While taking a prayer walk recently, I was reflecting on the fact that my dad turned 72 this past year and was now fully in the “4th quarter” of his life.

3 thoughts quickly filled my mind.

30 years from now, my dad will be gone.

I will be at the same stage of life my dad is now.

And my oldest son will be my age — likely with a family of his own.

It begged several questions in my mind:

“What will it be like not having my dad around?”

“When I am his age looking back, will I be pleased with how my life turned out?”

“What am I doing to prepare my sons for their journey ahead as men, husbands, and fathers?”

Sure, they’re just kids now. And 30 years is a long time — or is it?

I believe it’s very healthy to contemplate the future. As leaders of our families, we dads must have vision. We must have plans to turn our vision into reality. And we must have perseverance and discipline to be consistent and proactive in leading our families.

Here’s an example to illustrate this.

One of my highest priorities for my children is that they have a strong knowledge and love of Scripture when they are adults. That’s part of my vision for them.

So we read Scripture together. As a family. Often. Each of our children (who are old enough to read) has their own copy of Scripture. We have “Scripture Reading Time” several times a week (my goal is daily.) We all sit together in our family room in a circle or around our dining room table. I start and we go around the room taking turns reading. I give commentary and we discuss what we read along the way. It’s a great way for them to build communication skills, but more importantly to discuss and absorb Scripture from their father. From their father – the one who was divinely given the greatest influence in their lives.

We’re also working on memorizing Scriptures together as a family, learning to hide it in our hearts (Psalm 119:11) and meditate upon it (Psalm 1:2).

This is just one example of how vision becomes reality, and I’d love to hear what visions you have for your family and what you are doing to see them come to pass. So please post your comments below, and let’s learn from one another.

And always remember…

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow let us go into this city and spend a year there, trade and make a profit.’ Whereas you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? You are like a thin mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” -YA’acob 4:13-14 (called James in modern Bibles)

Blessings to you and your family,
Joey Watkins
A fellow Family Dad

Last year, our attempt at a backyard spring garden was pitiful. We started too late, the weeds quickly overtook our progress, my children hated to go out and work in the heat, and I think the bugs ate more of our harvest than we did.

This year, things are starting out MUCH better!

I did a lot of research during the off-season and made some BIG changes.

First, we started much earlier (in late February.) We’ve given considerable effort to improving our soil. We’ve found plant varieties that are more heat and drought resistant. We’ve laid down hundreds of feet of weed blocking fabric. And my children are actually enjoying our daily afternoon times working together with dad out in the family garden.

Honestly, I’ve been amazed at their improvement in attitude and willingness to work — even my teenage son!

Gardening can be a fantastic way to spend time together as a family. Not only can you grow much of your own food and cut your monthly expenses way down, but it is a great way to spend time together as a family doing something productive.

To this day, I can still recall my dad’s involvement and the exact location of our family garden when I was just a young boy.

You can also give away some of what you grow to those in need.

If you don’t have a family garden, I encourage you to start one. Together. As a family.

But take my advice — start small… very small. Don’t plant more than three or four things your first year. And do some research online regarding how to prepare the soil.

And if you’re going to do a family garden this spring and haven’t started yet, you’d better hurry. I don’t want you to experience what we did last year.

Happy Gardening!

PS – If you’d like some input on family gardening from a fellow dad who has done a lot of research and has a bit of experience under his belt now, contact me for some helpful gardening tips.

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.