Intentional Fatherhood

• S2E1: Getting Our Lives Together, Crucifying Desires, Being Called Up + A Life of Flourishing

  Season 2 of the Intentional Fatherhood Podcast kicks off with a new framework for understanding the journey of spiritual maturity, specifically through the lens of fatherhood. This season, we’re exploring the three great movements of the spiritual life: getting our lives together, giving our lives away, and giving our deaths away.In this first episode, we dig into that first movement: getting our lives together. What does it really mean to move from boyhood to manhood — to take on responsibility, lead with integrity, and build a family — especially when no one ever showed us how? Many of us find ourselves in jobs, routines or situations we don’t love, wondering if this is what life was meant to be. We talk honestly about that struggle and the grace needed when we haven’t been guided through it by a father or mentor.We also explore how following Jesus leads to a fuller, richer life — one that begins with death to self. Despite what culture tells us, the cross reminds us that life isn’t about achievement or comfort, but about surrender, calling us to accept the limitation of our own desires.Using the Family Age Chart tool, we reflect on how each season of life is brief and full of transition — and how those transitions often come with both crisis and calling.This episode lays the foundation for the season ahead: learning how God shapes us through the movements of life, beginning with the hard but holy work of getting our lives together.Intentional Fatherhood Retreat: February 19-21, 2026 in Costa Mesa, CAFamily Age Chart PDF DownloadScripture Mentioned: Proverbs 29:18, Proverbs 24:16, Matthew 16:24, Galatians 5:19, Colossians 3:5 + Luke 9:23Submit Questions: Send a voice recording to [email protected], mentioning your name and where you’re from.Intentional Fatherhood Website (for Diagram of Framework)Follow @intentionalfatherhood_ on InstagramWatch + Subscribe on YouTubeIntentional: Website + InstagramJustin Whitmel Earley: Website + Instagram

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• S1E10 - BONUS Q&R: Substance Reliance, Phone Addiction Conflict, Failure in Spiritual Leadership, and Establishing Covenant Friendships Q+R

  In this bonus Q&R episode, we tackle real and honest questions from listeners — covering everything from anxiety and reliance on substances, to conflict with our spouse around phones, to the challenge of leading spiritually at home, and choosing to parent differently than we were raised.We talk about the importance of practicing healthier rhythms instead of swinging between extremes, and how bringing your spouse into the process creates space for humility and vulnerability. We also look at how to approach conversations about excessive phone use with empathy rather than shame, and how curiosity can open the door to honest dialogue.From there, we explore what it takes to move surface-level friendships toward deeper, covenant-level connection, and how vulnerability breeds vulnerability. We also discuss the awkward but necessary work of starting new spiritual habits at home — pushing through the discomfort to create rhythms that will last.And finally, we talk about the desire so many of us carry to parent differently than the way we were raised. The hope of the gospel is that we don’t have to repeat the cycles we inherited. Jesus interrupts generational patterns, opens the door to repair, and empowers us to create new legacies of honesty, humility, and grace for the generations that come after us.Books Mentioned: The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place by Andy Crouch, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt + Made for People: Why We Drift into Loneliness and How to Fight for a Life of Friendship by Justin Whitmel EarleySubmit Questions: Send a voice recording to [email protected], mentioning your name and where you’re from.Intentional Fatherhood Website (for Diagram of Framework)Follow @intentionalfatherhood_ on InstagramWatch + Subscribe on YouTubeIntentional: Website + InstagramJustin Whitmel Earley: Website + Instagram

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• S1E9 - BONUS Q&R: The Secret Struggles of Fathers, Isolation, Secrecy, Confession, Authority with Love, and Balancing Work with Family

