Recently, online magazine Fatherly sent out this prompt to their readers: “What would you tell your younger self about being a dad?” The answers are worth sharing.  

“It only gets better.” wrote one 39-year-old from Vancouver. “I wasn’t ready for my prior life to end until I held my baby on the first day…. There’s a place for having fun while you’re young, but don’t think that’s meant to be it. Life really starts to get good when you feel your children enjoying your presence and loving every minute they spend with you.” 

Another dad agreed. “Once you’re knee-deep in the reality of raising a baby all the seemingly ‘boring’ milestones feel incredible.”  

Of the nation’s 73 million children, “1 in 4 live without a biological, step or adoptive father in the home,” the National Fatherhood Initiative tells us. That absence is felt in every measurable category of child well-being. And it’s a tragedy for men too. 

Our culture tells us that caring for others is a burden on our true happiness, but Scripture – and the wisdom of experience – tell a different story. Just ask the dads.