DadAwesome

SUMMARY
Your words become your child's inner voice, for better or for worse. In this episode, Brent Silkey shares the practice he's kept without missing a single year — a handwritten letter to each of his four kids on every birthday, so that by graduation they'll hold an 18-year catalog of God's faithfulness over their life. Recorded in the pouring rain during Brent's 24-hour run for freedom, this conversation will challenge you to speak life over your family, stop settling for comfort, and take the next step you already know you need to take.
TAKEAWAYS
You can do hard things, or you can have hard things happen to you. Dads who train themselves — physically, spiritually, emotionally — build a reservoir their whole family draws from.
Your words are the foundation blocks of your family's culture. Brent has written and read a letter to each of his four kids on every birthday, so by graduation they'll hold an 18-year catalog of God's faithfulness over their life.
Big vision belongs to the whole family, not just to dad. Bike rides became park days, marathons became bake sales and jewelry stands, and the kids caught the heart without ever being told to.
Freedom from pornography is one of the greatest gifts a dad can give. Shame keeps men isolated; rootedness in a real community — not a la carte Christianity — is where the healing starts.
You'll never regret investing more in your family. You'll know your kids as adults far longer than you knew them as kids, so when they say "up," pick them up.
QUOTES
"By the time they graduate high school, they'll have a catalog of God's faithfulness over 18 years in these letters."
"You can either do hard things or you can have hard things happen to you."
"Do something you've never done to reach someone that's not yet been reached."
"This is a family thing, not a Brent thing."
"The most life-changing question outside of the gospel being shared was, What's my next obedience step?"
"We can be people who speak life over our families, life over our kids. It really goes a long way."
GUEST
Brent Silkey is the founder of 30 for Freedom, a ministry mobilizing runners to rescue girls out of trafficking. He's completed 71+ marathons and ultras — including seven marathons on seven continents in seven days — and has helped raise more than $4.3 million for freedom. Brent also directs Chi Alpha at the University of St. Thomas and runs with UNRL. Adopted from South Korea as a baby, he and his wife live in Minnesota with their four kids: two daughters, 14 and 11, and two sons, 8 and 5. This fall he's taking on 40 for Freedom — running 40 miles for his 40th birthday and inviting 40 leaders to multiply the vision toward $300,000 raised in a single day.
 
LINKS
Spartan Team DadAwesome, Dallas, Texas, October 17 https://givebutter.com/DallasSpartan

Leave a VOICEMAIL: https://www.speakpipe.com/DadAwesome

Join Team Awesomeness (monthly support team) at any level from $7/month to $1000/month... We have 41 families committed to fueling the ministry DadAwesome as we head toward celebrating 9 years of AWESOMENESS this coming winter: https://www.dadawesome.org/give

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

Apply to join the next DadAwesome Accelerator Cohort

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

7-Day Video Series: dadawesome.org/book

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

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

The DadAwesome book (search "dadawesome" on Amazon)

