403 | Building the Overcome Muscle, Morning Rhythms with Your Kids, and Why Play Matters (Zac Ernst)
Episode Description
What if the obstacles you're facing right now are exactly what you need to grow stronger as a dad? In this episode, Zac Ernst shares how opposition builds your overcome muscle, why emotional strength matters more than ever with teenagers, and how a simple Tuesday morning bike ride can change everything. Plus, he opens up about losing half his income the month after doubling his mortgage—and the moment God broke through his fear with joy.
-
Zac Ernst is the founder of Pursuit, a faith and fitness movement for men that operates in chapters across the country. He's a husband, father of two teenagers, and passionate about helping men step out of comfort and into challenge alongside brothers. Zac lives in Seal Beach, California, where you'll find him doing early morning bike rides with his son, creating playful adventures, and leading men to do hard things and become better.
-
Emotional strength means staying steady through your kids' ups and downs rather than riding their emotional roller coasters.
Opposition and hard things aren't obstacles to avoid—they're opportunities to fortify your faith muscle and show your kids what trust looks like.
Play isn't optional for dads. It connects you to childlikeness, creates lasting memories, and reminds you that joy is found in pointless moments without outcomes.
Three out of five men have no one to call in crisis. Finding your tribe and suffering together breaks isolation and builds unshakeable bonds.
Your worry as a dad is like a five-year-old worrying about taxes—God's got this, and freedom comes when you open your hands and trust Him.
-
Learn about the next DadAwesome Accelerator Cohort
Subscribe to DadAwesome Messages: Text the word "Dad" to (651) 370-8618
Pursuit Official Website: www.pursuitofficial.com
Wild at Heart by John Eldredge
-
Jeff Zaugg: Zac, I think it's been three years and the last time we chatted, we sat in a camper van overlooking—we were at a spot we could see the Pacific Ocean. Today we're through a virtual conversation. So shoot, you're the guy that I want to be on paddleboards as we have a DadAwesome conversation. So that's coming. I'm going to come chase you down for that one. Welcome back for round two though. And I would love to hear Zac, current chapter of dad life, because your son, your daughter are three years older. So yeah, tell us about the current chapter.
Zac Ernst: Yeah, man, a lot has changed going from 13 to 16 with our daughter. So that's been an adventure and a growing experience. It's a joy. It's a challenge. But yeah, she's been amazing. It's just incredible to see your daughter turn into a woman and become independent. And it's a deep grieving season that I went through. I feel like I'm just now barely on the other side of that, like kind of losing my little girl and that transition into adulthood and womanhood. Yeah, so that's been a journey, but we're so grateful. She keeps surprising us in the most beautiful, amazing ways.
And then our son is 12 now and Finn, he is such a joy. It's always remarkable to see how different kids can be that come out of the same two people with their personalities and interests and everything. But yeah, we have so many adventures together and love camping and body surfing and getting in the water as much as we can. On Tuesday morning, 5:30, little bike rides to the Greenbelt and play catch and climb trees and get a croissant. Yeah, so just fun little moments I'm just cherishing because I know they're going to be gone soon. I think, yeah, that's been enjoying my life for sure.
Jeff Zaugg: Wait, tell me that bike ride, that's a weekly rhythm. The bike ride, green belt, that's early though, 5:30 you said?
Zac Ernst: Yeah, he's like, "Dad, will you wake me up?" He's like, "Wake me up, I want to go." And even though, no matter how tired he is, it's like, he always reminds me, he's like, "Are we going on a bike ride tomorrow?" Yeah, it's just a simple bike ride down, there's a nice park, like Greenbelt Park near the beach. And we have our little spot, there's these climbing trees. I used to take him when he was really little and he just still loves it. We'll either take a football or like a—actually, do I have one here? I don't know, but it's called a Zip Chip. It's my new favorite toy.
Jeff Zaugg: I'm going to have to look it up. What? Describe it.
Zac Ernst: It's about this big and it's a disc. It's like a frisbee that you throw like a skipping rock. You play catch with. It's the coolest toy.
