Leading Your Family Well: Faith, Mentorship, and Authentic Relationships

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What does it mean to be a godly father and leader in your family?
How can men balance work, faith, and quality time with their children?
What practical steps can dads take to leave a lasting spiritual legacy?

In this episode of the MOI Podcast, co-hosts Colton and guest Ryan dive deep into authentic fatherhood, intentional leadership, and the legacy men build within their families. Drawing from personal experience, mentorship, and biblical wisdom, they tackle real struggles dads face—like work-life balance and the pressure to “fake it till you make it.” Learn the importance of blocking out quality time with your kids, managing priorities, and modeling faith both honestly and consistently at home. Discover actionable tips on praying as a family, building strong church and community ties, and ensuring your marriage sets a healthy example for your children. Whether you’re a new dad or parenting adult children, this episode offers strategies and encouragement to help you become the spiritual leader your family needs.

#fatherhood #mensleadership #christianmen #familylegacy #intentionalparenting #faithfulfather #menofiron

Transcript

Colton [00:00:00]:
We went out to eat with them, and I have a little nephew, and all the food gets. Gets served, and all of a sudden he's like, okay, it's time to pray. And that sounds like it's like, okay, that's cool. But if you actually think about that, why. Because that's instilled in him. You need to pray before you eat your meal and give God thanks for. We have this meal in front of us. The people that are around the table like, thank you, guys.

Ryan Zook [00:00:24]:
Hey, welcome back to the Men of Iron podcast. This month, we're talking all about your role in your family. If you haven't had a chance, you're going to want to check out the links in our description. There's a lot of free resources there that could be valuable to you. We actually have a devotional and workbook just for family. So you want to go check that out. We also have a whole merch store where you can get cool hats, like what Colton has on right now, but also some shirts and other stuff that you want to check those out. You can click those. There's a link in our description. There's also a store right on our YouTube, so check that out. So I'm here today with Colton. You guys are probably familiar with Colton, and we're just diving into this family series. So today, what we want to talk about is what it looks like to be a dad. A father who is honoring God in his life, but also in his role as a father. And I think when. When I think about that myself, I'm a dad. I have five kids, so my oldest is nine. My youngest is, I don't know, seven or eight months at the time of this release. So I got the. I got a pretty full dad bucket. You're a pretty new dad, right?

Colton [00:01:28]:
Yeah, he's just. He's about to hit well, when it comes out, probably 10 months, he'll be.

Ryan Zook [00:01:32]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:01:33]:
So it's definitely new. Definitely learning ropes.

Ryan Zook [00:01:37]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:01:37]:
I would say of how far, like, what is what? I mean, he's still young. He did say just to throw out there dad. Dad was the first word.

Ryan Zook [00:01:44]:
Yeah, of course.

Colton [00:01:44]:
He said so just so that's just aware the theory.

Ryan Zook [00:01:47]:
In our house, most of our kids said dad. At first, we think it's because it's easier to make a hard D sound than the M sound. But it's actually just because the kids like the dad's the best. Right. Checks out Shout out to Jenny. So when we talk about being a father, I think, like, one of. One of the things I kind of wrestled with when we came into this episode is just what are the things that guys are dealing with and what, what are the struggles that we have? And so when I, when I just think about my own life, I think just some, some work life balance things can be kind of challenging. Like if you, if you have a pretty full plate, sometimes you can accidentally miss spending time with your kids. Like, it's not an intentional thing, but I think our kids feel it. Like when I'm fried and I get home from work and like I just want to lay on the couch. I have three boys and two girls. My three boys probably want to wrestle all night. So there's many times I just lay down on the couch and they just jump right on and start, start wrestling. It's like, oh, man. So I think some, some of that balance stuff can be a challenge. I think also just wanting to have a strong legacy. I think most men want to be good fathers, but a lot of times we just struggle in knowing how to do that and actually how to walk that out day in and day out. Does that resonate with you at all?