30 for Freedom: https://www.instagram.com/30forfreedom/

Brent Silkey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brentsilkey/

Brent Silkey's 40 for Freedom Challenge

Chi Alpha at University of St. Thomas: https://www.instagram.com/ust_xa/

UNRL: https://www.instagram.com/unrlco/

The Great World Race

Episode page will be: https://www.dadawesome.org/blog/450

SUMMARY
Most of us move through our days on autopilot, heads down, running our own agenda. The struggling dad at church, the neighbor whose marriage is barely holding on, the single mom wrestling groceries into her car — we walk right past. In Part 7 of the Multipliers series, Jeff reads Chapter 29 of the DadAwesome book and shares an archive clip with Danny Silk about the isolation trap, why control is the wrong tool for fathering, and what a home that resembles heaven actually feels like.
Key Takeaways
God doesn't watch from the bleachers. He jumps into the mess with us, and He often chooses to answer desperate prayers through ordinary people who are willing to notice and respond.
You already have what someone needs. Our Italian angel offered three things any of us can give: time, trust, and troubleshooting. Not more resources — just a willingness to make available what's already in your hands.
Interruptions are often God appointments. When someone opens up about their pain, that's not small talk. It's a door opening.
Isolation is the enemy's trap for men. Alone, you become master and ruler of your own reality, and that's the fast track to deception. Multiplication requires brotherhood.
You cannot control your children — so learn to control yourself. When intimidation or the threat of punishment is the most-used tool in your toolbox, you've built a culture in your home that doesn't resemble heaven.
A small yes can get multiplied by 100. A bold prayer for $10,000 became more than $1 million raised for the fatherless across 30 events and over 1,000 men.
Quotes
"God jumps into our mess with us. He's not watching from the bleachers." (05:35)
"Every day we walk past people having their own version of lost in Florence." (06:15)
"You don't need more to make a big difference. You've already got what someone desperately needs. You just need to be willing to share it." (11:15)
"I'm learning to see struggling people as potential God appointments instead of interruptions." (11:30)
"As fathers, we teach our children more through our responses to others' needs than through our lectures about compassion." (12:40)
"God takes our small yes and multiplies it into something far bigger than we imagined." (16:45)
"The trap of the enemy for men in particular is isolation. Because now you become master and ruler of reality, and that is the fast track to deception." (19:20) — Danny Silk
"When the most used tool in my toolbox as a parent is some form of intimidation or the threat of punishment, then I have created a culture in my home that does not resemble heaven." (20:45) — Danny Silk
"My Father is much more concerned about my heart connection to Him than He is controlling me." (21:40) — Danny Silk
"If you don't learn to control yourself, you are out of control." (22:20) — Danny Silk
Action Steps:
I. Reflection
Name your phase. Childish, young adult, young married, young dad, wise dad — where are you actually living right now?
Who have you walked past? Think back over the last month. Who could have used a pause in your care?
Take inventory. Time, trust, troubleshooting. Skills, margin, network, resources, lived experience. What do you have that someone else might be desperate for?
II. Multiplication
Where are you isolated? You will not see a multiplication miracle alone. Name the guys in your foxhole, or admit you need to build that crew.
Serve with someone. When a dad needs help with a yard project, bring another dad along. Friendship grows shoulder to shoulder.
Find the side door. Pick a date and a challenge rather than "let's just sit and talk." A race, a ride, a project — action is often the side door to a man's heart.
III. Activation
Pray for a God appointment this week. Stay alert for the person who needs time, generosity, care, or counsel.
Let your kids watch. Go out of your way to show compassion within sight of your children. Don't hustle on to the next thing.
Run the small yes. Is there something God put on your heart that you keep postponing? What if now is the time? Run it as an experiment — what could it hurt?

