Dave Barnes is a coach at a large public school in Spokane, Washington. He is a legendary, state-honored coach, having led his teams to city championships in each of the last twenty years. However, what is more impressive than all his titles is the fact that he is a father to so many of his students and athletes. When Dave was two years old his father abandoned the family, remarried, and moved to another state. When his mother remarried three years later, this new dad became a true father to him. Sadly, when Dave was ten years old, his stepfather was struck by lightening and killed. His mother married a third time a few years later, but this new stepfather was an alcoholic. Dave never really had a dad who lasted.

Nevertheless, Dave became an outstanding pitcher in high school; he and I were rivals. He was a fierce competitor. God led Dave and me to the same college to play baseball, and it was there that he met Jesus Christ and surrendered his life to Him, thereby acquiring the Father he had never had. God became his father in every way and helped him to forgive his biological dad who had left the family fifty years before. Dave’s pain from that early loss became his motivation to ensure that life would be different for his wife and three kids. He was determined to establish a Christ-centered home in which he was a committed father. To this day, Dave is a father not only to his own children, but to many athletes as well.