Jeff Zaugg: And that's all it takes is a tiny little toy, a Frisbee, modified, you know, a zip disc and a croissant, right? Not a big budget. Not a big chunk of your day. In fact, this is early morning hours that you're used to getting up early anyways, which we'll talk about the reason for that later in the chat. But it's, I mean, that weekly rhythm, do you have any kind of an ongoing rhythm with your daughter or is it more right now this chapter more with your son?
Zac Ernst: So Tuesday nights, Amy and I switch off on our either man night we call it if it's Finn and I, or date night even though Lindy doesn't like to call it date night. But yeah, we switch off with the kids on Tuesdays and so we'll get our one-on-one time with them and we'll just go to dinner and do whatever they want to do. Take Lindy to Sephora and her favorite restaurant and Finn wants to go to the arcade or eat Thai or go fishing and so. Yeah, those are regular rhythms that we've been doing for probably six plus years, I think, pretty consistently. So yeah, that's been a really cool thing just to stay connected.
Jeff Zaugg: I can verify because I came to the beach on Tuesday three years ago and I was like trying to get a hold of you and you didn't respond. You're like, "I was with my daughter on a dad daughter." So this is the best. I can verify your story.
Okay, speaking of the beach, Seal Beach, they have someone, a photographer celebrates the biggest wipeout or they did three, four years ago. They celebrate like the biggest wipeout. You showed me a picture of you crashing, you eating it. It was a great, it was a great picture. Maybe we'll try to dig it up. But the reason I bring that up is in the last three years, can you think of any, you know, a face plant, a wipe out, like, man, if I wouldn't have known this then I wouldn't have caused that pain to my son, to my daughter, and my marriage. Just a stumble that we could learn from. Any dad fails that you'd be willing to share a little story or even a category if you don't want to share the specifics, that's fine, but I just, we'd love to learn from you.
Zac Ernst: Yeah, I mean, there's so many. Yeah, I think one with Lindy specifically is in being at 16 and full teenager mode that there is a—I'm bumping up against sensitivity. Like I'm overly sensitive. The thing that Amy and I keep reminding each other about is we want to be emotionally strong for our kids. We want to be emotionally stable and strong. What that means is not riding the roller coasters of their emotions and their peaks and valleys, but to stay steady.
Just the other night, I picked her up from her friend's house, we're driving home and she immediately turns the music up and is on her phone. I haven't seen her all day, I just want to connect and talk to her and I take offense. I'm like, "Hey, why don't you put that away? Why don't you just answer my question? Don't give me one word responses." And just that my attitude, that wasn't being emotionally strong, right? I wasn't meeting her where she was at. I wasn't like, empathizing with whatever she's dealing with. Obviously, she wasn't in the mood to talk, and I need to be okay with that.
And I think that's what I've been learning as of this week, that it's not about me, it's not about my emotions and my feelings. It's about me being just a steady presence for her and not forcing my desire to connect when I want to connect, especially when she's not in the mood to. So I think that's a very real one that's a daily struggle of just honoring her cycle, honoring just her emotional state as often as it can fluctuate with frequency. Yeah. I think that's kind of a recent one where I just try to force my agenda in our relationship and just it doesn't go well. It's not—I mean, I wouldn't like that if someone did that to me. So I think that's what I'm trying to get into, this shift of her becoming an independent woman. Like she's an individual. Like she's not just this little two-year-old that I can lift up and put over here now.
Jeff Zaugg: That's it. Zac, like this story, that example for me, this is brand new because my oldest is 12 and car rides were just a given. I can decide around my desire. Do I want to play something they listen to, to put something on that they watch or to dialogue? Anytime I decide to dialogue, we dialogue. Like that was the case until about the last year here. It's like, no, actually it's not if I want to talk. It's almost like moving to with my relationship with my wife, Michelle, yeah, there's a sensitivity of like trying to like, "Hey, what's helpful right now for this moment, for a relationship, for you, for me, like, what do you need?"
But I wasn't thinking through that lens with my daughters until this is like brand new and I'm realizing the same. I'm like frustrated, just like that. I'm like, wait, a new reality to what does this precious young woman need in this moment? And I probably should use that filter more with my younger daughters as well. That's really helpful.
