I’ve been following Adam McLane’s blog ever since I’ve been blogging (7 months and 15 days if you’re counting). Adam has great insight in youth ministry, church, family, etc… I’m very impressed with his writing. Anyway…

Over the weekend Adam wrote a post titled, “Daddy, if you love me…” and passed on a great learning that was delivered from his son:

[Adam speaking] “Paul, don’t you want to go to the game? It’s sold out. The Aztecs are awesome this year. And I love sharing this with you.” He got up the courage to tell me the truth. “I really like hanging out with you dad. But we always do things that you love, like sports, and it doesn’t count as a dad date unless it’s something I want to do.” [See his entire post]

Last Friday I wrote a post about how much I like being a dad and yet how fast time goes by when you’re parenting. After reading Adam’s post I thought, “If my kids were still little, this is how I’d try to be more intentional.

Daily: Affection & Attention.

Weekly: One on One time.

Monthly: Special, surprise memory-maker.

Yearly: A fully documented (photos/videos) family vacation.

I clearly wasn’t this intentional, but I also don’t live with much parenting regret. Obviously, I could have done things more intentionally (like above), but I did spend a lot of very intentional time with my kids even though my ministry always required more.

For example, I made it a goal to coach every sport my kids played—until they got into high school (I accomplished that goal except for volleyball). Coaching was filled with great times of driving to practice, getting a Slurpee afterwards, and just a massive amount of time hanging/playing together.

As much as I’ve always wanted to be a great dad, there are some things I wish I would have done different. That’s why I write this, as much as possible, don’t allow that to happen to you.

The great news is that even though my kids are older (22,19,16), I can still create new memories, forge deeper relationships, and be the dad that I was created and called to be.

You too!

Intentional parenting…Parenting without regrets…Focus on your darn family…I don’t care what you call it, just make it happen.

Start today.

Your kids will thank you!

Question: what intentional parenting steps do you try to take on a regular basis? Let’s learn from one another–chime in.