Former Green Beret John Arroyo survived the 2014 Fort Hood mass shooting after being shot through the throat. But in this powerful conversation, John shares why the deepest wound of his life wasn’t the bullet — it was growing up without a father.

John and Jerrad talk about father wounds, gangs, addiction, becoming a teenage dad, military life, trauma, and the healing power of realizing that God had been with him all along.

This is one of the most moving conversations we’ve ever had on Dad Tired.

Important Links:
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear

Important Links:
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear

In this episode of Dad Tired, Jerrad sits down with Kaleb and Chris for an honest conversation about one of the most common tensions Christian parents face: What do I do when my kid doesn’t want to go to church anymore?

Together, they talk through the difference between forcing empty religion and faithfully leading your home, why Sunday worship is about more than personal preference, and how our kids are formed by seeing real stories of redemption inside the body of Christ. This conversation is a call for dads to lead with conviction, compassion, and consistency as they disciple their families toward Jesus.

Important Links:
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear
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What does real friendship actually look like for men?

In this episode of Dad Tired, Jerrad is joined by Kaleb Allen and Chris Hilken for an honest conversation about brotherhood, grief, betrayal, loneliness, and the kind of friendship that goes far deeper than networking, convenience, or shared success.

Together, they talk about why so many men struggle to build meaningful friendships, how pain often becomes the soil where real brotherhood grows, and why true friends are the ones who stay when your life is messy, costly, or inconvenient.

This conversation is a reminder that men were not made to follow Jesus alone. We need brothers who know us, love us, challenge us, and are willing to “waste time” with us for the sake of something eternal.

Important Links:
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
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Sponsor: VARA Safes. Promo code: DADTIRED20

In this episode of Dad Tired, Jerrad sits down with Dr. Kathy Koch, founder of Celebrate Kids, to talk about raising kids who feel fully known, deeply loved, and prepared for life.

Dr. Kathy shares practical wisdom for Christian dads on speaking identity over their children, understanding different learning styles, building emotional intelligence, avoiding over-parenting, and helping kids grow into confident, faithful adults.

They also discuss why a father’s words carry so much weight, how dads can affirm more than performance or appearance, why reading to your kids matters, and how to parent children who think, learn, and process differently.

This conversation will encourage any dad who wants to lead his family spiritually, connect more deeply with his kids, and raise children who know who they are in Christ.

In this episode:

• Why dads need to speak identity over their kids
• How children become who we tell them they are
• Understanding your child’s unique learning style
• The danger of over-parenting
• How to prepare kids for adulthood
• The difference between correction and criticism
• Helping your kids feel known and loved at home

Key reminder: If your kids don’t feel known at home, they’ll look somewhere else to be known.

Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear
Sponsor: VARA Safes. Promo code: DADTIRED20

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Hey guys, quick update from Jerrad.

As you’re listening to this, I’m currently in Alaska with my son and a group of Dad Tired dads and sons for a father-son rite of passage trip.

This season is packed with Dad Tired events, including the Alaska trip, Family Camp, our family mission trip to Guatemala, the annual Dad Tired retreat, and upcoming one-day conferences. Because of that, the podcast schedule may look a little different over the next few weeks.

If an episode drops on a different day than usual — or if there isn’t a new episode when you expected one — thanks for giving us some grace as we move through a full season of ministry.

The best way to stay up to date on upcoming trips, retreats, conferences, and schedule updates is to join the Dad Tired email list using the link in the episode description.

We love you guys, and we’ll be back to our normal rhythm soon.

- Jerrad

Click HERE to subscribe and never miss a thing.  

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When your soul feels anxious, restless, angry, or worn down, what do you do?

In this episode of Dad Tired, Pastor Kaleb points men back to one of the most overlooked gifts God has given us for caring for our souls: the Psalms. The Psalms give language to the deepest parts of us — our fear, sorrow, repentance, betrayal, joy, gratitude, and hope.

If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t even know what’s going on inside of me,” this episode will help you see the Psalms as God’s invitation to pray when you don’t know how to pray.

Kaleb walks through how Jesus, the apostles, and the early church leaned on the Psalms in moments of suffering, anxiety, worship, and spiritual battle. You’ll be encouraged to stop treating the Psalms as ancient poetry only, and start using them as daily prayers for your soul.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How the Psalms help diagnose and shepherd your soul
Why Jesus prayed the Psalms in His suffering
How the early church used the Psalms in moments of fear and persecution
Why the Psalms give language to anxiety, repentance, grief, and worship
A simple practice for praying through the Psalms each week

Whether you’re anxious, tired, tempted, grateful, or grieving, the Psalms give you words to bring your whole heart before God.