Another just to kind of—I'm going to hit you from lots of angles today with this conversation. I'm so grateful you were up for going around too here, Zac. But the idea of opposition, the idea of barriers, obstacles, being good versus being stirring frustration, the idea of a struggle and a, like, I didn't want it to be this way, but actually this force that feels like it's pushing against me actually could be the best thing that I need right now. I'd love to hear you just play out like, how do you—what does that stir up in you? Me saying, "Hey, actually an opposition, an obstacle, a challenge can be really good."
Zac Ernst: Yeah, I mean, it's kind of our motto with Pursuit, it's do hard things become better. So it's very—just being a part of Pursuit and leading Pursuit for the past decade, like it's really ingrained. It's really ingrained in me and it's been fortified through experiences that God has led me through. And I can't remember if we shared this last time, but the one that pops—I was just sharing this last night with a friend that has a large HVAC company that seems to be—he said the prayer like, "God, this business is yours. Whatever you want to do, just do. If you want to shutter it, shutter it. Whatever you want to do, it's yours."
He said just days after that, dominoes started falling—branches closed, key people left, four major setbacks. And it reminded me of when we get in these situations that seem impossible, man, that's where God does his best work. That's the best, most amazing places that he shows up at to really do his thing. Remind us that we are children, that we aren't in control, he is, and that we can surrender and just trust that he'll get us.
So, the story I shared with him was just, it was February of 2020, we buy our house in Seal Beach. And it was a huge leap, huge risk. And it was February 2020. So I doubled my mortgage payment from what we were paying in rent, doubled it. March 2020 hits. COVID and the whole world shuts down. And my income through payments is residual and it's connected to a lot of restaurants. And so what happened that next month, as we get our new mortgage bill, I lose half my income after doubling my liability to the mortgage.
Jeff Zaugg: Yes.
Zac Ernst: That was like this, "Oh my gosh, Lord, where, like what, we thought we heard you, like I'm going to lose the house now." This is—it was just like total freak out mode. And I'm worrying my prayers. I'm sitting, I'm in my garage, like worrying my prayers, writing these prayers down, scared to death. And I remember, like he reminds me, there's a proverb, I think, it says, "Do not worry your prayers." And right then I had this image of Jesus sitting next to me on the couch and I just saw him shaking his head, looking at me like, "You're so cute. Why are you sweating this?" He's like, "Your fear and your worry right now is equivalent to your five-year-old worrying about taxes."
Jeff Zaugg: That's it.
Zac Ernst: So I was just like, "Oh my gosh." Then what happened was this conviction, but then right after that was this repentance and then this overwhelming sense of his presence and the joy of the Lord came over me and I just started—I erupted in laughter and I just couldn't stop laughing. It was the weirdest, craziest thing and that doesn't happen to me. I'm not like normally a really emotional, charismatic kind of person and to feel the presence so tangibly and to weep so happy tears of joy was like remarkable.
I went—I ended up going into, I was by my—Amy wasn't here. And I had to go check on Finn. So I walked over to Finn's room, just like trying to hold it together, you know, just full giggles. And I walk into his room and I was like, "Hey bud, like, how's it going?" And I just like, couldn't hold it back. And he just looks at me, he just starts erupting in laughter. And I like, I lose it. And we're just like crying and laughing. And he doesn't know why, but it was contagious. And we had a great time. And like, at that moment, like all the fear broke. I was like, "I don't know how this is going to work out, but God's going to get us through."
And it was just this powerful time. So to answer your question, I almost like, not that I like want those experiences, but like there is this like faith muscle that was developed in that moment just seeing, especially times when we're out of control, you know, be it a diagnosis, you know, loss of job, whatever the case may be. These are like, these are opportunities to double down and just like, like open our hands and see what God's going to do. And now I just have faith for the impossible, because I'd seen it.
Jeff Zaugg: In this moment, like you saying me worrying is the equivalent to a five-year-old worrying about paying taxes. Okay? Like I just, my mind jumps to yesterday, a mechanic in my driveway basically said, "Our minivan is worth nothing. The engine's shot." And I'm like, but I truly like that, right now in this moment, I can acknowledge like we're in circumstances like that of a five-year-old worrying about taxes. Like God has provided our vehicles in the past. He's going to provide. Yeah.
