294 | Sharpening Your Spirit, Getting One Ahead, and Balancing Activities (Roger Thompson: Part 2)
Episode Description
After 52 years of marriage, Roger Thompson has learned a thing or two about how to have a thriving relationship. In this episode, he shares his powerful tactic for keeping his marriage strong. Plus, he urges young dads to reconsider the way they prioritize their children’s activities.
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Roger Thompson is a passionate men’s ministry leader and pastor at large based in the Twin Cities. He and his wife, Joanne, have been married for 52 years and have two daughters, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
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· You often don’t know who you are until someone else tells you who you are.
· Get one ahead everyday.
· Busyness is a concern for young parents and their children.
· Don’t forsake your spiritual development and brotherhood for your children’s activities.
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· IronWorks Website
· YouTube: 40 Days of Wisdom Series
· Book: Do The Next Right Thing: Wisdom For Your Next Step by Roger Thompson
· Book: Love And Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
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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.
Roger Thompson: [00:00:39] The greatest idol in America is children. It's unquestioned that if it's for the kids, then we will do it. The problem is, it's not always to the kid's best interest and we're doing all these things. And so I see many men taking a hiatus on their spiritual development and their brotherhood for 10 to 15 years because they're, they're coaching, they're on the booster club. They're going to, they're going to all the games, they're going to all the tournaments and it's because they've been indoctrinated by the orthodoxy that a good dad never misses a game.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:01:16] Gentlemen, welcome to DadAwesome. This is episode 294. Welcome back. This is the second half of my conversation with Roger Thompson. So if you missed last week, episode 293, go ahead and hit the pause button, stop here and go back and listen to the setup. These part one, part twos, it just doesn't, it's not super helpful to jump into part two. So head back to 293 if you missed it. But if you're headed in, now after listening to 293, Roger Thompson, a lead pastor for nearly four decades, a deep heart for men's ministry, a author of the book Do the Next Right Thing, a Leader to men. I mean, his YouTube channel is loaded with all these 40 day challenges on different topics for men. So I'm going to link all this in the show notes. But buckle up, this is the second half of my conversation, episode 294, with Roger Thompson. You started, I believe, at the ministry IronWorks.
Roger Thompson: [00:02:19] Right.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:02:19] And in it, I think the tagline talked about sharpening men with God's Word. Did I get that close?
Roger Thompson: [00:02:24] Yes. Right.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:02:24] So this concept of visual, of sharpening and that we could actually in these areas from 2 Peter 1, we can sharpen each other in groups of men. We can come around these so that were ready like a climber would sharpen their skills their muscles to get a handle, use like like there's there's value in all of them but there's ones you need at certain times.
Roger Thompson: [00:02:44] Exactly.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:02:45] Why or even add a little more color to that concept of being sharpened and why that's so important?
Roger Thompson: [00:02:51] Well, I think, you know, I don't know how it works with other guys, but there are a lot of men that I'm around, I don't, they don't need to say a lot about the character that they have. I'm watching them and that sharpens me. You know what I'm saying? I look at, I look at Steve and I think he is such an affirmer. I just get around him and I feel like, okay, I need to hone my edge for encouragement.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:03:22] Yes.
Roger Thompson: [00:03:22] Or I watch, and I think the guy is tireless to serve other people. You know, he's not saying it, just watching his lifestyle and just hearing enough about it. He's not teaching me in a classroom, he's sharpening me by his character. So that's how, that's how it really happens. Of course, we teach a lot, but that the format we use is I do some teaching, but that's really the excuse to get guys into groups. And that's where the real learning happens, is they sharpen each other.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:03:54] And I could tell that from all of your videos and the free small group curriculum that you give out that we'll link as well on all these eight areas. Like I said, you're activating man to talk about it. Get around each other, talk about it. That's not a knowledge acquisition and now you're good to go.
Roger Thompson: [00:04:08] Right. Right. I mean, I do a lot of homework. I want to teach correctly. But, I'm amazed that, it's kind of like you as a dad, you say the same thing to your girls over and over and over again and they're going to meet somebody else and they're going to say the same thing and they go...
Jeff Zaugg: [00:04:22] Unlocked.
