There's a moment in Interstellar where Matthew McConaughey sits down and watches 25 years of video messages from the kids he left behind. Daniel Chesnut drove home from that movie snot-crying, climbed into bed next to his sleeping two-year-old, and asked God a simple question: why is this wrecking me? What he heard back changed the way he has fathered for the last decade. In this conversation, Daniel shares listening prayer with your kids, why vulnerability is actually strength, how to play the long game with a 14-year-old, and the truth that's rescuing him in every transition: nothing is lost.

✅ The listening prayer practice he does with his 14-year-old son every year

✅ Why spending your 30s building a future can cost you the people you're building it for

✅ How to cultivate access to your kid's heart (hint: it's not across the couch)

✅ The truth rescuing him in every transition: nothing is lost

Takeaways

• Ask God for a word or theme for the year, and invite your kids into the same practice. Take the pressure off of timing.
• When a movie, a song, or a moment wrecks you, pay attention. It's a knock on the door of your heart.
• Spend your 30s becoming the kind of man who can be entrusted with more, instead of building a future your family won't want to share with you.
• Cultivate access to your kid's heart. Delight in what they delight in. Talk over sushi or on the drive, not across the couch.
• Nothing is lost. Every missed moment, every transition, every thing you wish you could get back is being restored.

Guest

Daniel Chesnut is a filmmaker, storyteller, and the founder of Process Creative. He and his wife Katie live in Southern California with their 14-year-old son Brooklyn. Daniel has spent years helping people tell their stories on film and is part of the Pursuit Beach Fitness men's discipleship community. He writes about fatherhood, faith, and becoming on his Substack.

Quotes

1. "The strongest man on the sand is the most vulnerable man on the sand."
2. "I made time. I created time. And I can make time work for you, not against you."
3. "Spend the next decade becoming the kind of person who can be entrusted with more in 10 years."
4. "Whatever you do, cultivate access to your kid's heart. That's it. Just stay in their life."
5. "Nothing is lost. Even the moments you regret are being restored."

Links

• Text MOM to (651) 370-8618 // or click here

• Join the DadAwesome Prayer Team: Text "pray" to (651) 370-8618

• DADAWESOME Book:dadawesome.org/book

• Send a Voice Message to DadAwesome

• Apply to join the next DadAwesome Accelerator Cohort

• Subscribe to DadAwesome Messages: Text the word "Dad" to (651) 370-8618

• Send a Voice Message to DadAwesome

• 7-Day Video Series: dadawesome.org/book

• DadAwesome Podcast: dadawesome.org/podcast

• Free Chapter + Intro Video Series: dadawesome.org/book

• Apply to join the next DadAwesome Accelerator Cohort: Email [email protected]

• Subscribe to DadAwesome Messages: Text "Dad" to (651) 370-8618

• Becoming a King by Morgan Snyder

• Walking with God by John Eldredge

• Interstellar (film) and soundtrack by Hans Zimmer

• Process Creative (Daniel's company)

• Pursuit Beach Fitness

• BABY SWIM LESSONS - The Ultimate Routine to Help Our 2 YR OLD Swim and Deep Dive Underwater (The Bucket List Family)