Ryan's family and dad beginnings

Jeff sat down with Ryan Skoog and recorded this conversation in June 2019. Originally released as Episode 77, this conversation is being revisited as part of our Throwback Winter Series.

Ryan is an entrepreneur, ministry leader, world traveler and adventure dad. He started Fly for Good, Volunteer Card, Yonder Travel Insurance, and the non profit Venture.org which helps people do tough things to help people in tough places around the world.

• 4:20 – Story of the first moments after their son was born
• 4:50 – "That was our welcome to parenthood. Welcome to getting on your knees and crying out to God in prayer"
• 5:34 – "I want to stay fighting on my knees like this all of the time for my kids"
• 6:30 – Story of travel and being exposed to those in need around the world
• 7:50 – Story of Ryan's dad and mixing love for travel with love for evangelism and serving others
• 9:25 – The impact of waking up and finding his dad reading his Bible every morning (praying through Psalm 91 over his family)
• 9:55 – Praying Ephesians chapter 1 and Ephesians chapter 3 over his kids
• 10:40 – Ryan explaining his career journey and the story of launching Venture
• 14:15 – the other organizations that Ryan leads:
  • https://www.faithventures.com
  • https://www.flyforgood.com/
  • https://www.volunteercard.com/
  • https://www.insureyonder.com/
• 16:20 – "As parents, we shouldn't just have experiences where we celebrate together with our kids. We also need experiences where we struggle together. Where we sacrifice together"
• 17:28 – "Instead of being an amazing leader & a decent dad, I want to be an amazing dad & a decent leader. If I have to make a choice, I want to take the same entrepreneurial type of thinking & intentionality to being a dad as I would to being a leader."
• 18:30 – "I wanted to be able to create experiences, key moments for my kids surrounded around our families core values"
• 18:50 – Ryan explains the step by step plan for creating these 1-on-1 moments with his kids
  • Age 6 or 7 — Adventure in the woods. Create a cross.
  • 20:05 – Rock Climbing while learning about character and values. Character anchors us like a rope anchors us
  • 20:40 – Cliff jumping for learning about courage
  • 21:40 – The set-up for the adventure the night before. Burnt edge paper with a note. 24 hour blitz trips.
  • 22:30 – Climbing up a mountain for a sunrise. Holiness and Purity. "It's tough, but it's worth it"
  • 23:50 – Mother/daughter trip to Chicago for tea.
  • 24:35 – Trip to a church in Alaska with Ryan's dad and his son. A prayer moment. A moment about legacy.
  • 25:15 – An adventure when they spend a night on the streets. Learning about compassion.
• 25:45 – Mission trips to difficult places in third world countries have transformed their kids. Their kids pray every night for these kids without mommy's and daddy's
• 28:20 – Normalizing in a good way intentional parenting
• 28:35 – The family dashboard of values and mission and prayers they are praying as a family.
• 29:30 – Memorizing scripture as a family
• 30:05 – "We should not, as parents, have a mentality that outsources faith to the church. They should reinforce what we are doing as parents"
• 30:30 – Every member of their family has a Fruit of the Spirit that they're working to grow in
• 32:10 – Introducing the focussed Fruit of the Spirit – KINDNESS
• 34:30 – Story of the early church adopting babies left in the trash – "The church was started on kindness"
• 35:15 – Inviting our kids to be able to call us as parents out when we are violating the Fruit of the Spirit
• 37:40 – Catching your kids doing something good and celebrating it
• 38:40 – Daily prayer focus
• 39:30 – Having the interviewing questions with our kids. Asking for feedback from them on how we are doing as dads
• 40:00 – Using code words to express large emotions with a short phrase
• 40:30 – "If you pray for something for your kids, you will see it start to happen"
• 41:00 – "God is actively wanting to answer prayers from parents for their kids. It's pretty amazing."
• 41:55 – Ryan's last words… Add more intentionality to your dad life.
• 42:50 – We need each other
• Recommended Books:
  • The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place Hardcover (Andy Crouch)
  • Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children (Henry Cloud and John Town)
  • Boundaries with Teens: When to Say Yes, How to Say No Paperback (John Townsend)
  • The Entitlement Cure: Finding Success in Doing Hard Things the Right Way (John Townsend)
  • Take entrepreneurial business books and apply those principles to being a dad

• Chosen: A 30 Day Devotional
• Venture Expeditions
• https://www.faithventures.com
• https://www.flyforgood.com/
• https://www.volunteercard.com/
• https://www.insureyonder.com/