Ep. 160: Intentional Fatherhood

God Hears Her Podcast

Episode 160 – Intentional Fatherhood with Matt Adkins

Elisa Morgan & Eryn Adkins with Matt Adkins

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Matt: The biggest thing… that I’ve been learning lately is, it goes back to a word that we’ve already thrown out today, is… surrender, and the relationship between me and my heavenly Father, and the relationship between me and my three girls as a father. The thing that I desire most for my girls is the thing that our heavenly Father desires most of me, which is relationship.

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Voice: You’re listening to God Hears Her, a podcast for women where we explore the stunning truth that God hears you, He sees you, and He loves you because you are His. Find out how these realities free you today on God Hears Her.

Eryn: Welcome to God Hears Her. I’m Eryn Adkins. 

Elisa: And I’m Elisa Morgan. Father’s Day is coming up, and if you’ve been a listener for a while, you know that we like to do special episodes with a dad or someone that can speak into fatherhood. Today’s guest is extra special. Now, why is that, Eryn?

Eryn: Because it’s my husband! I have been wanting to get Matt on this podcast for so long. He’s a father of three daughters, and he has so much insight for different seasons of fatherhood. He’s super intentional with everything that he does, and I just can’t wait for this conversation.

Elisa: Oh, me either, Eryn. Okay, well, let’s start off this God Hears Her conversation by asking Matt more about who he is.

Matt: A musician, started playing guitar when I was seventeen. Travelled, did a lot of travelling in my twenties. And now I work at a church, Gwinett church, and I’ve been pouring into shaping the next generation of musicians for over a decade.

Elisa: Oh, I love that.

Matt: I feel like it’s my calling from the Lord to pass on my experience and knowledge of what I’ve learned, and really just shaping the purpose of the musician within the local church. So, I love it. As far as my fatherhood…I have three girls, sixteen, fourteen, and eight, they’re all on the evens.

Elisa: And you got those from a different relationship than your…

Matt: Yeah, so my…

Elisa: … relationship with Eryn.

Matt: … my former spouse and I, we… yeah, Hallie was born in 2008, and then 2010, and the last one was born on pi day.

Elisa: That’s awesome, good to know. Matt, you have experience being a bio dad, a married dad, a divorced dad, and now a dad with a blended family…

Matt: That’s right.

Elisa: … that… that’s a lot of dad stuff.

Matt: It is. You know what, I’ve not thought about the three seasons of a dad like that.

Elisa: So, take us into your life. How did you and Eryn meet and y’all tell us a little bit about your story, and then I’d love to know, you know, how… how it’s shifted your parenting.

Matt: Yeah. So, Eryn and I had known each other from similar circles… cause she spoke in a part of So Worth Loving, and me being on the road and being a professional musician, we found ourselves in similar spaces, conferences, so I knew of Eryn Eddy… who owned So Worth Loving for a very long time. And we shared stages, we actually led worship together, so, I don’t know if y’all know this, everybody, but Eryn used to sing professionally, too… so we shared some stages and led worship, and then fast forward, that was probably around 2011…

Elisa: Wow.

Matt: … and in 2018, 19, and 2020 we started dating. She found herself divorced and I found myself divorced, and… I took a year off of dating to heal and work on myself, and then kind of slowly got myself back into the dating scene. And Eryn and I just started date- now, now, when we first started dating, Eryn didn’t think it went as a date…

Elisa: I know!

Matt: … I did. 

Elisa: I knew her during those years, and she said, well, I… I just thought we were having coffee, she told me this whole story, and she’s going Matt thought it was our first date, and I thought we were just having coffee.

Matt: Oh, yeah. I was nervous, I was sweating, she was cool as a cucumber, and then… then when she started realizing it was actually dates, she started getting nervous and I was all… I was over the nerves phase, so…

Eryn: Uh-huh. Yup, that’s exactly right, and I remember, so, he asked for my phone number from a… a mutual friend of ours, and I said to her, she’s like is it okay if I give him your phone number? I said yes, just let him know I’m not dating. And…

Elisa: Because what were you doing during this time?

Eryn: Well, I had just taken a year off of dating, and then I was kind of off and on dating people, that if somebody asked me out on a date, I would say yes, but for some reason, I told her to tell him that I’m not dating. Our story’s really sweet, because we hung out and went on dates, I say hung out, I thought we…

Elisa: Went for coffee.

Eryn: … were hanging out, and he was, like I’m taking this woman out on… out on dates.

