Fun FactsOn Our JourneyOver 40 petsOver 140 teeth lostOver 3,200 sporting events… and countingOver 50 overseas mission trips… and countingOver 44,000 diapers purchased… no more counting!

I pray that we would start the year 2022 with a posture of worship versus a posture of worry, a posture of trusting God versus a posture of struggle and trying to do it on her own. A posture of God's bigness. He is so much bigger and we need to keep that perspective of he knows best. His ways are bigger and wider and deeper and strong. Guys, we have a limited perspective. Let's choose to worship versus worry.

"it's going to take intentionality and it's going to take you guarding your heart above all else. For from it flows living water. And this is meant to be an overflow journey, not one of scarcity, but one where you are being filled up daily to be poured out like a reservoir to fill your kids up and your wife and you can do it. And it's an invitation piece. It's not... God's not going to ever make you do this. You've got to take him up on his invitation."

Don't run away from it. Dive into that because in it, your pain, your weakness actually...Paul said that his power is made perfect and our weakness

There's greatness in you. There's amazing potential in you that you probably have not tapped and that God wants to tap. And he often uses our weaknesses. And that's where we're, you know, his strength shines through our weaknesses.

So know that if you're in a hard season right now, just keep the course, stay the course, stay. ...do not grow weary in well doing. But at the proper time You receive a harvest if you do not give up. So that's the word that I give to you dads as well. It can be tough right now, but keep doing things that you know are going to lead to the end that you want in your marriage and your fatherhood and your business, whatever it is, and trust that that harvest will come at some point.

The measurement of a good father is not based upon the behavior and outcome of the children. The measurement of the good father is, does he reflect God, the father, and the character and the heart that all of his children would be in relationship with him at home."

“I just have a path of intentionality that sets up the odds in your favor. And again, you can't control your son's heart, but you can fight for it. And this is a plan to fight for your son's future. And I believe that when we do that, we activate the heart of God's divine favor comes through our way, the Holy Spirit, gets involved and we're not on our own. And without it, I think you're left to chance and you’re left to the world.”

You might not know what to do. You might say some things wrong, but do not bail. Don't walk away, don't ignore the issue... Don't abdicate the responsibility of being a parent to the culture. You're the parent. God put you in that role for a reason and you might not know the exact thing to say or do.... but got to be there. You got to be present.

One thing I learned is you can't just set the goal, like you got to reverse engineer it and figure out what are the daily habits that are going to get you to those goals. And that's where the magic happens. That's where the hard work habits. And that really is the key to going after those goals. 

Every move we make, every risk we take sets the stage for someone else. Your brave is someone else's breakthrough.

"I just I can't emphasize enough for myself and other people that I've journeyed with the value of finding authentic people that are willing to tell the truth and have grace and love in that."

"I'm trying to build in not only them to be receivers, but then to be leaders and already I'm thinking about them as fathers. I'm thinking about them as husbands. I'm not just thinking about them as my kids with some obligation I have to mention Jesus as we put them to bed. But I'm trying to grow men."

Have courage. Pray dangerous prayers. What kind of mission do I have for my life? Take risks. Fail often and early. Don't be a critic. Be an encourager.

"That which we focus on tends to multiply....find the best parts of your spouse or the best parts of your kid and focus on those because they'll tend to expand. Either in your vision but also in your life."

"Anything lasting, anything of eternal value, anything of substance, we can't do without Him. But as far as the big picture....we parent out of relationship - our relationship with God and our relationship with our kids and life, it's a rhythm, and God designed it that way."

Malachi 4:6 - He will turn the hearts of the fathers toward their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. 

We want to see a generation of dads who are builders, who are saying with intentionality and focus with their time, with their money, with their passions. I'm going to build a family. I'm going to build towards having a heart connection with my kids. I'm going to build, in a direction that glorifies the Lord.

Aaron Smith was one of the founders of Venture, now living full time in Thailand as a missionary with his wife and nine year old and thirteen year old kids. He has a passion to resource dads both in Thailand and the US.