But I can walk inside and be edgy, crabby, short with my daughters, frustrated. Like all of a sudden, it's amazing how it moves me into, I think you referred to it earlier, having an emotional strength that this is what we get to bring because of my lived experience and my seeing God's faithfulness over and over and over. I can actually show up, walk into the kitchen with strength, emotional strength, not deflated or crabby or anxious. But I struggle with this, Zac. Like I struggle with it. I want to make sure before I go deeper into that, you mentioned Pursuit, but many of our listeners didn't hear the first episode three years ago when I interviewed you. So just at a flyover, Pursuit, can you just kind of give us the 20,000 foot level view of what it is?
Zac Ernst: Yeah, yeah, Pursuit is basically the intersection of faith and fitness for men. It's a place for men to come fully alive, to step out of their comforts and step into challenge and discipline with brothers shoulder to shoulder to help pull you up and help you go the distance and just overcome the hard things in life. And we talk about the overcome muscle. All these, what your question is, is so appropriate because every time we go through something challenging, we go through a challenge, we do something hard. It fortifies something in the back of our mind that tells us, "No, I have what it takes. Like, Jesus will get me through this. We can do it."
And you know, from big things to like the smallest temptations that end up spiraling us and you know, can take us totally off. So yeah, that pursuit is, that's the heartbeat is just recognizing that most men out there are lonely. Every man needs a tribe and that we are built to do hard things. This culture of comfort that we all are swimming in has just led us to apathy and boredom. And we're slowly dying every day if we don't push back. And this is just a platform to allow men to step into some of those things that their hearts are longing for.
Jeff Zaugg: In the last three years, do you have a favorite East Coast chapter of Pursuit? Any favorite?
Zac Ernst: Flagler Beach, of course, led by Jeff Zaugg, come on.
Jeff Zaugg: So a year ago, a year ago, we did lead a local chapter and we're going to bring it back in our prayer. I would be like, every time I hear about a new chapter launch and you just shared about a few of them with me before we hit record, like the idea of someone has to grab ahold of a vision and be the champion for the local group. Like it takes an inviter. Yeah. As just an example, you know, I did that, you know, whatever, 15, 12, 15 guys said yes last year. We're awake, it's dark, it's like 42 degrees and we're on the beach working out with Sam.
We started the chapter, we're getting eaten up by mosquitoes. It was like hot. And then we end the—it's amazing how seven weeks later, how the weather changes in Northeast Florida. But it takes someone going first. And I just as an experiment, I mentioned you were doing these accelerator coaching cohorts for DadAwesome. I just tossed out to the guys, "Hey, I've never done more than like 40 pushups before in one shot. Maybe 40, 45. And I want to, by the end of the year, do 100."
Now, I might fail, but I have a plan and I'm working the plan with—I have 92 days from the time of recording, 92 days between now and the end of the year. But I know that I quit—I will quit early morning sandbag workouts on the beach, the pursuit plan. I'll quit if I'm by myself. I will. I will quit.
Zac Ernst: Right. Me too. Me too. Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: Yes. So I just tossed it out to these guys. You know, it was like 25 guys in the current cohorts. Nine have said yes to joining me for this pushup challenge.
Zac Ernst: Yes.
Jeff Zaugg: Yes. Like this is how easy it is. It takes someone to just look up a plan for 92 days. How do I get to a hundred pushups? And I probably like, I know the least about fitness and fitness plans, but it just took me to do some research, make a Google doc, ask who's in. And nine guys said, yes, nine guys are going to get not entirely strong, but at least some of their muscles will be shredded so they can do a hundred pushups.
Zac Ernst: Yes. That's amazing.
Jeff Zaugg: So what does that stir up in you to this idea that anyone can be the catalyst, but it takes that first and then it takes the second or else the first, the guy who goes first will fail or at least in my case will. I'd love to hear how you play that out and how you would encourage all the dads when it comes to taking action.
Zac Ernst: Yeah, I mean a couple of scriptures come to mind. It's, you know, well there's two chords, a strand aren't easily broken, but three chords will last there. I'm butchering it, but you know, the reference.
Jeff Zaugg: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Zac Ernst: And then the other thing is, just in line, oh, then without vision, people perish.
Jeff Zaugg: That's it.
