289 | Living with Zeal, Laying Down Burdens, and Taking Two Shifts (Moses Ehambe)
Episode Description
As a father of seven, Moses Ehambe’s passion and energy is remarkable. His message will inspire and equip you to elevate every area of your life by pursuing excellence and finding a brotherhood that will support you.
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Moses Ehambe is an experienced professional basketball player, coach, former NBA apprentice, and personal development coach known for his energy, authenticity, and leadership skills. He and his wife, Sarah, have seven children and live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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· You need an Aaron and a Hur to hold up your hands on your fatherhood journey.
· Visualize yourself giving your problems to God.
· Don’t sit on the bench when you get home from work.
· You can’t be perfect, but when you strive for perfection, you land on excellence.
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Podcast Intro: [00:00:01] Being a great father takes a massive amount of courage. Instead of being an amazing leader and a decent dad, I want to be an amazing dad and a decent leader. The oldest dad in the world gave you this assignment, which means you must be ready for it. As a dad, I get on my knees and I fight for my kids. Let us be those dads who stop the generational pass down of trauma. I want encounters with God where He teaches me what to do with my kids. I know I’m going to be an awesome dad because I’m gonna give it my all.
Moses Ehambe: [00:00:39] You’re going out to work, but you’re also coming in to work, right? There’s no safe or rest zone. Like you’re not coming home to sit on the bench. Nah, bro, you’re in the game all day, every day. You know, that’s how we were created. We can handle it.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:00:54] Welcome back to DadAwesome. Today on Episode 289 we have Moses Ehambe joining us. After three and a half years later from the first time he was a guest on DadAwesome, episode 118. And guys, I would recommend, you’re going to get into today’s conversation, and if you want the back story, jump back. We’ll link it. Episode 118. And actually some of you know this, but Apple podcast only allows 100 episodes. So, you have to jump over to dadawesome.org to get the older episodes. You can’t use your Apple or even Spotify, I think, only offers 100 episodes. So anyways, that aside, Moses Ehambe is now become a good friend. We were introduced by Nate Jamison way back, again, three and a half years ago and now he lives here with his family. We’ll talk about this in the conversation, but to go from someone I didn’t know at all just got on through, through the zoom line in a conversation way back the first time to today’s conversation, now. We’ve been, I mean, we’re a part of the same church community. We, our families know each other. We played basketball together. We’ve been a part of church camps together. I’ve been in his home. I mean, we’re so grateful to now go round two. So, that’s coming up in a moment. Want a quick shout out, though, this is our biggest fathers for the Fathers for the Fatherless event of the year is this coming Saturday, August 5th. So, once a year we have an event, a large scale Twin Cities wide. So the whole Twin Cities of Minnesota, our Fathers for the Fatherless bike ride. 100 mile bike ride on behalf of the fatherless. This is our fifth year, this event, and it’s on August 5th. And we are just so thankful over 100 guys are biking this ride. We’ve got events all over the country now. We’ve got triathlon events, Spartan obstacle course race events. But this is our flagship event, our event that’s been going on the longest. We actually have 14 guys in the team who have biked every single year for five straight years on behalf of the fatherless. So if you guys would be praying for us, was the reason I want to bring this up, is prayer is huge. We’ll also link our fundraiser. We are raising money for some amazing partner organizations. Just want to, want to shout out to anyone who’s like, Man, I want to give a gift to that cause, been hearing about Fathers for the Fatherless for a while. Then lastly, we’ve got some partners, sponsors who have come in big for saying we want to help with the overhead cost of this mission and I just want to shout them out quick. So Aleph Holdings is our longest standing partner. They have come alongside us three years in a row. They’re an amazing team and their mission, I mean, they help, I mean, they run so many different businesses. They’re they’re a private equity group that actively manage and operate and they trade businesses. They’re buying up businesses. They’re helping scale businesses. They have several businesses in their portfolio that they own, but they care about people. This is a group of amazing people who work there that are like, Man, let’s grow people. It’s more than profit. So these guys are awesome. And then secondly, Honour Capital. It’s their first year coming in as a as a major partner and I want to shout them out and say thank you to Honour Capital. And then of course, Pactimo is our national sponsor on the cycling apparel side and they’ve been incredible. We’ve been partnering with them since day one. So I’m going to link those three organizations because they’ve come in in a big way. I’m going to link them in the show notes. If you’re curious at all, check those companies out. Show them some love. I just love to shout them out on the podcast because of their generosity. Guys, let’s jump right in. This is my conversation, episode 289, with Moses Ehambe. This was the middle of March. Middle of March 2020 was when we connected for a conversation on DadAwesome. It was in the early 100s, like 114, I think Episode 114, something like that. You joined and you just shared your heart. One thing I came away from that conversation with, there was lots of takeaways, but zeal, your zeal, and it’s something we’re commanded and invited. Our Heavenly Father says don’t be lacking in zeal. I mean, bring your full heart to the areas. I was like, when I got off the line with you and my girls in the background, we’re making all this noise because it was just like it was a last minute podcast change up. And we’ve got our kids actually right through the wall now, so we might get to hear them now. But zeal was like, the conversation was dripping in zeal, just passion. That’s who you are.