Colton [00:02:57]:
Yeah, I think for me too. Especially with the timepiece.

Ryan Zook [00:02:59]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:03:00]:
Like, that's really heavy. Just even busy, not only for work, but being heavily involved in the church and then going, running from here, running to there and not taking. Like I've now put on my calendar, it's playtime.

Ryan Zook [00:03:12]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:03:13]:
Because I intentionally, like, my schedule is blocked from this time to this time. It's before he goes to bed, we spend an hour together. Whether that's playing with cups or bouncing or riding this little horse thing. Like very intentional with that time because it goes very quickly and you don't. And if you don't create that, like hard stops and things, it'll bleed. Well, I can send a couple more emails or, or now with technology, with our phones. Yeah, I got my email at the tips. I gotta put my phone down. I gotta go plug it in or put in a different room.

Ryan Zook [00:03:40]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:03:41]:
Just so I can have that intentional time. So that for sure resonates with me. I'm not to the wrestling phase yet, but I'm ready for the rest.

Ryan Zook [00:03:47]:
Oh, give it time. You'll get there.

Colton [00:03:48]:
You'll get there for it.

Ryan Zook [00:03:49]:
Yeah, yeah. So I think obviously, like making time and space to spend time with your kids. And I think it's. There's probably not a one size fits all approach, but just ensuring that you're available. Like, like, obviously if, if you were a father, you were a son at one point. You probably remember the times where your dad made time and space for you, and you probably remember when he didn't, whether, you know, he just had a full plate and couldn't get to it. But then also, you just resonate with those times. Like, for me, like, I was always really connected with my dad when we would go out hunting and just spend that intentional time together. We still do that. And so for me, it's trying to figure out how to do that with my son. So my oldest son, he loves to go fishing. We really try hard to. Early Saturday mornings, go out fishing when the weather suits. And then we're always bummed when it says it's going to rain and it doesn't rain. We miss morning fishing. My other son, he loves to build stuff. So we'll be out in the garage building projects, and again, just make an intentional space. Um, so I want to build on that a little bit. Like, so. So one I want you guys to hear from me, you got to make time and space for your kids. Um, it. It might be like a. It might be kind of challenging for you to do, but your kids are going to remember that. And so you want to figure out how to carve that out. Like you were saying, put in the calendar. Um, even more than that, the thing that I want to capitalize on is how you can actually leave a spiritual legacy with your kids. So it's one thing just to make space to hang out, which could be, like, a great place to start. It's a whole other thing to kind of help shape and mold your kids into who God wants them to be. Probably one of the biggest lessons that I've learned along the course of my life is that our. Our kids really don't belong to us. I know that's kind of a scandalous thing. Like, I've said that in groups before. And you can see on people's faces, like, what, Your kids don't belong to you. They are not yours. You are stewarding your. Your children. And what that means is God has everything you have. God has given to you. And so one of those things that you have that God has given to you is your kids. And God is entrusting you with the responsibility of shepherding them and leading them and caring for them in a way that ultimately brings them closer to Him. So when you think about it that way, it's. It's kind of nuts. God is trying to raise up godly men and women, and one of the ways that he's done that in your life, specifically, if you have kids, is he's entrusted you with the next generation, generation of men and women, and he's trusting that you will lead them to be godly. And if you miss on that, you know, there's. There's grace, there's forgiveness. Lots of guys have lots of stories of ways that they've missed, but we don't want to start there. Like, we don't want to be like, ah, God will figure it out and he will. That's like the amazing thing about God. But we want to, as men, take our responsibility serious, take our responsibility seriously and shepherd those kids well. Have you seen that in your own life? What do you. What are you doing now?

Colton [00:06:45]:
Yeah, I think two pieces of that. Number one, I just want to touch back on what you said earlier about that intentional time. I can go back and remember all the times my dad came out and played football in the front yard with me or took me hunting or all the other things. I don't remember some of the other stuff, but I remember that intentional time. Even though he worked all day and he was dead, he still would go out and throw the football until it was dark.

