A Dad in The Goodness Journey coaching community just shared something with us that honestly says more about the gospel than many sermons ever could.

He shared that he’s always struggled with how to share Jesus with his 11-year-old daughter.

Like a lot of us parents, he's carried the pressure that he needed to “get it right.”

• Read the Bible enough.  

• Say the right things.  

• Bring Jesus into conversations more.

And underneath all of that was this lingering fear:

“What if I’m failing her spiritually?”

But recently, he’s been stepping away from some of the heavy religious layers he’d been carrying for years.

Not stepping away from Jesus—just stepping away from the lens that made God feel distant, demanding, and difficult to experience.

Two days ago, while going through one of The Goodness Journey modules, he decided to spend some quiet time simply being still with the Father.

No agenda. No striving. Just resting.

He described sunlight through the window, music playing softly, and simply being with our Good Father.

Then he had the thought to invite his daughter to join him.

No Bible study. No teaching moment. No pressure.

Just presence.

Thirty minutes later, she was wrapped in his arms, drifting in and out of sleep, completely at peace.

And then she said to her Dad:

“I really liked spending time with you and the Father… we should do that again.”

That right there is what religion and performance-based Christianity often miss.

Most people have been taught that sharing God means transferring information.

That doesn’t mean truth and teaching don’t matter.

It’s not information OR presence. It's both.

Jesus taught truth deeply—but He also revealed that truth through love, peace, safety, connection, and presence.

What many of us inherited was information without encounter. Knowledge without rest. And teaching without tenderness.

And eventually, that kind of Christianity starts to feel heavy.

But Jesus revealed something very different.

He revealed a Father who is experienced, known, felt, and encountered in rest, safety, peace, and love.

Children especially can feel the difference between striving and presence.

And honestly, adults can too.

So many parents carry guilt because they think they’re failing spiritually if they’re not constantly teaching, correcting, leading, or saying the right things.

But what if the greatest way our family encounters our Good Father is through the peace that begins healing inside of us?

What if agape love becomes visible when pressure leaves the room?

That’s the part people often miss: the heaviness was never Jesus.

The pressure? The fear? The constant feeling of not doing enough?

That comes from the lens we’re often taught to see God through.

Jesus doesn’t create anxiety around relationship. He removes it.

And this is exactly what I help people untangle inside The Goodness Journey.

Not how to perform better spiritually, but to remove the lens and actually experience the Father the way Jesus revealed Him.

Because when that happens, agape love naturally ripples outward.

You stop trying to force God into moments and start discovering He’s already present in them.

Sometimes the gospel looks less like striving to say the right thing and more like a father holding his daughter while both quietly rest in the goodness of God.

I'm so thankful to witness others experiencing our Good Father for who He is—and seeing our children benefit because of it.