Moses Ehambe: [00:05:06] Yes. Amen.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:05:07] You and Sarah, that’s who you guys are. And thank you for coming to round two, to just do another DadAwesome conversation.
Moses Ehambe: [00:05:12] Always man. Thank you so much. Well, I should say thank you for providing such an avenue for men and fathers to be able to be equipped, to feel loved and to feel seen. You know, it’s a powerful, powerful tool. And I know it’s blessed me. You know, I still wear my socks to this day.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:05:31] Yeah. You got the DadAwesome socks. Yes. Yes.
Moses Ehambe: [00:05:34] But it’s it’s great, man. Thank you.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:05:36] Well, and God does fun things. We serve a God who is fun.
Moses Ehambe: [00:05:40] Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:05:41] And he relocated your family from where you were at, I think you guys were in Oklahoma, right? And then you’re in Indianapolis and then, and now in Minnesota. And it’s just fun for me. We’ve added kids since the last conversation. Now, your your roster is nine strong, Ehambe’s right?
Moses Ehambe: [00:05:58] Yep. Well, ten counting the au pair.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:06:00] Oh, yes, of course.
Moses Ehambe: [00:06:01] God’s great.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:06:02] Which you’re, you’re fathering her as well.
Moses Ehambe: [00:06:04] Oh, most definitely. And that’s one, that’s one of the, the go ahead, like we have an opportunity to to bring someone else into our fold so they can experience a healthy, healthy home and healthy hearts, you know. So, we’re very excited, and granted she’s a believer from Columbia and she’s just we love having her because she’s seriously like you could sense her love for the kiddos whenever she’s around them. So it’s a blessing to have.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:06:30] I felt that when I walk through the front door.
Moses Ehambe: [00:06:33] Are you serious?
Jeff Zaugg: [00:06:33] Yes, yes. So the roster, though, is you’ve got the au pair, who’s a young adult through the youngest, the twins are how old now?
Moses Ehambe: [00:06:39] Six months.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:06:40] Six months. Amazing. And your son was in my small group. So I got to be his leader, which was a gift for me.
Moses Ehambe: [00:06:48] Absolutely.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:06:49] The the difference between last conversation and now, those we’ve added kids. I’ve had, I’ve added two daughters since, no, my my youngest was little then, so I’ve got four kids now. So our rosters have both grown.
Moses Ehambe: [00:06:59] Oh my gosh.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:07:00] We’ve both moved. Because I’ve been moving around the country a little bit. You guys moved here of proximity matters, though. So I’ve gotten to see your family in a closer proximity. So when I said last conversation, Zeal was like, I was just like, man, I just I want to be like Moses. I want to bring my full heart to my kids, to my wife. By the way, I have to shout back to lips.
Moses Ehambe: [00:07:21] Lips. You know, we we were where we at the other day? We’re somewhere and there was it was like a little device and you pressed it and it said Lips. No. And Sarah found it. Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:07:33] Did you buy it?
Moses Ehambe: [00:07:34] We did.. We’re in such a hurry.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:07:40] So the concept, share it one more time for the guys who didn’t listen, of course, three years ago.
Moses Ehambe: [00:07:44] We get so busy with everyday life, you know, with with work, with parenting, with, you know, just a lot of different things. You know, we get bogged down sometimes you lose sight of what matters the most besides God, and that’s your partner, the one you started everything with before the kids came in the picture, you know. So Sarah and I, whenever we kind of get in that mode of, man, I need a hug, I need love, I need something, you know. We just yell out lips. And when you hear lips, you run. And it doesn’t matter if you’re mad, if you guys are an argument, if you’re dang near down the street, and if you hear that you run and you express that love and it’s been so magical for us.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:08:30] And who sees, I mean, who sees it? So my girls know about lips because we, we’ve copied and we’ve taken that into our marriage and it’s like, yeah, it diffuses grumpiness, diffuses frustration. It’s just like, well, the girls are all watching. They heard someone yell. So someone actually moved out of this place of normal life and said, Let’s bring some spark by yelling lips. So thank you for that tangible, tangible idea. That that actually speaks to that that concept of zeal as well. But why., Why do you think, you know, most families can just get into ruts? The gravitational pull for my family to get into a rut of just living and obligations. And how would you encourage start with the Zaugg’s, my family, to like, move to live with more passion, bring more life, you know, yell lips like how would you how do you encourage this, no, don’t settle, bring your heart?
