I was listening to the Exodus podcast and they brought up the excuse men have for not doing Exodus 90: they are too busy.
I had to laugh since that was me five years ago.
As a father of five, and a small business owner, I made excuses. Exodus 90 was a game changer. My family has grown much much closer. I have the best relationship with all of my children because of the principles I learned through Exodus 90.
After 32 years of marriage, my wife and I have the best marriage we have ever had. I’ve been able to share some of the reflections with my older Children and they have responded in a positive manner. We are in the middle of the Biblical Series and what a tremendous grace this has been. I have found my Holy Hour at dawn is a game changer. This is a habit that I continue to this date. Any man who wants to have a solid faith-filled family needs to do this.
Two years ago, I started to awaken to my Catholic faith. I was struggling at times to get answers on how to apply this to my day to day living. As a father of five – I was providing financially for my family, but I was weak on giving love, support and spiritual guidance. I was looking for other men who could give me guidance and support.
I was driving 1 hour and 15 minutes to go to the closest Men’s group each Saturday morning to learn about my faith and to be with other Catholic men. Three months into the meetings, I mentioned I wanted to do Exodus 90 and the next day I received an email from the head of the men’s group who said they would also like to do Exodus 90 and five of us started the program.
After downloading the app and reading the information, I had a great conversation with my wife. She first brought Exodus 90 to my attention last summer and was very excited and supportive.
After the first couple weeks of the program I noticed a few things happening. My children, who wanted to support me, curtailed their TV watching. As the days passed, the TV was not being used in the evening. We were all gathering in the family room and everyone was reading books to help us grow in our faith.
We started saying a family rosary every evening around the midway point. My children participated willingly and thoughtfully during our prayer times.
The structure and specificity of how the daily readings should be applied to our day to day life was awesome. If I was struggling with a challenge, it seemed the next day readings addressed the issue and gave a plan on how to overcome the challenge. This happened so many times I can not keep count. This was a topic that was bought up during our weekly fraternity meetings.
The fraternity meetings where critical. Hearing other men’s struggles, encouragement and constructive feedback was a great way to keep on track.
The daily contact with my anchor was fantastic. The sharing and insight we gave each other helped us both be accountable and grow.
The balance of Prayer, Asceticism, and Fraternity has made me a better husband & father.
A few days before day 90 ended, I asked my wife what was the toughest part of Exodus 90 was for her. She looked at me and said it was a blessing to our family. The feedback from my family has been: I am more calm, patient, understanding and a much better person to be around.
This journey has helped our family be closer than it ever has. I have a better relationship with everyone within my family. God has Graced we with calmness under adversity and is giving me the insight to see adversity and address it quicker than I ever thought possible.
