Intentional Fatherhood

• S2E4: From Shame to Strength, Anger in Fatherhood + Practices for Giving Your Life Away

  Following last week’s conversation about giving your life away, this episode dives into the everyday practices that help us live that out — even in the middle of our busy, overwhelmed lives. We’re talking about what it looks like to lean into the self-emptying way of Jesus — the way that actually leads to life to the full, both for us and for those we love.We explore what this looks like through three key areas: spiritual disciplines, physical disciplines, and gratitude and joy. In the first, we talk about how to lean in and experience the God who gave His life for you — looking at Jesus’ rhythm of withdrawing to pray, and how to build our own patterns of prayer, reading Scripture, and experiencing silence that are rooted, not rigid, and focused on rhythms rather than rules.In the second, we focus on physical disciplines like exercise and fasting, learning to embrace self-emptying as a way of finding true fulfillment. We discuss the spiritual and even scientific connection between movement, anger, and formation — how exercise can move from vanity to love, and from shame to strength.Finally, we talk about gratitude and joy, remembering that our story doesn’t end in sacrifice and struggle, but in holiness, happiness, and celebration. We reflect on dating our wives, feasting with friends, and practicing joy and gratitude as an act of resistance in the midst of life’s demands.This conversation is an invitation to live open-handedly — to let go so you can truly live the full and abundant life God designed you for as a father.Intentional Fatherhood Retreat: February 19-21, 2026 in Costa Mesa, CAFamily Age Chart PDF DownloadScripture Mentioned: Luke 5:16, Psalm 23, Ephesians 4:26 + Matthew 6:9-13 Books Mentioned: Domestic Monastery by Ronald Rolheiser, Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster, Sacred Fire by Ronald Rolheiser + You Are the Beloved by Henri J. M. NouwenPrevious Episode Mentioned: S1E3 - Habits, Rhythms, and Spiritual Disciplines for Intentional Fatherhood (Spotify, Apple Podcasts + YouTube)Submit Questions: Send a voice recording to [email protected], mentioning your name and where you’re from.Intentional Fatherhood WebsiteFollow @intentionalfatherhood_ on InstagramWatch + Subscribe on YouTubeIntentional: Website + InstagramJustin Whitmel Earley: Website + Instagram

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• S2E3: Struggling to Give Your Life Away, the Barriers That Get In the Way + Sanctification Through Suffering

  In this episode, we explore what it really means to give your life away — and why it’s the natural next step after getting your life together. Our homes, marriages, and families become our modern monasteries, the sacred spaces where formation happens. God’s goal isn’t our comfort but our transformation into His likeness, a process of self-emptying modeled in Philippians 2:1–11. We suffer in order to be exalted, and few things shape us like marriage and parenting.As we move through adulthood — especially in our late twenties and early thirties — we often face disappointment as we confront who we actually are rather than who we hoped to be. That realization can be painful, but it’s also the soil where joy and sanctification take root. Much of this episode centers around those struggles that keep us from surrendering fully to the life God’s inviting us into, and the freedom that comes when we name them honestly.We reflect on how suffering can make us either hard and bitter or soft and loving, and how choosing surrender over control opens the door to real transformation. Giving your life away will change you — but on the other side of that surrender is a deeper peace and purpose than you could have imagined.Intentional Fatherhood Retreat: February 19-21, 2026 in Costa Mesa, CAFamily Age Chart PDF DownloadMenu of Struggles PDF DownloadScripture Mentioned: Philippians 2:1-11, Matthew 18:2-3 + John 2:1-11Books Mentioned: Domestic Monastery by Ronald Rolheiser + The Meaning of Marriage by Tim KellerSubmit Questions: Send a voice recording to [email protected], mentioning your name and where you’re from.Intentional Fatherhood WebsiteFollow @intentionalfatherhood_ on InstagramWatch + Subscribe on YouTubeIntentional: Website + InstagramJustin Whitmel Earley: Website + Instagram

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• S2E2: Name it to Heal it, Getting It Together, Disordered Desire, and Real Change Takes Time

  This week, we continue last week’s conversation about getting your life together, digging into pivotal moments from young adulthood that shaped the course of our lives. In season two, we’re exploring the three movements of spiritual maturity and fatherhood: getting your life together, giving your life away, and giving your death away, sharing practical stories and real-life examples of how these stages unfold.From career shifts and breakups to marriage and parenthood, we reflect on seasons where God reordered our desires and called us to clarity in identity and vocation. Drawing on passages like Peter walking on water and Psalm 37, we talk about stepping out in faith, asking God to guide our hearts, and trusting Him to realign what we long for.We also examine the importance of naming — our experiences, struggles, and hopes — and how accountability, therapy, and intentional reflection help us process and grow. Real change takes time, and getting our lives together often means healing from the past. By tending the “garden” of our lives, leaning on community, and inviting God into the process, we can get our lives together from the ground up — in order for us to eventually give them away.Intentional Fatherhood Retreat: February 19-21, 2026 in Costa Mesa, CAFamily Age Chart PDF DownloadScripture Mentioned: Matthew 14:22-33, Psalm 37:4, Ephesians 5:22-33, Ecclesiastes 1:9, Proverbs 29:18, Genesis 2:19-20Books Mentioned: The Body Teaches the Soul by Justin Whitmel Earley, The Call by Os Guinness, The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller, Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Domestic Monastery by Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser, Sacred Fire by Ronald Rolheiser, Wrestling with God by Ronald Rolheiser, and Prayer by Ronald RolheiserSubmit Questions: Send a voice recording to [email protected], mentioning your name and where you’re from.Intentional Fatherhood WebsiteFollow @intentionalfatherhood_ on InstagramWatch + Subscribe on YouTubeIntentional: Website + InstagramJustin Whitmel Earley: Website + Instagram

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• 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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