I would call it demanding more than
difficult because it is demanding but
you enjoy the demands. You know that
your son and now my daughter need
father time and the biggest demand is
making sure that you give them time
and not burying yourself in work or
ministry to the detriment of personal
time with dad. So that’s the challenge I
guess, because I love what I do.
GM.: How has the journey of
fatherhood been so far-what have
been the high and low points?
Tommy: The low points at the
beginning-lack of sleep. People used to
tell me all the time; enjoy your sleep
before your kids come. I didn’t know
what they meant but now I do.
(Laughs) The high points really are
looking around in the lounge in the
evening and seeing the two youngsters;
one is sucking on a dummy and the
other playing with a pet lion or his
stuffed lion and just knowing that this
is what God has entrusted you with.
And the smiles on their faces, and the
way they say dad, it’s priceless.
GM.: How do you balance your
career and fatherhood?
Tommy: An interesting question, the
way I see it, my career is blended in
with my family. And I see it as more of
a legacy than just my career. It’s for my
family. What we build I see as we are
doing it together and we play it in
roles. My wife is there and she’s taking
care of a lot of things at home, my son
makes sure that I at least laugh once a
day and I’m out there being part of a
vision and building something that we
can all be a part of.
So I see it as one in the same. But the
balance is there. You need to balance
because sometimes when you have a
vision you can become so focused on it
that your family takes the back seat.
But the way that we have accomplished
that is clear communication between
me and my wife and I guess, now my
family. Everything is clear. If there is a
deadline or time to be home, we take
holidays together. We make sure that
we schedule family time, which is
important.
GM.: What impact has your ‘famous’
status had on your child/children?
Tommy: Again, I wouldn’t call myself
famous, for the record. (Laughs) but,
(thinking), good question. I don’t think
that they understand who they are in
the church, who their dad is
necessarily, or who their grandfather is.
I don’t think that they understand. But
one thing they do know is confidence.
They are not shy at all. My youngsters
are completely bold and very social.
They are around people all the time.
“What we build I see as
we are doing it together
and we play it in roles
…..We make sure that
we schedule family time,
which is important.”
GM.: How do you rate yourself as a
dad? (On a scale of 1 to 10).
Tommy: On a scale of 1 to 10, I would
say 7+ and work in progress. There are
always things you could do better.
GM.: What wishes and hopes
do you have for your children?
Tommy: My hope is that they
understand who they are in
Christ. .Actually that’s why we
named them what we named
them. Levi means “united”,” joint
together”, “so united in God’s
kingdom”, that’s my son’s first
name, and the second a name
Kingston means “kingdom”. And
my daughter, Madison Leal,
Madison means “sincerity”, and
her middle name is Leal, which
means, “belonging to God”. So
we named them specifically so
that we are constantly telling
them who they are in God. And
so that our desire is that they
completely walk in the word of
God and hear his voice on a daily
basis.
GM.: What advice would you
give other dads out there?
Tommy: I think you know, a
father, a dad, and a man in
general wants to have an impact
on his kids, wants to be able to
make a difference. I think often
people overlook their kids
because the biggest way you can
change the world, is by having a
good impact on your kids. One of
the strongest institutions in the
world is the family and as a dad,
it’s the ultimate privilege to
raise-up young rock stars and
young people. People who aren’t
dads don’t have that
opportunity. I think that’s a huge
focal point. And people who are
dads, the huge focus should be
on taking fatherhood seriously.
It’s a privilege to be a father!
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