Elisa: On a date, yup.

Eryn: On a date. We did that for, like, six months, and he joined my launch team for my book release, and it was so sweet, and he was just very consistent in not pressuring at all, and, you know, we were both dating other people. We weren’t… in an exclusive relationship with anybody. And… I told Toni, you know, we’ve had Toni as a guest on here before…

Elisa: Your bud. Yeah.

Eryn: … my bud, yeah. I told her I might invite him to my birthday dinner, and that was when it started taking a turn, and she was like What?! Matt Adkins? Oh, there’s nothing better than a godly man surrounded in community that has done his healing, and she just, cause she just knew… she knew him, and he wouldn’t say this, but he has a reputation of integrity, and consistency, and steadiness, and it’s in his DNA. It’s just who Matt is, and when she said that I was like, okay, maybe I will invite him to my dinner, and then I did, and then… and then after that we were inseparable after… it really was after…

Matt: Yeah. That’s right.

Eryn: … my birthday dinner. He took me out on… on a dinner date the next day of just us, and not, like, a group of people, and then I asked him to marry me like a month in… [laughter]

Matt: And then I said I think you might need to meet my kids first… [laughter]

Elisa: So, there’s this great intentionality in your relationship that I know was in your parenting, Matt, and is now in y’all’s, if I can say that because I’m with southerners, parenting here. So, Matt, take us into, you know… what was it like to introduce your daughters to Eryn and know that she would become their bonus mom?

Matt: Yeah, I was really intentional with spending time with Eryn before they met. Eryn and I have… having a lot of conversations about future and our relationship, and being very intentional with, you know, value systems, belief systems, you know, I mean, we’re dating after divorce is difficult and weird and hard, and there’s a lot of emotions that go on with all that, healing, so learning each other’s stories, and I really wanted to know for sure that I wanted to pursue further before she met the girls. And so, as we continued to date, I realized more and more that I see a future, and my girls did not meet anybody else that I was dating other than Eryn…

Elisa: Wow.

Matt: … So, I remember the first time we went down, even further south, of Atlanta and I just… I prepared the girls, I said hey, I’m dating… even in my conversation with my girls, I wanted to protect them, knowing that they’ve been through this divorce, and it’s difficult, and I wanted to model for them what dating looks like in this season, you know, because it’s…

Elisa: Wow, yeah.

Matt: … I mean, it’s…. that’s… it’s so difficult to see your dad, probably, date again, and your mom date again, you know, both, so I told them about Eryn, I said hey, I really… I really like this lady and I want you to meet her, and so we’re going to spend an afternoon having a picnic together and just walking around nature, so even Eryn and I were very intentional on where we had the girls meet Eryn… we had some activities that we… we went swimming together, we looked at farm animals, we walked around nature, it was very natural in the conversation. So, it was a beautiful day, too. It was really beautiful.

Eryn: It was a beautiful day. I was so nervous leading up to it, so…

Matt: Same.

Eryn: … I was like okay, I’ve had this man one on one dating him, and now I’m going to be sharing him with three little girls. What is that dynamic going to be like? It’s like all the what-ifs, you know, are floating around in your head, and what if we… they don’t like me, you know…

Matt: Yeah.

Eryn: … or what if… What if he doesn’t, when he sees me with his daughters he’s like oh, no. You know? Like, cause it’s… it’s really you’re… you’re blending two realities together to make one. And that’s one thing I loved that he told me upfront. He said you get the… the Matt that is dating you hat, he’s like, I put that hat on, and then I have a hat that’s a father, and I really just want to have one hat, and it’s important for me that you see me with one hat. 

Matt: Yeah, I remember that.

Elisa: Which is both together.

Eryn: Which is both together, yeah. And I was just like I… I want to see that, too, so I was… I was so nervous. I mean, you should’ve seen the charcuterie board I made, I was overcompensating. It was beautiful.

Matt: It was beautiful, and they loved it. And your pasta salad, your gluten-free pasta salad was amazing.

Eryn: And Merci loved it, cause she loves Olive Garden pasta salad dress-… Italian dressing, it was great. But what was so sweet about it all was that was the first time I really, well, I just got to see him love his daughters, and daughters are a very special relationship between a father daughter. You know, like, that relationship is so special, and when there is divorce and dating after divorce, and being a father, that’s even more tender, and you hold things differently. The fights are different, the anxieties are different. I mean, all of it just shifts and changes. Fatherhood just looks different, and I never had seen fatherhood up close before after divorce, honestly. So, it was really beautiful to see… see and meet the girls.

