MPF 319: How Husbands Lead

Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

Mike and Alicia Hernon : Catholic Marriage Parent and Family

Parenting, Parent, Podcast, Marriage, Religion & Spirituality, Catholic, Christianity, Kids & Family, Family

5 • 739 Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Eph 6:4

In this episode of the Messy Family Podcast, hosts Mike and Alicia Hernon celebrate their 10th year of the podcast and introduce the new studio, setting the stage for a discussion on fatherhood and leadership in the home. They emphasize that while fathers are called by God to lead, many struggle to understand what that truly means in a world that often undermines their role.

True leadership is not about domination but about serving, sacrificing, and guiding with love, following Christ’s example. A father’s success is measured by the unity in his marriage and family, and when discord arises, it signals a need to recalibrate leadership. Mike and Alicia challenge men to overcome passivity, a struggle rooted in Adam’s sin, and to step up, protect, and guide their families with intentional love. Practical steps for dads include pursuing their wives first, taking initiative in family life, loving sacrificially, and leading with unity in mind.

They highlight research showing that a father’s presence has a profound impact on his children’s faith, success, and well-being. While many men feel incompetent in the home, undervalue their influence, or struggle with passivity, Mike and Alicia encourage them to embrace the God-given mission of fatherhood with confidence, knowing that great men and strong fathers are desperately needed today.

Key Takeaways

Husbands are called to lead in the home because this is how God is going to make them holy and you were created to give first to be able to receive.

You know you are leading when there is unity, when you are challenged, and when your wife feels safe.

Men need to go in to battle and fight against the tendency to be passive or to avoid what they do not feel competent at.

Never doubt how important you are in the life of your wife and children - they need you!

Couple Discussion Questions

Are we happy with our roles of leading our family right now? How are we doing?

How can I (wife) support you (husband) in leading our family?

For more information on this and other topics visit: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Family, all in this together.
0:08.2	Family, we're taking a chance.
0:10.8	Family, like birds of a feather.
0:13.3	Family, you got my shoes and dance.
0:15.4	Hey, we are Mike and Alicia Hernin.
0:17.4	We have 10 kids and grandkids too, and we are here for every parent. Because we are on a
0:22.2	mission to empower moms and dads to embrace their sacred calling. So join the conversation.
0:31.0	Welcome to the podcast and welcome to our brand new studio. So new year, it's our 10th year over. We're celebrating 10 years,
0:42.0	having done the podcast. And so we thought we'd change it up a bit. If you don't know what I'm
0:46.9	saying right now, you got to go check it out on YouTube. You probably know what you're saying,
0:50.9	but not doesn't make any sense to you because you've never seen us before or whatever.
0:55.0	Yeah.
0:56.0	So maybe if you haven't checked that, I'd encourage you to come and just check it out.
0:59.0	We wanted to have a little bit more.
1:00.0	We're very proud of our new studio.
1:01.0	It took a, it took a good bit of effort have a more relaxed conversation between the two of us.
1:16.2	And then if when we have guests, right, um, we're, we're hoping this is more like
1:20.5	you're coming into our den or our living room, our hangout place. And, uh, and it's a little
1:25.0	more comfortable sitting on a couch than sitting on our desk.
1:28.1	And I didn't want, you know, the table was good, you know, a little kitchen counter
1:32.2	conversation that we've had in the past. But now it's, we're more relaxed. And now we don't
1:37.0	have to share our notes anymore. We each get our own set of notes. There you go. There you go.
	...

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