Ryan Zook [00:07:05]:
Yep.

Colton [00:07:05]:
So. So, like, just going back to that, Like, I remember those times without a shadow of a doubt over. Over probably any other times that happened when I was a kid. So kids do know that stuff. They don't understand the work yet. They don't understand all the other things, but they do understand when you went out front and through football or you wrestled with them at night or whatever it is, they remember those things. I think for the, for that second piece is that like whole. The shepherding and look and looking at it from that angle and they're not your kids. That's something Morgan and I like, I've been like, not struggling with, but thinking through, like, he's really not mine.

Ryan Zook [00:07:38]:
He's not.

Colton [00:07:39]:
And he's actually. He's a gift from God to us and to have what an honor and a privilege and almost even have gratitude and like, just thank you, Lord, for giving us an opportunity for what you've given to us in Caleb. And he's a great kid. He's a ham. He's. We're starting to get personality out of him with smirks and smiles and. But I think what's so important with it is to understand what your point was. Like, God's given this to you and you have to steward it properly and to be that father in their life. And that's why I got a mentor. One of the biggest reasons I first Got a mentor is. I picked someone out that had kids, right, that raised them up, and now they're amazing kids in our ministry. It's like they must have did something right. They must have been onto something. And that's how my dad did a great job with us. I think I turned out okay. But to have someone else, sometimes you can't always hear from dad. You got to get the other guy in your life that can say something. And to be able to have a guy now that we're walking through, like, how he raised his kids, what that looked like, what. How he did certain things, how they chose, where they went to school, you know, what they were involved in, even those simple, basic stuff. But also, hey, we said grace at the table every single night. And how that has affected their lives is making those simple choices because we are stewards for our kids.

Ryan Zook [00:09:02]:
I'll tell you what. I was. I was a student pastor for a long time. And you can quickly tell the kids who are being purposefully shepherded by their parents by, like, good, faithful Christian parents, you can pick them out because they're. They're just a little bit healthier, and they're. They're. Their interactions. They're a little bit healthier in their faith and their relationship with God. You can also pick out the kids who know their parents are fake. And so a lot of times I've said it before, like, one of the worst things you can do as a dad is pretend to be faithful, because your kids will see right through you. And I know as men, sometimes it feels like we're just barely making it. We're just barely holding on to all of our responsibilities. Maybe we just fake it till we make it. Your kids know if you have an authentic relationship with God or not. And one of the worst possible things you can do for them is be praising Jesus on Sunday and be a bear every other day of the week. And I understand there's a lot more to faith than just Sunday mornings. But if you're trying to broadcast a good image to the world and you're not living that out at home, I do want to call. Call you out gently, because again, there's. There's grace, there's mercy, all. All those things. But if you are pretending to be a faithful father so that other people see you and are fooled, you're probably ruining your family. And so it. You also know if that's what you're doing. And so just. Just, you know, our thing is mentorship, accountability. If you're hearing me, you're like, man, I'm, I'm that guy. Set a couple of short, simple, pointed goals to take you from fake it till you make it to like really genuinely being connected with God and genuinely connected to your family. One of the best things you can do as a dad is love those kids. Mom. Care for her, respect her. Make sure your kids see that you are honoring her. That brings a lot of peace to the home, but it also brings a lot of health to those kids. Those kids are learning what a marriage relationship looks like by watching you. And they're also just getting a lot of security from you. And again, I get it. Lots of guys in our audience have, have made mistakes, are trying to do better. Don't hear me being judgmental. Hear me just calling all of us to do just a little bit better. Because really that's what men of iron is doing. Like, we just want to call every man, no matter where you are, to just improve one, one or two degrees. Because if you're improving one or two degrees consistently, you're just going to become an incredibly sharp, faithful, effective man. Yeah. So, I mean, when it comes to just faithfully leading our kids, I think we need to have an authentic faith in God. That's where all of this starts. A really strong, respectful marriage. And then just continually agree to show up for your kids. I want to dig into some like, like tangible things. So when it, when it, when it comes to developing strong faith in your kids, do you have any kind of rhythms that you're pursuing, Any kind of stuff that you're doing? What's your take on that?