Moses Ehambe: [00:09:18] Yeah, I’m all about just elevation, you know. Elevate. In every area of your life, right. And what does that mean? It means reaching new heights, reaching new levels, not being content, not being okay with where you’re at in in your relationship, in your parenting, in your your personal life, in your, in your body. You know, it’s like elevate no matter what. And when I think of that, I think about just the Father’s love. When you were praying, I almost got I was brought to tears because that song Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you more than life. It’s like even right now, man. God, it’s so amazing, you know? And just thinking about how, how faithful He is, especially currently in my, I’m sorry, bro, in my wife and I life like it’s been it hasn’t been peachy. You know, especially traveling the whole. We lived like, dude, like 11 different countries and 23 different cities. And my wife has just been following me the entire time, championing me as I’m reaching out for my goals, you know, and just things, just having to bounce around, which is great, because our whole thing is just obedience. And that song, Jesus, I love you like you take us wherever you want us and we’ll go. But along the way, like when you’re traveling on the road, you know there’s potholes. You know, sometimes you get a flat tire, sometimes you don’t have any gas, You know, like five, about five weeks ago, I was about to take the kiddos to a camp and I forgot, the night before, that I was supposed to get gas. So I was driving and I failed to look at the… and it just died. And I was like, Oh no, what do we do? All seven kids in the car. Yeah, but thank God we were near the house, I just ran and got gas in the gas tank. But just to know that life, so much stuff just hits you with life. But one thing stays the same and it’s God’s love for us, right. So it’s like, how dare I take time away from the One that created time, you know. So it’s just it’s just just that love factor and it’s like the zeal, yeah, the passion, the fire, the hunger, just the love for Him. It’s just been, it’s just what’s been carrying us, you know. Sorry, man, I’m a leaky faucet.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:11:45] I love, I love when conversations go this way that we know we’re we’re dads that need God.
Moses Ehambe: [00:11:53] If not Him, then how do you get it, like, where do you get your hope from?
Jeff Zaugg: [00:11:57] And where does the fire come from? Like, when I said zeal, when I, when you said fire here, like like without the fire of God burning inside of me, how do I stay faithful in my marriage?
Moses Ehambe: [00:12:06] Oh, my gosh.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:12:07] How do I, like, navigate the responsibilities? These, for you, seven little precious kids. Eight, including your amazing young adult, au pair. Like, how do you navigate and carry the weight that the world throws and the responsibilities and the ownership without God living inside of us stoking that fire? And actually, I’ll just jump into the story of the road to Emmaus. The disciples walking with Jesus, after He rose from the dead. They didn’t recognize him. They’re walking with Him. He’s, it says, He opened, He revealed scripture to them. And then later they were like, Didn’t our hearts burn within us, when He was He was with us and speaking to us? How did we not even recognize, our hearts were burning within us? And so what you just got after there is they were with Him, proximity to Jesus, time with Jesus and the Word of God. He was opening, revealing scripture to them. So like, it’s just such an easy one, two punch of like, okay, being with Jesus, prayer, experiencing presence of God, and then time in the Word and rootedness in scripture, right. Like allows us to burn with fire and make it through the, I mean, that had to be the worst day of these disciples life. They’re walking this long journey on a dusty road after their hope, their Savior dies. And we’re walking, right there’s… I actually went to prayer this morning, with a group of men, and it was just like the whole concept was like, Can we infuse hope in? Put your hands out in front if you need some hope from heaven, some more like like some, some of His power to say, No, I’m going to get you through this. You’re going to make it. And so I feel that right now with you and I feel it in myself is like without the presence of God, without it, without dependence on Him, I’m not going to bring life to my family.
Moses Ehambe: [00:13:42] Oh, dude, absolutely not. And you also have to think about, like, all that stuff can just bog you down. As a dad, you know, you’re thinking about providing. You’re thinking about just everything and anything outside of the home. And when you do that, you’re nonexistent in the home.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:13:59] In the home. It comes back, the pressure.
