9 Lessons I Learned About Being A Good Dad By Having A Bad One

Father’s day is always a bittersweet time for me. As I scroll through my Facebook and Twitter feed on Father’s Day I see countless posts of people posting pictures of their dads with captions such as: “Thankful to have such a wonderful dad!” “Grateful for this guy’s leadership in my life!” “So glad to have such a wonderful father!” “I love this man!”

As I read these posts, I sometimes feel disappointment and sadness since I cannot post a similar one about my dad. My dad is no longer living, but the truth is I don’t remember my dad every saying he loved me. Ever hugging me. Ever going to church with us (much less ever praying for/with me.) My dad didn’t teach me how to shave, treat a woman, how to tie a tie, or how to light a water heater’s pilot light.

I love my father, but the truth (sadly) is that my dad was not a good dad.

What Makes A Dad “Good?”

Before I go any further, I want to say a few things about what I mean when I say, good dad. First, simply being a dad does not necessarily make you a good dad.

There are many dads who abandon their children after they’re born (or even worse, encourage their wife to abort their child while they are still in the womb!) There are also many dads that live in the same house as their children yet aren’t the father that God designed them to be (such was the case with my dad.)

Being a good dad is much more than merely being a dad. I mean no disrespect to my dad when I say my dad wasn’t a good one, I’m just stating the truth. A good dad is one who does the things listed below. Sure there are more, but these are the biggies. It’s impossible to be a good dad and not do most of these things. (As you’ll see I’ve listed “fun” as a good-dad-quality…I suppose you can still be a good dad and not be fun. You’ll just be a boring, good dad. 🙂

I’ve forgiven my dad for not being the kind of dad that God designed him to be (a good dad.) I love my dad. As I mentioned above, my dad is no longer living, but I wish I could go back and time and talk to him before he died (I didn’t speak to him (or even know where he was) for about a decade before he died.) I wish I could have told him how things turned out for me. How by God’s grace I am a different father to my son than he was to me. And how that same God wanted to change his life and fill it with joy.

But I never got the chance. However, I do have the opportunity to make things different for my family. To change my family tree. To start new traditions. If you (like me) didn’t have a Godly dad in your life, I want you to know your past doesn’t trap you. That God is in the business of changing people (and families.) No matter what kind of dad you are today, God wants to make you into a better one.

It’s never too late to be a good dad.

9 Things I Learned About Being A Good Father From Having A Bad One.

Although my dad didn’t teach me the things every father should teach his son, I did, however, learn some important lessons about fatherhood from my dad, and these things have impacted the kind of dad I am to my children. I know a lot of mother’s read our blog, but today’s post is for all the dad’s out there. (Although good moms should do all of the same things.) So mom’s, please forward this post to all of the dad’s in your life (and all of the will-be-a-dad-one-day guys); I hope that all dad’s (myself included) let these nine lessons mark the kind of dad they are.

1. Tell Your Kids You Love Them. Often.

It breaks my heart that I can’t remember my dad ever telling me he loved me. I’m sure he did, I just can’t remember it. That’s sad. Don’t let your kids ever say the same thing about you. Tell your kids you love them and you are proud of them, often. Tell it to them until they say they are sick of hearing you say it. Then say it a million more times.

Your kids long to hear you say that you love them and that you’re incredibly proud of them. They may say they don’t (for those of you raising teenagers), but they do. Trust me.

2. Pray For Your Kids. Often.

I don’t remember my dad ever praying for me. In fact, I don’t remember my dad ever praying for anything, ever. That’s heartbreaking. For him and me.

One of the greatest privileges (and obligations) we have as parents is praying for our children. My dad missed out on that privilege. I won’t.

Take time to pray for your kids every. single. day. Let them hear you pray. Pray at dinner time. Pray as a family. Pray when trouble comes. Pray when things are good. Pray when you have little. Pray when you have plenty. Let your kids catch you praying. Let them know that you know the One who holds the whole world in His hands. The One who hears us when we pray. The One who is always there for us. Let them know that you have high regard for prayer.

Bottom line; Make sure your kids know (and see you model) that one of the most manly things that any man man can do is pray.

Teach your kids this at an early age.

3. Teach Your Kids Where Truth Comes From

Your children are going to spend their entire lives living in a world that’s trying to sell them one lie after another. Our job as parents is to teach them truth and where that truth comes from.

Truth ultimately comes from the Bible. The Bible is our standard of what is right and wrong. It gives us fixed points of reference to realign our life when the storms of life come our way; like a lighthouse does for a ship at sea.