Zac Ernst: And that's what you did. You gave people a vision to go for something that they have never done before and that you incited an excitement, you incited just something that stirred their hearts, a mini adventure that they get to step into every single day. And you guys are building this camaraderie. It's like, "Hey, how many push-ups did you do this week? And are you at your numbers?" And that stuff is so bonding. And so that's exactly it. And that's what we've tried to do with Pursuit with these challenges, a 45 or a 90-day challenge is just go the distance. Read the books. Do the breathing protocol. Do the workout. Do the nutrition.
And you will be a changed man at the end, but it just takes one guy to say, "Hey, I'm in, like, who's with me? I'm going to plant a flag, I'll be here three days a week, and you know, who wants to come along?" And that's what you did both in, you know, Flagler Beach chapter and then also with this push-up challenge. It's just, it's—people, I think what I've seen is so many men disqualify themselves way too quickly. There's so many good excuses for why not to do things, but we all need encouragement. We need encouragement to step out in courage. When we can be called up higher, I have a list of men behind me that I'm standing on their shoulders and that have propped me up and pushed me and said, "Go, like, Zac, you got it. You have what it takes." Without them, I wouldn't do any of the things that I'm blessed to do now.
So all to say, yeah, that's my biggest thing is if anyone's inspired by this conversation, by what you did with the 100 push-ups challenge, I just say you can do it. You have what it takes. Let me encourage you. You'll surprise yourself with how easy it is just by taking one step, and then that step leads to the next. Then before you know it, you're on top of the mountain looking for the next one.
Jeff Zaugg: And we use the phrase, I'll go first. Like dads, it's not a selfish thing to go first. In this case, we're talking about, I'll go first and take a little initiative and invite a few others in. And just for the dads listening, you're actually not invited into my pushup challenge. You're not invited. The reason I say that is any of these guys can either create their own challenge from scratch and invite a few guys in. Create your own, invite a few guys in. Or better, I want to send them, it'll be in the show notes, like sending them to Pursuit to learn about the ability to hop into a community virtually to get all the tools, the breathing protocols. You're going to end up doing cold showers before you know it. You're going to end up reading books. You're going to go through the key pillars.
I am such a fan of the ministry of pursuit. But I think it's more rich if you just get a couple other men, couple other dads to join you wherever you're at locally. You can join and learn and just dabble. But as soon as you take the second step of, "Let's try it, let's try it," and then grab a few guys. What would you add for that invitation to hop into Pursuit?
Zac Ernst: I mean, that's great. My next question is what do you have to lose? Extra fat? Some, you know, some like maybe missed shows at night because you're going to bed a little earlier. I mean, it's the stuff that you trim to get into the program is so worth it. Not just for yourself, but for your family. You're going to become a better dad, better husband, better worker. We've seen so many guys come through and just like transform their marriages. Their wives at the end of the 90-day challenge are like, "Who are you now?" You know, they really do. Like, just there's something inspiring when a man can get the confidence knowing he's gone the distance to do something difficult. And then it's like, "Well, anything's possible now."
So you have guys like, you know, leveling up in their careers and just falling more in love with Jesus. Having like, finally having a person to call in the moment of crisis. I just heard this heartbreaking statistic that it's three out of five men have no one to call in crisis, no friend to call. And it's like, man, that should not be. And this is something, there's something about suffering together, like being challenged together, those guys that you lead those bike rides with, like those guys have this lasting memory, you know? That is something that's bonded them forever. Like no one can take that away from them. And it was like a moment in time, you know? It was a yes, an action, and then they have this forever, that they're bonded.
So that's really the heartbeat behind Pursuit. Let's have a place for guys to just gather outside in a park, on a beach, anywhere to go through a workout designed for any fitness level. All the workouts are video guided for you. They're written out. There's a question of the day. So we also, we're a big fan of Eldredge and his, you know, shallows, midlands and depths. You know, shallows are like where most men live. Most of us live in the shallows. Let's talk about the weather, let's talk about the sports. Complain about our job.
