Conclusion: The Ongoing Fatherhood Journey

By bearing the trials and burdens of life—with God’s help and on behalf of your family—you will become the man you were always meant to be. This is the journey of life.

“Marriage and children, and bearing those burdens over time, are what makes a boy into a man.” Jeff B., Boston, Massachusetts

Becoming the best dad you can be is the journey of a lifetime, and it is one of the most important journeys you will ever take. On that journey you will learn to be a true and consistent blessing to the human beings who most need your help: your wife and your children. But also on that journey you will find something else: If you persevere and do not break the bonds of fatherhood, family and faith, you will find within yourself—with God’s help—the man you were always meant to be. I know that for a fact, because it has happened to me.

That’s not because I am special in any way. I am not. When and if we meet in person—an event I look forward to—you will see for yourself that I am a pretty average guy in almost every way. But I am on the fatherhood journey to be a better dad; and by God’s grace, and with my family’s help, I am continuing forward. Fortunately, like God’s love, the journey of fatherhood is for any dad who really wants it. That includes you.

The fatherhood journey is not easy, nor is it painless, but it beats the alternative hands down. We all know men who never married, who never bore the burden of serving a wife (and children), who never paid a personal price to put someone else’s happiness above their own. Or those who married and then divorced when times got tough, and then repeated the process again and again. Or those sad souls who have multiple kids by multiple partners out of wedlock, leaving abandoned children and social devastation in their wake.

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