Make sure your house (and your life) revolves around the Word of God. Teach your child what it means to have a Biblical worldview. If you don’t the world will teach them otherwise. And your child will spend their entire life searching for truth in all the wrong places. Don’t let this happen.

If you have young children The Jesus Story Book Bible is one of the best children’s Bibles you can buy. It’s worth its weight in gold. Buy it, and read it to your children as often as you can.

If you’re an adult and looking to learn more about God’s Word yourself, I want to suggest two books that will change your life forever.

1. The ESV Study Bible. This is simply the best study Bible you can buy, and the information contained in it will help you learn what the Bible actually means.
2. Living By The Book – This book was written by one of my professors and it will transform the way you read and study the Bible. Trust me. It’s also worth it’s weight in gold.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6

4. Hug and kiss your wife in front of your kids. Often.

I’m not talking about a full on make-out session. That would just gross your kid out. But show affection to your wife in front of your children. Hug her. Kiss her. Tell her you love her. Tell her she is beautiful. Hold her hand. Take your wife out on dates without your child. Go on a short (or long!) vacation without your children. (I’ll admit, this one is hard to do. We enjoy spending time with our children.)

Why is this so important? You want your children to know that their parents (and their home) are secure. That mom and dad are committed to each other. That mom and dad are in love with each other. That even though their friend’s family may be falling apart, theirs isn’t. I want my children to know their home is a safe place. That mom and dad love each other and aren’t going anywhere. Ever. No matter what.

My children never have to worry about their dad divorcing their mom (or vise versa.) We are in this for the long haul. In fact, here are the exact wedding vowels I made to my wife on our wedding day. I want my kids to know I meant every word. (It’s amazing how many husbands forget the vowels they made on their wedding day. Sad.)

I, Rick give myself completely to you, Abbie,

To be your husband in marriage; I will lead you spiritually

As I submit to the Lord and His Word to guide our lives;

I will be faithful to God and to you

and I will never leave you;

Honor, serve, & cherish you;

And divorce, whether mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical,

Will never be an option to me.

I will forgive you as Christ has forgiven me;

I will encourage, challenge and pray for you.

And I will keep Christ at the center of our marriage.

And I will love with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength all of the days of my life

All this I vow to you and to God.

Do I always do a perfect job at doing what I said I would do? Nope. Do I always strive to? Yelp. I mean what I said that day. And by God’s grace, I will strive to live out those vowels until God takes one of us home. I’m not a perfect dad, but I know where Perfection comes from, and I daily seek to become more like Him. 🙂

In case I wasn’t clear: I am madly, deeply, crazy, head over heels in love with my wife. I fall more in love with her every day. She becomes more beautiful to me every day. And I hope my kid’s know it. 🙂

5. Don’t argue in front of your kids. (Well, at least not very often.) 🙂

This point goes with the one above. In addition to making your home a secure one for your kids, make it a peaceful one. Every married couple has arguments. It’s normal. It’s healthy. It’s ok. But as parents, we should make it our goal not to have them in front of our children. (Yes, I know this isn’t always possible. Trust me; I’m a mess to be married to.) 🙂 But we should strive for it. By the way, we should also strive to fight fair with our spouse when we do argue.

You want your kids to want to be at home. You want your kids to think of your house as the most peaceful, loving place on the planet. Sadly, this wasn’t the case with me. Many of my memories growing up are of my mom and dad arguing. It made my home feel unstable (which it was; my parents eventually divorced, and my dad abandoned my mother to raise four boys on her own) and un-peaceful and I never wanted to be there as I got into my teenage years.

Dads, do all that you can to make your home a place your kids want to be at. Trust me. One day they may not be living with you, and you want them to want to come back. If you don’t mess up (and you will) own it. Ask for forgiveness. Let your children hear you do it. Good dads let the words, “Will you forgive me?” be close at hand.

7. Be Fun.

I’ve met a lot of dads (mine included) that seem to have forgotten what it’s like to be a kid. They yell. They scream. Are quick-tempered. Grumpy. And outright no fun to be around.

They don’t read silly stories to their kids, help them build universes made entirely out of legos, go down the slide with them, or put on silly puppet shows for them.

In other words, they are mean-o’s.

Don’t be this dad.

Have fun with your kids. Make memories. Laugh with them. Tickle them. Jump in the ball pit with them. Be goofy with them. Create new family traditions. In other words be FUN to be around.

To combine the last three points; make sure your house is secure, loving, peacefully, and full of joy. That is the kind of house a kid longs to be at, not longs to run away from.

