Fathering Our Future

Fathering Our Future

By Anthony VandagriffParentingKids & Family
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Fathering Our Future episodes

  • What Kids Want Most From Their Dad

    We like to keep the main thing, the main thing. We all want to focus on what is most important. How would you feel if you knew what your children actually wanted more than anything else? Would it change the way you go about life and what you aim to do?

    Your kids want the exact same thing as my kids; time with their dad. More than our money or personal success, they just want us. I’ll provide my reflections on a father who struggled to have a relationship with his children even though he had fame and fortune. I’ll also leave you with a poem I wrote to remind you of this truth and put it in perspective for you.

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    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    18 min
  • Gratitude's Gift

    Finding yourself consumed by stress and anxiety? Do you feel like you cannot escape all of the chaos and insanity in your life? I’ve got good news, you can and a lot easier than you think.

    In this episode, I discuss a researched and biblical remedy to anxiety and consuming negativity; gratitude. A simple change in your mindset and what you think about has the ability to transform your outlook, mood, and life. This is the gift of gratitude.

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    JOIN THE WAITLIST!

    My new devotional, Following Our Father, is coming out at the beginning of August and I do not want you to miss it. Click the link below, get a sneak peak inside the devotional, and enter your email to join the waitlist.

    https://fatheringourfuture.com/2024/06/09/following-our-father-sneak-peak/

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    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    19 min
  • Life Before Balance

    As a dad, one of your greatest concerns and pursuits is time with your family. Like everyone else you turn your attention to what is known as work-life balance. What if I told you that was not the right place to start? What if immediately pursuing work-life balance is putting the cart ahead of the horse?

    I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this and I have come to realize the idea of work-life balance is misguiding. What we want is freedom and time with our family. We analyze our lives, which often feel overly chaotic, and we work on bringing order to what is. Even if you are herald as the to-do list king, you are likely still struggling to obtain what you are striving for.

    In this episode, I provide the starting point for you to obtain what you truly desire and it is not a how-to on balancing your life and your work. There is an evaluation to perform and a question to consider before you make a move. Start here, and you’ll be on the path to get more time with your family.

    —

    JOIN THE WAITLIST!

    My new devotional, Following Our Father, is coming out at the beginning of August and I do not want you to miss it. Click the link below, get a sneak peak inside the devotional, and enter your email to join the waitlist.

    https://fatheringourfuture.com/2024/06/09/following-our-father-sneak-peak/

    —

    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    20 min
  • Lessons from Moving to a New Home

    Change is one of those things we can talk about but typically hate to experience. We are creatures of habit and we enjoy the comfort that comes with the familiar and consistent. Well, my family and I made a big change and moved to a new house. The move was something I was against for a while and my oldest was not too thrilled about it either.

    Through the process of moving, three things stood out to me that I feel are important for dads to know. One specifically deals with making a move that impacts your children and the other two are relevant for any change that happens in your life.

    These lessons will help you connect further with your kids, understand your true value, and turn your fear of the unknown into hopeful expectation.

    —

    JOIN THE WAITLIST!

    My new devotional, Following Our Father, is coming out at the beginning of August and I do not want you to miss it. Click the link below, get a sneak peak inside the devotional, and enter your email to join the waitlist.

    https://fatheringourfuture.com/2024/06/09/following-our-father-sneak-peak/ 

    —

    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    21 min
  • Don't Be The Dad You Wish You Had

    A very common piece of advice that I see given to dads is, “Be the dad you wish you had.” Depending on who hears this, this suggestion may resinate, but it is not right.

    As dads, our devotion is to our children and we should be focused on their needs. If our focus is on the pain of our past and what we wish we would have had, we can very easily miss what is right in front of us.

    This week’s episode is dedicated to bringing a corrective to this advice and illuminating what our pursuit as dads should be. Whether your dad was absent, negligent, awful, or amazing, your dad is not the one you should be looking to as a reference point for yourself. But, I’ll tell you who is.

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    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    20 min
  • Benefits of Talking with Your Kids

    Our mission as Christian dads is to equip and disciple our children to be a part of God’s mission in a greater capacity than ourselves. In order to achieve this, we must have influence with our kids. We can only have influence if we have a relationship with them, but there will be no relationship without communication.

    As we focus on communication with our children, there are additional benefits that come with this. I want you to place an emphasis on communication as a dad, so I want to make sure you are aware of the benefits that come along with this discipline.

    There are benefits for you and for your children that improve success, respect, and relationships. Communication is not only key, it is essential.

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    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    26 min
  • The Greatest Lesson We Learn From Our Young Children

    As dads, we do a lot of teaching. We guide our kids through multiple areas of life, providing experience and wisdom every day. While we are the prominent teacher as the dad, there is something our children teach us and we need to pay attention to it.

    In Mark 10, we read where Jesus expresses the importance and value of being like little children. When it comes to faith, prayer, and how we approach God, our children model what we should be doing.

    I want to encourage you to learn from your children when it comes to thinking about God because growth and maturation often cause us to view God through a different lens than children. And the lens our children use, is the right lens.

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    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    20 min
  • Getting Your Kids to Obey You

    Imagine how convenient it would be if every time you asked your kid to do something they obeyed. You never had to worry about uproars in restaurants or meltdowns anywhere else in public. Your kids just obeyed you all the time.

    Don’t let your imagination run too rampant because there is no fail-proof way to guarantee that. However, we do have biblical guidance on how we can increase the likelihood of our children obeying us.

    In Ephesians 6, Paul addresses children obeying and honoring their parents and in conjunction to that, speaks instruction to fathers to help their children fulfill the commandment of obedience. On this episode, I unpack what Paul says to dads about provoking their children to anger, and what we should do instead to help our children obtain the promise attached to obedience.

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    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    29 min
  • What is a Dad?

    What is a dad? While it may seem like a basic and fundamental question, there isn’t always a clear cut answer.

    Some may allude to a dad being an ultimate authority and others compare dads to coaches. Some define a dad simply by the tasks he performs or should perform.

    I don’t see how any of those definitions could be right. When I consider the Bible and God, who is our Father, I see a much different portrayal of what a dad is.

    In this week’s episode, I layout my understand and definition of a dad to help us understand what makes us stand apart. Having this understanding provides clarity and illuminates the path we can follow to grow, improve, and become the dad our children need us to be.

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    If you’re interested in learning more about my upcoming devotional and would like a sneak peak inside, click here: https://fatheringourfuture.com/2024/06/09/following-our-father-sneak-peak/

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    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    26 min
  • Your Motivation is Wrong (Maybe)

    Luke 15 may be the most moving and inspirational passage of the Bible for men on the topic of fatherhood but it can also be one of the most confusing.

    We read of a father who gives his younger son his inheritance early. I’m not sure I know a dad alive today who would be willing to do that. So why did this father?

    I want to talk to you about your motivations as a dad. I’m sure there are things you do as a dad that you’ve probably never considered why you do them. You likely have rules for your kids, but are those rules really for their benefit?

    We are going deep today to get to the heart of the matter and discover our intent and motivation for why we do what we do as dads. Because what we do should be less about us and more about our children.

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    For more content make sure to check out https://fatheringourfuture.com/ and if you'd like to support this effort visit: https://fatheringourfuture.com/support/ 

    22 min

About Fathering Our Future

From the publisher's feed

Fathering Our Future is the podcast for dads who are dedicated to embracing this God-given identity and fulfilling the mission of fatherhood. We explore fatherhood from a biblical perspective focusing on identity, relationships, and mission.