Moses Ehambe: [00:14:00] Oh my gosh. Oh, my goodness. It’s like, someone gave me just it was something that they did that their father was super awesome that they remember this. This guy is like, what, 35, 40 years old and he spoke to me about how his father, whenever he his father literally planted a tree in his front yard and he planted a tree in his front yard because he did not want to ever bring anything that he goes through, in the outside world, into his home. So as that tree was growing, one night, he literally placed all his fears, placed all his the turmoil, the the crap that happened at work, all that mess, he would literally vision himself putting it on that tree, which he strategically planted to hold that burden, walk in his home and just be daddy, be husband, and just be, just come in with so much like joy and love, right. Like Santa Claus bringing up, bringing gifts, you know, but those gifts aren’t monetary. It’s your gift like the love, smiles, joy, the passion, the how are you doing today, I really care about you as opposed to harboring all that crap and bringing it home. He just left it on that tree and once he left home to go to work, here we go. Picked up that all that mess. Put it on, and he went off to work. I thought, that’s just so powerful.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:19] It’s an anchoring visual at the end of the driveway or in the front of the house.
Moses Ehambe: [00:15:23] Absolutely.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:25] Yeah. How, I’m trying to play out, how all of us dads could could think about some tangible threshold way of I’m not going to, I’m not going to carry this burden in and expose, I mean, again, the lives of our little ones, like they they don’t need to see a perfect dad. They don’t need to see a dad who doesn’t carry ever, you know, doesn’t cry, doesn’t do, it’s not that, you’re just saying, the just separation of like this compared to their little hearts. This can wait till you pick it up on the way out. Is that what you’re saying?
Moses Ehambe: [00:15:50] Absolutely. Yeah. But in my, in my thought, I’m thinking like, man, why even pick it up off that tree?
Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:57] On the way back.
Moses Ehambe: [00:15:57] Lay it at His feet.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:59] Trust him.
Moses Ehambe: [00:15:59] Oh, my God. Right. Why allow that to just bog you down as you’re traveling to work where you also need to be a light? Where you also need to be salt, right. And just laying it down at God’s feet. Like, you know what, Father, I’m not even gonna pick this up.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:16:16] Take it. And in some, sometimes even that concept of, oh lay it at His feet. Like, what does that actually look like to get a little more practical? And how do we train our kids to do that when it comes to their burdens? Can you think of how to make this even a little more like, no, this is something every dad can do. Is it in prayer? Is it a what does it look like to, like actually get rid of those burdens? The Hebrews 12:1 & 2 stuff, of like the sin that entangles, the burdens that weigh us down, cast them off, I think it says there in that passage. Any any like ways to take that a little more tangible for the dads?
Moses Ehambe: [00:16:43] I remember when we were working out at Lifetime, my wife and I, I think it was in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I think I have a video of it on our Instagram, but she’s she’s walking, right, and she has this huge backpack on. And I’m like, why the heck, why am I going let my wife carry this huge backpack into it? And I say, let me take your backpack. And she’s like, Oh, thank you. And she takes off the backpack, super heavy, and she starts stretching like, Oh, my goodness, thank you. This this is amazing. And I, we took it off and I was like, Huh, it’s just like, God. God just wants us to just give Him all the crap that we’re going through, right. Give Him all of the weight, so that way we could feel light and and not burdensome, burdensome in a way. And I think a fantastic way to kind of exercise that is visualization. You know, you as a man think it, so is he. Whatever, whatever you, whatever you think you’ll be, whatever you speak, you become. So if you’re if you think the whole lay it at His feet and you actually visualize you in front of His throne with all your problems, you put it in a bag and you just throw it at His feet. Like good bye and just walk away. Like, I think that does something powerful to you and alleviates any like, weight from you.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:18:06] Yeah. I love that. And the visual of that heavy backpack, I think of the book Pilgrim’s Progress is a moment where the burden rolls down the hill from the cross. I’m like, yeah, we can, we can use that visualization and the piece that will flood in when you actually visualize, No, I don’t have to carry that anymore.
Moses Ehambe: [00:18:21] Yeah, absolutely.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:18:22] What a gift.