Matt: I was cautious by nature. I’m… I am cautious by nature, so walking into this and it being my first time of introducing my girls to another lady, there was some cautiousness of, like, okay, how is this, you know, going to go, and…

Elisa: That’s smart.

Matt: … I think every dad wants to protect their little girls, so, you know, just praying through… praying through it, but honestly, you know, Eryn and I say this all the time. If it’s of the Holy Spirit, it’s going to flow. If it’s not, there’s… you’re going to force it, and nothing about this relationship was forced… we literally, it just kind of just flowed naturally, just doors kind of opened, and conversations opened, and connections opened, and laughter was present, so, even through our prayers together we knew this was, like, divine and of the Holy Spirit, cause it was just such a natural… there was nothing forced about it at all.

Elisa: What you just described there, Matt, is so foundational. I mean, you can do a marriage without children. You know, that flow is so important, it… 

Matt: Yeah.

Elisa: … it, I would almost liken it to a call, you know, I… I’m called to you, we’re called to each other. You know, and when that happens and you look back at the beginning of the relationship there’s great confidence, you know, you… you… you’re in a bedrock of confidence that God has called us together. You know, because you are, your specific context is blended families, you know, I… I… I’d love to focus in on there for a little bit, and then there’s so much to talk about, but let’s talk about the blending that has happened. You know, how do you do your roles? You’re well established as a dad, you know, you’re oldest is… I think she was thirteen when you got engaged? I think that’s about right?

Matt: Yeah, it was around then.

Elisa: … Maybe fourteen? Yeah, and then you’ve got two others nearby. They know you’re dad. They have a mom. Okay, so, what does your fathering look like, Matt, as you take on a new relationship?

Matt: Yeah, that’s a good question. It… has to start between Eryn and I and our communication. Okay, what does my fatherhood look like, what does your motherhood… being a bonus mom, a step mom, and what roles am I going to step into and what roles is Eryn going to step into, and we both talked about this where Eryn… Eryn’s in a season of building trust with the girls, and so I’m stepping into more the disciplinary and kind of stepping in, and then asking Eryn to… speak into some of that stuff so she can build trust, so it’s very tender, because you want trust to be built with Eryn. At the same time, we got to parent these…

Eryn: Yeah.

Matt: … three teenagers, you know? So, I think, you know, the balance between parenting and even our marriage, we have them and then we don’t have them, we have them and then we don’t have them…

Elisa: Because you share parenting…

Matt: … we have them and we don’t… yes. Yeah, so it’s like every other weekend. But, I will say we make it our top priority in our marriage when we have them on the weekends and during the week to place them around family, to place them around friends, and to place them around community that can love on them, and that we can share that space with them. And so, as a father, that’s, you know, I desire that very deeply for them. So, we’re very, very intentional with our marriage and then when they’re with us… we make it very… a very top priority for them to be surrounded by family, friends, community, so we can just experience those spaces together, and build the relationship, build the trust.

Elisa: There’s that word again, intentional. Yeah.

Eryn: Yeah.

Matt: Yeah, it is intentional. Yeah.

Eryn: You have to be.

Matt: If you’re not intentional… yeah, you have to be. Yeah, it… things will just easily slip if you’re not intentional.

Elisa: You know, I don’t know that…

Eryn: Yeah.

Elisa: … a non-blended family may experience it quite so much, do you think that’s unique to a blended family, that intentionality?

Matt: I think it’s more aware. It definitely needs to be there in either case. There is something, when I was a father before the divorce and now I’m a father after divorce that there’s a voice in my head, maybe… maybe it’s the Spirit’s voice just reminding me to be intentional and to pursue, and I mean, even before we get them, like, what are we going to do, like, the planning…

Elisa: Yeah.

Matt: … of what needs to happen to love on these children when you have them.

Eryn: Mm-hmm. If you’re not intentional with the limited time, the time goes by fast and it drifts away, and you’re not able to instill some of these things that you really value, and you hold close, like family, and community.

Elisa: So, can you flesh out, you know, what an intentional, say, weekend would be for you guys with the kids?

Matt: Yeah, again, you know, family, friends, community, so whether that’s church community, one of the things we love that we do almost every weekend, and to get them off devices, cause let’s be honest, like [laughter] you know, everybody’s on Roadblocks…

Elisa: Right. Right.

Matt: … most people might know what Roadblocks is…

Elisa: Right. Right.

