Stever Farrar is one of the preeminent writers of spiritually challening books geared toward men, husbands, fathers. In my mind, his best work is Anchor Man which speaks to the necessity of dads to live lives of faith that lead subsequent generations to lives of faithfulness.

Last night in our men's class, we were discussing Farrar's "Braveheart" chapter (chapter 8) in Anchor Man. Farrar holds nothing back when he unequivocally declares, "Father who do not develop brave hearts break hearts" (166).

Courage as a man, a dad, a husband and a leader can come in so many ways. Here's one, and it is so subtle it might be the most challenging hurdle to courage us men face: the courage to say "No" to good things in order to say "Yes" to the best things. What I mean by that is this: it is good to have recreation, hobbies, community involvement, etc. But what about when the priority of those good pursuits come at the expense of a better pursuit, i.e. spending time with my wife and kids?

Our identity as men should never come from where we work, what we drive, what we hunt, what boards we serve on or how our straight our tee shots have gotten. Our identity must come from living courageously as men of God committed to anchoring the generations that follow us.