Moses Ehambe: [00:18:22] Such a gift.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:18:23] It’s also like the the visual of the son walking back from the the pigpen headed back to the father, the prodigal son. And the father runs to him, throws his cloak around. It’s like the joy flip that happened in that son from thinking I could maybe be a slave or a servant to to, Oh my goodness, I get to experience Sonship again and have a robe. And I’m not going to experience the shame that I thought it was going to. That’s God’s heart, it’s not just to take the weight. It’s to take the weight and lift the head of like lift your, no, you can walk in Sonship.
Moses Ehambe: [00:18:55] Yeah, absolutely.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:18:56] It’s the best.
Moses Ehambe: [00:18:57] So much love, brother.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:18:59] So it’s funny. I think about it sometimes with your grin, Moses, because I see you, I actually we’re both tall brothers and we’re both in church together, so I’ll spot you sometimes worshiping.
Moses Ehambe: [00:19:09] Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:19:09] And, and I also get to see your face, you know, in conversations, but also through your Instagram of bringing these moments of truths and and it just pairing these little tiny one minute moments with Moses, which I, You just take a truth, right. And you unpack it, for, for folks that are in the church and out in the church doesn’t matter like these are truths that we can actually walk in to bring more Jesus to our life, which I thank you.
Moses Ehambe: [00:19:33] Absolutely, bro.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:19:34] And I’m going to I’m going to pass that on to all of our DadAwesome community to make sure that they can follow and be encouraged by you. But there’s also, I get to see you in more long form, you actually press into the presence of God and you put your arm around your wife and you pick it up your kids from the kids ministry afterwards and and seeing your life from a from a not through an Instagram window, but through in real life. How would you, how would you take this concept of, man, I want to bring truth, I want to bring joy, I want to live in to what I’m sharing with, like folks following you that have never met you before, actually live into it for your family. How how how would you encourage us to actually, like, ground ourselves on truth to be looking for like you spot the truth and then you unpack it. How can we be dads who are curious that way? Who are looking for, what does God have for me, now I can unpack it to my family. So, that concept of like grabbing on to something of God and making it more real. How would you encourage us to all do that like you do that?
Moses Ehambe: [00:20:29] What’s coming to me is just the search. Like seek, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all righteousness and all things will be added onto you, I think that’s the scripture. I think the search and the seeking and not the striving, but just seeking him. Like God, what do you have? What do you want? What do you want me to do? Even to the day by day, like whenever I do anything, what I love most about Moses, David, I think even Joseph, Abraham, Solomon, you know, they always before, before they ever made a decision, they always consulted God. Like God, what do you want me to do? How do I, Like even like Moses, whenever they’re going to fight Amalekites, right, I always tell this story because I just absolutely love it. Because you see an example, the example of just trust, obedience and support. And I think that’s huge for us as fathers, you know, as just people of God. But just the striving of asking God, these, the Amalekites are so experienced, big and strong and I don’t know what to do. What do you want me to do? You know, he really just seeks God and like, I need you to lead me right now. And because of that, he got what he needed to get in order for them to defeat the Amalekites, you know. But in order for him to do that, he seeked God. He listened to God and he obeyed God, right. And but the thing that is even more powerful is, man, he got up there, but he didn’t go up there alone, right. Because he couldn’t have done it alone. Just like us fathers, we cannot do this thing alone. That’s why having DadAwesome is just so fantastic because DadAwesome is like that Aaron and Hur up there with Moses lifting up those hands, you know, as we strive to do what we had that we got from God when we were seeking His face, in order for us to embody what He needs us to, to do, in a sense. And embodiment, I think is huge as well. Like we can go out there and teach whatever we want to teach, and this is what I learned from God or whatnot, but you got to you got to be about it. You got to be about it.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:22:34] Yeah. He didn’t back down. He was a warrior, Moses. He’s like, I’m not afraid. He stepped in with faith, But then he still took a vantage point of up top with buddies.
Moses Ehambe: [00:22:42] Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:22:43] With his hands up in worship.
Moses Ehambe: [00:22:45] Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:22:45] They sat him on a rock.
Moses Ehambe: [00:22:46] Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:22:47] Which I, that portion of, like, I think part of the playfulness of God is in our curiosity. He’s Wired us, he’s created us to be curious is like for me to, like, think, okay, the rock, what parallel might that be of like, Oh, it’s a lot less work to sit than to stand, right? So His ways are easy. Like, He’s going to provide rest but then also the rock, like what’s, what’s a firm foundation in like all of these The Word of God is like, in my mind, like, can we just find, grab on to Scripture passages that out rock, or our steadiness, or our rest, like all come. So it’s like friends holding the arms up, perspective up, vantage point, I can see a little more of the battle, courage to even be in the battle. I think there’s so many parallels for dads.