Colton [00:12:14]:
I think not. I would say not quite yet because he just, he's a little, he loves Go dog, go.

Ryan Zook [00:12:19]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:12:19]:
And that's where we are. That's, that's what we're on right now.

Ryan Zook [00:12:23]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:12:23]:
But some of the things that I've taken away from my mentor.

Ryan Zook [00:12:26]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:12:26]:
Is that I want to build this framework that he knows what he can do and not do and also giving him the right direction in it. So like, it's very simple. But we're praying before meals like that. And that sounds something very simple. But I saw it was actually, I think two Sundays ago, we went out to eat with my sister in law, brother in law, my in laws, we went out to eat with them and I have a little nephew and all the food gets, gets served and all of a sudden he's like, okay, it's time to pray. And that sounds like it's like, okay, that's cool. But if you actually think about that why? Because he is. That's instilled in him. You need to pray before you eat your meal and give God thanks for. We have this meal in front of us, the people that are around the table, like, thank you, God. And I. And I think that's something like, that's very simple. But every time before we eat, we're going to. We're going to say grace and thank God for what he's done for us today. And we have this food on the table for us. So that's something very simple. Also, it's making sure that they're involved in church. I think that's something for me growing up. It. You know, I always hear the saying, takes a village to raise a kid.

Ryan Zook [00:13:28]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:13:28]:
But sometimes I think having a kid in the body of Christ, it gives you people. I can go back in my life and think of. I wouldn't probably call them mentors then, because I was maybe 10, 11 years, but all these men that poured into my life to actually help create me, who I am today poured into me, even if it was just a little bit. Mom and dad might need a break. And I. At that time, maybe I didn't realize it right, but I had those guys that I could go to wrestle with, have fun with, had my youth. My dad was my youth leader, but there was other men in the. In the youth ministry that I could go to talk to. So it's having them involved in the local assembly because that gives them a framework of, oh, these are the kind of people I need to be around. And that's who we're spending our time with, as well as a family.

Ryan Zook [00:14:08]:
Yeah, the. The couple years ago, the Fuller Theological Institute or whatever, some group of smart people. I think they're out in California. You like that?

Colton [00:14:19]:
I do.