Roger Thompson: [00:04:22] And you're gonna go, I've been saying that for five years. But they get it from someone else. Well, men are really that way. There's something about preachers, I hope I'm not a normal preacher, but nevertheless, you know, they can hear it from me, but they learn it when another guy goes, You know what, here's how it works for me. Here's how I got through that situation. Here's how my unemployment went and guys are going, Well, thank you for sharing that.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:04:51] About 2 minutes ago I watched something happen and you were, you were explaining about sharpening and I watched you do hero spotting. I watched you spot some heroes, which you got from your dad.
Roger Thompson: [00:05:02] Yep.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:05:03] And then I watched you take the hero spotting and translate it into sharpening of yourself and those two principles alone of like, look for the good, look for the good, spot it and then embody that good and grow in that. So I just, it's cool to see what you said you learned and how you're doing it and how instead of like you're like, well, I packaged and sharpen it for other, I hope other people get sharpened, like it's, it's for you.
Roger Thompson: [00:05:29] Oh yeah. That's why I said early on, I feel like I have brothers that are, you know, I'm a learner too. And of course you you put a bellows on the fire when you affirm someone.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:05:43] Will you help explain that a little further? What you mean by that.
Roger Thompson: [00:05:46] You know, when when you know, I can say to you, hey, Jeff, I really like your beard, you know? Well, that's a compliment. You know, but an affirmation is, Jeff, here's what you bring to the game. You know, I saw your strength when... You know, or thank you for reminding me, in your behavior, of something you've done. So when we do that with other men, it just, you know, like, like a blacksmith's bellows, it, it, it heats up the fire, the coal is there, but we don't know who we are until somebody else really tells us who we are. I mean, that's how I think it goes around and around and around. And if we can build a culture of mutual affirmation and get out of the culture of sarcasm, which is another whole subject that, you know, a true affirmation cuts through all the shyness of really looking at another man in the eye and saying, Brother, I love you and look at this. This is what you're doing. And most of time guys are going, really? I thought it was just me.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:06:58] It sparks something.
Roger Thompson: [00:07:00] Yeah, it does.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:07:00] Because they're like, Wow, that's not normal to be called out in the best kind of way.
Roger Thompson: [00:07:04] And I've been on the receiving end of that, too. I'm going, really? I just thought I was doing the best I could, you know. And people say, Don't you recognize what you bring when you walk in the room, or when you bring a word or when you when you serve in some way, you bring something to the game and we need that.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:07:24] Well, I want to jump into questions about your marriage and about you and your wife. But I have to take a little sidebar for a second and a little history. I, without meeting you, Roger, knew about you from 12, 15 years ago because of your influence on some of our best friends, Eric and Betsy Rose. Like your influence and the ways you've led and served and loved on them. I met with the, it was Betsy's dad who was your children's pastor for a season. I met with him 16 years ago. I was married one year. I came and met with him and, and and he talked about you. And he talked about, like, your influence and your leadership. Then I'm in Fort Myers, Florida, and I bump into your worship pastor is in a coffee shop and I overhear him talking to a barista. And I'm like, I know that your church, I know your pastor. He's like, he immediately started talking about you and your heart for men. And so I have, from thousands of miles away, heard about your love for the Lord, your love for men, and the fact that now we're sitting down, I just I think it's worth calling out that there is a, there's a ripple effect that was living with that fire that you talked about. And I'm thankful for you living with that fire and how it has stoked up fire and other people that I've gotten to spend a lot of time with firsthand. So I just want to say thank you.
Roger Thompson: [00:08:42] Well, thank you. Appreciate that feedback.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:08:45] And I know part of the fire comes from having a marriage that is, you've stayed the course. You said we're going to love each other and we're going to stay married for 52 years. How do I stay married for 52 years and keep the fire, as well?
Roger Thompson: [00:09:00] My, my dad used to say, you need, you need to marry up. In other words, you know, you've kicked beyond your coverage. Now, he said, mathematically it's impossible for both people to marry up, but spiritually it's really true.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:09:19] You can have the mindset. Yeah.