Moses Ehambe: [00:23:30] Oh, most definitely.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:31] From that story.
Moses Ehambe: [00:23:32] Absolutely, man.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:33] What does a guy do if he doesn’t have an Aaron and a Hur? A dad whose maybe doesn’t have those deeper friendships right now? I mean, this morning there’s men’s prayer that we talked about, and then this evening you’re getting prayer. You actually have an appointment, I think, to get some deeper prayer with, which is amazing.
Moses Ehambe: [00:23:48] I can’t wait for that soul care.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:48] We’re pursuing it, right. The two of us get that, you got to pursue it.
Moses Ehambe: [00:23:50] Oh, yeah. You have to.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:51] But what if you don’t have those friends or those opportunities to have your hands lifted and held up high? Like, what do you encourage the guys to do?
Moses Ehambe: [00:23:57] Go find it. You have to go find it. There’s no way you can, you can do this alone. Even, you can’t. You can’t be a father, alone. You cannot be a husband, alone. You can’t be the best version of yourself, alone. You have top athletes in this world and even movie stars or whatever you want to call, everybody has a coach, everybody has a voice coach, Everybody has a mental coach. Everybody has a coach on the court. Everybody has a coach, nutrition coach. And in order to do so, like in order for them to be great, they have to do it, you know? And I know if you just can’t find anything, partner up with the One and that’s the Lord. You know, they get in, get into a closet, you know, seek Him, like have that fervor or whatnot. But it’s just so important.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:24:46] So that’s my my heart and my like, I believe this so strongly that that if you want it, if your heart’s burning with like I want, I’m hungry to have brotherhood, to have mentors and I’m seeking God on my knees saying I want that. I think God’s going to give it to every guy listening.
Moses Ehambe: [00:25:00] Absolutely.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:25:02] If you truly are seeking and say, But there’s always excuses. There’s always barriers or immense uneasiness of like, Oh, to go to that group of my church or hey, to go out to this early morning men’s prayer. Like, man, I don’t know if I’m a click with those guys, just do it, right. It’s like be hungry for it. Step into it. We are modeling for our kids to. Am I the dad who is just a solo effort? I work on my own. I don’t have guys holding up my arms. I can kind of bring my own strength. We’re modeling for our kids and the importance of relationships.
Moses Ehambe: [00:25:30] They’re always watching. It’s crazy how they’re like, even, what happened? I think my son Titus, we were doing something and all of a sudden he said a phrase that I say, I was like, Wait, what dude? You’re only eight, you know. But it put everything in perspective, that man, Moses, they’re always watching. They’re always watching. Even like as a father, you know, or as a husband, sometimes you get in those those arguments with your wife, you know, and which is like, don’t ever do it in front of the kids. But it’s tough sometimes. It seeps through. And one, one thing that I’ve done, I’ve done it before, but I’ve communicated to my son, Titus, my older son, nine years old, going on ten, next month. If you don’t like, I would, I spoke to my wife in that way, and then I turned to my son, I said, Don’t you ever speak to your wife that, don’t you ever speak to your queen that way. I’m sorry that daddy did it in front of you, but do not ever, ever speak to her that way, right. And if you ever see Daddy do it again, you tell your daddy, dad we don’t speak to our queen that way. So it’s that accountability, you know. And I mean, it happened again. And he just, Dad, we do not speak to our queen that way. And immediately my spirit was like, Thank you, son. And going over and hugging my wife and just repenting, you know. But it’s very important, it’s very important that we we bring our kids in, you know. I know we’re supposed to it’s like it’s like it’s not a it’s it’s a show because they’re watching us. They want to do whatever we’re doing. But it’s important that we we give them the clearance to to direct that show a little bit as well, because it helps keep us accountable, you know.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:27:14] This morning, I got to hold a five day old baby and my wife made a meal for a family in our church and I brought it over. And I never thought what a bonus that I because I’m a delivery guy, I get to hold the baby. So I get to pray over and hold this little five day old baby. Little miracle baby, beautiful. And it makes me just think back to I know there’s dads listening right now that haven’t even held their baby, sort of brand new dads that haven’t, the babies not born yet. Or they’re in that first six months, you’ve got these twins that are six months. I think you just have a vantage point of five years of our five older kids and now this this back into newborn baby mode. What are some of the things, as you’re coaching, you know, if we were at your camp fire pit out back with young dads that you’d be like, man, I want them to hear this? Like like this might be helpful for them in that chapter because because you have a vantage point, a little more years of dad life. What would you want to share with those young rookie dads?