Matt: … on… on the phone…

Elisa: I know!

Matt: … we love to play cards as a family. So, we’ll sit around our kitchen table, and, like, we realize the conversation that happens around cards is amazing. So, one, we’re doing something we all enjoy together, we’re playing a game. So, we’re intentional about that as, like, an immediate blended family, like, we are being intentional. We will also plan to be around cousins, or grandparents, so we’ll either have my parents come over. We love to cook crab legs, they love crab legs, so we’ll do, like, a little country boil…

Elisa: Love it!

Matt: And so, we’re all sitting around dinner table being intentional about dinner and food that we love. Other weekends, I mean, and this is something that Eryn and I look ahead… we’ll go up to north Georgia where Eryn’s parents have, like, fifteen acres, and… we’ll sit around, yeah, we’ll sit around… we’ll build fires, and we play this game, I’m… I’m a guitar player, so I’ll start, like, a chorus of something…

Elisa: Oh, I love it!

Matt: … and then we’ll sit around the circle, around the campfire, and then I’ll make up a line, and then the next girl has to finish the line with, like, it rhyming. We’ll go around…

Elisa: Okay, and they don’t just roll their eyes, they actually participate?

Eryn: They do!

Matt: No, so… Yeah, they do. They do.

Elisa: Just checking.

Matt: It’s allowing them to be little girls, because even though they’re teenagers, they’re still girls who are not hit adulthood yet.

Eryn: There’s that playfulness in them that they…

Matt: It’s a playfulness…

Eryn: … want to… they want to access, cause the world makes you grow up so fast.

Elisa: I love the activities that you kind of have at your fingertips.

Eryn: Yeah, it’s almost like we’ve gotten into this routine that we do. It’s like, we buy the same snacks every Thursday when… when we get the girls so that the pantry is full with the same snacks. Like, we just want to be predictable, you know, we want…

Elisa: Predictable, that’s a great word.

Eryn: … it’s, like, when they come over, it’s this is the… the dinners that we make, this is the snacks that we get, this is the friends that we hang out with, this is the family, these are the games that we play, this is, like, so we’re just on a consistent, steady routine of doing that. And I think that… that’s… that has been the advice that we’ve been given is be predictable, be steady, be consistent.

Elisa: It’s a lesson that God has allowed in your lives. So, that’s what’s striking me about it. And, so, let’s walk into the teen years together, you know, as…

Matt: Yeah.

Elisa: … as… as you remarry, Matt… you had one teenager, one almost, just on the buttal, on… on the bump of being… coming a teen, and then it… a… a little girl, and they’re very different humans, so, what have you learned about the blending with teens, or just parenting teen daughters… in general, you know, what have you… what have you guys learned there?

Matt: Yeah, I’ve learned to shut my mouth and just listen more, that’s what I’ve learned. They gotta get…

Elisa: Danger.

Matt: They gotta get emotions out, and they want to be heard, and, you know, as a father you want to fix it really quick, you know…

Elisa: Yes.

Matt: … but they…

Eryn: Don’t want that.

Matt: … don’t want to be fixed. They want to be heard, you know?

Elisa: Oh, so good.

Matt: I would say the biggest thing that I have learned from parenting little children to teenagers is I want to provide, I want to protect, and when they were younger, you’re doing everything for them because you’re modeling, you want… you want to protect them, you want to provide for them, you want to show them, you want to be there, but, you know, provision and protection looks different. It looks like creating a stable and safe environment for them to make their own decisions. And you almost can see whatever the circumstance is, you can almost see the outcome cause of just your experience of life, and you…

Elisa: Yes. Yeah.

Matt: … want them to choose that, but, like, you have to allow them to choose their own path, and then be there to be safe and stable for them. So, provision, and, honestly yeah, provision and protection looks different because you’re having to let them make their own choices, but also then be there, ready to listen and be stable and safe for them, so, versus just doing everything for them. So, I think that’s probably the biggest thing between them being a little… little girls, and then now teens. And that’s… that’s hard as a father to…

Elisa: That’s so hard.

Matt: … to take a step back and just let them back their own decisions.

Elisa: What do you think your… your girls uniquely need in you as their father?

Matt: My hope and my prayer would be that I can be a sound voice of wisdom and yes, I’m learning how to listen and praying when to speak. But when I do speak, I want to speak in a way that will set them up in life better.

