When Jesus visits your home, He'll ask for you, dads.
Dads, when a family member challenges you or point out a problem in the way you’re acting, don’t (only) think,
“How can I defend against this?”,
rather, think –
“How can I learn from this?”
or
“Is there something helpful and true in what this person is saying?”
Thanks to Satellite imagery, I now have photographic proof that my kids don’t always keep the backyard clean.
Are you trying to get your kids to do something fast? Tell them you’re going to time them. Even a two year old, who doesn’t really understand the concept of time, can be encouraged by the words, ‘Let’s see how fast you can do this!’
Dads, has the weather been below zero for a 
number of days?
Bring your kids on an ice hike!
Some additional suggestions:
– Point out that they can see how thick the ice is.
– Choose a lake which is not filled with ice fishing.
– Dress warmly.
– Bring Kleenex for runny noses.
– Don’t get too freaked out by the booming sounds 
coming from the ice. You’re probably perfectly safe! Probably!
– Tell your four year old to walk on the snowy parts, it’s less slippery.
I’ll just also note in passing that apparently I’m really bad at formatting pictures on a blog post.
Dads, don’t throw away bananas! Peel them, put them in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer.
When you have enough, throw them in the blender with whatever flavor you’d like to add and make banana shakes.
They taste great.
So now that we are in the coldest part of the year, I thought some summer memories might be encouraging and refreshing. Here goes.
Every year on our North Shore of Lake Superior Trip we spend a few hours on Artist point in Grand Marais. And every year those hours are a highlight of the year, but this summer it looked like our joy there might be dampened.
This was because only a few minutes after we got to the east side of the point, rain clouds came over the hill and we saw that we were going to get rained on. So we packed up quickly and headed back to the car as it started sprinkling. But as it turned out, the rain didn’t end our time there.
Here are some truths we were reminded of as a result of what happened next:
1. Sometimes a dad’s job is to get the mom to do what she might not otherwise want to.
It took some time to get to the center of the point where you cross over to the parking lot near downtown. And as we got there (and as we were standing in the rain) I looked up and saw that there was blue sky past the clouds and it looked like the rain would soon be ending. So I suggested that we just wait it out. Debbie was hesitant at first because we were just getting wetter, because it was still raining, but (to her credit) she fairly quickly agreed.
2. Sometime God ordains that bad things 
will cause better things to happen.
We decided to walk to a section we’d spent very little time at in all of our trips to this point. And there we found a jut-out of rock that was somewhat of a challenge to get to. It was here that we had the most fun we’ve ever had on Artist Point.
If it hadn’t been for the rain, we wouldn’t have stopped at this spot. And for the record, I’d just like to note that I’m aware that in the grand scheme of things, getting rained on is not a very bad thing.
3. Sometimes fear becomes fun.
The jut-out was in the form of a 100 foot oval. At one point this oval was very narrow. 
The waves were coming fairly strongly and sometimes would spurt up ten feet high. And if you crossed the narrow section at the wrong time you would find yourself getting very wet. The kids at first didn’t want to cross it, but then saw that the challenge created thrills.
4. Wet clothes dry.
Before we were done, all of us had gotten a little wet, and some of us got very wet. Our clothes were dripping. But it was clean water and the next day (or even later that afternoon) no one would have known that we had been drenched. So what’s the big deal?
5. Sometimes Joy can be free.
Two of our kids said that this was as good as (or better) than a water park. It would cost us nearly $100 for us to bring our whole family to a water park, so this was very encouraging for my Dad ears to hear.
6. Teenagers and 3-years-olds can find the same thing to be fun.
There were no children that were left out, or thought it was boring, or who couldn’t play along.
I just looked at my journal for that day and it said this:
The water running at Artist point was one of the more perfect times we’ve ever had as a family.
I thank God.
Dads, in the event that you’re getting a present for a child, or there is a surprise birthday party coming up, or [Fill in your legitimate reason for keeping something secret], teach your kids:
One of the important aspects of keeping a secret is not letting the other person know that you have one.
We have been talking with our kids to let them know that the twenty-fifth of December is not the only time that they can enjoy the advent season. So, like most families, we do Christmas-y things as a family all throughout the month of December. And I’m trying to point out to them that those things aren’t just build up to the main event, they are part of the main event.
In any case, we were encouraged along these lines by what we read in a Caring Bridge update. The seven month old daughter of friends of our family has leukemia and has been in and out of treatments at the hospital since summer. Here’s the end of their last post.
… Also pray for Kevin and the kids at home and for all of us as we prepare for Christmas in many practical (and impractical, scattered, and hectic!) ways as we are very excited to give each other gifts and enjoy one of our favorite times of the year and give extra love and attention to the children… and we are longing to find some quiet to remember the wonder that God sent a Savior, Emmanuel… God with us. I want to deeply feel this myself and also share this good news with our children over and over again during this hard season in our lives.
This family wasn’t together at home on the day that most of us celebrated Thanksgiving. And it’s quite possible that they won’t be home together on Christmas Day. But that isn’t stopping them from celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas. Quite the opposite. This hard time is causing them to be more intentional in sharing this joy with their kids.
And if they can do it during a time of Cancer, the rest of us should be able to do it during … normal times. So do it.
Dads, give yourself permission to not spend a lot on your kids Christmas presents.
Dads, teach your kids that it’s okay to keep and use things even after they are no longer perfect looking.
Responsible Father 