Do people know your calling? My dad was one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. He wanted that from us too. But as you get older, you realize that your effort to work can get overtaken by the details of life.

Let’s talk about how to lead your wife. In a small-group setting, the discussion circled back around to our sin-beginnings and the inevitable finger-pointing at Eve. My wife, intrinsically knowing better, leaned over to me and whispered: “The buck stopped with Adam. He failed to lead.”

Having played racquetball 3-4 mornings a week for several years, I learned a lot from playing this fast-paced competitive game. If you play the front, you will get hit with the ball. Getting hit hurts and it will leave a mark! If you don’t take a risk and “play up,” you’ll play from the backcourt all the time.

The Philistine army has 30,000 chariots (some manuscripts say 3000), 6000 horsemen and too many foot soldiers to count. Saul has 600 in his army. So why would Saul’s son want to go and provoke a fight? We may never know, but that is precisely what Jonathan and his armor-bearer do. These two soldiers from a ragtag army scramble up a cliff face to meet their foe. How pathetic they must’ve looked from the viewpoint of any bystander. Yet, they were doing acts of faith.

For me, I’m a Dad and a husband, and I love both roles. My most considerable growth as a Christian has been because of being a husband and a father. I’ve been able to understand a lot more about God when I became both roles. I know why God does what He does, why the struggles happened, how He’s capable to love despite our disrespect and cold-shouldered nature.

The secret to winning the battle is in the preparation. A soldier is a servant ready for battle and prepared for combat. A soldier has every tool sharpened and usable to stand against all attacks. When my older sister left home in 1992 to enlist into the U.S. Army, there was an 8-week preparation called “boot camp” that all aspiring soldiers had to complete.