Jerrad Lopes is a pastor-turned-speaker, author, and, most notably, the voice behind the Dad Tired podcast. Lopes started the program/ministry to help and encourage dads and husbands to be faithful to the Lord and their families. The podcast features interviews with famous Christian influencers like Jon Acuff, Bob Goff, and Jon Foreman, and offers practical advice and discussions on various topics pertinent to a father. Now Lopes is compiling a small portion of his wisdom into Dad Tired and Loving It: Stumbling Your Way to Spiritual Leadership.

This short book offers nine chapters covering a variety of topics. Lopes starts with establishing the gospel as the foundation for being a good father and focuses on how your marriage also needs to be on good footing. He notes, "If we are amazing fathers but don't love our wives well, we will fail to give our kids everything they need... They need a daddy who relentlessly pursues their mom the way Jesus relentlessly pursues us." From there, he considers such things as the goal of parenting, having intentionality in all of life, why family worship is more than a five minute exercise, and much more. He packs plenty of material into this book and it all flows by at a nice pace.

Also packed in here are numerous illustrations and stories. While these are interesting in their own right, the sheer volume of them makes it hard to remember what they pointed to. For instance, I recall a story about a rope swing, but what the moral was is beyond memory. Overall, the book feels fairly episodic and meandering; what Lopes is saying is good, but why he's saying it or the order in which it comes feels random at times. This is also material that he covers on his podcast, so if you don't feel like picking up this format, you could always listen online.

Though I would have preferred more connective tissue, I'm still intrigued enough to pick it up again in the future. The content is good and encouraging and it doesn't require much time to intake. Although it is geared toward dads, prospective fathers or even mothers and wives could find value in what he's saying. It may not be the best parenting book you could pick up among the myriad available, but it is entertaining and short, making it a more likely candidate as reading material for busy parents.