Elisa: Can you give an example of… of a time when you felt like oh, my gosh, you know, whichever one of your daughters you want to choose, you know, she really needs some wisdom, but… I’m trying to listen… And not just pontificate, you know, maybe a… a… a circumstance, and… and how God led you through that.

Matt: Recently, you know, there’s been some disagreements, like there will be with teenagers…

Elisa: Mm-hmm, you bet.

Matt: … and listening first and letting them give their voice… let their voice be heard, and then coming back around. I remember saying this to our oldest, she made a comment, there was a… there was a really big disagreement that was going on, and I said Hallie, you’re learning how to disagree but also be here and love at the same time. We are learning right now in disagreeing, but still loving one another. So, hopefully later in life she can disagree with somebody but also, like, love that person really well…

Elisa: That’s a good lesson…

Matt: … you know, versus, like, write off that person…

Elisa: Yeah. It’s like you’re principle-izing lessons for her, you know, as… as she’s sharing her heart and the ups and downs and the pains, you’re listening first, but then…

Matt: Yes.

Elisa: … you’re helping her make sense of it. Does she receive that from you?

Matt: I’ll say this, most of the time, it doesn’t seem like they’re receiving it outwardly [laughter]…

Elisa: That’s why I was…

Matt: … Which is, like, is it… yeah, it’s… I… I mean, it’s true with teenagers, you know, they might not act like they’re listening, but my only thought after is, like, Holy Spirit, You can just… You just take that, and hopefully embed that into their heart and their mind. And yes, I think they do listen, whether they are responsive or not, but I’ve also been told, hey, listen, you know, I’ve been told all my life a father’s words weigh so much. Y’all had a guest on earlier, Dr. Meg Meeker…

Eryn: Yeah.

Matt: … who, I’ve read her book Strong… Strong Father, Strong Daughters, and… I mean, she would say, like, the weight of a father’s words are very heavy, but the actions of a father is what they’re going to remember and how they’re going to… it’s going to almost live longer, so my hope is the way that Eryn and I parent, and act, and be an example is going to speak louder than my words, knowing, though, that my words are going to carry a lot of weight. So, learning how to be patient, learning how to be slow to anger, slow to speak, it’s very difficult, you know, but I want, when my words to come out, for them to be gentle, for them to be confident, for them to be wise. Hopefully they land well.

Elisa: There’s a relinquishment, is what I’m hearing, you know, it’s a… well, you’re intentional… and you’re yielding to the moment, and what you’re really sensing the Spirit wants to do in the relationship, but then as you offer a principle, or as you speak, as you listen, there’s a relinquishment there of, yeah, I’m going to give what I… I’m sensing the Lord wants me to give, but I… I’m going to leave it up to Him. 

Matt: It’s a surrender.

Eryn: Yeah…

Elisa: … if it takes root…

Matt: Yeah, yeah.

Elisa: … a surrender.

Matt: It’s… it is just a… I’ve learned so much… specifically being in the blended… a blended family and a father, being a part of a blended family of, like, I, you know, you have your time, you love… you speak life, and then you just have to just surrender, almost Lord, You can fill in the gaps where they need to be filled in…

Eryn: Yeah.

Matt: … because I’m not present a lot of the time. Like, physically present. And that’s, honestly, as a father, I have to grieve that, and still grieving that. It’s very difficult for me to not wake up every morning and see my daughters. I’m having to just ask the Lord would You be their heavenly Father…

Elisa: Always.

Eryn: Mm-hmm, yeah.

Matt: … present, even though I’m not… I’m not present…

Elisa: Yeah.

Matt: … so it’s a mind shift, and it’s a different prayer of, like, Lord, You… You have to be there. I know You’re their heavenly Father, but I’m just almost kind of wrestling with the Lord of, like, You have to be there, be their heavenly Father, Lord.

Elisa: Yeah. I’m struck by how, for all of us, because I’m relating to you in a whole different way, you know, God really knows our circumstance. He really knows the context in which we are parenting…

Eryn: Yeah.

Elisa: … He is intentional with us…

Matt: Yeah.

Elisa: … as our heavenly Father to help us learn His love for us and His love for our children in the context, and these words are just echoing: intentionality, listening, yielding, surrendering, trusting that God cares as much about your three girls when they’re not with you as He does when they are with you…

Matt: Absolutely.

Eryn: I would love to ask a question, Sweetie. We were talking about how we just pray and we ask the Lord, like, when we’re not with the girls that the… the Lord is always with them. What have you learned about yourself and your relationship with the Lord that you wouldn’t have, maybe, been able to learn without you being a father? Like, what have you learned about fatherhood, but in relation with the Lord?