SUMMARY:
Most of us parent from what we already know and love. We steer our kids toward the sports we played and the interests we developed, and then we wait for them to get excited about our world. In Part 6 of the Multipliers series, Jeff reads Chapter 23 of the DadAwesome book and shares an archive clip with Alex Burton about a prayer, a purple carabiner, and a campfire question that changed everything.
TAKEAWAYS
Delight in what they delight in. Stop waiting for your kids to get excited about your world and step into theirs instead.
Our Heavenly Father does not just tolerate what we care about. He delights in it. He came down instead of making us climb up.
Ask the men who know you best: what do you see in my life that I am not seeing, and what am I missing? Then do not get defensive. Write down what they say.
Connection is worth the sacrifice. The cost is not always money. Sometimes it is time, and sometimes it is setting aside your preferences for theirs.
Pause and pray before you show up. Alex asked God what to bring before he ever left his house, and a child he had never met walked away knowing she was known.
Guest
Alex Burton is an outdoors enthusiast, a climber, and a father of three. He and his wife, Mel, have been married more than 26 years. Alex serves on the staff team at Wild at Heart. His full conversation with Jeff is Episode 297.
QUOTES
"I experienced something I can only describe as kind fathering from a complete stranger." (04:30)
"This wasn't just a piece of climbing equipment anymore. It was proof that someone saw her. Someone cared about what brought her joy. God knew her favorite color, and He used Alex to show her." (04:50)
"Alex, right now, if I could choose who'd be around this campfire with, I would choose my son. Can you say the same?" (06:30)
"You don't need to become an expert in what your kids love. You just need to show up and jump in. When you step into their world, you're reflecting how God treats us. He came down instead of making us climb up." (10:20)
"It wasn't even so much, it could have been anything, but it was purple." (13:20) Alex Burton
ACTION STEPS
I. Reflection
Name what each child delights in. Write down each kid's name, and next to it, what they are into right now. Legos, surfing, bike rides, theater, dance, soccer. If you are not sure, that is your invitation to get curious.
Find where you are resisting. Is there a passion of theirs that annoys you, crowds your calendar, or that you secretly hope they outgrow? Name it, then go a step deeper and ask why your heart is positioned that way.
Ask if your kids know they are delighted in. Do they know that your favorite role in life, outside of being married to their mom, is being their dad? Try asking them directly: do you have any idea how much I love you? Then watch their eyes.
II. Multiplication
Ask the campfire question. Take it to two or three friends: what do you see in my life that I am not seeing, and what am I missing? Do not defend yourself. Just write it down.
Be an Alex for another dad. Alex took a half day off work for a family he had never met. Could you take time off, help with a project, or create a moment for another dad and his kids?
Send a joy bomb. An unexpected gift at an unexpected time, to your wife, your kids, or a dad who is grinding. No occasion required.
III. Activation
Pray before you show up. Before the recital, the game, or youth group pickup, pause in the car and ask God if there is something He wants you to bring or say. The pause is huge.
Jump into their world this week. Research what they love. Show up with a surprising level of joyful curiosity and joyful participation.
Put something in their hand. Something small from the store or ordered online, given for no reason, with the words: I see you, I love you, I delight in you.
Pray Zephaniah 3:17 over each child by name, out loud, this week. Insert their name into the verse and let it reshape how you pray for them.
LINKS
Spartan Team DadAwesome, Dallas, Texas, October 17 https://givebutter.com/DallasSpartan

Leave a VOICEMAIL: https://www.speakpipe.com/DadAwesome

Join Team Awesomeness (monthly support team) at any level from $7/month to $1000/month... We have 41 families committed to fueling the ministry DadAwesome as we head toward celebrating 9 years of AWESOMENESS this coming winter: https://www.dadawesome.org/give

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

Apply to join the next DadAwesome Accelerator Cohort

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

7-Day Video Series: dadawesome.org/book

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

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

297 | Cultivating a Prayer Life, Sharing Joy Bombs, and Delighting in What Your Kids Delight In (Alex Burton)
DadAwesome LABS from Chapter 23: The Purple Carabiner Principle
Zephaniah 3:17
Wild at Heart Ministry

