The events in Japan over the past week have been absolutely tragic. You’ve no doubt seen many of the tsunami videos showing the utter devastation from the massive waves of ocean water destroying everything in their path.

And now the threat of nuclear meltdown causes an even graver threat to these people, their country, and their economy.

Did you know that Tokyo, Japan, just 230 miles south of the epicenter of the earthquake, has over 32 million people and is by far the largest metro area in the entire world?

We can certainly pray with our families for the half-million displaced Japanese people and all those who lost loved ones from the floods, and we can look for ways to help, but we also need to learn an urgent lesson from this massive earthquake:

We each need to prepare our family for the possibility of a natural or man-made disaster nearby.

“The prudent man foresees calamity and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” -Prov 27:12

A prominent geologist with an accurate track record has predicted an upcoming earthquake in the USA in the days ahead based on patterns of recent earthquakes in Chile, New Zealand, Japan, the upcoming moon position, and the mass deaths of wild animals in recent weeks.

Several days before watching this video, I felt strongly impressed to research earthquake information in the USA.  There are two major fault lines — the San Andreas fault along the West Coast, and the New Madrid faultline along the Mississippi River.

Here are some pages you might want to bookmark:
Largest earthquakes in past 7 days
Map of Nuclear Reactors across the USA
Current Radiation Levels across the USA
Disaster Preparedness Checklist

This is not meant to sound “alarmist” or fear-mongering, but rather, as scripture says… to be “prudent.” In a nation that has become completely dependent on electricity, cell phones, and the Internet, we would be “prudent” to prepare for a situation in which we might be without these for an extended period of time.

Having witnessed the destruction in Japan, let us each take careful measures to be ready for what may come our way next.

Please pass this info along.

Would you like to know one of the very best uses of your time and your influence as a dad? One of the very BEST long-term investments you can make in your children?

READ with them. ALOUD. Frequently.

ALL of my children enjoy spending time reading aloud together with their Dad. So does my wife.

On an almost daily basis, I read Scripture aloud to my family. We call it “Family Scripture Time.”

For younger children, Scriptures with action and stories work best, like Genesis, Exodus, and Acts, as opposed to more instructional Scriptures like Leviticus, Proverbs, Galatians, etc.

Consistent Scripture reading is one of the best ways to prepare the soil of their hearts for receiving spiritual truth and building their faith.

“So faith comes by hearing, that is by hearing The Word of YHWH proclaimed.” – Romans 10:17

I also like to read one-on-one with my children. My sons have enoyed the books by Bob Schultz. The chapters are short, fun, “guy” stories that always have a great message on character or boyhood, and Q&A at the end so we can talk about what we’ve read.

My daughter and I have read some of the “classics” together… you know, the ones that seem to always involve a little girl, a horse, a dog, or life on a farm.

If you’ve read a book with your son or daughter they’ve really enjoyed, please let me know. We’ll add it to the list of great family reading books. If you become a FamilyDads email subscriber, we can send you the list as it grows over time so you and your family can benefit from other dads’ positive reading experiences with their children.

To summarize, if you aren’t already reading aloud to your family, take the lead and begin doing this.

Read Scripture together as a family as often as possible.

And read family-friendly books one-on-one with your children. Not only will they benefit from the content you read together, but you’ll be modeling to them a habit they can emulate when they too become parents. And even pass on to their children.

From one family dad to another,
Joey Watkins
Founder, FamilyDads.com

PS – Don’t forget to contact us with books you’ve read with your son or daughter they’ve liked.

“Blessed is the man… his delight is in the law of YHWH…” – Psalm 1:2

“Delight” is a bit of an odd word to us guys.

When was the last time you told someone you “delighted” in something or someone. Or you heard another guy tell you about his “delight.”

See what I mean?

And yet, this word “delight” was used by a rugged outdoorsman, a bear and lion killer, a man who courageously engaged in face-to-face combat against a man almost twice his size.

In the opening verses of his most famous writing of Scripture, King David used this word “delight” to describe the heart’s affection of the blessed man.

“…but his delight is in the law of YHWH…” – Psalm 1:2

A blessed man delights in the words, direction, warnings, and instructions of YHWH contained in the first five books of Scripture. This is what the English-translated word “law” is referring to. It is the Hebrew transliteration of “towrah”, more commonly spelled Torah.