Roger Thompson: [00:09:20] And so it's very simple, but the simplicity is not easy. And it's in Ephesians 5, it says, Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. It's not just left to define that myself. Secondly, wives respect your husbands. I have, I have married a woman who fills my tank. She respects me. And by that I mean she doesn't just have a detached sort of theoretical, yeah, he's chosen a profession and I respect what he does at work. She will tell me, thank you for working hard. I appreciate your strength. I know what you tried to do, even if you didn't get it done, you gave it a good shot. She she, you know, and for a man, respect inflates a man like oxygen.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:10:23] It does.
Roger Thompson: [00:10:24] And if she could tell me, you know, I love your blue eyes, but that doesn't do much for me. I'm glad she does, but that does that doesn't help me. But when she says, I see your strength, man, I would run through a wall for that. Because she means it. Well, so she speaks my language and I have tried, you know, imperfectly, for certain, to speak her language. Her language is cherish. Do you, do you cherish me? Do you think about me? Are you bringing a question home for me? Because you've been wondering what I've been thinking. You know, do you want to, do you want to touch me? Want to have your arm around me? Do you want to, you know, in a sense, show the world that I belong to you. That that's what she needs. Those things are, those are not difficult to understand, but they are incredibly difficult to apply on a regular basis because if you know the book Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs, we get in a crazy cycle and it's easy to well, you didn't respect me, so I'm not going to love you or you didn't love me, so I'm not going to respect you. And we get in this spiral that drives us straight into to the ground. And so there again, we've been blessed because we we were both raised in intact homes and we didn't see as much as we would probably have liked, between our parents, but we did see respect and love, and we also saw some fun and delight. And so how, how can you stay married for, you know, 41 years? You just have to do your part, you know, and your wife is the only one who can do her part. But a lot of times, men, the men give up. Well, I'm not getting back what I'm putting in, so I'm going to quit. But a lot of times that's just a matter of being trained as well. Maybe they're you know, you think about the five love languages, I'm trying to love my wife in my language and it doesn't translate. I need to, I need to learn her language. You know, and so we've also been blessed that, again, we've been an early in our marriage, we were introduced to small groups, people, marriage enrichment. We were invited to be on the speaker team for FamilyLife, Weekend To Remember, and we said, selfishly, hey, we're getting more out of this than the people listening to us because we have to think about, okay, we're going to Cincinnati to teach three days on marriage. How is it with us?
Jeff Zaugg: [00:12:57] It's going to sharpen you.
Roger Thompson: [00:12:58] It sharpens us. It keeps you, it's like preaching, in a sense. Hey, I'm preaching on this, am I convicted by it myself, have I, am I, have I found the application for my own life. Otherwise there's that big word hypocrite where you're telling everybody else what to do and you're not doing it yourself. So we've, so I would just have to say that I married way, way up and I'm so grateful for that. And God has blessed us. And I'm not, I don't, I hope that doesn't sound like, okay, just read a couple verses and God blesses you for 50 years. Oh, it's, you know, we've had our struggles, but it hasn't been mostly between us, it's been around us, and God has made us united in the center of that.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:13:47] It's a gift. Yeah. I had written in my notes, something about this principle, get one ahead.
Roger Thompson: [00:13:52] Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:13:52] Is that right? Is that a marriage principle?
Roger Thompson: [00:13:54] Well, it's my principle.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:13:55] Tell me. Tell me.
Roger Thompson: [00:13:57] A lot of times I'll talk with guys, I need to apply this to myself, too. Well, I'll just use myself as an example. I am more introverted than extroverted, which is true of a lot of pastors, by the way. But I give myself to people and then I'm tired and I, when I go home, I just want it to be my haven. I want to get my bike off the rack and go out for a ride, or I want to go to the woodshop and work on something. And, so I can so easily become passive and lazy when I come home. I don't bring energy home. And but if there's anything that changes the evening, it's if I come in the door and I get one ahead of the, of the entropy. And I bring a question home, and for 2 minutes, I engage in something. I'm just one ahead. How was your day? Well, you know what, I saw Jeff today, and I was thinking about you, you know. If I can bring some energy, just one ahead. And so a lot of times guys are stuck in their marriage and I, and they and they also feel like, you know what, I'm my wife is chasing me with all these duties. And I'm retreating and retreating, retreating and playing defense all the time. And I say, you know what? Let's start practicing this, get one ahead. Now, she may be critical of you. You might not be getting along, but get one ahead of that negativity and bring something that just as, hey, let's go to a movie tonight or, you know, let's go out to dinner or can I wash the dishes, or, just get one ahead. And and it doesn't take a lot to create in a different environment, except we have to practice that. I have to practice that. It's easy to think, okay, I got one ahead yesterday. I got some points in the bank. You know what, it all goes to zero overnight.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:50] It sure does.