Summary
A $30 campsite with a canyon view felt like hitting the jackpot… until Jeff flipped on the lights and watched the floor move. In part five of the DadAwesome Multipliers series, Jeff reads Chapter 19 of the book, "Ant Attack," and unpacks what a million ants taught him about spotting threats, sealing entry points, and cleaning up what already got inside. Then Zach Neese joins with a sobering four minutes on the doorways we open without realizing it, and why nobody else in this world is going to guard your house but you.
Heads up: this episode is not designed for little ears. The conversation goes into spiritual warfare, darkness, and the ways private choices affect the people we love most.
Top 5 Takeaways
The first few ants are scouts, not the problem. Train yourself to look past what's obvious and ask harder questions about attitudes, friend groups, and entertainment choices before they become a full scale invasion.
Real freedom propels you to lead. Freedom is not permission to do whatever you want. Healing, forgiveness, and wholeness are what unlock your ability to serve and protect the people God gave you.
Threats come through old bridges and new ones. The septic hose was modern convenience turned against them. The tree branches were nature's ancient highway. The tactics evolve, but the goal stays the same.
Sealing the doors is not enough. You have to deal with what already got inside, and then intentionally replace it with something life giving. Removing the threat is not the same as restoration.
Nobody else in this world is going to guard your house but you. Not schools, not church, not extended family. The assignment is yours, and it takes courage plus God's strength.
5 Quotes
"Real freedom propels us to lead. That healing, forgiveness, and wholeness unlock our ability to serve and love the way God designed." (Jeff Zaugg)
"A dad fighting his own addiction can't guard his family's doorways. A father still carrying his childhood anger can't see the real threats to his kids." (Jeff Zaugg)
"Every open door is a spiritual gateway." (Zach Neese)
"We give him permission all the time to rearrange the furniture, so to speak, in our hearts and our house, so that he is the only spirit that feels welcome here." (Zach Neese)
"I wasn't just being entertained by a movie. I was being entertained by the spirit behind the movie. And that spirit wasn't just in my closet. That was roving through my house." (Zach Neese)
 
Guest Bio
Zach Neese is a pastor, worship leader, and author who has spent years teaching on worship, spiritual authority, and the doorways we open in our homes. His conversation with Jeff first aired on DadAwesome episode 159, and the clip featured in this episode digs into how entertainment choices, conflict patterns, and private habits can invite influences we never intended to host. (Verify current role and book title before publishing.)
Action Steps
Reflection
Walk your doorways. Grab paper or a note on your phone and list them out: phones, tablets, gaming systems, streaming devices, specific apps, YouTube, Instagram.
Look for the white powder. What warning signs have you driven past without asking questions?
Notice the small stuff. What are the few ants on the countertop right now? An attitude, a mindset, an entertainment choice that could become a full scale assault?
Check your own closet. What is hidden that you have convinced yourself is not really causing harm?
Multiplication
Who are the men who know what is in your closet? How do you close that gap this month?
Share episode 447 with a few dads who are fighting for freedom alongside you.
Read Nehemiah 4:13 and 14 with your family and unpack what it means to fight as a family.
Listen to the full Zach Neese conversation in episode 159.
Apply for the September DadAwesome Accelerator cohort.
Activation
Cut down one bridge this week. Remove a subscription, remove a device, create a new boundary.
Pray out loud. Use the John Eldredge Daily Prayer and the head of household prayer. Out loud matters, because the enemy cannot hear your thoughts.
Replace, do not just remove. Pick a book, a rhythm, or a practice to fill the space.
Go deeper with the Chapter 19 DadAwesome Lab.
LINKS
Spartan Team DadAwesome, Dallas, Texas, October 17 https://givebutter.com/DallasSpartan

Leave a VOICEMAIL: https://www.speakpipe.com/DadAwesome

Join Team Awesomeness (monthly support team) at any level from $7/month to $1000/month... We have 41 families committed to fueling the ministry DadAwesome as we head toward celebrating 9 years of AWESOMENESS this coming winter: https://www.dadawesome.org/give

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

Apply to join the next DadAwesome Accelerator Cohort

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

7-Day Video Series: dadawesome.org/book

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

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

DadAwesome Labs, Chapter 19

Episode 159 with Zach Neese https://www.dadawesome.org/blog/216

Entertaining Demons Unaware: Closing the Doors of Demonic Influence in your Life
by Zach Neese

