The Daring DadSample

I started collecting baseball cards when I was eight. I have binders full of cards stuffed in boxes in a closet in my garage, hoping that one day they will be worth a lot of money. Am I just believing in a fairy tale? I upped my game in middle school. Upgraded from ordinary baseball cards to autographs. Autographed baseballs, jackets, helmets and pictures. I was pumped. But I learned early on that those autographs were worthless unless they came with a letter of authenticity. The letter confirmed that the product was real. The athlete’s signature was authentic. It was real. This prevented ordinary people from signing the names of famous athletes and becoming rich overnight. 

As a dad, I feel like we have a pressure to be perfect, to be stoic, to be the foundation for our family, to be unshakable and unemotional. All of these things are needed at different times. But are you authentic? Are you real? Do your kids know you aren’t perfect? Do your kids know you struggle with following Jesus at times? Jesus is the model of authenticity. Jesus, who is God, came to earth in the form of a human, so he could better connect with us. 

I DARE YOU to tell your kids your most embarrassing moment as a kid or tell them something you struggle with today. Authenticity.