DadAwesome

📍 When did you become a man? Most guys can't answer that question clearly—because they never had a defining moment.

Matt Hanson is on a mission to change that. In this episode, he shares the Ion Path—a 3-year Christian rite of passage for dads and their 12-16 year olds.

You'll hear:

➡️ Why Dad is "LeBron James" in the faith transfer game (50-60 points!)

➡️ How 30 conversations in 30 days can transform your relationship

➡️ The simple framework for teaching your kids 30 life skills before they launch

➡️ Why it's more important to be IN the conversation than to be RIGHT

What if you could give your son or daughter something most kids never receive—a clear moment when they know they've become a man or woman? In this episode, Matt Hanson shares the vision behind the Ion Path, a 3-year Christian rite of passage designed to help dads and their kids become co-learners on the journey to adulthood. You'll hear why only 8-10% of church kids keep their faith for a lifetime, what makes dad "LeBron James" in the faith transfer game, and how 30 simple conversations can transform your relationship with your child.

• Most kids raised in the church never experience a defining moment that marks their transition into adulthood—and it's time to change that.
• Dad is the single biggest factor in whether a child keeps their faith for a lifetime. If faith transfer is a 100-point game, dad is 50-60 of those points.
• The most powerful thing you can do for your kids is love their mother well and stay in the conversation—it's more important to be in the conversation than to be right.
• A 3-year intentional journey with your 12-16 year old—built around conversations, skills, challenges, and adventures—can launch them into adulthood with confidence and faith.
• You don't have to have all the answers. The Ion Path equips dads to go on this journey alongside their child as co-learners, not experts.

Matt Hanson is the founder of the Ion Path, a 3-year Christian rite of passage designed to help dads and their children become co-learners on the journey to adulthood. After a successful business career, Matt turned his attention to the crisis of faith retention among young people and assembled a coalition of faith leaders to create a standard for rites of passage across denominational lines. He and his wife Mary have three adult children—Savannah, Noah, and Tatum—and live in Southern California.

1. "It's more important to be in the conversation than be right. I heard one person say that they've only had one conversation with their daughter, but it started when she was four and it never stopped."
2. "If it's a 100-point game, Dad is the LeBron James. He's 50 to 60 points in that game."
3. "Ion is a Greek word that means a moment in time that impacts all of time. As dads, we are in a series of moments in time and we are forming the next generation, which will last a long time."
4. "If I finish and check off all 30 of those skills with my son, my son's not going to enter adulthood wondering if he's a capable person—because he's going to know there's at least 30 things I know, and I learned them from my dad."
5. "You get the dad, you get the family. You get the family, you get the church. You get the church, you get the community. It is the powder keg."

🕐 What if 15 minutes could change your entire life?

✅ The brain science behind why your morning and evening routines matter more than you think

✅ How to build a sustainable Daily 15 practice that actually sticks

✅ Why Sabbath might be the most Christ-like (and kid-favorite) rhythm your family is missing

✅ The one thing 93% of men said they want to grow in

SHOW NOTES

✅ The biblical reason dads are called to bring order to their homes

✅ How to train your kids like a football coach (M&Ms included!)

✅ The power of a weekly family meeting to solve your biggest friction points

✅ Why setting "impossible" goals actually works

Chaos doesn't have to be the norm in your home. In Part 1 of this conversation, Army Ranger turned fatherhood coach Chris Cirullo unpacks the biblical call for fathers to bring order—and shares the practical systems he's built to lead his five sons with both fun and discipline. You'll also hear why setting impossible goals might be the key to real growth.

• God designed fathers to bring order and strategy to their homes—it's part of our calling, not just a nice-to-have.
• Training kids in specific behaviors with immediate rewards (like M&Ms) can save decades of frustration.
• Weekly family meetings with your wife help you identify and solve one key friction point at a time.
• Setting "impossible" goals narrows your options and forces clarity on what actually needs to change.
• What gets measured improves—but what gets measured and reported improves exponentially.

Chris Cirullo is a former Army Ranger with four combat tours in Afghanistan, a former collegiate football player, fitness coach, and tech startup leader. He now coaches men through Mission Fit and serves on the team at Forming Men. Chris and his wife Justine homeschool their five sons in Eugene, Oregon, and are expecting their sixth child.

What if your kid's "selfishness" is actually developmentally normal? 🤯

✅ Why emotional awareness makes you a better dad (not a softer one)

✅ How to walk your kids through the "I'm sorry" process step by step

✅ The turkey hunting philosophy of spiritual formation

✅ Why showing up in children's ministry is a slingshot back to your home

What if your child's selfishness is actually a God-given gift? In this episode, Chris Ammenshares why understanding your kid's developmental stage changes everything about how you parent. Plus, he unpacks the "turkey hunting philosophy" of spiritual formation and why the most powerful thing you can do as a dad is simply show up and love your kids for who they are, not what they accomplish.

• Your children are growing out of egocentrism, not being punched out of it. Understanding their developmental stage brings patience and grace to your parenting.
• Growing in your own emotional awareness is one of the greatest gifts you can give your kids. When you learn to express the full range of emotions, you create space for them to do the same.
• Walk your kids through the mechanics of relational repair. Chunk it up into small steps so they build the muscle memory for when they're older.
• Spiritual formation is a longitudinal process. It's so slow you'll hardly notice the grass growing, then one day you'll look around and see what God did while you were faithful day by day.
• Call your kids to where they already want to go. Shoulder-to-shoulder time doing what they love is where the real conversations happen.
• Men in children's ministry matter more than you think. Boys need men who cheer them on for who they are, and girls need to see men who treat them with respect and kindness.

Chris Ammen is the founder of Kaleidoscope, a ministry helping kids understand and love the Bible through chapter books, audio content, and a weekly podcast. A former children's pastor with 15 years of experience, Chris is passionate about meeting kids at their developmental level and equipping parents to disciple their children at home. He's the author of Raising Disciples at Home and the host of the Kaleidoscope Podcast. Chris and his wife have four kids ages 5 to 12 and live in the thick of raising their own disciples.

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1. "This is not going to happen in 24 hours. This is not going to happen in a year. This is going to be so slow that I'm hardly going to notice the grass growing underneath my feet. And then I'm going to look around one day and say, look at what God did while I was just being patient and faithful day by day by day."
2. "They grow out of egocentrism. It's not punched out of them. It's not beaten out of them. It's not manipulated out of them. That's something that they have to come to as their brain develops."
3. "Hold up, this is not about you, this is about her. Both of our eyes right now need to be on her and making sure that she is okay."
4. "Call your children to where they already want to go. And while they're there, give them some truth."
5. "Don't underestimate that, both for the boys in the room and maybe even more importantly for the girls in the room. To have a man who looks at them with respect and kindness and graciousness, not as an object, is deeply formational."
6. "You don't have to be a champion in the room. You can just be an awkward dad who's learning how to be around other children."
7. "God thought of them before He thought of the mountains and the seas and the oceans, and He called them very good. He does not regret them."