Ryan Zook [00:14:19]:
Like, they did a study, pretty, pretty large nationwide study on teenagers that stick with their faith and continue to follow Jesus into their adult years. And it's. It was over several years. It was over a wide span of individuals. What they found is like, it's essentially almost guaranteed that if your kids are connected to five other adults who love Jesus and, And can pour into their lives, we're talking like full access. We're not talking like, yeah, they saw that guy one time. Like, this is like strong relationships with adults. The students that had at least five were pretty much guaranteed to stick with their faith throughout the rest of their lives. And it was like, I remember reading their research. We tried to implement some of their suggestions in some of the church work we were doing. It's Just mind blowing. That essentially, like, one of the best things that you can do for your kids and is make sure they're connected to other adults who love Jesus, which actually ties in with a lot of our other core five. So, like, if you have strong Christian friends that want to honor God with their lives, you want your kids to know who they are, you want them to have relationship with your kids. And the other thing that I've seen, it's something that I'm looking forward to. So, like, my oldest son is nine. I think one of the coolest thing you can do if you have sons. Like, I know a couple of guys that have gathered men around their sons, particularly when they turn like 13, 14, 15, like, they're. They're kind of moving from, like, childhood towards adulthood. They gather a group of men for an evening and just speak life into that kid. They encourage that kid. They. They, you know, speak scripture over them, and then usually, like, they pray over them. Everybody that I've seen do that, that child remembers that forever, and that child carries that forever. And I think in a spiritual sense, you're actually kind of spreading out some of the responsibility because, again, our kids don't belong to us. We're just stewarding them on behalf of God. We're actually inviting other people that love God into their lives so that they can be covered in prayer, so they can be supported in hard times, so they can call somebody up that maybe, maybe they don't want to talk to you about something, but they'll talk to somebody else about it. You want to know that you have those guys on your team, which is why we talk about strong friends, strong relationships. So when we talk about tangible things, like, obviously, like, my kids are younger, your kids are younger. I know that there's other stages of childhood. And recently we've been talking to some guys that are really kind of wrestling with what it looks like to have adult kids. And when you have adult kids, again, some of those strong relationships around you, some of those other people that have been in your life through that kid's childhood, can be a real strength as that child grows into adulthood, to encourage them, to strengthen them, to be a sounding board for them, and eventually to be like a mentor figure for them. So it's just been encouraging to see some of those things. I've been blessed to be a part of them. I'm looking forward to doing it for my own kids. And another thing to highlight is just the. The incredible strength that you can build when you just spend intentional time. Like, if You're a dad. You have a unique relationship with your sons. Have a guy's weekend, do a guy's trip. If you have daughters, you have an incredibly unique relationship with your daughters. They need to see what it's like to have a good, healthy relationship with a man. Take your daughters on little dates, Take them out, do special things with them. Just intentional time with dad is so important. And if you're busy scheduling it, getting on the calendar, having a date where it's like, yeah, I'm taking my daughters out for dinner. They. They love it. They look forward to it. You'll be strengthening your relationship with them. So I think if you haven't done that for a while, it might be a great takeaway to just get something on the calendar, work it out with your wife, and have your kids look forward to it.

Colton [00:18:13]:
I think really what's being intentional about it, for sure, is huge. Having that time set. Set aside is a part of that intentionality with it. I can think back to the times that my dad would always go. We would go hunting together. But one of the biggest things that I learned how to be a dad was from my dad. And I can look back to see how he treated my mom. So I can look at that, and, like, that's how I need to treat my wife. Yeah, right. And then how that trickled down to me of where I felt even, like, you can call it, like, pecking order, but that's where I. My mom was more important.

Ryan Zook [00:18:47]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:18:48]:
And it was amazing to see that, because that's something that Morgan and I are going through is like, I love Caleb. He's a great kid, but Morgan becomes. Comes before him.

Ryan Zook [00:18:56]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:18:56]:
That's. That's the relationship I need to focus on. And just being intentional with our time now and having a balance in it. If you're a new dad out there or you have kids for a long time. But the last part that you said there that I loved was about, like, once you get older, like, I would probably be, like, an older kid now.

Ryan Zook [00:19:13]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:19:13]:
You know what I mean? Like, for my parents and, like, hearing what they say, hearing what they say, like, to me or, like, you know, like, I'm grown now.