John Eldredge Daily Prayer https://wildatheart.org/prayer/daily-prayer-john/

Galatians 5:13

Nehemiah 4:13 and 14

SUMMARY
When Jeff's sister lost her engagement ring in a five acre pasture hours before her wedding rehearsal, a rope, a grid, and a prayer turned an impossible search into a three minute miracle. In part four of the DadAwesome Multipliers series, that story becomes a blueprint for intentional fatherhood built on three things: a system that works, partners in the search, and faith in what you cannot yet see. Chad Johnson joins with a segment unpacking his Giant Five framework and why putting career first costs a man everything that matters.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Intentional dads need a system. Without one, you chase whatever is loudest instead of the people you love most.
The Giant Five framework orders your priorities: faith, marriage, children, health, and work. Most men have that list upside down.
You were never meant to search alone. Partners spot what you miss and call you higher when you drift.
Love sometimes looks like challenge instead of comfort, especially when your kids are settling into ease.
You don't have to search the whole field today. Move the rope a few feet and walk the line again.
QUOTES
"I really am okay with stirring the pot." (Chad Johnson)
"Live like a movie you'd want to watch with your children and grandchildren." (Chad Johnson)
"I call it turning success upside down." (Chad Johnson)
"Any fruit that anybody ever sees in my life is in spite of me." (Chad Johnson)
"Don't get overwhelmed with the entire field. One pass at a time." (Jeff Zaugg)
ABOUT CHAD JOHNSON
Chad Johnson is a father of eleven, an entrepreneur, and the creator of the Giant Five framework, a simple system for keeping faith, marriage, children, health, and calling in their right order. He is known for pushing his family toward character over comfort, including relocating them to Los Angeles for five months so his kids could work in his business facility. Chad previously joined DadAwesome for episodes 216 and 217.
ACTION STEPS
REFLECTION
Map your fields. Get a piece of paper and map your current life as a dad. Where does connection feel distant? Is there a child where things feel cold? Where could you raise your game in pursuing your wife or your time with God?
Be honest about the gap. Name what you are hoping for in each area. Without naming the hope, you cannot see the distance between where you are and where you want to be.
Run the Giant Five. Faith, marriage, children, health, work. Pray through which one is currently getting your leftovers. For many men it is work that needs to be turned upside down. For others it is the opposite, and career needs more drive because provision is the real need.
Celebrate one win. Look back and name one victory. Do not skip this part.
MULTIPLICATION
Name your partners. Who are the other dads in this adventure with you? Is there a rhythm of meeting? Is there a text thread already going? The field search never would have worked alone.
Get the free small group curriculum. Send a voice message with your name, where you are located, and your idea for a fall small group. You will get the three page PDF back.
Send a few texts. Invite two or three dads to listen to episode 446 so you are all working from the same framework.
Use the side door. Extend a tangible invitation: the Spartan race in Dallas on October 17, or the fall 100 mile running challenge.
ACTIVATION
Block the time. Put a block on your calendar this week for deeper work on the Giant Five. Do not just listen and move on.
Open Luke 15:3 through 7 with your family. Read the parable of the shepherd who leaves the 99, then tell your kids directly: this is how I feel about you. I will always come looking for you.
Pause and pray first. Before stepping into any of these areas, stop and pray, the same way Jeff and his sister did before they started the search.
Move the rope. Ask God for one area where you can move the rope seven or eight feet tomorrow. One pass at a time.
Keep celebrating. Look at what God has done and mark it.
Go deeper. DadAwesome Labs for Chapter 11 is linked below with additional activations and discussion questions.
LINKS MENTIONED
Spartan Team DadAwesome, Dallas, Texas, October 17 https://givebutter.com/DallasSpartan

DadAwesome 100 Mile Fall Running Challenge - https://givebutter.com/dadawesome100

Leave a VOICEMAIL: https://www.speakpipe.com/DadAwesome

Join Team Awesomeness (monthly support team) at any level from $7/month to $1000/month... We have 41 families committed to fueling the ministry DadAwesome as we head toward celebrating 9 years of AWESOMENESS this coming winter: https://www.dadawesome.org/give

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

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

7-Day Video Series: dadawesome.org/book

DadAwesome Podcast: dadawesome.org/podcast

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

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

DADAWESOME book: dadawesome.org/book

DadAwesome Labs, Chapter 11: 
Episode 216 with Chad Johnson: https://www.dadawesome.org/blog/216
Episode 217 with Chad Johnson: https://www.dadawesome.org/blog/217