The Midlands are, "Yeah, I've got this health thing, I've been feeling off," like maybe a little more vulnerable, it's a little more real. But then the depths is where you get to the heart. And that's where the heart, the vulnerability, you open your chest to one another. And so a big part of the program is having that moment at the end, a 15 minute roundup we call it with a guided question that takes you to the depths quickly. We try to eliminate all shallow conversation. Like let's just not waste time. We don't have time for that. Let's just get real and connect on a heart level and be vulnerable. We say the most vulnerable man on the sand is the strongest. So yeah, these are our values that we have.
Jeff Zaugg: Yeah, and I guess I would love to add to that 2 a.m. phone call when crisis hits—who can you call? There's, you think of this on the I need help and who can I reach to, but the other thing isolation is doing is stealing joy from—there are moments in our life. So I have a friend that just as of two days ago has been placed and is adopting and is holding their adopted baby girl.
Zac Ernst: Come on.
Jeff Zaugg: And like the joy that our group of friends is sharing through a group text. I'm getting emotional right now just telling you about it because there's such joy in an answered prayer that if we weren't connected to each other, I lose all of that. And that's part of God's design is us to be connected to share the mountain tops, the joy moments and to journey through the hard. And so often it's, let's put that stake in the sand. Let's pick a challenge that helps us grow versus, "Hey, let's all get together and talk about how we can become better dads or better husbands." Or you're adding a like take the walls down fast, let's sweat together, which I think is brilliant.
Zac Ernst: Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: Did you see this for your group? That something happens when you are struggling physically together, you're suffering together, and then you sit down and offer a question that the guards are down, like the walls can come down because it's like, "All right, I'm sweating, I'm stinky, I'm hurting. We just did this thing together. We don't have to pretend anymore." So it's a really cool space that I think the military caught on to this, you know, that they just beat you down so that you can just be raw and open with yourself, you know?
Anyways, yeah, I think that's what's really unique is the coffee shop Bible studies are rad. It's just, I feel like men are so tactile. We like the praxis of things. Like, yes, it's good to talk things through, but like, but it doesn't land until we embody it. And we get into our physicality and we can like, you know, feel each other's body heat and like know like that we just—we just did something hard together. We bled together and man like that's memory making stuff.
Jeff Zaugg: That's it. I want to hit one topic, gamification, and then I'm going to go to hearing God's voice a little bit as we end. But gamification, I have a bin of like 300 tennis balls in my garage. And, you know, a bin of 300 tennis balls could just be a waste of space or it's unlimited gamification, a playful, like the things we can create. The theme of the birthday party I'm doing for my daughter tomorrow night is monkey. It's monkey themed and you can do unlimited things with a bin of tennis balls, right?
But same with men, like gamifying. So I use the pushups as an example. Gamifying, I know your Friday, like one out of every three workouts is play. Let's play, let's make it fun. And you actually use tennis balls for some of the gamifying as well. Can you think of any other examples to spark creativity, spark laughter in the area of gamifying? It could be in the workout sphere or just like some adventure that you like, let's be playful in how we approach this.
Zac Ernst: Yeah.
Jeff Zaugg: Yeah, I mean, I think we always have a frisbee on us too. So it's, you know, we'll run and do, we'll just pass the frisbee to everybody as we're running. If it drops, then everyone has to do pushups.
Jeff Zaugg: Yes.
Zac Ernst: But I think play, you're hitting on something massive that isn't talked about much, but play is so vital to a man's heart and to his wellbeing. And it's something I think, I think play is a big part of why Jesus calls us to be childlike. Like kids, that's all they know how to do. That's what they live and breathe is play and fun. It's why my son gets me up at 5:30 in the morning to go play. And it's like, it reminds me of my childlikeness and it connects me to the joy that is the Lord.
But we do it in all sorts of different ways practically. Like, yeah, like we mentioned tennis balls, we do surf balls where—chairs where, if there's 10 guys, we throw nine balls in the water and then one guy gets knocked out every round. You have to—
Jeff Zaugg: Yes.
Zac Ernst: —you put your chin on the sand and heads up, heads down, and then you get up and go and run to the beach and run to the water. That's super fun. But just have fun, playful competition. Yeah, Ultimate Frisbee every Friday. But just two weeks ago, we went for an overlanding trip with guys that had off-road vehicles and we took our sons and we're like, "Hey, let's go and let's go explore this mountain." And 24 hours, that's what blew my mind. It was like 24 hours of adventure and is all it took. We just had a fire and cooked out and told stories and it was just dads and sons.