Ryan Zook [00:19:19]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:19:19]:
I'm a grown. I'm a grown guy, man. I guess you could say you made it, Colton. I made it. I don't know if you get a certificate for that or not, but I made it to that point. But I think what I can look back and my parents see now is the value of those men in my life. Like, they, they could go around church and like, thank you for this. Like, thank you for saying that, or thank you just for being present. I think I could go back and list five guys and like, how you were saying, like, I'm doing that. Just some take. That's a takeaway. But, but, but I can think of the five guys in my life that if they weren't there, I don't know. That's like the big question mark. I don't know. And having them pour into. Scott Davis is a rep down in Tampa, and one of his things that he does with his kids is he'll have intentional trips with his sons. So he just took one fishing and takes one. He just took one golfing. They come down for the weekend. He lives in Florida, so of course golfing and fishing makes sense. But he takes them out on something that they want to do and just gets intentional weekend time. And they're grown kids. Like, they are grown. They have families, they're living life. And I think that's something that we can't let go away. Like me and my dad, like the other day we went to a barbecue event. Like, that's just intentional time that I'm never. Will never get time back. You're never going to get time back. So even if you have grown kids, they still want that intentional time with their dad. And even if it's something just sitting there, spending time eating barbecue, or if it's going on a fishing trip, going on a hike, whatever your hobbies are that you gu enjoy together, do them spend the intentional time together. Because let me tell you what, there's time that I don't want to sit. Excuse me. I don't want to sit back later in life and say, I missed this time with my dad because of work, because I wasn't intentional about it. I didn't think, well, it mattered. It all matters. Make that time with your dad. Because let me tell you what, that time's going to come and go, and you're going to be. Your dad's going to be 60, 70, 80 years old. You're going to go, man, and if you're out there listening, this is something that I'm going to encourage you. Even if Your dad is 60, 78 years old, go spend that time with him. Go spend. Even if it's going to get a meal, even if it's. Go do that time and spend it with him because you will regret it. And you will. Because your dad is so valuable. He is the probably the first thing that you looked at you saw Christ in him and that's what's keeping you going, right? And now you've had, you have your own walk with God. So I think, like those pieces right there, like, spend time with dad even. And if as a father looking at it, spend time with your kids because they will remember those things.

Ryan Zook [00:21:47]:
Yeah, I totally agree. Like, the relationship that you have with your kids as a father is, is a long lasting one. It's a marathon, it's not a sprint. It's very easy when you're a parent of young kids. And obviously our whole audience is not that, but you could think that there's like a sunset on this where it's like, oh, they're going to turn 18, they're going to go do their thing. That's not really the case. You will be a dad the entire day of your life if you're a dad. So, so to, to bring this down, realize we've gone through this whole podcast. We haven't really talked scripture at all. One of the things that you can, that I want a couple of places I would point you to Ephesians 6, Colossians 3. There's like, there's these household codes that are in the New Testament. It's kind of a little bit churchy language, I guess. But in those books, Ephesians, Colossians, Paul's writing those letters and what he's doing is he's trying to encourage really men to, to faithfully steward their lives. And he's, he's kind of going through, on purpose and in order, the relationships that you have in your life and how you should handle them. So if you've never read those scriptures, I encourage you to, to grab a Bible or just look it up on your phone and read them. But what's interesting about what Paul does as he's writing that he always starts with your relationship with God. Right? So, so if you're the dad, where he's going to start is you are the head of the household. It is responsible. It's your responsibility to have a strong relationship with God. If you do not have a strong relationship with God, you cannot lead your family. Well, stop trying to fool yourself, okay? Like, like you're not going to figure it out on your own. You're not going to figure it out without God. You need his grace, you need his mercy, you need His Holy Spirit leading you as you make decisions as a father, to be able to be a good father. So what Paul's going to do is say, hey, guys, get it right with God. Then Love your wife. Love your wife like crazy. Respect her, care for her. Don't ignore her, don't mistreat her. There's actually a. There's a crazy passage in First Peter, I think. I think it might be First Peter 3 that essentially says, like, if you are hindering your relationship with God, God will not listen to your prayers. Guess what? I would like it if God would listen to my prayers. And I'm just going to assume that what the Bible is saying is correct. So I really want to go out of my way to love, care, cherish my wife so that my prayers are not hindered. Right. And also so that my house is in a peaceful place. But so you have a strong relationship with God. You have a strong relationship with your wife. One of the things that gets called out consistently in the New Testament is that as fathers, we should not provoke our children to wrath, which we don't really talk that way anymore. But essentially, don't tick them for no reason. Of course we're supposed to bring them up wisely. Of course we're supposed to discipline them or check them, challenge them, but don't purposely hurt them. And it might sound kind of weird on a podcast, like, why would I purposely hurt my kids? It does not seem weird when you're, like, in it. Because sometimes when you're in it, you're like, oh, you know what? You're doing this to me. I'm going to do this to you. It's like, oh, man, that's going to hurt your kids. And so what you want to do is just bring that love, care, concern that you have for God, that you have for your wife. Bring it to your kids, pray for them, encourage them, strengthen them. Of course, discipline them, direct them, but in a way that's loving. That always encourages relationship. That always encourages restoration. That isn't harsh for no reason, because that's going to help them set the course and walk the path that ultimately God wants them to walk. But you want them to walk, too. Yep. And so check out those passages. I promise I'm not making them up. It's. It's straight from God's word. And God's word is for us, so that we know how to live our lives in a sound way, so that our kids will come up in a sound way. The last.