Moses Ehambe: [00:28:05] You know, there’s a saying that your early years are your earning years, so grind. Work, work, work, work, work, work, work. In my mind it’s like, yeah, you’re early years, so you’re earning years with your kiddos, you know, more so in regards to just as much as you’re being intentional with going to work, getting grinding like you got, it’s like you’re working two shifts. It’s two shifts. It’s not just one to just provide. And I think as fathers, as providers at home, it’s we put so much emphasis on I’m the provider, I got to go out, I got to do what I got to do so I can provide for my family with the money. And, nah, but it’s it’s twofold, bro. You got to provide financially, but you also got to provide emotionally as well. The only way you could provide emotionally is if you take those two shifts. And those two shifts are you’re going out, but you also you’re going out to work, but you’re also coming into work, right. There’s no there’s no necessarily like safe or rest zone. Like you’re not coming home to sit on the bench, nah bro. You’re in the game all day, every day. You know, that’s how we were created. We can handle it. You know what I’m saying? So that’s that’s that’s the advice that I would I would give to fathers around around a firepit.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:29:16] And before we even hit record, we talked about this like those two sides of you got to, first shift, this is important, providing, second shift. But we talked about the difference of like that first shift where you’re an employee of somebody else, like you are replaceable, Dad. Like, okay, yeah, we all know this. Like, it doesn’t matter what your job is, it doesn’t matter what you do, you are replaceable over here. And over here, on the other side, you’re not replaceable. Like those little eyes that look up at you and with love of you’re their only dad, where you’re not the only employee.
Moses Ehambe: [00:29:48] Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:29:49] So let’s, let’s rock it and bring our full heart to both.
Moses Ehambe: [00:29:53] Absolutely.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:29:54] But not being on the bench, I want to leverage into that a little further. So dads who maybe have taken a role of I’m on the bench or hey, this season of Dad life, the mom has more nurture in this season. The mom, you know, the newborns, I mean, the mom’s nursing, just like, I can’t even do some of these roles to take care of these little ones. I want to get after to a little further, off the bench in bringing our whole hearts, our presence. Seeing it as game on. I’m home. I’m not resting. Would you go a little further into the importance?
Moses Ehambe: [00:30:23] It’s so very important. If you think about the Scripture in all things, do do everything as you’re doing unto the Lord. It’s like and we we think of that and we apply it to just our work ethic out of the home. But it’s like at home, yeah, all things. You be a father, the best father you can be as you’re doing it unto the Lord. It’s like worship to God, right. In even more importantly, and even more special is if you’re doing it while you’re tired because it’s like, God, I thank you for the arrows in my quiver. I’m going to sharpen them right now, right. So it’s just very, very, very important that we we, we we’re intentional. We’re intentional with that that worship. And and I also, like perfection we’ll never reach perfection. But it’s but knowing that we still strive for perfection, our job is to be more and more like Jesus and He was perfect. We will never, ever become perfect, but guess what happens when you strive for perfection? You land on excellence, you know. So being able to land on excellence as a father, as a husband, as a professional like, Dad, there’s no other, no better feeling.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:31:35] It’s the best. And I know I’m playing off the sports metaphor a little bit of get in the game, get off the bench, because like, it’s I mean, this is both of us relate on that level as well. Yeah, but there’s another side that guys are on the bench right now and it’s, hey life is full, work is heavy, like I don’t have any extra margin so I’m going to stay on the bench when it comes to taking leadership in my church or in my community or for other dads. I see you and your wife, Sarah, if there’s ever a chapter that doesn’t make sense to host a small group for church and bring other people into your homes and pour life in others, it would probably be your season, right now. Little twins, six month olds, the job you have. But I see you, you’re not on the bench. Your kids don’t see a dad and a mom who says I’m on the bench. You’re like, No, we are ministers of the gospel we serve, we serve. And I just want you to encourage, I call it the plus three. If dads would think three plus three, I can pour the life of three other dads, of three other families, of three other men. My kids get to see a dad who’s not just about taking care of the home front, but is on mission. Would you encourage us dads to get off the bench on that side of serving, loving, creating community, learning, forming a dad small group, whatever, yet challenges us to get off the bench on that side?