And then I totally scratched up my van. We had a chainsaw cutting branches and trying to get through tight places, but it was so worth it, so much fun. We all jumped in the lake afterwards and it was just a dream. And we're just laughing, like playing and with no—no responsibilities. I think that's the other key part of play is that men and dads are so responsible. We have so many duties and responsibilities and people relying on us and that we forget to play ourselves and to have moments of no responsibility, no result at the end of like, "I'm not doing this thing to achieve this thing." That's not play. Play is pointless. It's for the other than for joy, you know?
So I, yeah, I'm a huge fan of play and gamifying anything that you can. Like I carry the zip chip everywhere I go. And like, I love introducing it to people because it's like, "Hey, catch." And like, and the people are trip out and yeah, anyways, it's a big, big piece.
Jeff Zaugg: I mean, this is something I know about you. I know it's true about me. I am a playful dad. I'm a playful friend. But I found myself like 45 minutes ago with my nine-year-old daughter. I told her, "Oh, dad's got to work." Like I responded because I, you know, hopped out for a late lunch. I responded like, "Oh, I can't." And then I said, "Ah, screw it. Let's do it." And we went back and did the rope swing. But even in that, it was 10 minutes of doing some rope swing and slackline in the backyard. But it was joy, but it wasn't really play because I stole away for a little small dose of fun and it brought her joy.
But when you say no response, there's like having a longer or a little more like there's something I think that takes the next level that our hearts really, the laughter is going to start to bubble up a lot more than the 10 minutes of stealing away. So there's categories, but it's all good. It's all good. I want to encourage.
Zac Ernst: Those are deposits too, and your daughter just for this, I mean that's—actually someone just on the beach said this, they're like, "We just did this no media fast, no social media, no shows and anything," and this sage 65 year old man around in the circle, he's like, "You know, I was playing with my three year old granddaughter the other day, and I realized that how fast time goes for me, 15 minutes, I mean, is like a blink, a year's a blink, you know, but for a child, 15 minutes can be a lifelong memory."
Jeff Zaugg: Perspective.
Zac Ernst: And that gutted me. I was like, "Oh my gosh." So that 10 minutes that you just did slacklining and play with your daughter, that could be a fundamental memory that she's going to have. Like my dad set aside his lunchtime to play with me, and now she has that forever. And you're probably going to forget it next week. But for her, it's like this is a formational moment. And that just got me.
Jeff Zaugg: Good. Yeah, more often, more often. So you brought up John Eldredge earlier and he challenged me when it comes to being a light in our neighborhood and our community. He said, "Well, tell fresh Jesus stories." It's like, where have you seen God move? Well, tell your family, tell others. So I was going to ask you in the last, call it three years, since we chatted last in this regard on the podcast, any fresh Jesus stories that you just would want to share, more probably in more shorter form, a couple minutes, that you would just shine the light on like how God has moved and his goodness and that just, I think, inspires all of us to tell more Jesus stories.
Zac Ernst: Yeah, yeah. Well, I'll just tell one that I was talking about this morning with a guy who came up to me. This guy was an atheist, had a girlfriend that grew up Christian, but they were living together and kind of walked away from the Lord and they showed up to church and she just felt inspired to go. And so she came to The Garden. They both did, and no one prayed for him, no one did anything, but as soon as the worship started, he felt this presence. And he just felt this overwhelming love.
And in that moment, he realized that this is the anniversary of my best friend's suicide. And so he was overwhelmed with this grief and guilt, too, because he felt like he could have done more. And he's just been carrying the shame and this weight for so long, and he has no context for hearing the voice of God. And he hears, "Hey, Daniel's with me, he's okay, and so are you, I'm with you, I'm taking this pain away." And he was like, "What was that?" Again, doesn't have a grid for God, doesn't have a grid for presence of God, voice of God, anything. And he's hearing, experiencing these things.