Roger Thompson: [00:15:50] And so it's really just a principle, another word for it is being proactive. But it's a little simpler. It's just, just do one thing. One kindness, one one word, one hug. Get one ahead. It sets the tone.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:16:05] And that's how I fell in love with and got Michelle to fall in love with me. Is I was that kind of guy in the dating relationship, I was always one ahead. I was three ahead.
Roger Thompson: [00:16:14] Oh yeah. Most guys are.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:16:15] Right. Pursuit. And now if I kind of bring that neutral level of energy, I'm waiting to see how and then kind of play off, oh man, she hit me down. It feels like because something's behind or she's feeling tired, now I feel tired. I follow her lead. You're just saying it's the opposite. Get one ahead is just bring the positive first way. Bring the interests, bring the pursuit. Yeah, I love it.
Roger Thompson: [00:16:36] Even if you're coming home exhausted. You've been beat up, you've been betrayed. You can still come in the door and say, you know, I couldn't wait to get home for you, because here's what's happened to me today. But you see those little things.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:16:48] Glad to be with you.
Roger Thompson: [00:16:49] Yeah, I just, you know, you're my, you're my rock. You're my, you're my sweetheart. You're the one that gives me life, you know, whatever you can say that's true you know. And then let me tell you about my day.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:17:00] Yeah, sure, sure.
Roger Thompson: [00:17:02] So it's not a matter of denying being sort of a, a male Pollyanna. That's not true.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:17:07] So your grandkids are now parents because you've got great grandkids. This vantage point, when it comes to the dad life and fatherhood, a tip, a bit of wisdom. What would you like, is there anything new that you've been like, oh, that's a little bit of an Aha now that my grandkids are becoming dads, moms? Anything from, from this kind of sliver in time, you're like, I'm noticing this and well done, or I'm noticing this, add more focus there?
Roger Thompson: [00:17:35] You know, I, I just have one granddaughter who has children. So we're still new at this, watching that. I would just go back to my own, my own daughters. I watch them, and their husbands, they they're just much more intentional than I was. Maybe it's the culture. You know, schools are tougher, everything's tougher. It's harder to get into college and there's more things to watch out for. I just admire them at how intentional they are. They're not, they're not obsessed, but when I watched their discipline, when they had little ones, they didn't seem to be as impatient as I was. Maybe just when I was around them, they were performing better, I don't know. But I am very grateful for that. And, the thing that is most concerning for me, for young parents, though, is busyness. You, you can't drop in on a fourth grader and expect them to be home. You know, it's I really, that makes me sad. I mean, there's a lot of great activities that I didn't get to do a lot of those things. But the pace of life, and so I, that that that's a, I don't think I'm answering your question, but that's an issue for me.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:19:02] It's an observation.