Moses Ehambe: [00:32:41] So whenever we, we wait on the Lord, right, we want the Lord to just do so much. Like I need this, I need that, I need You to show up on my behalf. So we’re waiting on God to do certain things. Whenever you go to a restaurant and you are being served by a waitress or whatnot, what are they doing there? They’re waiting. They’re waiting, Right. They’re waiting on us. But what is that, what is the action that’s happening right there as they’re waiting on us? They’re serving us, right. So as we wait on the Lord, as we, I mean, all of us, we have dreams,. Aspirations, or something that we’re waiting on God to do. But it’s very important that we serve Him as we wait, because that opens up just so many doors of man, God, I trust you. God, I love You. God, I care about You. And God, it’s bigger than me, right. It’s not like on the back of my phone, it actually slipped out, it has, I have a sign that says it’s it’s not about you. It is not about us, man. It’s about the next generation. It’s about the next dad next to you. It’s about just making an influence. It’s about your wife. It’s about the kids. It’s never about us. So being able to step out and be uncomfortable, be comfortable being uncomfortable, right. And and serving and reaching out and loving and and caring. It goes a long way and it gives you an opportunity to be to be bigger than yourself, in a sense. So, yeah, we take advantage of opportunities like that. And I remember growing up, my father’s a minister, I always had a blast whenever we had, what is it called, prayer meetings at home because all the kids would come and they would go, we would go play and the grown ups would be doing their thing. So I want to give, my wife and I want to give our kiddos the same same type of experience because we know what it did to us. It locked us in in our faith.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:34:42] You’re loving others, you’re filling your house with others who you’re just pouring out God’s love to you and you experience the love.
Moses Ehambe: [00:34:47] Absolutely.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:34:48] Yeah. Would you say a short prayer over all the dads?
Moses Ehambe: [00:34:49] Yeah. Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for being the prime example of fatherhood. Lord, I thank You for Your love. I thank You for Your passion. I thank You for Your tenderness. I thank You for Your care. And I thank You for Your protection. And also thank You for Your provision. God, I pray that You may help all of us fathers to embody all of those traits, Lord. So we can be the best fathers that we can be. So that we can elevate in every single area of our lives, Lord. I pray that You may continue to touch every single listener here as they are on that journey of the mountain to to experience just their best life, Lord. I pray that they may encounter You. I pray that they may love You. And I pray that they may trust You, but most importantly, surround themselves with support as they as they carry on to where You have them to go, Lord. We love You, we thank You, we pray for a tremendous blessing upon DadAwesome. Lord, I pray that You may continue to elevate it. Lord, I pray that You may continue to bless the Zaugg family. I pray that You may continue to use them like no other, Father. Plant them where they needed to be planted. Use them like You’ve never used them before. Be their mouthpiece, their mindset. In Jesus name, Amen.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:36:09] Thank you so much for joining us for episode 289 with Moses Ehambe. If you guys want to check out the show notes, the conversation links, I mentioned, Moses his Moment with Moses on Instagram. I mean, his Instagram account is just full of life. You guys, you’re going to be so encouraged if you if you follow him. Also, just some quotes in the transcripts from today’s conversation. Go to dadawesome.org/289 and get all those resources. Guys, thank you for praying for our Fathers for the Fatherless team as we head into this weekend, our Twin Cities Minnesota flagship event. Thanks for praying for our team. Guys, thanks for listening today. Thanks for leaning in and say, Man, I am not done learning. I’m going to be a dad who is growing, who’s actively pursuing the hearts of his kids. Guys, we are praying, my team, we are praying for you guys. We’re cheering for you guys. And just way to go. Let’s keep after it. Let’s be DadAwesome this week.
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17:29 - "A fantastic way to exercise that is visualization. You as a man think it, so is he. Whatever you think you'll be, whatever you speak, you become. So if you think, lay it at His feet and you actually visualize you in front of His throne with all your problems, you put it in a bag and you just throw it at His feet. Like, good bye and just walk away. I think that does something powerful to you and alleviates any weight from you.
28:31 - "As fathers, as providers at home, we put so much emphasis on I'm the provider, I got to go out, I got to do what I got to do, so I can provide for my family with the money. And, nah, it's twofold, bro. You got to provide financially, but you also got to provide emotionally as well. The only way you could provide emotionally is if you take those two shifts. And those two shifts are you're going out to work, but you're also coming into work."
31:11 - "Knowing that we still strive for perfection, our job is to be more and more like Jesus and He was perfect. We will never, ever become perfect, but guess what happens when you strive for perfection? You land on excellence. Being able to land on excellence as a father, as a husband, as a professional. Dad, there's no better feeling."
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