Colton [00:25:38]:
Last real piece I have in my head, and I'm thinking it through right now, is how important that order is.

Ryan Zook [00:25:42]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Colton [00:25:43]:
Like that order is. Is a game changer.

Ryan Zook [00:25:46]:
Yeah.

Colton [00:25:46]:
Because if it's out of order, don't Expect things to be in order, like, that's it. Yeah, right. And sometimes I've seen time and time again just throughout my time being involved in church. Kids get put up. Put as a number one thing, or my family sometimes gets put over everything else. Like, my family. Not even. Like, maybe my extended family, like my parents, like, they could. Like, sometimes. And I have to be careful. Sometimes I'm very close to my family. Sometimes they can sneak up. Well, maybe they're more important or the stuff they're doing is more important. That order is so critical in. In the way that we lead as husbands. Like, I got to have my relationship close with God. I got it. I got to do that. And then I'm taking care of my wife. You have kids. Don't sneak up above that. And that's something that you need to. That's a line in the sand that is not getting crossed. Because those decisions that are going to be made, they'll see it. They're going to see the ripple effect of that, of you following God, truly following God. Like you said, don't fake it till you make it. Whatever that next step for you needs to be to get out of that, fake it t and make it. It's time to take that step. Whether it's a smart goal, whether it's a mentor, whether it's getting plugged into a church, small group, whatever it is, like, take that next step. And then also start loving your wife. Love her. Truly love her like God loves us. And you know how much God loves you. You can read it throughout the Bible, how much he actually loves us. And then watch it. How it affects your kids, affects the family. And then I watch. If you're involved in a church, watch how it affects the church then as well. The ripple effect is amazing. After you make that decision, how all the things fall in line.

Ryan Zook [00:27:14]:
All right, guys, so we're wrapping up this episode. We understand that some of this stuff is actually pretty tough to walk out. It's one thing to sit and talk about. It's another thing to actually walk it out day in and day out. We have resources that can help you in this area of your life, no matter where you are. If you're listening to us and you're like, man, my relationship with my kids is a disaster. That's okay. We're. We want to resource you and help you to just get a couple degrees better every day, every week to really encourage that ripple effect and make a difference. We have a small group resource we call a man's family. You can check that out on our website. We encourage you. If you want to gather up a couple of guys, you can do that with a group of guys. If you want to see it in your church, you can bring it to your church. If you want to see it in your business, you can bring it to your business. Reach out to us. We can let you know how to get that resource and get it running wherever you are. Another resource we have is a devotional workbook called Family Restored. It's a five week track that just goes through every role that you play in your family, encourages you to reflect on your own life, to set goals, to seek accountability. You can get that on Amazon. There's a link for that workbook in our description. It's a great resource. You do want to check it out, so click that link. We'll be back again next week for another episode of the Men of Iron podcast. We'll see you then. Thanks for listening to the Men of Iron podcast. Be sure to like subscribe and share at Men of Iron. We exist the comments in change a culture one man at a time and we'd love to have you partner with us. So go to menaviron.org to see how you can get involved or donate@menaviron.org donate.