies! It is called “A Letter to My Dad” and consists of words every dad would love to hear.

A daughter in college sends a “video letter” to her dad thanking him for his patient, persistent love in her life over the years, even in the midst of her disagreements with him, and she reflects on their special relationship which has grown closer over the years. This is a very powerful message of encouragement and tenderness. Fellow dads, take 3 minutes to watch it! It will touch you.

This video is a great reminder to all of us dads about the influence we have EVERY DAY through the eyes of our children as they are growing up! Well done and impactful production. I know I need to be reminded of this every week. If you have a thought, comment, or story to share after watching this video, please leave it below for other dads to read and be encouraged by.

Did you know that over 75,000 books have been written on parenting?

Whoa! That’s a lot of information out there for dads and moms.

And most dads like you and me won’t have the time nor interest to read even a tiny fraction of all those books.

Author George Barna, a dad himself with two daughters, (you may have heard of him, he is also a well-known Christian pollster and researcher) recently published a new book on parenting with a very unique twist:

“To amass a body of knowledge that could be absorbed and applied by all parents to help them mazimize their parenting potential.”

Sounds very worthwhile, doesn’t it?  After all, what parent doesn’t want to maximize their parenting potential?!!

But to write such a book, Barna’s team had to gather specific data from three sources:

1. Telephone surveys nationwide of parents with children under the age of 18. The parents were asked about their challenges, successes, and failures as parents.

2. Existing books on parenting practices, particularly those with a spiritual dimension. Those elements that were identified as significant were studied more closely.

3. Personal interviews of more than ten thousand (yes, 10,000!) young adults in their twenties who were leading “transformed” lives with genuine, mature faith (not merely church attenders.)

These young adults were asked what happened during their formative years that “worked.”

Their parents were then interviewed for their input on upbringing these children.

Would you like to know what the research revealed?

It’s all laid out in a concise, timely book by George Barna called “Revolutionary Parenting.”

In the book, Barna starts with a look at the current crisis in American parenting, specifically as it relates to raising children with a Biblical worldview and an understanding of spiritual matters.

The next section… which is the bulk of the book… summarizes the parenting research that his team did.

The final section closes with a very personal chapter called “How Studying Revolutionary Parenting Changed Me” in which Barna talks about ten specific lessons he learned from his research that has impacted his own parenting of his two daughters, and he shares all this with the reader.

One dad reader commented…
“This is one of the few books every Christian parent must read! Great book!!! Wish it had been around years ago! If you are a new parent or even if your kids are already teens — you need this book. It is short: a fast, easy, but meaningful read.”

Learn More and Order Revolutionary Parenting for yourself, or as a gift for another parent you know, at DadResources.com, the bookstore that supports FamilyDads–
http://www.DadResources.com/product.asp?itemid=16