Sometimes your marriage isn’t about you and your spouse...

Sometimes it’s about your children’s future—their health, their careers, and their own marriage years from now.

Pastor Rick was camping with his family at the lake, taking some well-deserved vacation time. One morning, as they were getting ready to go fishing, Rick walked along the dock toward the boat with his arms full of gear, stumbled on a loose board, and lost his balance. As he was flailing around to avoid falling in the water, his cell phone popped from his pocket and plopped into the lake.  

Against my lawyer’s advice, I’m going to challenge you to do something your mommy and daddy told you never to do. Something like…oh, I dunno…running with scissors.

Sound too daring for you? That’s not surprising. 

Whether you're a dad looking for inspiration or someone looking for a way to show your own dad how much you love him, Jay Payleitner has a fun new book for you! We caught up with Jay to chat about The Dad Book, Father's Day, and how dads can be heroes in unexpected ways...

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  

—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ɴɪᴠ)

As a devoted parent, you already take full advantage of “teachable moments.” You know the idea:  

• Walking in the woods and seeing poison ivy is when you teach about poison ivy. (“Leaflets three, let it be.”)

1. Does your child spend more time texting with friends than talking to you?  Even when you are in the same room, at the same table, or in the same car?

2. Do you get one-word answers to most of your questions—words like “fine,” “okay,” “later,” “no,” or “whatever”?  

3. When your kids come home, do they go their separate ways?  Hiding in their room?  Buried in video games, smartphones, or other digital technology? 

4. Do you know what your kid has planned for this weekend?  This summer?

5. Do you know what your kid is considering for college or a career?  

6. Can you name your child’s best friend?  Worst enemy?

There’s a unicycle hanging in our garage.  I know that because I bump my head on it two or three times every summer.  It’s never been ridden. And that’s okay.

We bought it for Randy’s ninth birthday for about 75 bucks. He gave it a try, spending a total of maybe six or eight hours goofing with it.  His brothers and sister also experimented with the one-wheeled contraption.  Isaac probably stayed up the longest – eight or ten seconds.  None of them ever really got the hang of it and the unicycle now hangs in my garage as a memorial to one of the great secrets of how to be a good dad.