  We’re back with a special Q&R episode, answering real questions from fathers navigating the tensions of parenting, faith, and calling. We talk about what to do when you feel isolated in the early years of raising kids, especially when your closest friends aren’t parents yet, and how to create the kind of community your fatherhood needs.We also dive into the power of confession — why it’s deeply biblical, how to start small with someone you trust, and how regular rhythms of honesty can bring freedom and healing.From there, we discuss what it looks like to parent with both authority and love, offering practical ways to set boundaries, repair when you snap, and become a student of your kids — especially if they’re wired differently. We also talk about how essential prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit are in this process, because lovingly discipling our kids isn’t something we can do in our own strength.Finally, we unpack the tension between work and family — setting healthy boundaries, releasing guilt, serving your family, and finding dignity in your calling without sacrificing presence at home.Fatherhood comes with real challenges, but you don’t have to figure it out on your own. This episode offers honest conversations and practical tools to help you show up with presence and purpose.Books Mentioned: Domestic Monastery by Ronald Rolheiser + The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel M.D. and Tina Payne BrysonScripture Mentioned: James 5:16, Ephesians 5:8 + Romans 11:22Submit Questions: Send a voice recording to [email protected], mentioning your name and where you’re from.Intentional Fatherhood Website (for Diagram of Framework)Follow @intentionalfatherhood_ on InstagramWatch + Subscribe on YouTubeIntentional: Website + InstagramJustin Whitmel Earley: Website + Instagram

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• S1E8 - Finding Meaning, Art + Beauty in Fatherhood, You Were Created to Delight + Pursue Hobbies

  In the final episode of season one, we explore what it means to find meaning, beauty, and art as fathers.In response to last week’s episode on work, this one turns toward the life-giving pursuits that bring us joy. This conversation is an invitation to remember that you were created to delight — that deep within each of us is a longing for beauty and a desire to pursue what lights us up from the inside out. Whether it’s music, poetry, travel, fitness, writing, reading, camping, cold plunging, or even mushroom hunting, discovering what brings you joy is part of becoming a whole, grounded father.We also touch on the tendency to overdo hobbies as a form of escape — and how, when rightly ordered, these passions aren’t distractions but sacred spaces where peace, contentment, and even healing can take root.We share some of our own hobbies — both the ones we enjoy alone and the ones we share with our kids — and how they’ve helped shape the fathers we are today. More than that, we explore how delight can become a doorway into deeper connection with your children.Because in the end, our family may be the greatest thing we ever create — and life itself may be our most meaningful work of art.We close season one with a final blessing — a prayer to remind us that we simply cannot do fatherhood without guidance from our Heavenly Father.Book Mentioned: The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man by Abraham HeschelSubmit Questions: Send a voice recording to [email protected], mentioning your name and where you’re from.Intentional Fatherhood Website (for Diagram of Framework)Follow @intentionalfatherhood_ on InstagramWatch + Subscribe on YouTubeIntentional: Website + InstagramJustin Whitmel Earley: Website + Instagram

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• S1E7 - Made to Work, Sanctification Through Your Vocation + Staying Busy But Balanced

  Fatherhood is more than raising children — it’s about showing up in the world as a worker. You were created to work. Not just to earn a paycheck, but to cultivate, build, and serve others through your vocation.This week, we explore the vocational calling within our Intentional Fatherhood diagram, focusing on God’s original design for work starting in Genesis. From the very beginning, we were made to “garden” the world — to shape it with care and intention.But work isn’t always easy. We talk about the pain, frustration, and resistance we encounter — what Scripture calls the “thorns and thistles” — and how that struggle can actually become a place of deep sanctification. We reflect on the pursuit of the vocational “trifecta”: doing what you’re good at, what you love, and what the world actually needs.Each of us shares personal stories from the early, often hidden years of our careers — seasons marked by uncertainty, obscurity, and growth. Looking back, we see how God used those years to develop humility, dependence, and deeper intimacy with Him.We also wrestle with the tension between overwork and idleness. Sometimes we throw ourselves into our jobs to avoid the demands of home life. But Scripture reminds us: idle hands aren’t the answer either. So how do we stay “busy but balanced”?We get honest about work, purpose, and presence — in our jobs and in our families — in this week’s episode.Scripture Mentioned: Genesis 1, Genesis 3:18 + Lamentations 3:27Submit Questions: Send a voice recording to [email protected], mentioning your name and where you’re from.Intentional Fatherhood Website (for Diagram of Framework)Follow @intentionalfatherhood_ on InstagramWatch + Subscribe on YouTubeIntentional: Website + InstagramJustin Whitmel Earley: Website + Instagram

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