Mentioned in this episode:
Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 42, Psalm 51, Psalm 63, Psalm 88, Psalm 91, Psalm 103, Psalm 116, Matthew 26, Acts 4, John Calvin, Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea.

Important Links:
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear

Important Links:
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear

Sometimes the only way to see God do what only He can do is to stop trying to control the outcome. In this episode, Jerrad reflects on Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal and the bold moment when Elijah poured water over the altar before asking God to send fire. For dads who feel the pull to manage, manipulate, or quietly “shuffle the deck,” this is an invitation to real surrender. What would it look like to give God the wet wood and trust Him to be the fire?

Important Links:
Grab a copy of David's book: Capable: Raising Resiliant Kids
Mentioned: The Anxious Generation & The Amazing Generation
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear

In this episode, Jerrad sits down with David Thomas, executive director of Daystar Counseling Ministries and co-author of Capable, for a practical and deeply encouraging conversation on raising resilient kids.

David explains why our goal as parents should not simply be to raise happy or confident children, but capable ones. He and Jerrad talk about the temptation to rescue our kids from hard things, how anxiety often shows up differently in boys, why chores and discomfort matter, and how kids build competence by practicing coping, problem-solving, and flexibility.

They also talk honestly about dads doing their own healing work, how unhealed pain can spill onto our families, and why strong families begin with men who are willing to name what is going on in their own hearts.

If you’re a dad who wants to raise kids who can handle real life with courage, resilience, and dependence on Jesus, this conversation is for you.

Important Links:
Grab a copy of David's book: Capable: Raising Resiliant Kids
Mentioned: The Anxious Generation & The Amazing Generation
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear

Important Links:
Today's Sponsor: Heavenly Heat Saunas
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Full Message from Kaleb HERE
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear

In this devotional episode of Dad Tired, Jerrad walks through the story of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18, where Abraham welcomes the Lord into his home with reverence, urgency, and hospitality.

Abraham creates an environment where God is honored and welcomed, but what’s striking is that God comes to speak directly to Sarah. As husbands, dads, and men, this passage invites us to ask a simple but powerful question: are we creating homes where the presence of God is welcomed?

This episode will challenge you to think about the spiritual atmosphere of your home, and what it could look like to intentionally make space for worship, Scripture, prayer, and the Holy Spirit in everyday family life.

Important Links:
Today's Sponsor: Heavenly Heat Saunas
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear

What if the life you’ve built to survive is keeping you from the life God actually made you for?

In this episode, Jerrad sits down with songwriter, worship leader, recording artist, and author John Mark McMillan, best known for writing “How He Loves.” Together, they talk about identity, family, creativity, contemplation, and what it looks like to peel back the layers of survival to rediscover the person God created you to be.

John Mark shares about nearly quitting music, moving toward writing, raising teenagers, finding beauty in ordinary family life, and learning to create from a place of honesty instead of performance. The conversation also explores how distraction, phones, addiction, and the noise of modern life are shaping our souls, and how the church might become one of the last places where people can truly be present together.

This is a deep, honest conversation for any man who feels tired, distracted, unsure of who he is, or hungry for a more meaningful life with God and his family.

Important Links:
Today's Sponsor: Heavenly Heat Saunas
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Host A Dad Tired Conference at your church
Join the FREE Family Leadership Program
Shop the Dad Tired store for best-selling gear

What if your job, your parenting, your neighborhood, and your ordinary Monday morning all mattered deeply to God?

In this episode, Jerrad sits down with returning guest Jordan Raynor for a wide-ranging conversation about work, calling, the Holy Spirit, fatherhood, and the lies that keep Christian men exhausted.

Jordan unpacks why work existed before sin, how our daily jobs can be worship, and why the Holy Spirit empowers us not just for salvation, but for the good works God has prepared for us. The conversation also moves into evangelism, neighborhood faithfulness, the kindness of God, and the freedom that comes from realizing God doesn’t need us. He wants us.

This episode is for the dad who feels tired, scattered, overcommitted, or unsure if his everyday life really matters to God.

In this episode, we talk about:

Why your work matters to God
How to see ordinary tasks as worship
The lies and half-truths many Christians believe
Why the Holy Spirit empowers us for good works
How to talk to your kids about deep theology
Why saying no can be an act of faithfulness
The difference between a tired body and a weary soul
Why God doesn’t need you, but graciously invites you

Mentioned in this episode:

VARA Safe Use Promo code DADTIRED for $20 off
Dad Tired Annual Retreat
Free Family Leadership Program
The Spirit in You by Jordan Raynor