The Top 10 Things I Learned As a Dad (from three of the best)

(I asked three of my favorite dads…including my awesome husband…what they learned from being a dad.  Here are their responses.  They are brilliant.)

1. Not to judge other parents.  I haven’t walked in their shoes.  We all need grace.  It’s the hardest job there is.
2. To admit my mistakes and to be the first to apologize to my kids when we conflict.
3. To make the relationship and not the rules the priority.  To focus on their heart and not their behavior.
4. To listen more and lecture less.
5. That how I live counts much more than what I say.
6. That boundaries are key and that knowing how to manage boundaries (set, maintain, relax, alter, scrap, reinforce) is ridiculously complicated and confusing.
7. That I lack patience and am not long-suffering.
8. That it’s really hard to keep loving your kids when they are obnoxious.
9. The mistakes I made as a dad can be redeemed as I grow and change.
10. What it’s like to love unconditionally.  Period.  End of story.  No matter what they did, I would love them.  It helped me understand God’s unfailing love for me.

(Credit to Glenn Murphy, Allen Goetz and Frank Ellerbusch…Happy Father’s Day to you!)