And he said like, in an instant, that weight lifted, the weight of guilt and shame lifted, and he starts weeping. Sermon nails him like another perfect thing, and he's driving home, his girlfriend's like, "Hey, like what happened?" What happened, he like pulls over, starts weeping, he's like, "Babe, all the pain's gone, all the sadness is gone, all the guilt is gone, I don't—who is Jesus?" And he like, and he, so he gave his life to the Lord and he's just been on this crazy journey and just kind of, so he was even sharing more about that story with me this morning, but it's been so rad. And he's just, yeah, I've got to baptize him recently and actually married him on Friday.
Jeff Zaugg: Wow!
Zac Ernst: They moved out of their—they moved out of their—when they're living together, after he came back to the Lord, they're like, "We gotta get"—and so they just turned their lives upside down and, you know, just followed Jesus with everything and just like, we're reaping so much. So it's been really beautiful to see that journey. But yeah, last Friday I was—
Jeff Zaugg: Thank you for—wow, what joy just to hear this short version of the recap. There's so much more. I was going to ask Zac, if you could close our time praying over the dads. And I know that the seventh pillar of pursuit is freedom. And that's just core to what we believe is God wants to set dads free, bring healing, bring healing from numbing, healing from darkness, things that were stuck in, the healing from past baggage or hurts like you just shared. And if you just pray a prayer of freedom over these dads, because we know that it cascades to our kids. So that'd be amazing if you could end our time with that.
Zac Ernst: Yeah. Jesus, you're so kind. Again, I just am reminded of the call, the invitation to come to you as children, that you invite us to be childlike. And when I think of what freedom looks like, it's children. It's they have no—there's no masks, there's no walls up, there's no self-protection. There's just complete freedom and abandonment in who they are. They know who they are. They know they're a son. They know they're a daughter.
And so God, I just pray that we can embody that reality that we once experienced without masks, without walls, that we can be free and enjoy you as you enjoy us, as we are made in your image. You love us as we are, not as we should be. And so God, I just, I impart freedom over these men, anyone listening, that they will experience the freedom and the joy that only can come from You and that we can step into play today, that we can step into lightheartedness, that we can laugh easily and get our smiles back.
So God, just bless Jeff as well and his ministry and just the amazing work you're doing through him and through this podcast, just touching so many men and people. And so I just bless his family, pray for a brand new minivan in Jesus' name and work out all the details and the challenges and let them be a marker of faith for us, Jesus, that you come through every time. You're rarely early, but you're never late. And so thank you for that, Jesus. We love you. Bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Jeff Zaugg: Amen. Zac, grateful for you. Really grateful.
OUTRO
Jeff Zaugg: Thank you for joining us for episode 403 with Zac Ernst. All the conversation links, the links to the ministry Pursuit and just learning more from that ministry, getting connected, even hosting a future chapter are all going to be at dadawesome.org/podcast and look for episode 403.
Want to remind you guys, man, let's take action. Let's be the spark. Let's be the guy who says, "Hey, let's try this" and then invite other dads in. Just like my example for that pushup challenge. It doesn't take much to cast a challenge, an idea and it's amazing how fast other dads are waiting to be invited. So I want to encourage, let's be those dads. DadAwesome, we don't wait for somebody else to go first. We are the dads who go first.
Also, we'd love to invite you to leave a voicemail. Leave DadAwesome a voicemail. We're collecting questions. So leave your questions at the DadAwesome voicemail line. It's linked on all the show notes and all the podcast players. Can't wait to hear your questions. Begin your recording, the little 90 second recording with your name and where you're from.
Thanks guys, praying for you. Have an awesome week.
-
"Your fear and worry right now is equivalent to your five-year-old worrying about taxes."
"For a child, 15 minutes can be a lifelong memory. For us, it's a blink—but for them, it's forever."
"The most vulnerable man on the sand is the strongest. Let's eliminate shallow conversation and get to the heart quickly."
"Play isn't pointless—it's for joy. Men forget to have moments with no responsibility, no outcome, just pure fun."
"Every time we go through something challenging, we fortify something in our minds that tells us: I have what it takes. Jesus will get me through this."
Connect with DadAwesome
Learn about our Fathers for the Fatherless events in 2023:https://f4f.bike/
Follow@dadawesome on Instagram
Make a Donation to DadAwesome (tax-deductible)
Join the DadAwesome Prayer Team
Receive weekly encouragement by texting "dad" to 651-370-8618