Roger Thompson: [00:19:03] Yeah, I know. I sound like a out of date curmudgeon when I say this, but I really believe we have, the greatest idol in America is children. It's unquestioned that if it's for the kids, then we will do it. The problem is it's not always to the kid's best interest that we're doing all these things. And so I and getting back to the whole issue of men, I see many men taking a hiatus on their spiritual development and their brotherhood for 10 to 15 years, because they're there coaching, they're on the booster club. They're going to weekend, they're going to get all the games. They're going to all the tournaments. And it's because they've been indoctrinated by the orthodoxy that a good dad never misses a game. Maybe that's because they were deprived. Maybe that's because what their dad did. But, but the culture's changed. Because now, if a good dad never misses a game, does that mean he goes to all 60 hockey games? You know, and during all this time, during all these years of sports, he doesn't have an evening when he can be with men, or in a Bible study with his, or a small group with his wife. And kids are watching them. And so, I know I'm swimming upstream here, but I really and I know I appear to be a civilian in this war. Because I don't have kids at this age. But the pressure is is enormous. And I don't know how to break that, Jeff. I think we we need a counter insurgency to say, okay, you don't have to withdraw, but you do need to balance. So my ideal of, my ideal perspective would be something like this, Hey son or hey daughter, you know, you're you're playing soccer, you're playing baseball, hockey, whatever it is, basketball, and I'm going to be there whenever I can, but every other Thursday, I have a commitment. So you're going to need to ride with a neighbor. But I want, I would want my kids to see that. But that is just, it's not selling.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:21:24] It's not, it's not the norm. It's not what we're seeing.
Roger Thompson: [00:21:25] It's not the norm. And it has to be, there again, that has to be proactive. You got to say that up front and you got to say that to the coach or you got to say that to the team or whatever. So I'm a little off.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:21:39] I like it. I like it. This challenge is so, it's so good for us to all be hearing because just entering that season of kids activities.
Roger Thompson: [00:21:45] Well, and again, it's so but it's this idolatry and you know, it's an idol when you can't question it.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:21:51] Yep. Yes. Yes.
Roger Thompson: [00:21:52] Because inordinate fear comes, oh, if I say that to my daughter, say that to my son, oh, you can't say those. Well that that's good, good indication that that's an idol.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:22:03] It is. Wow.
Roger Thompson: [00:22:04] You know, and so that that needs to be taken on not to destroy it, but to balance it. And it's my opinion that the adults have ruined kids sports. We, we have to have world championships for four year olds. We have to have the Blue Angels fly over and the Star Spangled Banner in a World War two hero there and give them a... Come on. And then also dads, young dads are expected to take all these days off work. I got to be at kindergarten graduation, first grade graduation, third grade.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:22:36] All the moments.
Roger Thompson: [00:22:37] And again, those are sweet, in a way. But when a guy's got only got so much PTO.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:22:43] Sure. Then there's no family vacation.
Roger Thompson: [00:22:44] Yeah, I mean, there's just, I really, I really struggle with the pressures on young dads. Guys like you, with kids in the home, early to elementary age, just the busyness is huge.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:03] I'm thankful, I'm thankful for your challenge here because you're noticing that men that the fire, the hunger for God, the fire for brotherhood and taking ground for the kingdom of God is going down or out in some of these dads because they're they're they're choosing 15 years of sideline from the kingdom to go pursue the sideline of a soccer game.
Roger Thompson: [00:23:24] Yeah. And of course, there's some of that's, some of that's so good in many ways. It's the dad and the son doing it together. The kid loves it, but other times it's it's the it's the hockey dad.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:34] Obsessed dad.
Roger Thompson: [00:23:35] Who says, you know what, you're in this to make a living. You're going to get a scholarship.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:39] To complete my identity.
Roger Thompson: [00:23:40] You're going to get a scholarship, you know. And then when he gets to 13 and he finds out he's not growing like the other guys and he's not going to make the football team and, you know, and then he drops out.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:52] And then he's failed his dad.
Roger Thompson: [00:23:52] Yeah, he's failed. So there's that whole dark side.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:55] It is a whole other side.
Roger Thompson: [00:23:57] It's dark enough without that dark side, but I've seen that too.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:24:00] Well then, we talked about this before hitting record, but there's a a side that young dads are not taking leadership. They're not saying, I'll lead, because we feel like, man, we've got areas of our life that's not pulled together and that's like, man, I've got a lot to learn in that area still. I have learned the most by leading. Because when I lead something, I, one, I don't miss it. I commit, when I'm the leader, I show up. And I can navigating that with my daughters of I'm leading this, that's why I'm not going to be there, I love you, cheering for you. But I'm the leader, so I'm here. So that's where part of the antidote to this, I think, is is more dads saying, I'm going to take leadership, not only be a participant and a consumer of going to that thing, but I'm actually going to pull group together and be a leader and use Roger's curriculum or use, you know, whatever, like just taking ownership and leadership, I think is part of the solution to the the vortex of like being pulled into a way out of kingdom focused to kid and cheering focused.
