Are My Best Years Behind Me? with Jared C. Wilson

Want to be a Dad Tired Parnter? Click HEREYou can love your wife, love your kids, and still be afraid to admit the question underneath it all: Is this it?This week, Jerrad sits down with author Jared C. Wilson for an honest conversation about midlife, unrealized dreams, and the fear that your best years might already be behind you. Jerrad shares the restlessness he's feeling as he approaches 40—including the struggle to connect with his wife beyond conversations about the kids.Together, they talk about why achievement can't carry the weight of your identity, how men can become driven at work and passive at home, and why meaningful friendships are worth pursuing even when life feels impossibly full. They also discuss aging parents, the deeper pain beneath destructive habits, and the grief of losing a close friend.Through it all, Jared keeps returning to the good news: your acceptance in Christ doesn't rise and fall with your accomplishments. You can face the next season with courage because Jesus is with you.If you've struggled to put words to what you're feeling lately, this conversation may help you start.In this episode:The fear that you haven't accomplished what you thought you wouldWhen dreaming about the future becomes a source of identityReorienting ambition toward relationships and eternal significanceKnowing your wife beyond your roles as parentsWhy men can be engaged at work and checked out at homeFinding brothers, facing loss, and taking the next step with ChristResources:Preorder Good News for Midlife by Jared C. Wilson: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/815986/good-news-for-midlife-by-jared-c-wilson/Explore Jared's books: https://www.jaredcwilson.com/booksThis week's challenge: Make space for one conversation you've been avoiding—with your wife, a trusted friend, or the Lord. Start by saying what you've actually been feeling.

Do other people get a better version of you than your wife and kids get?Recorded outdoors in Guatemala during the first Dad Tired Family Missions Trip, Jerrad sits down with a group of dads for an honest conversation about the gap between the fathers they hoped to be and the men their families experience.They talk about replaying parenting mistakes at bedtime, struggling with emotional consistency, watching their own anger show up in their children, and giving so much to others that their families get what’s left.Then Jerrad asks one final question: What kind of dad does your family get because you’ve encountered Jesus?There’s rain, laughter, vulnerability, and hope for every man who loves his family deeply and still knows he needs grace.Special thanks to Adventures in Missions for hosting our families in Guatemala.

Important Links: Host A Dad Tired Conference at your churchJoin the FREE Family Leadership ProgramShop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gearYou want to be a present dad, an intentional husband, a healthy man, and a faithful follower of Jesus. But does your calendar make room for the things you say matter most?Recording from Antigua, Guatemala, Jerrad Lopes shares an honest look at the gap between his priorities and his schedule—and the simple exercise he’s using to bring them together. Instead of trying to do everything every day, he’s identifying what belongs in a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly rhythm.From intentional time with each child to marriage, Scripture, and friendships where you can be fully known, this episode offers a practical place to start. Jerrad also reflects on why achievement can’t satisfy a soul that needs Jesus and shares the heart behind the first Dad Tired family mission trip.This week’s challenge: write down the kind of man you want to become. Then put one practical step on your calendar.Strong families begin with healed men.

Are You Sure You're Saved? Ask Yourself This.If you died tonight, how confident are you that you'd spend eternity with Jesus? A five? A seven? A ten?For many Christian men, that question brings up more anxiety than confidence. We believe in Jesus, but we still struggle with doubt, repeat the same sins, and wonder whether we're doing enough to be saved.In this episode of Dad Tired, guest host Pastor Chris Hilken of College Ave Church in San Diego tackles one of the most important questions of the Christian faith: How can I know if I'm really saved?Drawing from 1 John, Romans, and the Gospels, Chris challenges the questions we often ask ourselves about salvation and points us back to the finished work of Jesus.You'll hear why:Having doubts doesn't automatically mean you lack genuine faith.Your salvation isn't earned by being a good enough Christian.Confession, repentance, and a growing desire to obey God matter.Your calendar, priorities, and relationships can reveal what you truly love.Confidence in salvation comes from trusting Jesus, not trusting yourself.Whether you've followed Jesus for decades or you're quietly wrestling with where you stand with God, this conversation is an invitation to examine your heart without losing sight of God's grace.You don't have to put your confidence in your performance when you can put your confidence in Christ.

