This diagnosis has caused us to reflect not just on our wedding vows, but also on the words we say to each other every day. Do we still say: I choose us?

Advent is a season of anticipation. The birth of any child, not least the Messiah, gives us cause for hope. Earlier this week, we heard the testimony of Chris and Natalie Stefanick, a couple who had journeyed through dark seasons in their marriage. Having survived sexual abuse as a child, Natalie found she needed many years of therapy and healing. She recounted one of her darkest times, when she doubted that ...

Top Gun: Maverick is smashing box offices, and it’s easy to understand why. The film is spectacularly outpacing its weak-because-they’re-woke counterparts, because the film’s unapologetic dad themes resonate. Alongside the gutsy F-18 camera shots, audiences are in love with the Tom Cruise/Joseph Kosinski sequel because its father-son backstory hits home. Even the, “it’s all flag-waving, MAGA propagandist tripe” critics are applauding the sequel for keeping to the consistency of the first film’s ...

“Father Stu” is not a movie for the fainthearted, but with the true story of a man who overcame his trauma and his failures to become a solid spiritual father, it has an inspiring message for us all. I go to movie theatres these days in fear and trembling. I just don’t know if I am going to like what I see. Sometimes it is like buying a ticket in a ...

Despite the failings and traumas handed down from past generations, with the grace of God, we can break free of toxic cycles and build a far better future for our children. Those who grow up hurting from being fatherless can learn from our parents’ mistakes and develop into life-giving, dedicated fathers. Like every single one of our five kids, wearing the dad hat was for me a cliched process of having ...

My wife went through pregnancy hell. And so did I, though my issues only surfaced years later. To all the dads out there: pregnancy may be tough for you too, and that’s okay. If I made it, so will you. I remember the apprehension and nerves when my first child was born. She was on time, and her arrival – and our time in the hospital – was much faster than ...

When a crisis hits you out of nowhere, what do you do next? When Guy faced nearly losing a child, he learned 13 lessons before the crisis was even over. Sometimes in life you have experiences that profoundly and permanently change you. Experiences either solidify your existing beliefs, assumptions and expectations, or they challenge and change what you thought you knew. Some are so small you don’t even notice them. Some ...

When you are faced with the failure of much of what you believed about life and yourself, where do you turn? Can you reset your life? How do you begin? What do you do when the way you were committed to living has not worked out, and you come to a point of realising it never will? When your life has suddenly changed — perhaps a midlife crisis, career change, health ...

Gratitude now has a voice. We as fathers need to be encouraged to be thankful, so we can encourage our children to be the same. Thankful people are happy people. Thankful families are happy families. I even try to teach this to myself, but some things are better caught than taught! When my friend Mark Powell sent me the video below, I nearly leapt out of my skin with excitement. Mark ...

The DIDs story, Part 1. My name is Tony Miller, and I am the founder and national coordinator of a group called Dads in Distress, a dedicated support group of men whose immediate concern is to stem the present trend of male suicide due to the trauma of divorce or separation. Current statistics indicate that 5.3 males per day or 37 males per week (ABS Information Paper, Suicides 2001) will take ...

Ian ‘Watto’ Watson said, “I have never seen a bloke go backwards with encouragement.” Ian Watson spoke at the very first Men’s Leadership Summit at Paluma Range, north of Townsville, in 2013. Sadly, Ian passed away in 2019. The good news is that he left a massive legacy of encouragement for men the world over.   Rhonda McKenzie, Ian Watson’s niece, said this about him at his memorial service in a ...

Crystal’s mother and father had broken up a few months ago and had moved from the family home, each going their own way. The family home was put up for sale. One night, the neighbours were woken by a loud noise that sounded like an explosion. They looked out their windows to see a massive fire which quickly engulfed the house. Arson squad detectives said it appeared that an accelerant had ...

Firstly, I would like to thank all of you who contact me; it’s your support and kindness that keeps me going. I was out on the town one night this past week. One of our volunteers is a muso, and he and his band were playing a gig in a local hotel. It was a great night, mainly because of the fact that a whole lot of our other volunteers turned ...

Here’s a nice message that comes from the Bible. It went the email rounds but was anonymous, so I can’t credit the scholar. In the very centre of the Bible, Psalm 118:8, it says (I like the Amplified version translated by Jewish scholars): It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord [God] than to put confidence in man [general term, men or women — humans in other words]. ...

A few years ago I was a happily married man — a beautiful wife, three sons, a home  that  was well on the way to being paid off, a job, and settled in the community.  We had just had our 10-year anniversary — a night on the town for the family.  A few bumps along the way, including some really tough surprises with our sons’ births, but everything was fine — ...