8. Use Alcohol Wisely

I’m not anti-alcohol by any means. Some of the greatest dads I know enjoy a good beer from time to time. However, I am (as is God) anti-drunkenness. It’s never ok to be drunk. It’s especially never ok to be drunk around your children.

My father was an alcoholic, in fact, he eventually drank himself to death. Almost all the memories I have of my father involved him drinking. A lot.

As a child, I was always scared of my dad when he was drunk. Not because he was physically abusive to us or anything like that, but because he was a different person when he was drinking. I didn’t feel secure him. He would act strangely. Sometimes he would act over-the-top-silly. Sometimes he would yell. Sometimes he would say mean things. Often he would simply pass out. In other words, he would act drunk. I didn’t know much about what it meant to be drunk as a kid, all I knew is that when my father was, he was a different person, and that person scared me. Sadly, my dad was that different person most of the time.

He had no idea how to handle alcohol. Alcohol is like a deadly weapon. In the hands of someone responsible it can be ok, but in the hands of someone who isn’t, it can be deadly; such was the case with my father.

Fathers, you don’t ever, EVER want your children to be scared of you. And being drunk around them is one sure fire way to do just that. If you’re a person, who can’t handle alcohol responsibly than leave it alone. It’s not worth it.

Trust me.

9. And The Most Important Item On This Entire List: Teach Your Children About God.

This one combines all of the points above into one. Reggie Joiner often reminds people that from the day your child is born you only have 936 weeks with them before they graduate high school.

That’s it.

After our children graduate high school and perhaps go on to college, our influence in their life decreases drastically. That’s why it’s so important for us to use those 936 weeks to teach them all we can about God; who He is, what He was done for them, how they can know Him, and how He desires for them to make a difference in the world with their life.

When these 936 weeks are done, they’re done. There’s no such thing as a parenting time machine. You can’t go back and teach your adult child what you wish you would have taught them when they were a child.

These 936 weeks are all we have. Let’s make them count.

“When we understand how much time we have left with our kids, we begin to make what matters, matter more.” – Reggie Joiner

It’s Never To Late To Start Becoming A “Good Dad”

Being a good dad isn’t easy. It isn’t automatic. It takes work. Every day I have to make a conscious effort to be a “good dad.” To put my desires aside for those of my children and wife. Some days I blow it (ask my wife) other days I feel like I did a pretty good job. Thankfully God is always at work helping become the kind of dad he designed me to be, a good dad.

If you’re reading this and you haven’t been a “good dad” please know that it isn’t too late. Today’s the day to tell your children (and your wife) you’re sorry for not being a “good dad” and that you’re ready to make a change. To do things differently. To do things the right way. Get involved in a good Bible teaching church where you can learn God’s Word, and be around other dads striving to be a “good dad” as well. Spend time reading God’s Word (again, this an excellent tool to help you do that) and praying that God would help transform you into the sort of dad whose children’s love to be around.

He can do it. He’s in the business of changing lives…I’m living proof.

A Father’s Day Shout Out To My Father In Law (And Mom)

Although I didn’t have the sort of father God intended for me to have, I’m blessed that He (God) did put other men in my life to take his place. There have been a handful of men that my life has crossed paths with the last 15 years who have helped shaped me into the sort of dad and husband I am today.

One of those men is my father-in-law.

I’ve been fortunate to have a front row seat the last 13 years to see the sort of dad my father-in-law is to my wife (and to me.) He is loving, patient, helpful and has many of the qualities that I want to have as a father.

He was there the day Noah was born and has always been more than supportive and encouraging to Abbie and I as we raise Noah. I could write an entire blog post on how he has loved the past 14 years he has known me (I had a lot of growing up to in my 20’s) 🙂 but I’ll just say he is a fantastic father, husband, grandpa, and friend. I’m thankful that God put him in my life.

Noah is one lucky kid to have a grandpa like him.

In addition, I have to say thank you to my mom on father’s day. She played the role of both a mother and a father to my three brothers for most of our life and me. She pulled the weight of two parents, and I love her.

I know there are a lot of mom’s out there doing exactly what my mom did and my hats off to you. God never intended parenting to work that way; I want you to know that you are appreciated and what you are doing is important.

To all the fathers out there I want to wish you a happy father’s day. Being a good dad takes a lot of work, but it’s the best job in the world. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep being the sort of dad whose kid’s look up to and strive to be like.

What you are doing is important. We only have 936 weeks from the first day we lay eyes on our kids. Let’s make them count!

What sort of dad did you have growing up? Did he model what it meant to be a “good dad?” If so, how?