Roger Thompson: [00:24:58] Well, that's a that's a practical way of saying I'm going to get one ahead on it. I'm going to, I'm going to put that on the calendar before all this other stuff gets planned. And just to let you know, kids, you don't get to vote on this because that's a spiritual priority for your mom and me or for me.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:25:16] Yeah. And there's other families, other dads, depending on me if it's a dads group, You know that kind of thing.
Roger Thompson: [00:25:19] Exactly. Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:25:20] Roger, is there anything else that you wanted to share with our DadAwesome community?
Roger Thompson: [00:25:25] Well, I, I just really, first of all, I just really support the mission. I just think it's wonderful what you are doing. I know some other guys that are working with dads, and I think, you know, it's easy for us to say there's a fatherhood crisis in America. It's easy for us to say it's the fatherlessness that's killing America, but that's a generational correction. That's not going to happen by yelling at people or having a program in the inner city. This is a tragedy that we're living with, as you know. And so the only way back from that tragedy is to one, one man in a time, one home at a time. My home, my dad's home was a great example of that, you know. If Christ had not rescued him, put him with other brothers, you wouldn't have these other four generations following Him. And and so just I just want to encourage anybody listening to this podcast, keep listening, you know, get yourself some AirPods and instead of listening to the other stuff while you're walking, while you're running, while you're biking, while you're working, listen to stuff that will fan the flame and sharpen the edge and think about your own children and ultimately what you're building into them. So thank you, Jeff, for your stamina, your endurance, your perseverance in doing this.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:26:46] Game on. We're just, we're just getting started. And you inspire me, Roger, with just saying I'm staying after for the hearts of men, for dads. Like you just, I'm very grateful to have you in my corner and be on the same team as you. So, would you say a short prayer over all us dads?
Roger Thompson: [00:27:00] Well, Lord, here we are and we're just your boys. And we love being with our Father. We love how you accept us. We're safe in Your Grace. You give us an identity, You give us an assignment, and then You walk with us every day. So, Lord, we're claiming that right now we're reclaiming that and thanking you for being our Father, our Guide, our Strength, our Sovereign Master. And I pray, Lord, that as we walk today, that we'll simply be obedient, that we'll listen to You. And thank you for being our Father. In Jesus name, Amen.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:27:48] Thank you so much for joining us this week, for the second half of my conversation with Roger Thompson. All the conversation notes, the show notes are going to be at dadawesome.org/294. I would recommend you check out the show notes, link over to the YouTube channel from IronWorks, the Ministry that Roger Thompson leads for men. These 40 day challenges are fantastic. Little short, 2 to 3 minute videos, YouTube videos that you can go through different themes for 40 straight days. He also has other small group curriculum, his book and I would recommend you follow what he's doing and he's going to get to create more. He's in the sweet spot of like really dialing up even more resources for man. So, so grateful for Roger. Guys, thanks for listening this week. Thank you for being DadAwesome. We, we are so grateful for you as you've shared with other men. We continue to hear stories of other men finding this resource because they were invited. They were texted the link dadawesome.org, hey, check this out. I think you're an awesome dad. I think this might be helpful to press in and be more DadAwesome for your family. So it's real simple way to to expand the impact of this ministry. Guys, thanks for listening. Have a great week.
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· 5:55 - "An affirmation is, here's what you bring to the game. I saw your strength when... Or thank you for reminding me, in your behavior, of something you've done. So when we do that with other men, it's like a blacksmith's bellows, it heats up the fire, the coal is there, but we don't know who we are until somebody else really tells us who we are. And if we can build a culture of mutual affirmation and get out of the culture of sarcasm, a true affirmation cuts through all the shyness of really looking at another man in the eye and saying, Brother, I love you.”
· 11:59 - "How can you stay married for 41 years? You just have to do your part and your wife is the only one who can do her part. But a lot of times men give up. Well, I'm not getting back what I'm putting in, so I'm going to quit. You think about the five love languages, I'm trying to love my wife in my language and it doesn't translate. I need to, I need to learn her language.”
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