121 | Laughter, Shiny Eyes & an Awesome Marriage (Dr. Kim Kimberling)

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Dr. Kim Kimberling

Dr. Kim has been a professional counselor for over thirty years.  He is President and co-founder of Awesome Marriage. Awesome Marriage reaches thousands of people each month with God’s plan for marriage and relationships. Dr. Kim has been married to his lovely wife Nancy for 50 years. Together they have two adult married children and five awesome grandchildren. Dr. Kim’s inspiration and passion for marriage began at a young age as he watched his parents live out the true meaning of having an Awesome Marriage centered around God’s incredible plan. He is open and honest about the struggles he has experienced in marriage and uses these personal examples to help others.

Conversation Notes:

  • 3:48 - Dr. Kim Kimberling introduction
  • 8:18 - What his dad did well. 
  • 10:45 - A difficult parenting moment
  • 14:11 - “What I’ve learned is that if I put God first every day, it’s really easy to put her second because God’s not going to put anybody else in second place besides her because that was his design and plan. And when we are in sync, we really are good together and we can really see ourselves as a team and we parent well together.”
  • 14:35 - “We sometimes don’t always value our wife's perspective. Our wives have an insight and a wisdom that we don’t have. God gifted them with some things especially relationally that sometimes don't even make sense to us but they are right and they’re right on.”
  • 16:05 - “When you stick together as a husband and wife, you’re going to make good decisions for your kids and I think eventually your kids are going to see that.”
  • 16:19 - Dr. Kim’s books: Seven secrets to a an Awesome Marriage: Strengthen Your Most Intimate Relationship and  14 Keys to lasting love Bible reading plans. Daily email.
  • 16:55 - Top 2 things he’d tell a dad for how to have an awesome marriage.
    • Stop doing something that doesn’t work, and seek God.
    • Intentionally pursue your wife
  • 19:38 - The idea of seeing the big picture. “What do you want their life to be? What do you want to impart to them in these years? And what do you want it to be when they leave? And what do you want it to be when they are adults?”
  • 21:14 - Common patterns he is seeing that cause a dad to have a train wreck - Social media, video games as an escape.
  • 22:46 - “My prayer is each day, what can I do to make Nancy feel like she's loved and how can I come alongside her today, and God always gives me an answer to that.”
  • 23:26 - Dr. Kim’s instagram
  • 23:40 - One Thing email
  • 24:35 - Looking for opportunities for laughter in our marriage and parenting
  • 25:30 - ”There is something in a kid’s eyes when you are laughing with them that is really special, you just see it, they just light up, they love that and it bonds them to us and connects us in really special ways. I think it’s a gift that God gave us. And a lot of times we don’t think about God laughing or Jesus laughing but they do.”
  • The dad can be the initiator of laughter
  • 26:30 - “Look at the eyes of your kids, look at the eyes of your wife. Are their eyes shining? And if they’re shining there's a good chance that you've brought life into their life.” - Jeff
  • 26:49 - dadAWESOME purpose - To add LIFE to the dad life.
  • 27:13 - Practical ideas for how to be a life-giving dad.
    • Look for opportunities to go with them and talk with them - don’t expect them to come to you
    • Be available when they want to talk - you need to go into their world. 
    • Take advantage of open windows to talk, because if you don’t they will quit asking
  • 29:14 - “Don’t be hard on yourself. We serve a God that is redemptive, that can bring good out of anything. ....God doesn’t want you to punish yourself. God wants you to learn from your mistakes and he makes us aware of them but to realize he’s got an answer and you can overcome that. Our kids need to see that we make mistakes and how we handle those mistakes. I think failure becomes failure if you don’t let God turn it around. But if you turn it around it becomes an opportunity to teach, to grow for yourself and for your kids and your spouse to see those things.”
  • 30:05 - Dr. Kim's Prayer

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