What do you do when you want to lead your family toward Jesus, but your own failures make you feel like a hypocrite?Jerrad sits down with pastor, author, and Family Discipleship Podcast host Adam Griffin to talk about fatherhood, spiritual leadership, and learning to start again.They discuss the dad who loses his temper in the morning and feels unqualified to pray with his kids at night, why repentance belongs in family discipleship, and how to keep showing up when growth feels painfully slow.There’s also plenty of laughter, a last-minute father-daughter concert, and a reminder that God’s goodness doesn’t change with the way he answers our prayers.If you’ve wondered whether you’re doing enough—or whether you’ve messed up too much to lead—this conversation offers encouragement and a next step.Resources:Adam’s books and Family Discipleship resourcesOur Family DevotionalShare this episode with a dad who needs encouragement to start again.

Important Links: Host A Dad Tired Conference at your churchJoin the FREE Family Leadership ProgramShop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gearYou want your wife and kids to grow closer to Jesus. But what happens when you don’t feel close to him yourself?With a cup of coffee on the back patio, Jerrad wrestles with a question that came up twice at men’s events this week—and one he’s faced in his own life. He shares how shame, exhaustion, and the quiet belief that we can handle life without God can leave us feeling spiritually distant.Through a story about hiking with his kids, Jerrad offers a picture of spiritual leadership that makes room for a dad who’s still figuring things out: a guide who helps his family notice what God is already doing.If you’re carrying the weight of everyone’s faith while struggling with your own, this conversation offers encouragement and one simple step you can take with your kids today.

Important Links: Host A Dad Tired Conference at your churchJoin the FREE Family Leadership ProgramShop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gearYou love your kids. But when they’re struggling, it’s hard to know what to do. Come down harder? Give them space? Make another rule?In this honest ramble, Jerrad shares what he’s learning while navigating a challenging season of parenting four kids. From praying with his wife to laughing over Mario Kart, he explores what it looks like to move toward your kids relationally while still addressing the things that need correction.We talk about:• Why feeling out of control can lead to heavy-handed parenting• Paying attention to what each child needs• Making prayer your first response• How your phone can pull you away from the family you want to be present with• Receiving God’s love and forgiveness as you learn to reflect his heart to your kidsIf you’ve ever sat in the driveway wondering whether you have anything left to give, this conversation is for you.This week’s invitation: Choose one child and take one small, intentional step toward connection.

Important Links: Host A Dad Tired Conference at your churchLearn more about Adventures in MissionsJoin the FREE Family Leadership ProgramShop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gearDoes your family know what to expect when you walk through the door—or do they have to figure out which version of you showed up?After a stomach bug leaves Jerrad and his son stranded at a Mississippi airport, an unexpected road trip sparks a conversation about protecting your family, showing up with intention, and becoming a consistent man.In this honest, back-to-the-basics episode, Jerrad shares what he’s learning about the pressure to look impressive, resting in being known and loved by God, and processing big emotions without taking your wife and kids on a roller coaster. Plus, a look ahead at the upcoming Dad Tired family mission trip to Guatemala.An encouragement for the dad who’s still stumbling toward Jesus—and wants to help his family do the same.

Important Links: Host A Dad Tired Conference at your churchJoin the FREE Family Leadership ProgramShop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gearWhat are you carrying that you’ve quietly decided to take to the grave?Maybe it’s sin. Maybe it’s shame, pain, resentment, addiction, or something that happened to you. You’ve convinced yourself that keeping it hidden protects the people you love—but hidden pain never stays contained. Eventually, it leaks into your marriage, your parenting, and the way you see yourself.In this deeply personal episode, Jerrad shares stories of men who risked being fully known, his own experience of God redeeming an old wound, and why the Lord lovingly reaches into every hidden nook and cranny of our lives.This isn’t a call to recklessly confess everything without wisdom. It’s an invitation to stop carrying it alone. Find a trusted counselor, pastor, or mature brother in Christ who can walk with you toward healing.You are already fully known by God—and fully loved.

Important Links: Dad Tired Annual RetreatHost A Dad Tired Conference at your churchJoin the FREE Family Leadership ProgramShop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gearJonathan Almonte grew up in extreme poverty in the Dominican Republic, without a father in the home and believing that joining a gang might be his best path to a better life.But God began changing his story through a local church, a childhood friend, and a Compassion International sponsor who faithfully wrote him letters from Michigan. Years later, when Jonathan’s father told him he was a mistake, those relationships helped him understand that his identity was not defined by rejection, poverty, or his past.In this episode, Jerrad and Jonathan talk about father wounds, growing up fatherless, forgiveness, poverty, faith, spiritual darkness, Christian fatherhood, and the way God can redeem the most painful parts of our story.Today, Jonathan is a husband, father, and serves tens of thousands of children in the Dominican Republic through Compassion International.If you’ve struggled with rejection, an absent father, forgiveness, or questions about your identity in Christ, this conversation is for you.