Matt: The biggest thing… that I’ve been learning lately is, it goes back to a word that we’ve already thrown out today, is… surrender, and the relationship between me and my heavenly Father, and the relationship between me and my three girls as a father. The thing that I desire most for my girls is the thing that our heavenly Father desires most of me, which is relationship, time, calling on the name of Jesus, calling on our Father, Abba. And He so desires that, and because I don’t have as much time with the girls, there’s just this desire, so, there really is, like, a parallel that’s happening of my fatherhood and learning what the Father thinks of me and His desire to spend time with me, because my desire to spend time with my girls is so limited, but days that I don’t spend time with my heavenly Father, I know that He desires that, and the days that I don’t get to spend time with my girls, I… I really desire that. So, the Lord is… is teaching me His desire for me, and to be with me.

Elisa: That’s beautiful. Matt, what do you need from Eryn in order to father well?

Matt: I would say, and Eryn, I think you do this really well, is support, but support in affirming us, and I’m a… you know, I’m a words guy, so I love words, but being reinforced as hey, you’re a good dad, but being specific in, like, hey, you’re a good dad, what you’re doing is good, and… and Eryn is so specific in, like, whatever the circumstance is.

Elisa: Can you give an example of that?

Matt: It usually is involved around difficult conversations…

Elisa: Okay, okay.

Matt: … or discipline, and there’s a, like you said it earlier, like, I do believe I took some of that time with my girls for granted when I was with them every day, so now I don’t have that. So, having to jump in as a father in a blended family and speaking hard truth or discipline or whatever is difficult because you want to parent your children, but you want to have that… you have limited time, so you want to have the time be joyful, and so, Eryn will always come up after the conversation, hey, you did a really good job in the way you spoke this, or, how you said this, I believe this is going to land really well with the girls, because in your head as a father, you’re thinking, like, oh, they’re mad at me again. Did I say that the right way? Did I measure up? Was that even good? Did I overstep in my words? Was I too harsh? Was I not harsh enough? Are they going to learn their lesson? Are they going to make the right decision? You hear all these voices in your head, so having Eryn speak life and truth to combat some of those lies that are going to hit your thought life is very, very valuable.

Elisa: That’s beautiful. You know, Eryn, let me ask you, would you pray for Matt and for all the fathers that there are, everywhere, all the fathers, okay? Would you pray specifically letting our conversation echo in your spirit and letting God direct you for what Matt’s revealed and shared in terms of who he is and what dads need?

Eryn: Absolutely. Lord, we just thank You so much just for who You are. You are the perfect dad, and we can come to You, and maybe somebody’s listening and they ache for wishing they had a type of dad that they don’t have, or maybe a father’s listening and he’s like gosh, I just feel like I never measure up, I don’t know how I ever will. Lord, I just thank You that we can come to You and we can ask You to give us that nourishment, that comfort, that You can give us that, and You can demonstrate that in our own life with You. And so, I just pray for the father that’s listening right now that may feel inadequate, or feels overwhelmed, or feels like time is flying by, or the fears of just the world, and influencing [music] their kids, and they want to protect their kids, and anxiety is just high. I just pray that You would just press upon that person right now, and just give them that sense of peace that You see it all. You see it all, You know it, and that You’re present. Cause Lord, I think we all just long for You to be just so, so loud and so present because the world is so loud. So, I just pray that You’ll be louder than any of the noise around us that speaks lies. I just pray that You silence it. I just pray that this conversation will bless a dad that’s processing the complexity of blended family, and then the complexity of influencing teenagers. I just pray that they’ll find comfort in our story, and we just love You so much, and it’s in Your name we pray, Amen.

Matt: Amen.

Elisa: Amen, Eryn. If you’re a father tuning in, we hope you have a great Father’s Day. All you dads out there, you’re so important.

Eryn: Happy Father’s Day. Before we go, be sure to check out our website to find a link for a quick daily’s video about earthly fathers and our heavenly Father. You can find that and more at godhearsher.org. That’s godhearsher.org. 

Elisa: Thank you for joining us, and don’t forget, God hears you, He sees you, and He loves you because you are His.

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Eryn: Today’s episode was engineered by Anne Stevens and produced by Jade Gustman and Mary Jo Clark. We also want to thank Alicia and Rachelle for all their help and support. Thanks everyone.

[Music]

Elisa:God Hears Her is a production of Our Daily Bread Ministries.