The second half of the verse answers the followup question I asked myself:

“Do I delight in the Torah of YHWH?”

“…on His law does he meditate day and night.” – Psalm 1:2

Meditate is more than a casual reading. It is focused thought, careful study, deep introspection, and prayerful application. To meditate day and night implies just that! It is something a blessed man finds himself doing both during the day and at night. Perhaps not every single day and every single night, but with consistent regularity motivated out of his love of YHWH and YHWH’s Torah.

Are you a blessed man?

If you are, Scripture says…

“he will be like a tree planted by a stream of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaves fall not off; and whatever he begins he accomplishes.” – Psalm 1:3

Wow! What a picture of blessing! It is the result of delighting in the Torah of YHWH, and meditating on it day and night.

From one family dad to another,

Joey Watkins

Founder, FamilyDads.com

PS – Torah and the Hebrew roots of our modern Christian faith is a subject I’ve been studying for a while now both for my personal spiritual growth and to teach my children (per instructions to parents in Deuteronomy 6:7.) If you would like to receive upcoming emails on Torah, signup here.

On a cold winter morning on his family’s Pennsylvania farm, 8-year-old Trevor Beam made one false step inside a harvester wagon. His bulky winter jacket was snagged in the machinery and he was pulled into spiked bars that could have killed him instantly.

He survived the accident, but all the doctors thought he would lose his right leg and be crippled for life.

Yet after only 3 weeks in the hospital, and less than 2 months after his accident, Trevor walked into his doctor’s office on his own in a walker.

And less than 2 months later, he was walking unassisted, completely whole, and WITHOUT EVEN A LIMP! Graphic photos taken of Trevor’s legs after the accident demonstrate how remarkable this healing was.

Trevor’s Song is the amazing story of fatherly love, childlike faith, and a remarkable testimony of physical healing. It’s the story of a little boy who defied everyone’s expectations; a little boy who lived when he should have died and who walked again when he should have been crippled.

It’s also the story of an earthly father who refused to give up.

Most of all, it’s the story of a heavenly Father who hears and answers prayer; who comforted a distraught earthly father with the words, “Trevor is My son too, and I’m going to take good care of him.”

Pictures of Trevor Beam and his family - Warning: Very Graphic Pictures of Trevor’s Legs are Below

Beam Family

Trevor Beam

Harvest Wagon

Trevor Playing Football After Healing

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WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS BELOW OF TREVOR’S LEG INJURY

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CAUTION: THESE ARE VERY GRAPHIC

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Trevor’s Song: The Miraculous True Story of God’s Healing Power After a Tragic Farm Accident

On Sale Now at

Today I’d like to tell you a story about a friend of mine named Tommy.

Tommy grew up in middle Tennessee, went to college where he played football, married his high school sweetheart, and landed a nice corporate job with FedEx.

It occurred to Tommy one day that he was spending more time with those gathered around the conference room table at the office than with those gathered around his kitchen table — his family.

The Heavenly Father began to put in Tommy a yearning to be together with his family. He ended up leaving his corporate job, picking up his family, and moving two hours away from the big city to basically start over again — only this time with different priorities.

Today, Tommy and his family share a deep, united love for one another. They are involved in a remarkable work half way around the world in a fragile, unstable part of Israel serving independent farmers — something Tommy would have never been able to do with his corporate job.

His journey has been indescribably rewarding for both Tommy and his family. In Tommy’s own words… “As I look back, the sacrifice was minimal compared to what I’ve gained… what we’ve all gained.”

Now, my point in telling you Tommy’s story is not to try and convince you to do what Tommy did with his family (unless you are led to!), but rather to encourage you with a story of how one dad’s heart turned to his family, and the direction and calling a family can receive as a result of courageously and obediently stepping out from cultural norms and putting family above work and career.

If you struggle balancing work and family, and work tends to get the bulk of your time each week, let me encourage you to make this struggle a serious matter of prayer and contemplation.

As the Heavenly Father draws your heart to your family, let Him guide you in making the decisions and choices that will be best for your family, even if that means making financial adjustments.

Get wise counsel, walk by faith, and remember that our window of time to raise our children is short and swift. And we dads have a high “Kingdom Calling” to lead our families, disciple our children, and who knows what work our family may be called to?!

PS – Tommy’s story has been turned into a DVD documentary called A Journey Home that has won several awards and inspiried many other dads and their families.